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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Quarterly Review, No. 17,
+March 1831, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The American Quarterly Review, No. 17, March 1831
+
+Author: Various
+
+Release Date: February 6, 2009 [EBook #28012]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN QUARTERLY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier, Josephine Paolucci
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW.
+
+No. XVII.
+
+MARCH, 1831.
+
+_Philadelphia:_
+CAREY & LEA.
+
+SOLD IN PHILADELPHIA BY E. L. CAREY & A. HART.
+NEW-YORK, BY G. & C. & H. CARVILL.
+
+_LONDON:_--R. J. KENNETT, 59 GREAT QUEEN STREET.
+_PARIS:_--A. & W. GALIGNANI, RUE VIVIENNE.
+
+
+
+
+AMERICAN QUARTERLY REVIEW.
+
+No. XVII.
+
+MARCH, 1831.
+
+
+
+
+ART. I.--_France in 1829-30._ By LADY MORGAN. _Author of_ "_France in
+1816_," "_Italy_," _&c. &c. &c._ 2 vols. J. & J. Harper: New-York.
+
+
+It was that solemn hour of the night, when, in the words of the poet,
+"creation sleeps;"--a silence as of the dead reigned amid the streets
+and alleys of the great city of Dublin, interrupted, ever and anon, only
+by the solitary voice of the watchman, announcing the time, and the
+prospects of fair or foul weather for the ensuing day. Even the noise of
+carriages returning from revels and festive scenes of various kinds, was
+no longer heard--
+
+    "The diligence of trades and noiseful gain,
+    And luxury more late, asleep were laid:
+    All was the night's:"
+
+All! save the inhabitants of one mansion, situated in Kildare street,
+who were still invading nature's rest. Why were they alone up and
+stirring? Why were they debarred from taking their needful repose, and
+obliged to employ the time which should have been devoted to it, in
+active occupation? The reason is easily understood. Early in the
+morning, the master and mistress were to set off on a trip to Paris, and
+there was no small quantity of "packing up" yet to be done. Trunks
+innumerable lay scattered about a romantically furnished bed-chamber;
+some were partly filled with different articles of female habiliment;
+others seemed to be appropriated to literary purposes, and books without
+number, and of all descriptions, were lying around them--here was a pile
+of novels, amongst which, the titles of "The Novice of St. Dominick,"
+"Ida of Athens," "The Wild Irish Girl," &c. &c. could be
+discerned--there was a heap of "Travels," composed of "Italy," "France
+in 1816," and others:--a couple of volumes, entitled "Life and Times of
+Salvator Rosa," were reposing in graceful dignity on the open lid of a
+portmanteau. Several maids were exerting all their activity to get every
+thing properly arranged; all was bustle and preparation.
+
+Adjoining the chamber was a boudoir, furnished likewise in the most
+romantic manner, in which sat a lady of even a more romantic appearance
+than that of either of the apartments. How shall we describe her? She
+certainly (we must tell the truth, and shame you know whom) did not seem
+to be of that delightful age, in which a due regard to veracity would
+allow us to apply to her the line of the poet, "Le printemps dans sa
+fleur sur son visage est peint." Her cheeks, to be sure, were deeply
+tinged with a roseate hue, but it was not that with which nature loves
+to paint the face of spring; the colour proved too palpably, that it had
+been placed there by the exercise of those "curious arts" with which the
+sex are enabled to revive dim charms, "and triumph in the bloom of
+fifty-five." Her dress was romantic in the extreme. Of the unity of
+_time_, at all events, it was in direct violation, for its "gay rainbow
+colours," and modish arrangement, were out of all keeping with her
+matronly age. One would easily have inferred from it that she was fully
+impressed with the conviction, that the years which had glided over her
+head, were not of the old-fashioned kind that contain twelve months, or
+at least, that she did not consider the lapse of time as at all
+calculated to impair the attractions of her physiognomy, however
+prejudicial its effect might be upon the faces of the rest of the female
+part of the creation. In her countenance there was such an expression of
+blended affectation and self-complacency, that it was impossible to look
+upon it without feeling an inclination to smile. She was sitting near a
+prettily ornamented writing-desk, surmounted by a mirror (in which, by
+the way, she always found her greatest admirer), with her head reclining
+on her open hand, her elbow resting on a volume which bore on its back
+the appropriate title of "The Book of the Boudoir," and her eyes
+directed, we need hardly say where,--for who does not love to be
+admired? Her _reflections_ were suddenly disturbed by a knock at the
+door, which she answered by an "Entrez!" "_Ah, Sir Charles, c'est
+vous_," she lisped, as the door opened, and a person in male attire
+entered, "_eh bien_, is every thing _prêt_ for our _voyage_?" "Yes, my
+dear"--we presume, from this appellation, that the gentleman was her
+_caro sposo_, as she might say,--"or at least every thing will be ready
+shortly; but let me essay again to dissuade you from this foolish
+expedition"--"_de grâce_, Sir Charles, _ayez pitié de moi_; do not
+pester me with your _bétises_; I am determined to _faire une autre
+visite_ to my _cher_ Paris, so that all you may say will be _tout à
+fait inutile_." "Well," sighed the _caro sposo_, "just as you please,"
+and he returned to direct the "packing up," while she began to revel in
+the anticipations of triumphs, both personal and intellectual, which she
+intended to gain in the fashionable and literary capital of the world.
+Alas! "oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it
+promises."
+
+Who is this lady? Had she lived in the days of Juvenal, it might have
+been supposed that he had her in his eye, when he drew, in his sixth
+satire, the picture of the "greatest of all plagues"--had her existence
+been cast in the time of the prince of French comic writers, she would
+undoubtedly have been presumed to be the prototype of the heroine in one
+of his most exquisite comedies; we need hardly say, therefore, that she
+is, in the words of Boileau, "_une précieuse_,
+
+    "Reste de ces esprits jadis si renommés
+    Que d'un coup de son art Molière a diffamés."
+
+Pity, then, kind reader, pity the lot of the unfortunate gentleman whom
+we have just introduced to your acquaintance. A further account of this
+dame may prove not unacceptable.
+
+Her father was an honest actor, accustomed to afford great delight to
+those deities who inhabit the one shilling galleries of English and
+Irish theatres, and to receive, himself, vast gratification from
+worshipping at the shrine of Bacchus. The daughter having given early
+indications of quickness and pertness, came to be considered quite a
+genius by her family and friends, whose natural partiality soon induced
+her to entertain the same opinion. Determined, accordingly, not to hide
+her light under a bushel, she made her appearance before the world as an
+authoress, from which it may very reasonably be inferred that she had
+not yet attained the years of discretion. Her _début_, of course, was as
+a wanderer in the realms of imagination, alias, a novel-writer, and in
+this capacity she continued to make the public stare for a series of
+years. We say stare, for we can find no more appropriate word for
+expressing the feelings which her fictions are calculated to excite.
+With plots of almost incomprehensible absurdity, they combine a style
+more inflated than any balloon in which Madame Blanchard ever sailed
+through the regions of air--a language, or rather jargon, composed of
+the pickings of nearly every idiom that ever did live, or is at present
+in existence, and sentiments which would be often of a highly
+mischievous tendency, if they were not rendered ridiculous by the manner
+in which they are expressed. The singularity of these productions
+excited a good deal of sensation, and, if we believe her own words, she
+was placed by them "in a _definite_ rank among authors, and in no
+undistinguished circle of society." In some of the principal journals,
+however, the lady was severely taken to task, at the same time that she
+was counselled to obtain for herself a partner in weal and wo, by which
+she might be brought down from her foolish vagaries, to the sober
+realities of domestic duty. Wonderful to relate, she followed the advice
+of those whom her vanity must have taught her to consider as her
+bitterest foes, namely critics,--and as
+
+    "Nought but a genius can a genius fit,
+    A wit herself, Amelia weds a wit."
+
+This wit was a regular knight of the pestle and mortar--a physician,
+whose pills and draughts had acquired for him the enviable right of
+placing that dignified appellation, Sir, before his Christian name, by
+which our authoress became entitled to be addressed as "Your Ladyship,"
+as much as if she had married an Earl or a Marquis. Oh! how delighted
+the ci-devant plain "Miss" must have been at hearing the servants say to
+her, "Yes, my lady,"--"No, my lady."--The year in which the ceremony was
+performed that gave her a lord and master, we cannot precisely
+ascertain; but as the happy pair favoured the capital of France with
+their presence in 1816, it may not be unreasonable to suppose, that they
+went there to spend the honeymoon. Miraculous as are the changes which
+matrimony sometimes operates, it was powerless in its influence upon her
+Ladyship's propensities, and, consequently, not very long after
+returning to her "_maison bijou_" in Dublin, she put forth a quarto!
+with the magnificent title of "France." There are phenomena in the
+physical world, in the moral world, in the intellectual world, but this
+book was a phenomenon that beat them all. It was absolutely wonderful
+how so much ignorance, nonsense, vanity, and folly, could be compressed
+within the compass even of a quarto. All the sense that could be
+discerned in it, was contained in four or five essays, upon Love, Law
+and Physic, and Politics, contributed by Sir the husband. Being anxious
+that "France" should have a companion, she subsequently made an
+expedition to the land of the Dilettanti, in company with the dear man
+who had made her, "she _trusts_, a respectable, and she is _sure_, a
+happy mistress of a family," and forthwith "Italy" appeared to sustain
+her well-earned reputation for qualities, which she has the singular
+felicity of possessing without exciting envy. But her "never ending,
+still beginning" pen, was not satisfied with two volumes as the fruits
+of her Italian campaigning, especially as there happened to be a goodly
+quantity of memoranda in the "diary" which had not yet been turned to
+any use. Some subject, therefore, was to be hit upon for another
+publication, in which they could be inserted, when beat out into a
+sizeable shape; and what could be better adapted for that purpose than
+the biography of a great Italian artist? The life of poor Salvator Rosa
+was, in consequence, attempted. Just think of making one of the
+greatest geniuses that ever lived, a peg to hang notes upon! The next
+offspring of her Ladyship's brain, was, we believe, another novel, which
+was as like its predecessors as possible. In the period that elapsed
+between this birth, and the moment in which we have had the honour of
+introducing her to our readers, her literary family was increased by
+another child, with the delightful name of "The Book of the Boudoir."
+
+We hope we have not been understood as meaning to insinuate, that
+because her Ladyship is the mother of a couple of dozen of volumes, she
+is on that account a _précieuse ridicule_. This was far, very far from
+our intention. None can take more pleasure than ourselves in rendering
+all homage to genuine female talent, employed for useful and honourable
+purposes, or be more willing to acknowledge the peculiar excellence by
+which its productions are frequently marked. Were it our pleasant duty
+at present to notice the works of an Edgeworth, a Hemans, a Mitford, a
+Sedgwick, or of any others of that fair and brilliant assemblage, who
+reflect so great a lustre upon the literature of this age, we should use
+language as eulogistic as their warmest admirers could desire. But we
+have to do now with a person of a very different description from those
+bright ornaments of their sex--with one in whose mind, whatever flowers
+Nature may originally have planted, have been almost completely choked
+by the rank weeds of ignorance, presumption, frivolity, and vanity
+beyond measurement--who, in a list of works as long, to use one of her
+own delicate illustrations, as "Leporello's catalogue of Don Juan's
+mistresses," has given little or no aid to the cause of virtue
+generally, or evinced the slightest anxiety to improve and benefit her
+sex, but has devoted all her faculties to the erection of an altar on
+which she might worship herself, and only herself--who has even afforded
+cause, by the frequently extreme levity of her expressions, for the
+charge of lending countenance to licentiousness and impiety--whose
+writings, in fine, are calculated to inflict serious injury upon the
+tastes, the understandings, and the hearts of her youthful female
+readers, by accustoming them to a vicious and ridiculous style, by
+filling their minds with false and perverted sentiments and wrong
+impressions upon some of the most important matters, and by setting
+before them the example of a woman who boasts of being a member of no
+undistinguished circle of society, and yet constantly violates those
+laws of delicacy and refinement, the full observance of which is
+indispensable for every female who aspires to the name and character of
+a lady.
+
+Pale Aurora began now to appear, "_Tiphoni croceum linquens cubile_," in
+vulgar parlance, day began to break. Behold our couple setting forth on
+their Parisian expedition. Some months afterwards, the "_maison
+bijou_," in Kildare street, again was illumined by the presence of our
+fair traveller, whose pen was soon mended, dipped in ink, and busily
+employed. In due time its labours were brought to a termination, and two
+goodly volumes were ushered into the light of day, purporting to contain
+an account of "France in 1829-30." These are the identical volumes which
+it is our design in this article to notice.
+
+"_Facit indignatio versus_," exclaimed the old Roman satirist, and
+"indignation makes us write," would we exclaim, in assigning our motives
+for devoting a number of our pages to "France in 1829-30," could we for
+a moment be persuaded that our readers would credit the assertion. It
+seems to us, that we already behold every one of them smiling in
+derision, and giving an incredulous shake of the head, at the bare idea
+of a cold-blooded reviewer being actuated by indignant feelings to place
+his critical lance in rest, and run a course against an unfortunate
+author. We must, nevertheless, be permitted to protest, that we do feel
+a considerable quantity of very honest and virtuous indignation against
+the trash last put forth by _Miladi_--quite as much, we are sure, as
+impelled Juvenal to the composition of his searing satires. We may be
+told, however, that we are waging battle with a lady, and that we should
+be upon our guard not to give fresh cause for the exclamation, that "the
+age of chivalry is gone." A lady, true; but, when in your boasted "age
+of chivalry," persons of her sex buckled on armour and rushed into the
+_melée_, were they spared by the courteous knights with whom they
+measured swords? Did not Clorinda receive her death wound from the hand
+of Tancred? And why should the Amazon who wields the pen, be more gently
+dealt with than she who meddles with cold iron? In literature, as in
+war, there is no distinction of sex. We hope, therefore, we shall not be
+accused of ungallant, or anti-chivalric bearing, on account of the blows
+we may inflict upon the literary person of a most daring Thalestris,
+especially as her vanity is a panoply of proof.
+
+In her preface, Lady M. says, that a second work on France from her pen
+could only be justified by the novelty of its matter, or by the merit of
+its execution. Then do we pronounce this second work, this "France in
+1829-30," to be the most unjustifiable imposition on the good nature of
+the reading community that ever was practised. Its matter is nothing
+more nor less than Miladi herself; and is she a novelty? Something less
+than half a century ago, her Ladyship undoubtedly was a novelty, and one
+too of an extraordinary kind. As to the "merit of its execution," it is
+quite sufficient to know that it is the work of Lady Morgan, to form an
+idea of that requisite for its "justification." Out of thine own mouth
+have we condemned thee. The fact is, that "France in 1829-30," is
+almost, the counterpart of "France in 1816," and the same remarks may
+be made concerning it which we have already applied to the latter. All
+the information we could discover we had obtained from it on finishing
+its perusal, was that its author had improved in neither wisdom,
+knowledge, nor modesty, since her first visit to the land after which
+both of these productions have been christened. France! and what right
+have they to that name? Would it not induce one to suppose, that their
+author had at least travelled through the greater portion of that
+beautiful country, and eked out a number of her pages from the notes,
+such as they might be, made during the tour? And yet her Ladyship, on
+both occasions, went to Paris by the high road of Calais, remained in
+the capital a few months, and then returned by another high road. Even
+"Paris in 1816," "Paris in 1829-30," would be titles with which these
+publications would possess scarcely more affinity, than that by which
+children, on whom the preposterous fondness of their parents has
+bestowed the high-sounding appellations of warriors and monarchs, are
+connected with those worthies. Their only appropriate names would be,
+"Lady Morgan in 1816," "Lady Morgan in 1829-30;" for what information do
+they give about France or Paris, and what information do they _not_ give
+about Lady Morgan? they even let us into the secrets of her Ladyship's
+wardrobe. It was Paris that saw Lady Morgan, and not Lady Morgan that
+saw Paris, in the same way as, according to Dr. Franklin, it was
+Philadelphia that took Sir William Howe, and not Sir William Howe that
+took Philadelphia.
+
+To collect materials for a book of travels, it is necessary to be all
+eyes and ears with regard to every thing but one's self. Her Ladyship,
+however, was just the reverse throughout the whole period of her absence
+from Kildare street,--it seems always to have been her object to
+attract, and not to bestow, attention. In the volumes before us, it is
+her perpetual endeavour to win admiration by making known the admiration
+she entertains for herself, as well as that which she supposes she
+excites in others. They are consequently, in great measure, filled with
+what was said to Lady Morgan, and what Lady Morgan did and said during
+her last visit to Paris. While discoursing about anything else than
+herself, she appears to be on thorns until she gets back to that all
+absorbing subject, and no matter what is the title of the chapter, she
+generally contrives, by hook or by crook, to bring herself into it as
+the main object of interest. The poor reader is thus often sadly
+disappointed in the expectations he may form of deriving pleasure or
+information from various parts of her work, in consequence of the
+promises held out by their "headings." He almost always eventually
+discovers, that however he may have been induced to anticipate a meeting
+with other persons or matters, it is still "Monsieur Tonson come
+again." We must confess, that it is rather too bad to be _Morbleued_ in
+this way; though it is but fair to acknowledge, that her Ladyship is not
+an intentional tormentor, like the malicious wags by whom the
+unfortunate Frenchman was teased out of house and home. On the contrary,
+her design is one altogether consonant to the general benevolence of her
+character. It is to give pleasure; and as her greatest delight arises
+from the contemplation of herself, she has presumed, naturally enough if
+we may believe the philosophers, that the same cause will produce the
+same effect upon the rest of the world. All her pictures, therefore,
+like those of the painter who doated upon his mistress to such a degree
+as to introduce her face into every one of his works, contain the object
+of her idolatry, either prominently in the foreground, or so ingeniously
+placed in the background, as to be quite as well fitted to draw
+attention.--But it is time to follow her in some of her peregrinations.
+
+On a certain day of the year 1829, which she has not had the goodness to
+designate, she arrived at Calais. She was accompanied by an Irish
+footman,--not, we presume, the "_illiterate literatus_," whom she has
+immortalized in her first "France,"--and by a person whom she once or
+twice alludes to in her volumes; first, by acknowledging her obligations
+to a "Sir C. M." for some articles which had been contributed by him to
+swell the dimensions of her work; and, secondly, by mentioning that
+somebody sent a "flask of genuine _potteen_," to her Ladyship's great
+delight, "with Mr. Somebody's compliments to Sir C. M." As there is an
+individual designated once or twice also as "my husband," we have shrewd
+suspicions that he and this Sir C. M. are one and the same being. The
+first thing that Miladi does at Calais, is to experience a "burst of
+agreeable sensations;" and the next, to feel a considerable degree of
+surprise at being delighted again with that renowned place--renowned for
+having been several times visited by Lady Morgan, besides other minor
+causes of celebrity, such as its sieges, and its having been the place
+where Yorick commenced his sentimental journey; but these have been
+completely forgotten since the year 1816. After her "little heart" had
+been fluttered by those agreeable and wonderful sensations, the nature
+of its palpitations was unfortunately changed by the indignation with
+which it was filled on her discovering "how English" every thing
+appeared. "English carpets, and English cleanliness; English delf and
+English damask," with various other _Englishiana_, gave such a John Bull
+aspect to the room of the hotel into which she was ushered, that she was
+on the point of swooning, when her ears were suddenly assailed by a loud
+sound--Gracious heavens! What noise is that? Her delicate little head
+is in a twinkling thrust out of the window, and she beholds,--oh horror
+of horrors--she beholds a mail-coach, built on the regular English plan,
+cantering into the yard, with all its concomitants completely _à
+l'Anglaise_--"horses curvetting, and not a hair turned--a whip that
+'tips the silk' like a feather--'ribbons,' not ropes--a coachman, all
+capes and castor--a guard that cries 'all right,'" and who was at that
+moment puffing most manfully into a "reg'lar mail-coach horn." This was
+too much, and her Ladyship would inevitably have been driven distracted,
+or, at least, have gone into hysterics, had not a most delicious idea
+interposed its aid, and she exclaimed, "What luck to have written _my_
+France, while France was still so French!"--and what luck, say we, to
+have so commodious a safety-valve as vanity, by means of which to let
+off the superabundant steam of one's ire!
+
+Now, as to her Ladyship's having written her "France," while _France_
+was still "so French," this we do not deny; but we do deny that _her_
+France itself is "so French." It would be an affair of some considerable
+difficulty, in our humble opinion, to find any thing French either about
+it or the "France" we are now reviewing, except their titles, and
+innumerable scraps of the French language, not unfrequently so expressed
+and so applied that they would do honour to Mrs. Malaprop herself.
+
+Lady M.'s fondness for generalizing, has led her to relate this
+apparition of the "Bang-up" in such a way as would induce any one who
+did not know better, to suppose that the "Coach" had entirely superseded
+the "Diligence" upon the French roads. Truly would such a change be a
+cause of regret; for the traveller in France would thus be deprived of a
+fruitful source of amusement. But we have the pleasure of announcing,
+for the satisfaction of such of our readers as may entertain the design
+of paying a visit to that country, that the coach which Lady Morgan saw,
+was the only vehicle of the kind with which her eyes could have been
+annoyed. We speak _understandingly_ on the subject, as we happened to be
+in France about the same time as her Ladyship. This coach, which, if we
+recollect aright, was called the Telegraph, and not the "Bang-up," was a
+speculation of some Englishman, who ran it for a short time between
+Boulogne and Calais, but without much success. The old national vehicle
+had too strong a hold upon the affections of the most national people in
+the world, to be pushed from the field by any foreign opponent, and the
+slow, sure, and comfortable Diligence kept on the even tenor of its way,
+while the dashing, rapid Telegraph arrived prematurely at the end of its
+journeying.
+
+We do not deem ourselves competent to decide upon so momentous a subject
+as the respective merits of the English and French stages, to give them
+our technical appellation; but it may be remarked as perhaps somewhat
+singular, that with regard to comfort--a matter respecting which the
+French are as noted for their general heedlessness as the English are
+for their almost uniform concern--the Diligence can lay claim to
+unquestionable superiority over the coach. On the other hand, the coach
+is constructed in such a way as to possess far greater facilities for
+rapidity of locomotion,--a quality which it might be supposed the quick
+vivacious temperament of the French would especially prize in their
+conveyances. As to appearance also, the English vehicle is certainly a
+good deal better off than the French. Nothing, indeed, that a stranger
+may have heard or read about the latter, can prepare him for it
+sufficiently, to prevent him on first beholding it from giving way to
+something more than a smile. It is not, however, so much the mere
+machine itself that operates upon his risible faculties, as the whole
+equipage, or _atalage_,--the scare-crow horses, that seem to have been
+once the property of the keeper of some museum by whom their bones have
+been linked together and covered with skin as well as they might be,
+without inserting something between as a substitute for flesh; the
+non-descript gear by which these living anatomies are kept together and
+attached to the vehicle, composed of rope, leather, iron, steel, brass,
+and every thing else that could by any possibility be used for the
+purpose; the queer-looking postillion, with his long cue, huge boots,
+and pipe, all combine with the grotesque appearance of the Diligence
+itself, to form an _ensemble_ irresistibly ludicrous.
+
+What a difference, too, there is in the facility with which they get
+"under weigh." One crack of the coachman's whip, causes his fine animals
+to give "a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull together," and away you
+whirl in an instant. But the traveller in France does not find starting
+so easy a matter. He gets into the Diligence; every thing seems ready.
+The passengers are all in their places, and have saluted each other with
+true French politeness, except some gruff John Bull sitting in a corner
+seat and eyeing his associates with mingled scorn and distrust--the five
+or six apologies for horses are standing in an attitude of the greatest
+patience, waiting for the signal to make an attempt at putting one foot
+before the other--the _conducteur_, a person who has the supreme
+direction of the movements of the Diligence, is in his place on the
+top--the boots in which the legs of the postillion are buried, are
+dangling on both sides of the wheel horse on the left--crack! goes his
+whip--a jingling sound responds, caused by the endeavours of the
+"cattle" to advance--"mais que diable"--crack! crack! crack!--something
+like motion is experienced, when there is a sudden stop, and the
+conducteur is seen descending from his eminence, muttering sundry
+expressions of no very gentle nature--"what the devil's the matter now,"
+growls a more than bass voice out of one window--"qu'est ce que c'est,
+conducteur," simultaneously demand a treble and a tenor from another
+window--"rien, Madame," the answer is always addressed to the lady,
+"rien du tout," he replies whilst endeavouring to repair some part of
+the "rigging" that could not stand the efforts of the poor beasts to
+move from their position. At length, however, you get fairly under
+weigh, with about a four knot breeze, and continue to make some progress
+for an hour or two amidst a noise caused by the rumbling of the vehicle,
+the creaking, jingling, rattling, and clanking, of the _atalage_, the
+unceasing crack of the whip, and the chattering of your companions, to
+which the sounds at Babel were music. The movement then becomes
+_adagio_, and soon afterwards the conducteur's voice is heard, begging
+the passengers in all parts of the vehicle to descend. Wondering what is
+the matter, you get out with the rest, and find the cause of this
+commotion to be a _grande Montagne_--anglicè, a little hill--in mounting
+which, the tender care that is taken of the animals upon the road,
+however much the state of their flesh shows it is diminished in the
+stable, renders it indispensable that they should be relieved of every
+possible weight. To this inconvenience you are subjected on approaching
+almost every little elevation, the like of which in England or the
+United States, would not cause the slightest diminution of speed. But it
+must be confessed, that occasionally, a hill is to be passed of a
+magnitude which the steeds could never surmount without diminishing
+their load, and then the notice that is said to have been affixed to one
+of the Diligences, may very well be appended to all. "MM. les voyageurs,
+sont priés, quand ils descendent, de ne pas aller plus vite que la
+voiture:" passengers are requested, when they descend, not to go faster
+than the vehicle. A most necessary request! La Fontaine, when he wrote
+the fable in which he gives an account of a vehicle ascending a steep
+eminence, and the exertions of a fly to assist the horses, must have
+just returned from some excursion in a Diligence, during which he was
+witness to the creeping, toiling, panting of the animals pulling it up a
+hill. Pauvres diables! as the women are constantly exclaiming, a fly
+might really lend them some aid in their efforts. About every eight
+miles, fresh horses are in readiness, but the change is rarely for the
+better,--for the worse it cannot be.
+
+It is only on the road that the postillions drive slowly; when they
+enter a town it is a sort of signal for them to dash on at a furious
+rate, notwithstanding the danger of going rapidly through streets which
+are little better than alleys, and in which there are no side-pavements
+to mark the limits for pedestrians. We never before experienced such
+philanthropic alarm for the safety of our fellow-mortals, as on the
+evening of our arrival in Paris, whilst whirling at a furious rate
+through its narrow streets, which were thronged with people, when it was
+so dark that their ears alone could give them warning to get out of the
+way. No accident, however, occurred. The French drivers, it must be
+confessed, though not very elegant or stylish "whips," are very sure;
+they contrive to guide the immense Diligences through the crowded
+labyrinths of a large city with wonderful safety, notwithstanding the
+swiftness with which they generally pass through them, and the loose
+manner in which the horses are linked together.
+
+But where did we leave our Ladyship? Oh, with her head out of the window
+of the hotel, saying something about _her_ France and the other France.
+We really beg her pardon for keeping her so long in such a situation,
+and hasten to relieve her from it, by placing her, together with Sir C.
+M. and the Irish footman, in a,--but here again we are at fault. She has
+not had the kindness to inform us what was the species of conveyance
+that she consecrated to eternal veneration by employing for her journey
+to Paris, and as we have neither time nor space for an adequate
+investigation of this important point, we must leave it to be mooted by
+other commentators, contenting ourselves with the knowledge that the
+illustrious trio arrived safely at the capital.
+
+On reaching the hotel in the Rue de Rivoli, which she had resolved upon
+immortalizing by residing in it during her sojourn in Paris, she was
+again fearfully agitated by that dreadful fondness for things English,
+in France, by which her nervous system had before been so greatly
+discomposed. Woful to relate, she was received by "a smart, dapper,
+English-innkeeper-looking landlord," and conducted to apartments "which
+were a box of boudoirs, as compact as a Chinese toy." "There were
+carpets on every floor, chairs that were moveable, mirrors that
+reflected, sofas to sink on, footstools to stumble over; in a word, all
+the incommodious commodities of my own cabin in Kildare street." Poor
+Miladi! this was really too provoking, to have all the trouble and
+expense of journeying from Dublin to see just what was to be seen there;
+but no matter, it will serve for the subject of some twenty pages in
+your intended book. But then the change, so trying to the nerves of a
+romantic lady, which had taken place since 1816. In that year, she
+remembered, on driving into the paved court of the hotel d'Orleans, she
+had seen "an elderly gentleman, sitting under the shelter of a vine, and
+looking like a specimen of the restored emigration. His white hair,
+powdered and dressed _à l'oiseau royale_; his Persian slippers and _robe
+de chambre, à grand ramage_, (we hope, reader, you have a French
+dictionary near you) spoke of principles as old as his toilet. He was
+reading, too, a loyal paper, loyal, at least, in those days,--the
+_Journal des Débats._ Bowing, as we passed, he consigned us, with a
+graceful wave of the hand, to the care of Pierre, the _frotteur_. I took
+him for some fragment of a _duc et pair_ of the old school; but, on
+putting the question to _the frotteur_, who himself might have passed
+for a _figurante_ at the opera, he informed us that he was '_Notre
+bourgeois_,' the master of the hotel." It is quite wonderful to us how
+Miladi could have survived to relate so shocking a metamorphosis. Ovid
+has nothing half so strange and heart-rending.
+
+The instances we have mentioned are far from being the only ones in
+which her Ladyship was "put out of sorts" by the Anglomania, which, she
+would make us believe, is operating at present as great a revolution in
+the social, as was effected in '98 in the political condition of France.
+All along the road from Calais to Paris, she sees nothing but "youths
+galloping their horses in the cavalry costume of Hyde Park," "smart gigs
+and natty dennets," "cottages of gentility, with white walls and green
+shutters, and neat offices, rivalling the diversified orders of the
+Wyatvilles of Islington and Highgate," in short, nothing but "English
+neatness and propriety on every side," with one terrible exception,
+however, "an Irish jaunting car!" of which she chanced, to her infinite
+dismay, to catch a glimpse. The second appearance that she makes in the
+streets of Paris, is for the purpose of buying some "_bonbons_,
+_diablotins en papillotes_, _Pastilles de Nantes_, and other sugared
+prettinesses," for which Parisian confectioners are so renowned.
+Accordingly, she goes into a shop where she supposes that "fanciful
+idealities, sweet nothings, candied epics and eclogues in spun sugar, so
+light, and so perfumed as to resemble (was there ever such nonsense)
+congealed odours, or a crystallization of the essence of sweet flowers,"
+are to be sold, but on inquiry she is told by a "demoiselle behind the
+counter, as neat as English muslin and French (what a wonder it wasn't
+English) _tournure_ could make her," that 'we sell no such a ting,' but
+that she might have 'de cracker, de bun, de plom-cake, de spice
+gingerbread, de mutton and de mince pye, de crompet and de muffin, de
+gelée of de calves foot, and de apple dumplin.' Reader, Lady Morgan "was
+struck dumb!" She purchased a bundle of crackers, "hard enough to
+_crack_ the teeth of an elephant," and hurried from the shop. But
+misfortunes never come single, and her ladyship, though an exception to
+most other general rules, was not destined to prove the correctness of
+that one in this instance, for just as she was escaping from the place
+where she had experienced the serious inconvenience of being "struck
+dumb," she was struck in another way--viz. on the left cheek, by the
+explosion of a bottle of "Whitbread's entire," the consequence of which
+was, that the exterior of her head became covered with precisely the
+same thing with which its interior is filled--"froth."--
+
+Foaming with rage and brown-stout, her Ladyship was hastening home as
+fast as her "little feet" could carry her, when a perfumer's shop
+"caught the most acute of all her senses."--What a delightful mode, by
+the way, her ladyship has, of imparting knowledge _en passant_, as it
+were; here we have the important information communicated to us, that
+her "acutest sense" is situated in her nose, just because she happened
+to pass by a perfumery store; but what a nose her ladyship's nose must
+be, since it is endowed with more wonderful faculties than her eyes,
+which possess such miraculous powers as to enable her to see things in
+France perceptible by no other mortal optics! But to proceed with our
+dismal story. Her ladyship's olfactory nerves, as we have already
+mentioned, having made her aware of the proximity of a perfumer's shop,
+she was induced to go into it by the desire of procuring something which
+might relieve them from the torture produced by the exhalations of
+'Whitbread's entire.' But here again she was doomed to disappointment.
+She asked for various "_eaux_, _essences_, and _extraits_," and was
+presented with bottles of "_lavendre vatre_, _honey vatre_, and _tief
+his vinaigre_;" she asked for _savons_, and was shown cakes of "_Vindsor
+soap_," and "_de Regent's vashball_." In an agony of despair, she rushes
+from the shop, first taking care, however, to "gather up her purse and
+reticule," and soon arrives at her--alas! English furnished apartments.
+After stumbling over a footstool, and being incommoded by other
+"incommodious commodities," she at length sinks exhausted upon a sofa,
+just opposite to a "mirror that reflected." But what other singular
+looking object, besides Miladi's face, is it that forms a subject of
+that glass's reflections, and is lying on a table just behind her? It is
+a little basket, the contents of which her ladyship soon begins to
+investigate,--and what do you suppose she finds?--"A flask of _genuine
+potteen_!!" This time she is struck loquacious, and she shrieks out,
+"this is too much! was it for this we left the snugness and economical
+comfort of our Irish home, and encountered the expensive inconveniencies
+of a foreign journey, in the hope of seeing nothing British, 'till the
+threshold of that home should be passed by our feet;'--to meet at every
+step with all that taste, health, and civilization (exemplified by
+'lavendre vatre,' 'vindsor soap,' and 'a flask of _potteen_,') we cry
+down at home, as cheap and as abundant abroad," &c. &c. The piercing key
+on which her Ladyship pitched her voice while declaiming this
+magnificent soliloquy, brought Sir C. M., the Irish footman, and the
+English-looking landlord into the room, in a terrible flurry. "My
+dearest dear what is the matter?"--"Och! my leddy, what is it now that
+ails you?"--"_Ah! madame, mille pardons, qu'est ce que c'est?_"
+simultaneously issue from the mouths of the three worthies. "Avaunt! get
+out of my sight, you _maudit imitateur_; and you Sir Charles, _et vous_,
+Patrick, see that _tout est preparé_ for returning to Dublin _dans
+l'heure même_," meekly responds Miladi. But a sudden change comes over
+her countenance--sudden as that which took place in the aspect of Juno
+when she beheld the waves raised to the very heavens by the power of
+Neptune, and supposed that they had overwhelmed the bark which carried
+Æneas and his companions, the objects of her eternal hatred. She smiled,
+as the face of Nature smiles when the clouds that have long covered it
+with gloom, have disappeared before the potent influence of the
+"glorious orb that gives the day," and at length she rapturously cried
+out, "How lucky to have written _my_ France, while France was still so
+French!"--Lady Morgan was herself again.
+
+Now we beg leave to observe, that this Anglomania bugbear, by which her
+ladyship pretends to have been so much distressed, is the merest piece
+of nonsense and affectation in the world. We will not be so ungallant as
+to suppose that Lady Morgan has intentionally related what is not
+altogether so true as might be, but she has been accustomed for such a
+length of time to roam about the varied realms of fancy, that it would
+be impossible for her ever to descend to the flat regions of fact.
+Besides, as we have already stated, she has been gifted with powers of
+vision more surprising than those of the lynx or the seer--the first can
+only see through a stone, the second can only see things which may exist
+at a future day, when they will be visible to every one else--but she
+sees things existing at present, that defy the ken of all other animals,
+rational and irrational. While reading her account of the English
+vehicles, English cottages, &c. &c. which she observed in her journey
+from Calais to Paris, we could not help asking ourselves, where were our
+eyes during the time we travelled that road? We are satisfied, however,
+that they were in their right place, and tolerably well employed; and
+that if they did not encounter the signs of Anglomania mentioned by her
+Ladyship, it was because these were to be perceived by no one but
+herself. Wide indeed is the difference between travelling in France and
+England! The poet Grey, in one of his charming letters, affirms, that in
+the former country it would be the finest in the world, were it not for
+the terrible state of the inns; but it must have greatly deteriorated
+there, or have improved in his native isle since his time, for there can
+not be the slightest question as to the superior delights of journeying
+in the latter at present. The inns in France are still bad enough, in
+all conscience, and offer but a dreary welcome to one who has been
+accustomed to the neatness and comforts of English hostels. There are,
+however, various other particulars of importance for a traveller's
+enjoyment, which Shakspeare's "sea-walled garden" furnishes in by far
+the greater abundance. In France the roads are comparatively much
+inferior, and the general appearance of the country is less pleasing.
+You meet there with few or none of those detached farm-houses, with
+their little dependencies of cottages, which everywhere greet the eye in
+England, bespeaking the honest and well-conditioned yeoman, and
+presenting a picture of prosperity and contentment,--the villages
+through which you pass, mostly wear a decayed and squalid
+appearance--the magnificent country-seats, with their parks and other
+appurtenances, whose frequent recurrence in England constitutes so rich
+a feast for the gaze of the stranger, are rarely rivalled in France--the
+landscape here, also, is much seldomer able to borrow that venerable
+grace and romantic charm which the remains of feudal ages alone can
+lend. This last circumstance is one greatly to be regretted; for perhaps
+the most exquisite gratification to be derived from travelling through a
+country, where for centuries civilization in a greater or less degree
+has exercised sway, arises from the contemplation of the various
+monuments of by-gone days, some slowly mouldering into dust, others
+still proudly defying the assaults of the great destroyer. The mind
+dwells upon them with a species of pensive delight, and that peculiar
+charm which their association with the fictions and annals of times past
+inspires. It would seem, that France should be especially rich in the
+relics of that feudalism of which for a long time it was the chief seat,
+but a reason for their scantiness may be found in the policy which
+caused Louis XI., and which was subsequently pursued by Richelieu, and
+completed by Louis le Grand, to call the nobles from their estates,
+where they exercised almost sovereign authority, to the capital, and
+convert them into mere hangers on of the court--in the destructive
+hostilities which have almost incessantly desolated the kingdom--and
+especially in the determined war that was made upon castles by the
+patriots of the Revolution. These, at all events, are the causes which
+Sir Walter Scott, in his "Paul's Letters to his Kinsfolk," assigns for
+the circumstance we are lamenting. The first one of them had also been
+previously intimated by that worthy personage, the father of Tristram
+Shandy,--"Why are there so few palaces and gentlemen's seats, (he would
+ask with some emotion, as he walked across the room,) throughout so many
+delicious provinces in France? Whence is it that the few remaining
+_chateaux_ amongst them are so dismantled, so unfurnished, and in so
+ruinous and desolate a condition?--Because, sir, (he would say,) in that
+kingdom no man has any country-interest to support:--the little interest
+of any kind which any man has anywhere in it, is concentrated in the
+court, and the looks of the Grand Monarch; by the sunshine of whose
+countenance, or the clouds which pass across it, every Frenchman lives
+or dies." This, however, is certainly not the case with Frenchmen of the
+present day.
+
+But the principal drawback upon the pleasure of travelling in France, is
+decidedly the multitude of mendicants by whom you are continually
+annoyed, and whose miserable appearance offends the eye, while it
+sickens the heart. Scarcely ever does the vehicle stop without being
+immediately surrounded by the most distressing objects that the mind can
+conceive, in such numbers as to render it impossible for any one except
+the possessor of Fortunatus's or Rothschild's purse, to bestow alms,
+however inconsiderable, upon them all. A humane individual, who should
+attempt to do it, with a pocket of but moderate dimensions, would soon
+be reduced to the necessity of enrolling himself in the mendicant band,
+and crying out with the rest of them, in their peculiar tone, "_Donnez
+un sous, à un pauvre malheureux, pour l'amour de Dieu, et de la Sainte
+Vierge_." "Give a sous to a poor unfortunate, for the love of God and of
+the Holy Virgin." The crowds of these beggars upon the French roads,
+lead the stranger to apprehend that in Paris they will swarm to such an
+extent as to mar in a degree the pleasure of his residence there; he is,
+however, agreeably disappointed at finding in his perambulations through
+its streets, that they are completely free from them, in consequence of
+the admirable regulations of the police. It is worthy of remark, that
+the reverse of this is the case in England. There the roads and villages
+rarely afford cause for the tear of compassion, or the exclamation of
+disgust, elicited by scenes of misery; but in walking about London, one
+must be made of sterner stuff than was sentimental Yorick, who can avoid
+endeavouring to repeat "Psha! with an air of carelessness," at almost
+every step, after being obliged to refuse infinitely stronger claims
+upon charity than those which were advanced by the poor Franciscan.
+
+We have thus enumerated most of the reasons why travelling in England is
+preferable to that in France, yet there is one circumstance to be
+remarked in favour of the latter, which almost counterbalances every
+consideration of an unfavourable kind. We allude to the facility with
+which a stranger can make acquaintance with his fellow passengers, in
+the "gay, smiling land of social mirth and ease." In England he may
+journey from Plymouth to Berwick without speaking more than ten words to
+any persons who chance to be his companions in the coach, or hearing ten
+words spoken by them if they happen not to know each other; but in a
+French public conveyance, only a short time elapses before all its
+occupants are as much at ease, and upon as good terms with each other,
+as if they were familiar acquaintances. Many a pleasant hour have we
+spent in a diligence, in consequence of the conversations we have fallen
+into with individuals whom we have there encountered, some of which were
+of a highly ludicrous character. We shall never forget a series of
+interrogatories put to us by a loquacious fellow next to whom we were
+seated in the diligence in going from Rouen to Paris, and who was about
+as ignorant as he was garrulous. Hearing us say, in answer to a question
+of another person, that we were from the United States, he asked us how
+we liked Italy; and on our telling him we had never been there, inquired
+with a face of great surprise, whether the United States was not on the
+other side of Italy? After endeavouring to give him an idea of the
+situation of our country, he asked successively, if we had crossed the
+ocean in a steam-boat, if the United States belonged to England or to
+France, and if Philadelphia was not the place where the great revolt of
+the Negroes took place. But we must return to her Ladyship, with the
+wish that she would contrive to render her company more agreeable, that
+we might have less temptation to wander from her at this rate.
+
+With regard to the English furniture of her Ladyship's apartments, and
+the English confectionaries and perfumeries which gave rise to the
+memorable adventures we have related above, we may remark that it may
+have been so ordained by fate that she should light upon one of the very
+few hotels, one of the very few confectionary shops, and one of the very
+few perfumery stores in Paris, in which matters are ordered in the
+English style; but to give us to understand, in consequence, that all
+the hotels are furnished in the same way, and that _bonbons_,
+_extraits_, &c. are not to be procured, is like the proceeding of the
+Hon. Frederick de Roos, R. N. who affirms, in his sapient work on the
+United States, that all the inhabitants in Philadelphia take tea on the
+steps before their doors in summer evenings, because, forsooth, he saw a
+family sitting on those of the house in which they lived, in order to
+enjoy a July twilight.
+
+One of the first things that her Ladyship does on the morning subsequent
+to her arrival, is to give notice to her friends of that important
+event,--a gratuitous piece of kindness altogether, as it seems to us,
+for it must doubtless have been announced by as many portentous signs as
+accompanied the birth of Owen Glendower. Nevertheless, in order to make
+assurance doubly sure, she despatched 'cards to some, and notes to
+others, after the Parisian fashion,' but previously indulged in a very
+pretty sentimental fit. This was caused by the first name that met her
+eye as she opened her 'old Paris visiting book for 1818'--that of Denon,
+"the page, minister, and _gentilhomme de la chambre_ of Louis XV., the
+friend of Voltaire, the intimate of Napoleon, the traveller and
+historian of Modern Egypt, the director of the _Musée_ of France," &c.
+&c., who, we are informed, used always to be so particularly delighted
+with her Ladyship's visits to Paris, that he was wont to hail them with
+his hand, and welcome them with a cordial smile. Alas! death had
+overtaken him, notwithstanding his friendship with Lady Morgan; and she
+could no longer expect his salutations. "Other hands were now extended,
+other smiles beamed now as brightly; but his were dimmed for ever!" How
+kind her Ladyship is! Fearing her readers might be distressed by the
+idea, that, in consequence of the decease of Denon, she might have been
+in some want of welcoming, she has taken the precaution of setting them
+at ease upon that point, by the above ingenious sentence. In mentioning
+the reasons of her intimacy with Denon, she employs language of a very
+singular kind, which, if maliciously interpreted to the letter, might
+subject her to uncomfortable remarks, though we are sure it is nothing
+but an effusion of gurgling vanity. It is an instance, however, to what
+a degree that sentiment, when extreme, gets the better of all sense of
+propriety and decorum. She says, that even if Denon had not been such a
+person as she describes him, "still, _he suited me, I suited him_. There
+was between us that sympathy, in spite of the disparity of years and
+talents, which, whether in trifles or essentials,--between the frivolous
+or the profound,--makes the true basis of _those ties, so sweet to bind,
+so bitter to break_!" It is well for Sir Charles Morgan's peace of mind,
+that he is acquainted, as he must be, with his wife's frivolity and
+egotism. How, indeed, he could have allowed her to come before the world
+with such phraseology in her mouth, we cannot imagine, unless on the
+supposition that he is such a husband as La Bruyère has described. "_Il
+ne sert dans sa famille qu' à montrer l'exemple, d'un silence timide et
+d'une parfaite soumission. Il ne lui est dû ni douaire ni conventions;
+mais à cela près, et qu'il n'accouche pas, il est la femme, et elle le
+mari._"
+
+After her Ladyship had "shuddered," and "felt as if she was throwing
+earth upon Denon's grave whilst drawing her pen across his precious and
+historical name," she spent about half an hour in weeping, "like a fair
+flower surcharged with dew," over the names of others of her departed
+friends, Guinguené, Talma, Langlois, Lanjuinais, &c., until she
+fortunately recollected that the climate of Paris is one that "developes
+a sensibility prompt, not deep." Lucky thought! She immediately threw
+down the visiting-book, threw up the window to let in the climate, wiped
+from her eyes the tears "which parted thence, as pearls from diamonds
+dropp'd," and began to think of "all that death had left her, of the
+'greater still behind,'--of friends, each in his way, a specimen of that
+genius and virtue, which, in all regions, and in all ages, make the _ne
+plus ultra_ of human excellence." Admire the delicacy of the method by
+which Miladi lets us into the secret of her being a _ne plus ultra_; it
+is not by a bold assertion, but by a modest inuendo. She keeps company
+with _ne plus ultras_--birds of the same feather flock together--ergo,
+she is a _ne plus ultra_ herself. And so she is, but in her own way.
+"_Il y a malheureusement_," observes a French writer of the present day
+"_plus d'une manière de se rendre célèbre_,"--"there is, unfortunately,
+more than one method of becoming celebrated,"--and as this writer is an
+acquaintance of Lady Morgan, we are half inclined to think he committed
+that sentence to paper after returning from a visit to _her_
+Celebrityship.
+
+We may as well cite here a few more instances of her ingenuity in
+communicating, obliquely, how distinguished a personage she is,--a
+quality she possesses in a degree that we do not recollect ever to have
+seen rivalled. We copy _verbatim_.
+
+     "The other day I dined in the Chaussée d'Antin, in that house
+     where it is always such a privilege to dine; where the wit of
+     the host, like the _menus_ of his table, combines all that is
+     best in French or Irish peculiarity; _and where the society is
+     chosen with reference to no other qualities than merit and
+     agreeability_."
+
+Speaking of the weekly assemblies at an eminent individual's house, at
+which she was a constant attendant, she says, they
+
+     "Are among the most select and remarkable in Paris.
+     Inaccessible to _commonplace mediocrity and pushing
+     pretension_, their visitor must be _ticketted_ in some way or
+     another" (by writing a "France," or an "Italy," for instance,)
+     "to obtain a presentation."
+
+With regard to another circle of which she was a large segment, she
+observes,--
+
+     "It is sufficient to have merit, agreeability, or the claims of
+     old acquaintance to belong to it, but, truth to tell, it is
+     still so far exclusive, that what Madame Roland calls
+     _l'universelle mediocrité_, gains no admission there."
+
+Again:--
+
+     "I happened one night at Gen. La Fayette's to say that I should
+     remain at home on the following morning, and the information
+     brought us a numerous circle of morning visitors; others
+     dropped in by chance, and some by appointment. From twelve till
+     four, my little salon was a congress composed of the
+     representatives of every vocation of arts, letters, science,
+     _bon ton_," (the Congress of Vienna was nothing to this,) "and
+     philosophy, in which, as in the Italian opera-boxes of Milan
+     and Naples, the comers and goers succeeded each other, as the
+     narrow limits of the space required that the earliest visitor
+     should make room for the last arrival."
+
+We might fill pages with similar specimens of her modesty, but we must
+proceed.
+
+The notes and cards being all despatched, authentic intelligence is at
+length diffused throughout Paris of her arrival, and such a commotion is
+forthwith excited as had never been seen even in that city of
+commotions, since the time the Giraffe made her entrée into it, and said
+to the gaping multitude, "_Mes amis, il n'y a qu'une bête de plus._"
+Perhaps the sensation might be excepted which was created by "Messieurs
+les Osages," the American deputation whose "France" has not yet, we
+believe, appeared in either hemisphere. The Rue de Rivoli was instantly
+crowded with "old friends" and "intimate acquaintances," _ne plus
+ultras_ included, besides various others anxious for the honour of an
+introduction, all striving who should get first into the "_Hôtel de la
+Terrasse_;" and such was the press of visits, dinner-parties, suppers,
+balls, &c. &c. that for a period her Ladyship could not, as she says,
+"find leisure to register a single impression for her own amusement, or
+haply for that of a world, which, it must be allowed, is not very
+difficult to amuse." In this sentiment we request leave, before going
+further, to record our unqualified concurrence, and also to state, that
+we know of no one from whom it could proceed with more propriety and
+weight than from Miladi. It has been, doubtless, expressed before, by
+various other book-makers, but never, we feel confident, by one whose
+career affords fuller evidence of its correctness, or who could adduce
+more forcible proofs in support of it, should they be required. In such
+case, the simple fact need only be cited, that "France in 1830" is the
+work of the same hand which indited "Ida of Athens," some twenty years
+previous, and which, during that interval, has furnished the world
+almost annually, with quartos, octavos, or duodecimos.
+
+The accounts that her Ladyship gives of the various festive
+entertainments of which she partook, constitute the matter of a large
+number of her pages. If it be true, however, that in order to observe
+well, one ought to screen one's self from observation, she could have
+had little opportunity of obtaining acquaintance with the constitution
+of French society; for, if we believe her own story, there was no social
+assemblage of any kind to which she went, where she was not the observed
+of every one, the centre of attraction, the nucleus of excellence. And
+what information is to be derived from her relation of a ball here, or a
+_soirée_ there, beyond the very interesting, highly important, and most
+credible intelligence, that as soon as the announcement of Lady Morgan's
+name falls upon the ears of the company, everything else is forgotten; a
+dead silence instantaneously takes place of the conversational hum that
+before prevailed; all eyes are directed towards the door; LADY MORGAN
+ENTERS; a buzz of admiration succeeds; she advances with a dignified air
+towards the hostess, or rather the hostess runs eagerly forward to meet
+her; she drops a romantic curtesy; she sits down; and thenceforward
+nothing is thought of by any of the guests but Miladi, and the pearls
+that fall from her lips. As the French are fond of forming _queues_, or
+files, for the purpose of avoiding confusion, when there is any great
+earnestness among a large collection of persons with regard to any
+object of curiosity, we can imagine the whole assemblage falling into
+one as soon as she takes her seat, and thus enjoying, each in turn, the
+coveted delight.--But we mistake; other information respecting French
+society is communicated, unwittingly however, by her Ladyship. It is
+this: that they are as fond of ridicule in 1830, as they were in 1816,
+and as they have ever been. We have little difficulty in believing, that
+her Ladyship received a vast deal of attention in Paris; still, we must
+confess, that it appears to us impossible not to be convinced, from her
+own story, that it was owing to a very different reason from the one to
+which it is attributed by her self-love. If there is any feature in the
+French character peculiarly salient or prominent, it is the love of
+ridicule. "Take care," said a lady to her son, who was on the eve of
+departure for his travels, "of the Inquisition at Madrid, of the mob at
+London, and of ridicule at Paris." Nothing that is at all calculated to
+excite an ironical smile or a sarcastic remark, escapes a "fasting
+Monsieur's" observation, and even the greatest virtues and genius, if
+combined with any quality which can afford matter for a joke, will
+scarcely prevent their possessor from being made a laughing-stock.
+Napoleon was so well aware of this propensity of his subjects, that he
+was prevented by it from placing his own figure in the car which
+surmounts the triumphal arch erected between the Court of the Tuileries
+and the Place du Carousal, being apprehensive that the wags would avail
+themselves of the opportunity thus afforded of punning at his
+expense--_le char le tient_--_le charlatan_. What a delectable tit-bit,
+consequently, for this appetite of the Parisians, must be a darling
+little philosopher in petticoats, (not quite sexagenary,) who dabbles in
+all sciences and arts, and is at the same time a pretender to the pretty
+affectations and hoydenish manners of a youthful belle! Such a person,
+especially if she possess that happy opinion of herself, which prevents
+her from having the slightest suspicion that she can be the object of
+anything but admiration with all, is regarded by them as a legitimate
+subject for a _mystification,_ which, in our vernacular, means
+_hoax_,--_elle se prête au ridicule_, as they say, she lends herself, as
+it were, to ridicule; and to be convinced that they know how to take
+consummate advantage of the loan, it is only necessary to glance over
+"France in 1830." Every one who does so will, we feel confident,
+understand in the same manner as ourselves, the meaning of that
+"brilliant welcome," which Miladi, with so much complacency, informs us
+she received "in the capital of European intellect." From beginning to
+end, these volumes afford almost continued specimens of perfection in
+the art of "quizzing," and may therefore be particularly indicated to
+such as are anxious to acquire proficiency in that way. We are glad
+that we have at length discovered a description of persons to whom we
+can conscientiously recommend the work we are reviewing, as calculated
+to afford desirable information.
+
+There is another cause, besides this fondness for ridicule, to which the
+_mystification_ of her Ladyship may be attributed. Whoever is at all
+acquainted with her writings, must be aware that she pretends to be a
+great republican, and to entertain a most orthodox horror of royalism
+and the appendages thereof, and that she has called the royalist party
+in France all the hard names she could find in the most approved
+collection of opprobrious epithets. This circumstance, it is easy to
+imagine, may have excited a slight desire of revenge in the breasts of
+some of the younger members of that party.
+
+In her very preface, we have an evidence of her having been the victim
+of as well concerted and admirably conducted a hoax, as was ever played
+off upon any one--it surpasses that which was put upon poor Malvolio in
+"Twelfth Night." After making the remark upon which we have already
+commented, that a second work on France from her pen could "alone be
+justified by the novelty of its matter, or by the merit of its
+execution," she says--
+
+     "It may serve, however, as an excuse, and an authentication of
+     the attempt, that I was called to the task by some of the most
+     influential organs of public opinion, in that great country.
+     They relied upon my impartiality (for I had proved it, at the
+     expense of proscription abroad, and persecution at home); and,
+     desiring only to be represented as they are, they deemed even
+     my humble talents not wholly inadequate to an enterprise whose
+     first requisite was the honesty that tells the truth, the whole
+     truth, and nothing but the truth."
+
+Oh you wicked wags! If the abolition of capital punishment be effected
+in France, we hope you will be specially excepted as unworthy of mercy
+for this cruel plot to make Miladi Morgan expose herself thus to the
+sneers of an ill-natured world. We think we see you in conclave,
+laughing and joking over an epistle you have just concocted and signed
+with the names of half a dozen of the leaders of the liberals, in which
+her Ladyship is earnestly conjured to cross the Irish and the English
+channels and hasten to Paris, in order to dispel by the effulgence of
+her intellectual rays, the mists and darkness that the fiend of ultraism
+had spread over the political horizon. Seriously speaking, we cannot
+divine any other than this or a similar manner of accounting for her
+Ladyship's assertion, that "she was called to the task by some of the
+most influential organs of public opinion in France;"--she would not
+certainly affirm what she knew to be false, and the idea that she did
+receive a bonâ fide request of the above purport from such individuals,
+is too absurd to command belief for a moment. Would any one in his
+senses, who is "desirous of being represented as he is," put in
+requisition the pencil of an artist by which he would be sure to be
+caricatured?
+
+The "persecution at home," that her Ladyship affects to have suffered,
+refers, we suppose, to sundry articles in the Quarterly Review and other
+Journals, in which she was rather roughly handled. We all know, however,
+what a pleasant thing it is to deem ourselves the objects of
+persecution, when it does not interfere with our profit--it is a
+flattering unction we love to lay to the soul, as it seems to augment
+our importance--and Miladi appears to have been highly delighted with
+the persecutions she has encountered. She is continually alluding to the
+attacks of the Quarterly, and whenever an opportunity occurs, favours us
+with extracts from them, and now and then she slips in some satirical
+observation concerning herself from the _Journal des Débats_. The
+different manner in which she has been treated by the Edinburgh and
+Quarterly Reviews, is an exemplification of the potent influence which
+party spirit exercises over those journals. In the latter, one or two of
+her works have been criticised with overwhelming power, and in a tone
+and spirit superlatively bitter. In the former, on the contrary, she is
+spoken of with studied lenity, although the Reviewer is obliged to
+confess that he is not one of her particular admirers, and seems to be
+perpetually restraining himself from indulging in the language of
+raillery and sarcasm. We need hardly add that the political principles
+which her Ladyship professes to entertain, are the main cause of this
+discrepancy. For our own part, we conscientiously believe that the
+English journal has not gone half so far beyond the truth as its Scotch
+rival has fallen short of it, in their respective strictures. With
+regard to the republican bursts of Lady Morgan, we cannot help
+suspecting that there is more affectation and cant in them than
+sincerity:--she is too anxious to let it be known that she is caressed
+every where by the _ne plus ultras_ of aristocracy and rank, as well as
+by those of intellect, and, at the same time, there is too much parade
+and ostentatious vehemence in her explosions against the royalist party.
+
+As to the other article which her Ladyship says she has received in
+exchange for her _impartiality!_--"proscription abroad,"--we feel pretty
+confident that it exists no where but in her own imagination. There it
+has, doubtless, been engendered by the malice of some ultra in disguise,
+who has made her Ladyship believe, that the Emperor of Austria, the
+Grand Signior, the King of Owyhee, and the other despots of the earth,
+have forbidden, on pain of racking, roasting, and every kind of torture,
+the importation of her books into their dominions, lest these should be
+revolutionized by them forthwith. Heaven defend us! we are very much
+afraid that Lady Morgan will set this world of ours on fire, somewhere
+about the time when it comes in contact with the comet. It is not mere
+supposition on our part that her Ladyship deems herself an object of
+dread to the Austrian government at least;--read what she says àpropos
+of the entrée of its ambassador into a ball-room where she was making
+all the lamps and candles hide their diminished heads. "When his
+Austrian excellence was announced, how I started, with all the weight of
+Aulic proscription on my head! The representative of the long-armed
+monarch of Hapsburg so near me,--of him, who, could he only once get his
+fidgetty fingers on my _little_ neck, would give it a twist, that would
+save his custom-house officers all future trouble of breaking carriages
+and harassing travellers, in search of the pestilent writings of 'Ladi
+Morgan.' I did not breathe freely, till his excellency had passed on
+with his glittering train, into the illumined conservatory, and was lost
+in a wilderness of flowering shrubs and orange trees." Ought not this
+ambassador to be recalled for his negligence, his want of loyalty, in
+not attempting to get his fingers about Miladi's 'little neck,' in order
+to restore his Imperial master to peace and tranquillity of mind? Poor
+Francis! still are you doomed to be _fidgetty_ on your throne. We think
+we see you receiving intelligence of the appearance of this last
+emanation from Ladi Morgan's untiring pen--a mortal paleness overspreads
+your face, as Metternich rushes into your presence with terror depicted
+in his countenance, articulating only "Ladi Morgan, Ladi Morgan," having
+just obtained himself a knowledge of the dreadful fact from an almost
+breathless courier--in an agony of suspense you gaze wildly at your
+faithful counsellor, until he has recovered composure sufficient to
+unfold to you the whole tale of horror. It is told! The monarch in whose
+hands are the lives of fifty millions of subjects, lies himself, to all
+appearance, deprived of existence. But see! he revives--his lips
+move--what are the words which fall faintly upon the ears of the
+bewildered attendants who have been called into the apartment by the
+cries of the prime minister? They are words of malediction, of the same
+purport as those which Henry II. of England uttered against his
+servants, for their want of zeal in allowing him to be so long tormented
+by Thomas à Becket, and which caused that prelate's death. But alas! for
+your repose, Imperial Cæsar, it is not so easy at the present day, as in
+former times, for de Luces and de Morevilles to gratify the vengeful
+wishes of their masters, and Lady Morgan yet breathes the breath of life
+(although it is true she did not do it "freely," according to her own
+account, while in the vicinity of your ambassador in Paris,) to keep
+your nervous system in disorder, and for the continued vexation of the
+rational part of the reading world.
+
+Multifarious are the other instances we might cite of the manner in
+which her simple Ladyship was _mystified_ by the ironical propensities
+of some, and the malicious ultraism of others, during her visit to Paris
+in 1829-30. "There are certain characters," observes M. Jouy, "who may
+be considered as the scourges of whatever is ridiculous (_les fleaux du
+ridicule_;) they discover it under whatever form it may be hid, and
+pitilessly immolate it with the weapon of irony," and into the hands of
+persons of this merciless tribe she seems to have been perpetually
+falling. We must content ourselves, however, with referring to but one
+example more; a conversation between herself and a young Frenchman,
+about Romanticism and Classicism, which she has detailed in her first
+volume. This is a subject, which, as every one must know, has set all
+Paris by the ears, and attracts almost as much attention there as the
+overthrow of one dynasty and the creation of another. Lady Morgan, of
+course, is a thorough-going _romantique_, and demonstrates the greater
+excellence of the school of which she deems herself the chief support
+and brightest ornament, in pretty much the same way as the superiority
+of modern writers over the ancients used to be proved by the advocates
+of the former, viz. by two methods, reason and example, the first of
+which they derived from their own taste, and the second from their own
+works. At the time she was delivered of her quarto about France in 1810,
+Paris was still immersed in classical darkness, and it may therefore be
+fairly inferred that the romantic light with which it has since been
+illumined, radiated from that same tome. What can be more natural? When
+she left France, "the word '_Romanticism_' was unknown (or nearly so) in
+the circles of Paris; the writers _à la mode_, whether ultra or liberal,
+were, or thought themselves to be, supporters and practisers of the old
+school of literature;" in the interval of her absence she published a
+work in which she told the Parisians that Racine was no poet, and gave
+them other valuable information of the kind, calculated to dispel their
+classical infatuation:--when she returned, every thing was changed;
+poets and prosers were vieing with each other in gloriously offending
+against all rules and canons; Romanticism, in short, was, as she
+asserts, completely the order of the day. The classical wrath of one man
+was the source of unnumbered woes to ancient Greece, and why may not the
+romantic wrath of one woman--a woman too, who keeps autocrats and
+sultans _fidgetty_ on their thrones, be the cause of a change in the
+literature of a country? This change, at all events, however it may have
+been operated, seems to have inspired her with additional courage in her
+assaults, and additional fury in her anathemas upon the poor French
+authors whom the ignorant world has hitherto been in the habit of
+regarding as objects of admiration. She now asserts, in "France in
+1829-30," that the whole classic literature of that country is "feeble
+and unuseful," nay, even fitted to "enervate and degrade;" and in a
+wonderfully luminous chapter about modern literature, she has shown as
+clearly as Hudibras could have proved by "force of argument" that "a
+man's no horse," that Classicism is the ally of despotism, and that it
+was the policy of arbitrary power to encourage a fondness for the
+ancient authors!
+
+Fiercely romantic, however, as her Ladyship is, she is mild as a cooing
+dove in comparison with the male interlocutor in the famous conversation
+to which we have alluded. This personage completely out-herods Herod;
+but that he was an ultra in disguise, endeavouring to make her Ladyship
+write down absurdities, is a conviction which 'fire and water could not
+drive out of' us;--even she, herself, at one period of the dialogue, can
+not help doubting whether she "is or is not the subject of what in
+England is called a hoax, and in France a _mystification_," and when
+_she_ doubts upon such a point, it would be extremely difficult for any
+one else not to deem it a matter of certainty. Had we space sufficient,
+we should transcribe the whole of this colloquy, as it deserves
+repetition; but we can only give a small specimen of it for the
+amusement of our readers. The gentleman having informed Miladi, that
+Racine, Corneille, and Voltaire, are "dethroned monarchs," and no longer
+tolerated at the Theatre, she asks him what is to be seen or heard
+there, to which he answers:--
+
+     "'Our great historic dramas, written not in pompous
+     Alexandrines, but in prose, the style of truth, the language of
+     life and nature, and composed boldly, in defiance of Aristotle
+     and Boileau. Their plot may run to any number of acts, and the
+     time to any number of nights, months, or years; or if the
+     author pleases, it may take in a century, or a millennium: and
+     then, for the place, the first scene may be laid in Paris, and
+     the last in Kamschatka. In short, France has recovered her
+     literary liberty, and makes free use of it.'
+
+     "'_Oui da!_' I rejoined, a little bothered, and not knowing
+     well what to say, but still looking very wise, 'In fact, then,
+     you take some of those liberties, that you used to laugh at, in
+     our poor Shakspeare?'
+
+     "'Your _poor_ Shakspeare! your divine, immortal Shakspeare, the
+     idol of new France!--you must see him played _textuellement_ at
+     the _Français_, and not in the diffuse and feeble parodies of
+     Ducis.'
+
+     "'Shakspeare played _textuellement_ at the _Français_!" I
+     exclaimed--'_O, par exemple!_'
+
+     "'Yes, certainly. Othello is now in preparation; and Hamlet and
+     Macbeth are stock pieces. But even your Shakspeare was far from
+     the truth, the great truth, that the drama should represent the
+     progress, development, and accomplishment of the natural and
+     moral world, without reference to time or locality. Unknown to
+     himself, his mighty genius was mastered by the fatal prejudices
+     and unnatural restrictions of the _perruques_ of antiquity.
+     Does nature unfold her plots in five acts? or confine her
+     operations to three hours by the parish clock?'
+
+     "'Certainly not, Monsieur; but still....'
+
+     "'_Mais, mais, un moment, chère Miladi._ The drama is one great
+     illusion of the senses, founded on facts admitted by the
+     understanding, and presented in real life, past or present.
+     When you give yourself up to believe that Talma was Nero, or
+     Lafont Britannicus, or that the Rue Richelieu is the palace of
+     the Cæsars, you admit all that at first appears to outrage
+     possibility. Starting, then, from that point, I see no
+     absurdity in the tragedy, which my friend Albert de S---- says
+     he has written for the express purpose of trying how far the
+     neglect of the unities may be carried. The title and subject of
+     this piece is "the Creation," beginning from Chaos (and what
+     scenery and machinery it will admit!) and ending with the
+     French revolution; the scene, infinite space; and the time,
+     according to the Mosaic account, some 6000 years.'
+
+     "'And the protagonist, Monsieur? Surely you don't mean to
+     revive the allegorical personages in the mysteries of the
+     middle ages?'
+
+     "'_Ah ça! pour le protagoniste, c'est le diable._ He is the
+     only contemporaneous person in the universe that we know of,
+     whom in these days of _cagoterie_ we can venture to bring on
+     the stage, and who could be perpetually before the scene, as a
+     protagonist should be. He is particularly suited, by our
+     received ideas of his energy and restlessness, for the
+     principal character. The devil of the German patriarch's
+     _Faust_ is, after all, but a profligate casuist; and the high
+     poetical tone of sublimity of Milton's Satan is no less to be
+     avoided in a delineation that has truth and nature for its
+     inspiration. In short, the devil, the true romantic devil, must
+     speak, as the devil would naturally speak, under the various
+     circumstances in which his immortal ambition and ceaseless
+     malignity may place him. In the first act, he should assume the
+     tone of the fallen hero, which would by no means become him
+     when in corporal possession of a Jewish epileptic, and
+     bargaining for his _pis aller_ in a herd of swine. Then again,
+     as a leader of the army of St. Dominick, he should have a
+     fiercer tone of bigotry, and less political _finesse_, than as
+     a privy councillor in the cabinet of the Cardinal de Richelieu.
+     At the end of the fourth act, as a guest at the table of Baron
+     Holbach, he may even be witty; while as a minister of police,
+     he should be precisely the devil of the schoolmen, leading his
+     victim into temptation, and triumphing in all the petty
+     artifices and verbal sophistries of a bachelor of the Sorbonne.
+     But as the march of intellect advances, this would by no means
+     be appropriate; and before the play is over, he must by turns
+     imitate the _patelinage_ of a Jesuit _à robe courte_, the
+     pleading of a procureur général, the splendid bile of a deputy
+     of the _côté droit_, and should even talk political economy
+     like an article in the 'Globe.' But the author shall read you
+     his piece--'_La Création! drame Historique et Romantique_, in
+     six acts, allowing a thousand years to each act. _C'est l'homme
+     marquant de son siècle._''
+
+     "'But,' said I, 'I shall remain in Paris only a few weeks, and
+     he will never get through it in so short a time.'
+
+     "'_Pardonnez moi, madame_, he will get through it in six
+     nights--the time to be actually occupied by the performance; an
+     act a night, to be distributed among the different theatres in
+     succession, beginning at the _Français_ and ending at the
+     _Ambigu_.'"
+
+It is here that her Ladyship begins to doubt whether this romantic
+gentleman was not hoaxing her, and certes it was time; but 'melt and
+disperse ye spectre doubts!' an attempt to hoax Lady Morgan, impossible!
+They do quickly pass away, and the conversation is pursued in the same
+strain, until "Monsieur de ---- one of the conscript fathers of
+classicism" is announced. No sooner has his name passed the lips of the
+servant, than the romantic gentleman snatches up his hat, and endeavours
+to make an exit from the room, in as much consternation as if the
+"protagonist" himself were about to appear. But Monsieur de ---- the
+classicist, enters before he can escape; "he draws up." The two then
+"glanced cold looks at each other, bowed formally, and the romanticist
+retired, roughing his wild locks, and panting like a hero of a tragedy."
+What a picture! We venture to affirm, however, that had an attentive
+observer been present, he would have seen something like a wink or a
+covert glance passing between the two worthies as they enacted the above
+scene, which might have led him to suspect that they knew each other
+better than Miladi supposed: it was only on the previous evening, be it
+stated, on her own authority, that she had made the acquaintance of the
+romanticist, whom she describes as having "something of an exalté in his
+air, in his open shirt collar, black head, and wild and melancholy
+look." The dialogue that ensues with the classicist after the
+disappearance of the other, is quite as ridiculous as the foregoing one,
+and quite as well calculated to give her Ladyship a fit of the "doubts,"
+though it does not appear that she suffered by them a second time. We
+may mention, before leaving this subject, that when the romanticist told
+her, in the extract we have just made, that Othello was in preparation
+for the _Theâtre Français_, he told her truth; but, if we are not very
+much mistaken, the other piece of information he communicated--that
+Hamlet and Macbeth are stock-tragedies at that theatre--could only have
+been related by a gentleman of great fertility of imagination. Othello,
+we know, was actually performed, and went off tolerably well until the
+final scene, but then the nerves of the Frenchmen were put to a trial
+they could not by any possibility endure. The sight of a Moor and an
+Infidel, endeavouring to smother a lady and a Christian, so completely
+aroused all the gallant and religious sensibilities of the audience,
+that shouts of _terrible, abominable_, resounded from every part of the
+house, and Monsieur Othello was (theatrically) damned for his
+wickedness. As far as we know, he never showed his copper-coloured
+visage again at the _Theâtre Français_, but contented himself
+thenceforward with running after poor Desdemona, and stabbing her behind
+the scene at the opera, where this minor exhibition of cruelty is
+tolerated in consideration of the _roulades_, with which he smooths her
+passage into the other world.
+
+Speaking of theatres puts us in mind, as the story-tellers say, of a
+remark made by her Ladyship in the chapter she has devoted to the
+theatres of Paris, which we wish to notice. She says, "it is strange,
+that among the many men of genius who have treated the subject of the
+unities, none should have clearly laid it down, that the great object of
+dramatic composition is the satisfaction of the audience, no matter by
+what means." What a fine thing it is to be endowed with uncommon powers
+of original thought! It is so delightful to be able to belie the
+assertion, that it is too late now to think of propounding any new idea,
+every thing having already been said that can be said about any thing!
+Here, ye croakers about modern degeneracy, here is something that should
+cover you with confusion and shame. Lady Morgan, after having read all,
+aye, all, that has been written about a certain subject by all the
+"many men of genius" who have treated it--which it would only require
+the lifetime of a Methuselah to do--has discovered an idea relating to
+it, which is to be found in none of the works of those "many men of
+genius," and this she has revealed for the edification and astonishment
+of the world, in the sentence we have quoted above. How every lover of
+new ideas now living, should bless his stars for having cast his
+existence in the same period as that of her Ladyship! It is, however,
+our melancholy duty, to be obliged to deprive our generation of the
+glory which would be shed upon it by such an intellectual invention as
+the foregoing. Though it has undoubtedly never been adverted to in any
+way, since she so asserts the fact, by any of the "many men of genius"
+who have exercised their minds upon the topic of the unities, yet by a
+singular chance we have fallen upon something very much like it in the
+petty effusions of two or three subordinate scribblers, who have
+presumed to hint at what was not excogitated by their betters. One of
+those effusions is a paper called a "Preface to Shakspeare," written
+about fifty years ago, as we have discovered, after long research and a
+great deal of trouble, by a certain Samuel Johnson, who dubbed himself
+Doctor, and published likewise, if our investigations have informed us
+rightly, other works, under the titles of "The Rambler," "Rasselas,"
+"Biographies of the British Poets," &c., and tradition even says that he
+attempted a dictionary of the English language. Another of those
+effusions is an "Essay upon the Drama," by a person called Walter Scott,
+who, it is affirmed, is still in the land of the living, but where he
+dwelleth, and what other productions he hath printed, we have been able
+to obtain no clue for finding out. It must indeed be confessed, that
+neither of those individuals has so "clearly laid it down" as her
+Ladyship, that the audience should be pleased, "_no matter by what
+means_," though they certainly have intimated that its gratification
+ought to be one of the principal objects of a dramatic author. They were
+foolish enough to think, that to pander to the tastes of an audience, if
+corrupt and vitiated, is paltry, is despicable; that to consult its
+inclinations when at war with sound taste or proper decorum, is to do
+the work of those who are influenced only by a love of sordid gain,
+reckless of every pure and elevated feeling--that "the end of all
+writing is to instruct, the end of all poetry, _to instruct by
+pleasing_." This is the difference between the sentiment of the authors
+and that of the authoress; but were that same Samuel Johnson now alive,
+sooner than maintain an opinion in any the slightest manner at variance
+with one expressed by her Ladyship, he would,--as he was ready to do,
+according to his own avowal, when asserting something that was denied by
+persons scarcely more important than himself,--"sink down in
+reverential silence, as Æneas withdrew from the defence of Troy, when he
+saw Neptune shaking the wall, and Juno heading the besiegers."
+
+We do not wish to insinuate that her Ladyship has derived any advantage
+from consulting the pages of either the Preface or the Essay to which we
+have alluded. By no means. Nothing would be more unjust; for how could
+she be indebted for any thing to what may be contained in a couple of
+insignificant pamphlets, whose scarcity is such, that we might almost
+suppose our copies of them to be the only ones in existence? How they
+came into our hands, is a point we leave for elucidation to those who
+find pleasure or profit in unravelling mysteries. There is, to be sure,
+a wonderful similitude throughout, between her reflections upon the
+classical and romantic drama, and those which may be read in the Essay;
+but this circumstance must unquestionably be considered one of those
+"remarkable coincidences" that every now and then prompt the cry of "a
+miracle!" It must, else, be accounted for, by supposing that the author
+of the Essay is gifted with a power over future operations of mind,
+similar to that which was possessed over future events, by the wizard
+who warned Lochiel against the fatal day at Culloden, and that he is
+thus enabled, by his "mystical lore," to make
+
+    "Coming _ideas_ cast their shadow before."
+
+Seriously, however, the observations of her Ladyship on this head,
+furnish as nice an instance of plagiarism as we recollect. The best of
+the matter is, that after filling nearly a couple of pages with remarks,
+amongst which not a single original idea is to be found, save perhaps
+the rather novel one, that "in Macbeth the interest is suspended at the
+death of Duncan, and does not revive until that of the tyrant is at
+hand;" she winds up with saying, "obvious as this train of reasoning
+appears, _it has been overlooked equally by the opponents and the
+sticklers for the old canons of criticism_; a lamentable instance of the
+influence of authority, and of the spirit of party, on the judgments of
+the most cultivated minds." This is a sample of modest assurance in
+perfection. There is another "remarkable coincidence" in these volumes,
+between the biography they contain of General Lafayette, and an article
+about "the Nation's Guest" in a number of the North American Review for
+1825. But we leave it to our contemporary to take her Ladyship to task
+for this appropriation of his property.
+
+In our foregoing remarks we have confined ourselves, in great measure,
+to some of those portions of the volumes before us, which are most
+susceptible of ridicule, though we have adverted to only a few even of
+those--there are others, however, that would require a graver tone. The
+sickly sentimentalism about Ninon de l'Enclos, La Vallière, Madame
+d'Houdetot, and other strumpets--such "free" conversations as those
+which are detailed at page 138, in the first volume, and page 108, in
+the second; especially as they were held in the presence of a young
+girl, her Ladyship's niece, who was doubtless one of the chief causes
+why so many gentlemen came "_pour faire leurs hommages_" to the
+aunt--and various expressions upon matters appertaining to religion,
+deserve reprehension in no measured terms. But we have not space enough
+at our disposal to bestow any further notice upon these, or to glance at
+other parts of "France in 1829-30," although we have reaped but a small
+portion of the harvest which it contains.
+
+And this is the writer who pretends to enlighten the world upon the
+"state of society" in one of the greatest countries of the earth! This
+is the work by means of which she flatters herself that such an object
+is to be effected,--and this too, (_proh pudor!_) is the kind of work
+that can be republished in our country with a certainty of success!
+Should the fact come to the knowledge of posterity, what will be thought
+of the literary taste of this generation? We have, however, a cause for
+consolation--if that can be termed consolation which ministers only to
+selfish vanity, and is a source of pain to every better feeling--in the
+assurance that the literary history of future times, judging from the
+experience of the past, will present similar instances of depravity of
+intellectual appetite. We wonder now, how our ancestors could have
+relished what we regard with indifference if not with disgust, in the
+same way that our taste in some respects will be a matter of surprise
+with our descendants, and as theirs will be with those by whom they may
+be succeeded on the stage of life. Every age, since books have been
+written and books have been read, has furnished, and we may therefore
+assert, every age will furnish, reason upon reason for making the remark
+of the philosophic author of the "Caractères," that not to hazard
+sometimes a great deal of nonsense, is to manifest ignorance of the
+public taste--"_c'est ignorer le goût du peuple, que de ne pas hasarder
+quelquefois de grandes fadaises_." We do not wish to deny that Lady
+Morgan has been gifted with a modicum of talent; even in the work before
+us, there is occasional evidence of natural ability, which, had it been
+properly cultivated and modestly employed, might have earned for her
+honourable fame. But what advantage--we speak, of course, with reference
+to reputation; as to pecuniary profit we have no doubt that she has
+found her account in her '_fadaises_,' or else they would not have been
+multiplied to such an extent--what advantage, we ask, has she derived
+from her faculty of scribbling, except that she has made herself pretty
+widely known, and ridiculed wherever she is known? Presumptuous
+ignorance, and overweening conceit, have, in her case, completely
+_nullified_, nay worse, have converted into a curse, in some respects,
+what was intended every way for a blessing. If Lady Morgan would forego
+her mongrel idiom, and use the English language; if she would confine
+herself to subjects with which she has some acquaintance; if she would
+substitute a simple in the stead of her inflated style; and above all,
+if she could forget herself, she might write tolerably well; but there
+are too many _ifs_ to render it probable, or even possible, that the
+defects to which they relate will ever be overcome. This being the case,
+we take leave of you, Miladi, not with the _au revoir_ of which you are
+so fond, but with the parting salutation of Louis the Fourteenth to
+James the Second, when sending him with an army to recover his forfeited
+crown, "Adieu, and may we never meet again."
+
+
+
+
+ART. II.--_Physiologie des Passions, ou nouvelle Doctrine des Sentimens
+Moraux_; par J. L. ALIBERT. Chapitre XI. de l'Ennui. _Physiology of the
+Passions; or a New Theory of Moral Sentiments._ Chap. XI. of Ennui.
+
+
+This book is neither exact nor eloquent. The thoughts are not precise;
+the expressions are vague; and, of consequence, the reasonings of no
+value. The attempts at rich displays of imaginative power are contrasted
+with a want of invention; and illustrative stories, of feeble execution,
+are lavished abundantly in lieu of physiological facts. The volumes are
+too insipid to cheat an idle hour of its weariness; they rather engender
+fatigue than relieve it. The author will never enter the true elysium of
+glory; he has not substance enough to proceed straight up the ascent;
+but will certainly be "blown transverse into the devious air." Like most
+of the literature of the day, this new Theory of Moral Sentiments is
+essentially transient. It will pass, like anti-masonry, without
+producing an era.
+
+Yet the chapter on Ennui is tolerably sensible. It is neither brilliant
+nor acute; but gives a superficial sketch of that state of being with
+considerable accuracy. To be sure, it is not from a Frenchman, that the
+best account of ennui should be expected. Of all nations of Europe, the
+French have the least of it, though they invented the word; while the
+Turks, with their untiring gravity, their lethargic dignity, their blind
+fatalism, their opium-eating, and midnight profligacies, have
+undoubtedly the largest share. But the Turks are only philosophers in
+practice; the theory they leave to others. Now next to the Turks, the
+English suffer most from ennui. Do but hear the account which their
+finest poetical genius of the present century gives of himself, when he
+was hardly of age.
+
+    "With pleasure drugged he almost longed for wo,
+    And e'en for change of scene would seek the shades below."
+
+The complaints of a young man in the bloom of life and the vigour of
+early hope, cannot excite much sympathy. But he interests all our
+feelings, when in the fullest maturity to which Lord Byron was permitted
+to attain, he still draws from his own bosom the appalling picture of
+unalleviated feelings, and describes the horrors of permanent ennui, in
+language that was doubtless but the mournful echo of an unhappy mind.
+
+    "'Tis time this heart should be unmoved,
+    Since others it has ceased to move;
+    Yet, though I cannot be beloved,
+              Still let me love.
+
+    My days are in the yellow leaf;
+    The flowers and fruits of love are gone;
+    The worm, the canker, and the grief,
+              Are mine alone.
+
+    The fire that in my bosom preys
+    Is like to some volcanic isle;
+    No torch is kindled at his blaze--
+              A funeral pile.
+
+    The hope, the fears, the jealous care,
+    The exalted portion of the pain
+    And power of love I cannot share,
+              But wear the chain."
+
+Such was the harassed state of Lord Byron's mind, at the epoch of his
+life which seemed to promise a crowded abundance of exciting sensations.
+He had hastened to the consecrated haunts of classic associations; he
+was struggling for honour on the parent soil of glory; he was surrounded
+by the stir and tumult of barbarous warfare; he had the consciousness,
+that the eyes of the civilized world were fixed upon his actions; he
+professed to feel the impulse of enthusiasm in behalf of liberty; and
+yet there was not irritation enough in the new and busy life of a
+soldier, to overcome his apathy, and restore him to happy activity. He
+only sought to give away his breath on the field, and to take his rest
+in a soldier's grave.
+
+The literature of the day is essentially transient. The rapid
+circulation of intelligence enriches the public mind by imparting and
+diffusing every discovery; and the active spirit of man, quickened by
+the easy possession of practical knowledge, rightly claims the instant
+distribution of useful truth. But with this is connected a feverish
+excitement for novelty. The world, in the earliest days of which
+accounts have reached us, followed after the newest strains; and now
+the lessons of former ages, though they have a persuasive eloquence for
+the tranquil listener, are as blank and as silent as the grave to the
+general ear. The voice of the past, all musical as it is with the finest
+harmonies of human intelligence, is lost in the jangling din of
+temporary discussions. Philosophy steals from the crowd, and hides
+herself in retirement, awaiting a better day; true learning is
+undervalued, and almost disappears from among men. It would seem, as
+though the wise men of old frowned in anger on the turbulence of the
+petty passions, and withdrew from the noisy and contentious haunts,
+where wisdom has no votaries, and tranquillity no followers. In the days
+of ancient liberty, the public places rung with the nervous eloquence of
+sublime philosophy; and the streets of Athens offered nothing more
+attractive than the keen discussions, the piercing satire, and the calm
+philanthropy of Socrates. But now it is politics which rules the city
+and the country; the times of deep reflection, of slowly maturing
+thought, are past; and now that erudition is a jest, ancient learning an
+exploded chimera, and elaborated eloquence known chiefly by
+recollection, the ample gazette runs its daily career, and heralds, in
+ephemeral language, the deeds of the passing hours. The age of
+accumulated learning is past, and every thing is carried along the
+rushing current of public economy, or of private business.--Life is
+divided between excited passions and morbid apathy.
+
+And is this current so strong, that it cannot be resisted? Are we borne
+without hope of rest upon the ebbing tide? Can we never separate
+ourselves from the theory, and with the coolness of an observer, watch
+the various emotions, motives, and passions by which the human world is
+moulded and swayed? Can we not trace the influence of the changes and
+chances of this mortal state on the character and minds of mortal men?
+
+Life is a pursuit. The moralists, who utter their heathenish oracles in
+the commonplace complaints of a heathenish discontent, tell us, that we
+are born but to pursue, and pursue but to be deceived. They say, that
+man in his career after earthly honours, is like the child that chases
+the gaudy insect; the pursuit idle; the object worthless. They tell us,
+that it is but a deceitful though a deceptive star, which beams from the
+summit of the distant hill; advance, and its light recedes; ascend, and
+a higher hill is seen beyond, and a wider space is yet to be traversed.
+And they tell us, that this is vanity; this the worthlessness of human
+desire; this the misery and desolation of the human heart. But how
+little do they know of the throbbings of that heart! How poorly have
+they studied the secrets of the human breast! How imperfectly do they
+understand the feebleness and the strength of man's fortitude and will!
+If the bright object still gleams in the horizon, if the brilliancy of
+glory is still spread on the remotest hill, if the distant sky is still
+invested with the delicate hues of promise, and the gentle radiance of
+hope, pursuit remains a pleasure; and the pilgrim, ever light-hearted,
+passes heedlessly over the barren wastes, and climbs with cheerful
+ardour each rugged mountain. But suppose that brilliant star to be
+blotted out of the sky; suppose the lustre of the horizon to have faded
+into the dank and gloomy shades of a cloudy evening; suppose the pursuit
+to be now without an object, and the blood which hope had sent merrily
+through the veins, to gather and curdle round the desponding heart. Then
+it is, that life is abandoned to persecuting fiends, and the springs of
+joy are poisoned by the demons of listlessness.
+
+The scholar and the Christian have theirs guarantied against despair.
+The desire for intelligence is never satisfied but with the attainment
+of that wisdom which passes all understanding; and the eye discerning
+the bright lineaments of its perfect exemplar, can set no limits to the
+sacred passion, which recognises the connexion of the human mind with
+the divine, and places before itself a career of advancement, to which
+time itself can never prescribe bounds. But it is not with these high
+questions that we are at present engaged. We have thrown open the book
+of human life; we are to read there of this world and its littleness, of
+the springs of present action, of the relief of present restlessness.
+
+We have said, that the pursuit of a noble object is in itself a
+pleasure. It is to the mind which holds up no definite object to its
+wishes, that the universe seems deficient in the means of happiness, and
+joy becomes a prey to the fiend of ennui.
+
+Let us develop this principle more accurately. Let us examine into the
+nature of _ennui_, and fix with exactness its true signification. Let us
+see if it be a principle of action widely diffused. Let us ascertain the
+limits of its power; let us trace its influences on individual
+character. Perhaps the investigation may lead us to a more intimate
+acquaintance with our nature.
+
+_Ennui_ is the desire of activity without the fit means of gratifying
+the desire. It presupposes an acknowledgment of exertion as a duty, and
+a consciousness of the possession of powers suited to making an
+exertion. It is itself a state of idleness, yet of disquiet. It is
+inert, yet discontented.
+
+Such is ennui in itself. In its effects, it embraces a large class of
+human actions, and its influences are widely spread throughout every
+portion of mental or physical effort. To trace these effects, and to
+prescribe their limits, will be a part of our object; at present we
+would observe, that wherever a course of conduct is the result of
+physical want, of a passion for intelligence, a zeal for glory, or to
+sum up a great variety of theories in one, of a just and enlightened
+self-love, there there is no trace of ennui. But when the primary
+motives of human conduct have failed of their effect, and the mind has
+become a prey to listlessness, the career, then pursued, let it be what
+it may, is to be ascribed to the pain of ennui. When the mind gnaws upon
+itself, we have ennui; the course which is pursued to call the mind from
+this self-destructive process, is to be ascribed to the influence of
+that passion.
+
+Are our definitions indistinct? Let us attempt illustration. When the
+several powers and affections of man are, in the usual course of
+existence, called into healthy exercise, on objects sufficient to
+interest and satisfy them; this is happiness. When those powers and
+affections are exercised by objects sufficient to excite them in their
+highest degree, but where, being thus excited, there exists no harmony
+between the mind and its pursuits, where the affections are aroused
+without being soothed, where the chime is rung, but rung discordantly,
+there is misery. Where the powers of the mind are vigorous but
+unoccupied; where there exist a restless craving, an inquiet mobility,
+yet without any definite purpose or commensurate object, there is ennui.
+
+The state of mind is strongly delineated in the language of the sacred
+writer.--
+
+     "I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on
+     the labour that I had laboured to do; and behold all was vanity
+     and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.
+     And I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly;
+     for what can the man do that cometh after the king? Even that
+     which hath already been done. Then I saw that wisdom excelleth
+     folly, as far as light excelleth darkness. The wise man's eyes
+     are in his head; but the fool walketh in darkness; and I
+     perceived also, that one event happeneth to them all. Then I
+     said in my heart, As it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth
+     even to me; and why was I then more wise? Then I said in my
+     heart, that this also is vanity. For there is no remembrance of
+     the wise more than of the fool for ever; seeing that which now
+     is, in the days to come shall all be forgotten. And how dieth
+     the wise man? As the fool. Therefore, I hated life; because the
+     work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me; for all
+     is vanity and vexation of spirit."
+
+Or, to take an example from the earliest monument of Grecian genius.
+Achilles, in the pride of youth, engaged in his favourite profession of
+arms, making his way to an immortality secured to him by the voice of
+his goddess mother, sure to gain the victory in any contest, and
+selecting for his reward the richest spoils and the fairest maid.
+Achilles, the heroic heathen, was then fully and satisfactorily
+employed, and according to his semi-barbarous notions of joy and right,
+was happy within his own breast, and was happy in the world around him.
+When the same youthful warrior was insulted by the leader under whose
+banners he had rallied, when the private recesses of his tent were
+invaded, and his domestic peace disturbed, his mind was strongly
+agitated by love, anger, hatred, the passion for strife, and the intense
+effort at forbearance; and though there was here room enough for
+activity, there was nothing but pain and misery. But when the dispute
+was over, and the pupil of the Centaur, trained for strife, and victory,
+and glory, separated from the army, and gave himself up to an inactive
+contemplation of the struggle against Troy, his mind was abandoned to
+the sentiment of discontent, and his passions were absorbed in the
+morbid feeling of ennui. Homer was an exact painter of the human
+passions. The picture which he draws of Achilles,[1] receiving the
+subsequent deputation from the Greeks, illustrates our subject exactly.
+It was in vain for the hero to attempt to sooth his mind with the
+melodies of the lyre; his blood kindled only at the music of war; it was
+idle for him to seek sufficient pleasure in celebrating the renown of
+heroes; this was but a vain effort to quell the burning passion for
+surpassing them in glory. He listens to the deputation, not tranquilly,
+but peevishly. He charges them with duplicity, and avows that he loathes
+their king like the gates of hell.[2] He next reverts to himself: The
+warrior has no thanks, he exclaims in the bitterness of
+disappointment--"The coward and the brave man are held in equal honour."
+Nay, he goes further, and quarrels with providence and fixed
+destiny.--"After all, the idler, and the man of many achievements, each
+must die."[3] To-morrow, he adds, his vessels shall float on the
+Hellespont. The morning dawned; but the ships of Achilles still lingered
+near the banks of the Scamander. The notes of battle sounded, and his
+mind was still in suspense between the fiery impulse for war and the
+haughty reserve of revenge.
+
+When Bruce found himself approaching the sources of the Nile, a thousand
+sentiments of pride rushed upon his mind; it seemed to him, that destiny
+had marked out for him a more fortunate and more glorious career, than
+for any European, kings or warriors, conquerors or travellers, that had
+ever attempted to penetrate into the interior of Africa. This was a
+moment of exultation and triumphant delight. But when that same
+traveller had actually reached the ultimate object of his research, he
+has himself recorded the emotions which were awakened within him. At the
+fountain-head of the Nile, Bruce was almost a victim to sentimental
+ennui.
+
+In this anecdote of the Abyssinian traveller, we have an example of the
+rapidity with which ennui treads on the heels of triumph, and banishes
+the feelings of exulting joy. We will cite another, where misery was
+followed and consummated by ennui. The most eloquent of the Girondists
+was Vergniaud. It was he that in the spirit of prophecy compared the
+French revolution to Saturn, since it was about to devour successively
+all its children, and finally to establish despotism with its attendant
+calamities. The rivalship of the Mountain in the Convention, the
+unsuccessful attack on Robespierre, the trial and condemnation of Louis
+XVI., the defection of Dumourier and its consequences, had doubtless
+roused the mind of the fervent but unsuccessful orator to the highest
+efforts which the decline of power, and the consciousness of wavering
+fortunes, and the menace of utter ruin, patriotism, honour, and love of
+life, could call forth. At last came the day, fraught with horrors, when
+the clamours of a despotic and inexorable mob, claimed of the convention
+Vergniaud and his associates, the little refuse of republican sincerity,
+to be the victims of their fiendish avidity for blood. Who will doubt,
+that during that fearful session the mind of Vergniaud was agitated in
+the extreme, that the highest possible excitement called him into the
+highest possible activity? Here there was no room for listlessness, and
+quite as little for happiness. The guarantees of order were failing, and
+the friends of order were to be buried under the same ruins with the
+remains of regular legislative authority. Vergniaud retired from the
+scenes where the foulest of the dogs of war were howling for their prey,
+and when Gregoire found him out in his hiding-place, the republican
+orator, though robbery and massacre were triumphant in the city, was
+discovered reading Tacitus. Why? From affectation? Surely not;
+Gregoire's visit was unexpected. From cool philosophy? still less, for
+it was the season of peril for an irritable man. The studies of
+Vergniaud on that day were the studies of one suffering from ennui.
+
+Ennui was the necromancer which conjured up the ghost of Cæsar on the
+eve of the battle of Philippi. And when Brutus esteemed that battle
+lost, which in truth had been won, he had yet to wrestle with that
+unseen enemy, and enter on a new contest, where he was sure to be
+overthrown. The execution of Madame Roland was a scene, as far as she
+was concerned, of intense and unmitigated suffering; but when Brutus
+dared to despair of virtue, the atrocious sentiment was dictated, not by
+the spirit that had dared to plan the liberties of the world, but by the
+demon of ennui, which in an evil hour had possessed himself of the
+patriot's soul.
+
+Finally, for we have surely made ourselves intelligible, if it is
+possible for us to do so--the timid lover, whose affections are moved,
+yet not tranquillized, who gazes with the eyes of fondness on an object
+that seems to be of a higher world, and admires as the stars are
+admired, which are acknowledged to be beautiful yet are never possessed;
+the timid lover, neither wholly doubting, nor wholly hoping, the sport
+alternately of joy and of sorrow, full of thought and full of longing,
+feeling the sentiment of rapture yield to the faintness of uncertain
+hope, is half his time a true personification of ennui.
+
+That ennui is a principle of action widely diffused, will hardly be
+denied by any careful observer of human nature. No individual can
+conscientiously claim to have been always and wholly free from its
+influences, except where there has been a life springing from the purest
+sources, sanctified by the early influence of religious motives, and
+protected from erroneous judgments by the constant exercise of a
+healthful understanding. For the rest, though few are constantly
+afflicted with it as an incurable evil, there are still fewer who are
+not at times made to suffer from its influence. It stretches its heavy
+hand on the man of business and the recluse; it makes its favourite
+haunts in the city, but it chases the aspirant after rural felicity,
+into the scenes of his rural listlessness; it makes the young
+melancholy, and the aged garrulous; it haunts the sailor and the
+merchant; it appears to the warrior and to the statesman; it takes its
+place in the curule chair, and sits also at the frugal board of old
+fashioned simplicity. You cannot flee from it; you cannot hide from it;
+it is swifter than the birds of passage, and swifter than the breezes
+that scatter clouds. It climbs the ship of the restless who long for the
+suns of Europe; it jumps up behind the horseman who scours the woods of
+Michigan; it throws its scowling glances on the attempt at present
+enjoyment; it scares the epicurean from his voluptuousness, and when the
+ascetic has finished his vow, it compels him once more to repeat the
+tale of his beads.
+
+To the influence of ennui must be traced the passion for strong
+excitement. When life has become almost stagnant, when the ordinary
+course of events has been unable to excite any strong interest, ennui
+assumes a terrific power over the mind, and clamours for emotion, though
+that emotion is to be purchased by scenes of horror and of crime. "What
+a magnificent spectacle," said the Parisian mob, "how interesting a
+spectacle to see a woman of the wit and courage of Madame Roland on the
+scaffold!" And it is precisely the same power, which excites the
+sensitive admirer of works of fiction to ransack the shelves of a
+library for works of thrilling and "painful" interest.
+
+To the same kind of restless curiosity we have to ascribe the passionate
+declamations of the tragic actor, and the splendid music of the opera;
+the cunning feats of the village conjuror, and the lascivious pantomime
+of the city ballet-dancers; the disgusting varieties of bull-fights, and
+the celebrated feats of pugilism; the locomotive zeal of the great
+pedestrians, and the perfect quiescence of the "pillar saints."
+
+The habits of ancient Rome illustrate most clearly the extent to which
+this passion for strong sensations may hurry the public mind into
+extravagances, and repress every sentiment of sympathy and generosity.
+Ambition itself is not so reckless of human life as _ennui_; clemency is
+the favourite attribute of the former; but ennui has the tastes of a
+cannibal, and the sight of human blood, shed for its amusement, makes it
+greedy after a renewal of the dreadful indulgence. No one need be
+informed, that the shows of ancient gladiators were attended by an
+infinitely more numerous throng than is ever gathered by any modern
+spectacle. And let it not be supposed, that the life of one of these
+combatants was the more safe, because it depended on the interposition
+of the Roman fair. The fondness for murderous exhibitions finally raged
+with such vehemence, that they were at length introduced as an
+attraction at a banquet, and the guests, as they reclined at table in
+the luxury of physical ease, have been wet by the life-blood from the
+veins of the wounded gladiators.
+
+    Quinetiam exhilarare viris convivia cæde
+    Mos olim, et miscere epulis spectacula dira
+    Certantum ferro, sæpe et super ipsa cadentum
+    Pocula, _respersis non parco sanguine mensis_.
+
+Time would fail us were we to illustrate the various horrors which
+attended these amusements, designed to entertain the most refined
+population of Rome. Time would fail us were we to enumerate the various
+classifications in the art of murder on the stage, the signals which
+were made by the multitude in token of relenting clemency, the more
+usual signal, made by virgins and matrons, demanding the continuance of
+the combat unto death. Do we not call Titus the delight of the human
+race? Do we not praise his commonplace puerility, _perdidi diem_, the
+exclamation of conceit, rather than of manliness? And yet it was this
+philanthropist, this favourite of humanity, who caused the vast
+amphitheatre to be erected, as it were a monument to all ages of the
+barbarous civilization of the capital of his empire. And as to the
+numbers who appeared on these occasions, do we suppose it was a pair? or
+a score? We will not ask after the horrors commended and consummated by
+a Tiberius or a Caligula. Was not Trajan a moderate prince? Was he not
+disposed to introduce habits of a reasonable industry? Yet the active
+Trajan kept up a succession of games to cheat the population of Rome of
+ennui, during a hundred and twenty-three days, in which time ten
+thousand gladiators were decked for sacrifice.
+
+Thus the vehemence of this passion is evident from the atrocity of the
+resources by which its cravings are satisfied. We may also remark, that
+superstition itself, interwoven as it is with all the fears and
+weaknesses of humanity, subjects the human mind to a bondage less severe
+and less permanent than that of the terrific craving after something to
+dissipate the weariness of the heart. At Rome the sacrifices to the
+heathen deities were abolished before the games of the gladiators were
+suppressed; it was less difficult to take from the priests their spoils,
+from the altars their victims, from the prejudices of the people their
+religious faith, than to rescue from ennui the miserable wretches whose
+lives were to be the sport of the idle. The laws already forbade the
+offering the bull to Jove, when the poet still had to pray that none
+might perish in the city under the condemnation of pleasure,
+
+    Nullus in urbe cadat, cujus sit poena voluptas.
+
+Philosophy itself offers no guarantee against the common infirmities of
+listlessness. Many a stoic has resisted the attacks of external evils
+with an exemplary fortitude; and has yet failed in his encounters with
+time. Strange indeed that time should be an encumbrance to a sage!
+Strange indeed, that, when life is so short, and philosophy boundless,
+and time a gift of the most precious nature, dealt out to us in
+successive moments, a possession which is most coveted, and can the
+least be hoarded, which comes, but never returns, which departs as soon
+as given, and is lost even in the receiving,--strange indeed that such a
+gift, so precious, so transient, so fleeting, should ever press severely
+upon a philosopher!
+
+And yet wisdom is no security against ennui. The man who made Europe
+ring with his eloquence, and largely contributed to the spirit of
+republican enthusiasm, wasted away for months in a state of the most
+foolish languor, under the idea that he was dying of a polypus at his
+heart.[4] Nay, this philosopher, who presumed to believe himself skilled
+in the ways of man, and an adept in the character of women, who dared to
+expound religion and proposed to reform Christianity, who committed and
+confessed the meanest actions,--and yet, as if in the presence of the
+Supreme Arbiter of life and before the tribunal of Eternal Justice,
+arrogated to himself an equality with the purest in the innumerable
+crowd of immortal souls,--he, the proud one, would so far yield to
+ennui, as to put the final and eternal welfare of his soul at issue on
+the throw of a stone. La Harpe, no correct writer, nor sound critic,
+affirms, that Rousseau undertook to decide the question of a
+Superintending Providence by throwing stones at a tree. That would have
+been not merely an imbecile but a blasphemous act. As the case stood,
+Jean Jacques must be acquitted of any charge worse than that of
+excessive and even ridiculous weakness. "_Je m'en vais_," he says to
+himself, "_je m'en vais jeter cette pierre contre l'arbre qui est
+vis-a-vis de moi: si je le touche, signe de salut; si je le marque,
+signe de damnation._"
+
+But Jean Jacques passes for an inspired madman. What shall we say to the
+temperate Spinoza, whose life was not variegated by the brightness of
+domestic scenes, and who, being cut off from active life and from social
+love, necessarily encountered a void within himself. It was his
+favourite resource against the visits of ennui, to catch spiders and
+teach them to fight; and when he had so far made himself master of the
+nature of these animals, that he could get them as angry as game cocks,
+he would, all thin and feeble as he was, break out into a roar of
+laughter, and chuckle to see his champions engage, as if they, too, were
+fighting for honour.
+
+Poor Spinoza! It may indeed be questioned, whether his whole philosophy
+was not a sort of pastime with him. It may be, that after all he was
+ingenious because he could not be quiet, and wrote his attacks on
+religion from a want of something to do. At any rate it has fared
+strangely with his works. The world had well nigh become persuaded, that
+Spinoza was but a name for a degraded atheism, and now we have him
+zealously defended, and in fact we have seen him denominated a saint.[5]
+So near are extremes: the ridiculous borders on the sublime; and the
+same man is denounced as a parricide of society, and again extolled as a
+model of sanctity.
+
+But we have a stronger example than either of these. The very
+philosopher, who first declared experience to be the basis of knowledge,
+and found his way to truth through the safe places of observation, gives
+in his own character some evidences of participation in the common
+infirmity. He said very truly, that there is a foolish corner even in
+the wise man's brain. Yet, if there has ever appeared on earth, a man
+possessed of reason in its highest perfection, it was Aristotle. He had
+the gift of seeing the forms of things, undisturbed by the confusing
+splendour of colours; his mind, like the art of sculpture, represented
+objects with the most precise outlines and exact images; but the world
+in his mind was a colourless world. He understood and has explained the
+secrets of the human heart, the workings of the human passions; but he
+performs all these moral dissections with the coolness of an anatomist,
+engaged in a delicate operation. The nicety of his distinctions, and his
+deep insight into the nature of man, are displayed without passion,
+while his constant effort after the discovery of new truth, never for
+one moment betrays him into mysticism, or tempts him to substitute
+shadows for realities. One would think, that such a philosopher was the
+personification of self-possession; that his unruffled mind would always
+dwell in the serene regions of intelligence; that his step would be on
+the firm ground of experience; that his progress to the sublime temple
+of truth and of fame, would have been ever secure and progressive; that
+happiness itself would have blessed him for his tranquil and
+dispassionate devotedness to exalted pursuits.
+
+But perhaps the clear perception of the realities of life is not the
+secret source of contentment. Many a scholar has shrunk from the contest
+of transient interests, and sought happiness rather in the world of
+contemplation; and perhaps the studies of antiquity derive a part of
+their charm, from their affording us a place of refuge against the
+clamours and persecutions which belong to present rivalries. If the view
+of human nature, adopted by a large portion of our theologians, is a
+just one, the heart must recoil with horror from the true consideration
+of the human world in its natural unmitigated depravity, and throw
+itself rather into the hopes that belong to the future, and the mercies
+that attach to the Supreme Intelligence, for relief against the apathy
+which so cold a contemplation of unmingled evil might naturally produce.
+
+In the mouth of Pindar, life might be called a dream, and it would but
+pass for the effusion of poetic melancholy. But when the sagacious
+philosopher asserts it, that all hope is but the dream of waking man, a
+latent discontent broken from the concealment of an unsatisfied
+curiosity, a baffled pursuit; when his mind had arrived at that state,
+nothing but its remarkable vigour could have preserved him from settled
+gloom.
+
+Again the venerable sage examined into the sources of happiness. It does
+not consist, he affirms, in voluptuous pleasures, for they are
+transient, brutalizing, and injurious to the mind; nor in public
+honours, for they depend on those who bestow them, and it is not
+felicity to be the recipient of an uncertain bounty; nor yet does
+happiness consist in riches, for the care of them is but a toil; and if
+they are expended, it is plainly a proof, that contentment is sought for
+in the possession of other things. In the view of the Stagyrite,
+happiness consists in the pursuit of knowledge, and in the practice of
+virtue, under the auspices of mind, and nature, and fortune. He that is
+intelligent, and young, and handsome, and vigorous, and rich, is alone
+the happy man. Did the world need the sublime wisdom, the high mental
+endowment of the Stagyrite, to learn, that neither the poor, nor the
+dull, nor the aged, nor the sick, can share in the highest bounty of
+the Universal Father? When it is remembered that Aristotle was favoured
+above all his contemporaries in intellectual gifts, we ask the reader to
+draw an inference as to the state of his mind, which still demanded the
+beauties of personal attractions, and the lavish liberality of fortune.
+
+When asked what is the most transient of fleeting things, the
+philosopher made but a harsh answer, in naming "gratitude;" but his mind
+must have been sadly a prey to ennui, when he could exclaim, "my
+friends! there are no friends."
+
+He could not be content to sit or stand, when he gave lessons in moral
+science, but walked to and fro in constant restlessness; and, indeed, if
+tradition reports rightly, he could not wait the will of Heaven for his
+release from weariness, but in spite of all his sublime philosophy, and
+all his expansive genius, he was content to die as the fool dieth.
+
+But ennui kills others beside philosophers. It is not without example,
+that men have committed suicide, because they have attained their utmost
+wishes. The man of business, finding himself possessed of a sufficient
+fortune, retires from active life; but the habit of action remains, and
+becomes a power of terrific force. In such cases, the sufferer sits away
+listless hours of intense suffering; the mind preys upon itself, and
+sometimes madness ensues, sometimes suicide is committed.
+
+Saul went out to find his father's asses. With the humble employment he
+seems to have been reasonably pleased, and probably made search with a
+light heart and an honest one. But, seeking asses, he found a kingdom;
+and contentment fled when possession was full. In him, the reproofs of
+conscience and discontent with the world produced a morbid melancholy,
+and pain itself would have been to him a welcome refuge from ennui.
+
+We detect the same subtle spirit at work, in the slanders in which
+gossips find relief. Truth is not exciting enough to those who depend on
+the characters and lives of their neighbours for all their amusement;
+and if a story is told of more than common interest, ennui is sure to
+have its joy in adding a few embellishments. If time did not hang heavy,
+what would become of scandal? Time, the common enemy, must be passed, as
+the phrase is, and the phrase bears its own commentary; and since the
+days of gladiators are passed, where can be the harm of blackening the
+reputation of the living? To the pusillanimous and the idle, scandal is
+the condiment of life; and while back-biting furnishes their
+entertainment abroad, domestic quarrelling fills up the leisure hours at
+home. It is a pretty general rule, that the _médisante_ is a termagant
+in her household; and, as for our own sex, depend upon it, in nine cases
+out of ten, the evil tongue belongs to a disappointed man. In the tenth
+case, the man is an _imbécile_.
+
+Fashion, also, in its excess, is but a relief against ennui; and it is
+rather strong evidence of the universal prevalence of listlessness, that
+a change in dress at Paris, can, within a few months, be imitated in St.
+Louis. Yet, in the young and the fair, a milder sentiment influences
+conduct. In them, the latent consciousness of beauty, the charm of an
+existence that is opening in the fulness of its attractions, the
+becoming loveliness of innocence and youth, the simple cheerfulness of
+inexperience, lead to a modest and decorous display. Broadway, the
+unrivalled Broadway, is not without its loungers; yet the young and the
+gay are not discontented ones. They move in the strength of their own
+beauty, like the patriot statesman, neither shunning, nor yet courting
+admiration; and tripping along the brilliant street, half coveting half
+refusing attention,
+
+    "They feel that they are happier than they know."
+
+From Broadway we pass to the crowded haunts of business. Is there ennui
+there? Do the money changers grow weary of profits? Is business so dull
+that bankers have nothing to do? Are doubtful notes so uncommon, that
+there is no latitude for shaving? Have the underwriters nothing at sea
+to be anxious about? Do the insurers on life omit to look after those
+who have taken out policies, and exhort them to temperance and exercise?
+These are all busy enough; too much engaged, and too little romantic to
+be much moved by sentimental regrets. But there are those, who plunge
+headlong into affairs from the restlessness of their nature, and who
+hurry into bold speculations, because they cannot endure to be idle.
+Now, business, like poetry, requires a tranquil mind. But there are
+those, who venture upon the career of business, under the impulse of
+ennui. How shall the young and haughty heirs of large fortunes rid
+themselves of their time, and acquit themselves in the eye of the public
+of their imagined responsibilities? One writes a tale for the Souvenirs,
+another speculates in the stocks. The former is laughed at, yet hoards
+an estate; the latter is food for hungry sharks. Then comes bankruptcy;
+sober thought repels the fiend that had been making a waste of life, or
+the same passion drives its possessor to become a busy body and zealot
+in the current excitement of the times; or absolute despair, ennui in
+its intensity, leads to insanity.
+
+For the mad house, too, as well as the debtor's gaol, is in part peopled
+by the same blighting power, and nature recovers itself from a state of
+languid apathy, only by the terrific excitement of frenzy. Or a passion
+for suicide ensues; the mind revels in the contemplation of the grave,
+and covets the aspect of the countenance of death as the face of a
+familiar friend. The mind invests itself in the sombre shades of a
+melancholy longing after eternal rest--a longing which is sometimes
+connected with unqualified disbelief, and sometimes associates itself
+with an undefined desire of a purely spiritual existence.
+
+We might multiply examples of the very extensive prevalence of that
+unhappy languor of which we are treating. Let us aim rather at observing
+the limit of its power.
+
+It was a foolish philosophy, which believed in ennui as an evidence and
+a means of human perfectibility. The only exertions which it is capable
+of producing, are of a subordinate character. It may give to passion a
+fearful intensity, consequent on a state of moral disease; but human
+virtue must be the result of far higher causes. The exercise of
+principle, the generous force of purified emotions, cheerful desire, and
+willing industry, are the parents of real greatness. If we look through
+the various departments of public and of intellectual action, we shall
+find the mark of inferiority upon every thing which has sprung from
+ennui. In philosophy, it might produce the follies of Cynic oddity, but
+not the sublime lessons of Pythagoras or Socrates. In poetry, it may
+produce effusions from persons of quality, devoid of wit, but it never
+could have pointed the satire of Pope. In the mechanic arts it may
+contrive a balloon, but never could invent a steam-boat. In religion, it
+stumbles at a thousand knotty points in metaphysical theology, but it
+never led the soul to intercourse with heaven, or to the contemplation
+of divine truth.
+
+The celebrated son of Philip was a man of exalted genius; and political
+wisdom had its share in his career. Ennui could never have produced
+Macedonia's madman, but it may well put in its claim to the Swede. Or
+let us look rather for a conqueror, who dreamed that he had genius to
+rival Achilles, and yet never had a settled plan of action. The famous
+king of Epirus has seemed to be an historical puzzle, so uncertain was
+his purpose, so wavering his character. Will you know the whole truth
+about him? Pyrrhus was an _ennuyé_.
+
+When a painter, in the pursuit of his vocation, is obliged to give a
+likeness of a person that has neither beauty nor soul, he may perhaps
+draw figures in the air, or spoil his picture by an inconsiderate
+flourish of his pencil. He dislikes his task, and his work will show it.
+
+When a poet writes a song for hire, or solely to be sung to some
+favourite air, it is more than probable his verses will be languid, and
+his meaning doubtful. Thus, for example,--
+
+    "The smiles of joy, the tears of wo
+    Deceitful shine, deceitful flow."
+
+This is sheer nonsense. Joy smiles in good earnest, and many an aching
+heart knows too well the deep truth of distress.
+
+The fervent eloquence of true piety springs from conviction, and reaches
+the heart; but we have sometimes listened to a dull sermon, which
+proceeded from weariness more than from zeal, and belonged to ennui more
+than to the stirring action of eloquent religion. The lawyer, too, is
+sometimes overborne in his plea by disgust with his work, and in his
+tiresome repetitions you may plainly see how he loathes--
+
+              "To drudge for the dregs of men,
+    And scrawl strange words with the barbarous pen."
+
+The life of Napoleon, in its busiest period, presents a remarkable
+instance of ennui. While the allies were collecting around him in their
+utmost strength, he was himself wavering in his purposes, and reluctant
+to decide on the retreat to Leipsic. Strange, that at such a time he
+should have given way to an overwhelming and almost childish languor.
+Yet an eyewitness relates, "I have seen him at that time, seated on a
+sofa, beside a table on which lay his charts, totally unemployed, unless
+in scribbling mechanically large letters on a sheet of white paper."
+Such was the power of ennui over Napoleon, at a time, when, in his own
+language, nothing but a thunderbolt could save him.
+
+It is dangerous for a man of superior ability to find himself thrown
+upon the world without some regular employment. The restlessness
+inherent in genius being thus left undirected by any permanent
+influence, frames for itself occupations out of accidents. Moral
+integrity sometimes falls a prey to this want of fixed pursuits; and the
+man who receives his direction in active life from the fortuitous
+impulse of circumstances, will be very apt to receive his principles
+likewise from chance. Genius, under such guidance, attains no noble
+ends; but resembles rather a copious spring, conveyed in a falling
+aqueduct; where the waters continually escape through the frequent
+crevices, and waste themselves ineffectually on their passage. The law
+of nature is here, as elsewhere, binding; and no powerful results ever
+ensue from the trivial exercise of high endowments. The finest mind,
+when thus destitute of a fixed purpose, passes away without leaving
+permanent traces of its existence; losing its energy by turning aside
+from its course, it becomes as harmless and inefficient as the
+lightning, which, of itself irresistible, may yet be rendered powerless
+by a slight conductor.
+
+These remarks apply perhaps in some measure even to Leibnitz, whose
+sublime intelligence and mental activity were the wonder of his age. He
+attained a celebrity of reputation, but hardly a contented spirit; at
+times he descended to the consideration of magnitudes infinitely small,
+and at times rose to the belief that he heard the universal harmony of
+nature; for years he was devoted to illustrating the antiquities of the
+family of a petty prince; and then again he assumed the sublime office
+of defending the perfections of Providence. Yet with all this variety of
+pursuit, the great philosopher was hardly to be called a happy man; and
+it almost fills us with melancholy to find, that the very theologian who
+would have proved this to be absolutely the best of all possible worlds,
+died after all of chagrin.
+
+Yet the name of Leibnitz is one which should rather excite unmingled
+admiration; for the rich endowments of Heaven distinguished him as one
+of the most favoured in that intellectual superiority which is the
+choicest gift of God. Our subject is more fully illustrated in the case
+of a less gifted, though a notorious man; one whose qualities have been
+recently held up to admiration, yet for whom we find it impossible to
+conceive sentiments of respect. We mean Lord Bolingbroke.
+
+His talents as a writer have secured to him a very distinguished place
+in the literature of England; and his political services, during the
+reign of Queen Anne, have rendered him illustrious in English history.
+But though he was possessed of wit, eloquence, family, wealth, and
+opportunity, he never displayed true dignity of character, nor real
+greatness of soul. He seemed to have no fixed principles of action; and
+to have loved contest more than victory. Wherever there was strife,
+there you might surely expect to meet St. John; and his public career
+almost justifies the inference, that apostacy (if indeed a man who has
+no principles can be called an apostate) would have seemed to him, after
+his defeat, a moderate price for permission to appear again in the
+lists. But as he had always coveted power with an insatiable avidity, he
+never could rest long enough to acquire it. On the stormy sea of public
+life, he was for ever struggling to be on the topmost wave; but the
+waves receded as fast as he advanced; and fate seemed to have destined
+him to waste his life in fruitless efforts and as fruitless changes.
+
+In early life he sought distinction by his debaucheries; and from the
+accounts of his biographer, it would seem, that he succeeded in becoming
+the most daring profligate in London. Tired of the excess of
+dissipation, he attempted the career of politics, and found his way into
+Parliament under the auspices of the whigs. When politics failed, he put
+on the mask of a metaphysician. Tired of that costume, he next attempted
+to play the farmer. Dissatisfied with farming, he wrote political
+pamphlets. Still discontented with his condition in the world, he strove
+to undermine the basis of religion.
+
+He began public life as a whig; but as the tories were in the ascendant,
+he rapidly ripened into a tory; he ended his political career by
+deserting the tories and avowing the doctrines of staunch and
+uncompromising whigs. He tried libertinism, married life, politics,
+power, exile, restoration, the House of Commons, the House of Lords, the
+city, the country, foreign travel, study, authorship, metaphysics,
+infidelity, farming, treason, submission, dereliction,--but ennui held
+him with a firm grasp all the while, and it was only in the grave that
+he ceased from troubling.
+
+To an observer who peruses his writings with this view of his character,
+many of his expressions of wise indifference and calm resignation, have
+even a ludicrous aspect. The truth breaks forth from all his attempts at
+disguise. The philosopher's robes could not hide the stately wrecks of
+his political passions. They say, that round Vesuvius, the lava of
+former eruptions has so entirely resolved itself into soil, that
+vineyards thrive on the black ruins of the volcano; and that the ancient
+devastation could hardly be recognised, except for an occasional dark
+mass, which, not yet decomposed, frowns here and there over the
+surrounding fertility. Something like this was true of St. John; he
+believed his ambition extinct, and attempted to gather round its ruins
+all the beauties and splendour of contented wisdom; but his nature was
+still ungovernably fierce; and to the last, his passions lowered angrily
+on the quiet scenes of his literary retirement.
+
+There is no clue to his character, except in supposing him to have been
+under the influence of ennui, which was perpetually terrifying him into
+the grossest contradictions. He could not be said to have had any
+principles, or to have belonged to any party; and to whatever party he
+rallied, he was sure to become utterly faithless. He was not less false
+to the Pretender than to the King, to Ormond than to Walpole. He was
+false to the tories and false to the whigs; he was false to his country,
+for he attempted to involve her in civil war; and false to his God, for
+he combated religion. He was not swayed by a passion for glory, for he
+did not pursue it steadily,--nor by a passion for power, for he
+quarrelled with the only man by whose aid he could have maintained it.
+He was rather driven to and fro by a wild restlessness, which led him
+into gross contradictions "for his sins." Nor was his falsehood without
+its punishment. What could be more pitifully degrading, than for one who
+had been a successful British minister of state, and had displayed in
+the face of Europe his capacity for business and his powers of
+eloquence, to have finally stooped to accept a seat in the Pretender's
+cabinet, where pimps and prostitutes were the prime agents and
+counsellors?
+
+There exists a very pleasant letter from Pope, giving an account of
+Bolingbroke's rural occupations, during his country life in England,
+after the reversal of his attainder. He insisted on being a farmer; and
+to prove himself so, hired a painter to fill the walls of his parlour
+with rude pictures of the implements of husbandry. The poet describes
+him between two haycocks, watching the clouds with all the apparent
+anxiety of a husbandman; but to us it seems, that his mind was at that
+time no more in the skies than when he quoted Anaxagoras, and declared
+heaven to be the wise man's home. His heart clung to earth, and to
+earthly strife; and his uneasiness must at last have become deplorably
+wretched, since he could consent to pick up stale arguments against
+Christianity, and leave a piece of patchwork, made up of the shreds of
+other men's scepticism, as his especial legacy to posterity, in proof of
+the masterly independence of his mind.
+
+Thus we have endeavoured to explain the nature of that apathy which is
+worse than positive pain, and which impels to greater madness than the
+fiercest passions,--which kings and sages have not been able to resist,
+nor wealth nor pleasures to subdue. We have described ennui as a power
+for evil rather than for good; and we infer, that it was an absurd
+philosophy which classed it among the causes of human superiority, and
+the means of human improvement. It is the curse pronounced upon
+voluptuous indolence and on excessive passion; on those who decline
+active exertion, and thus throw away the privileges of existence; and on
+those who live a feverish life, in the constant frenzy of stimulated
+desires. There is but one cure for it: and that is found in moderation;
+the exercise of the human faculties in their natural and healthful
+state; the quiet performance of duty, in meek submission to the
+controlling Providence, which has set bounds to our achievements in
+setting limits to our power. Briefly: our ability is limited by
+Heaven--our desires are unlimited, except by ourselves--ennui can be
+avoided only by conforming the passions of the human breast to the
+conditions of human existence.
+
+In pursuing this investigation, which we now bring to a close, we have
+not attempted to exhaust the subject; we refer it rather to the calm
+meditations of others, who will find materials enough within themselves.
+And lest the impatient should throw aside our essay with the disgust of
+satiety, or the persevering should by our prolixity be vexed with the
+very spirit which we would rather teach them to exorcise, we here take a
+respectful leave, with our sincerest wishes, that life may be to the
+reader a succession of pleasant emotions, and death a resting place
+neither coveted nor feared.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Iliad, ix. 187-190.
+
+[2] Iliad, ix. 310-320.
+
+[3] Iliad. Pope renders this--Alike regretted in the dust he lies. But
+it is an expression of discontent with destiny, which sets a common
+limit to life, and not to men, whose regrets may be unequal.
+
+[4] Jean Jacques Rousseau. Confessions, p. 1. l. vi.
+
+[5] We remember perfectly well the beginning of an apostrophe to the
+Jewish philosopher; "Du _heiliger_ Spinoza." Herder, too, has a good
+deal to say in defence of him.
+
+
+
+
+ART. III.--_Travels in Kamtchatka and Siberia; with a Narrative of a
+Residence in China._ By PETER DOBELL. 2 vols. 12mo. 1830.
+
+
+Mr. Dobell, the author of these volumes, is an American gentleman, who
+formerly resided in the city of Philadelphia, where he was known as an
+enterprising and intelligent merchant. Commercial business led him to
+make several voyages, beyond the Cape of Good Hope; and circumstances at
+length induced him to prolong his residence in Asia. He established
+himself at Canton, where he lived for some years, and undertook, from
+time to time, trading expeditions to various ports on the shore of the
+Pacific Ocean. In the course of these, frequent opportunities were
+afforded of noticing the manners, country, and state of society in
+China, superior to such as occur to ordinary travellers; and much too of
+the remote people of Eastern Russia, who are very little known to those
+inhabiting the civilized portions of the world. These voyages were
+succeeded by more than one journey across the country to St. Petersburg,
+in which he observed, with an attentive eye and inquisitive disposition,
+the extensive regions forming the _penetralia_ of that vast empire. His
+intelligence and exertions were noticed and rewarded by the confidence
+of the government, who conferred on him the office of Consul at some
+Eastern port, and he was subsequently raised to the post of "Counsellor
+of the court" of his Imperial Majesty, a rank which he still retains,
+having probably relinquished the intention of returning to his own
+country.
+
+The account of China, which, in the natural order, would form the first
+portion of his narrative, is comprised in a sort of supplement to the
+travels in Siberia, and contains in a more compendious form, a good
+sketch of the manners and state of society in that singular country. The
+means of observation, and of obtaining information, are indeed greatly
+diminished, by the well known jealousy of the Chinese towards strangers,
+and the extreme vanity and exaggeration with which they speak of
+themselves and their country; but the pursuits of Mr. Dobell, together
+with the recurrence of the opportunities by which he profited, give to
+his account a considerable degree of novelty, and certainly entitle it
+to more than ordinary confidence.
+
+On his first arrival at Canton, he was struck with the new and
+interesting scene that presented itself. Islands, hills, canals, and
+rivers, were scattered around. The verdure was lively, the population
+excessive, the vegetation and general appearance of the country totally
+different from those he had elsewhere beheld, and the waters glittered
+with innumerable fleets of boats of various sizes and descriptions. The
+boatmen and pilots addressed him in a language which he afterwards
+found to prevail extensively at Canton, and which was called English; it
+is, in truth, a bad dialect of that language, the composition and
+pronunciation of which are so curious and difficult, that a residence of
+a year or two is necessary for its acquisition. None of the Chinese,
+rich or poor, understand those who speak plain English. The first
+intercourse of a foreigner with the natives, displays that imposition
+and venality which are more strongly exhibited, during every month of
+his residence among them. He is at once surrounded by persons, called
+_compradors_, who offer their assistance in supplying him with
+provisions of every description; they serve him without wages, although
+they are obliged to pay the Mandarins for the privilege of affording
+their generous aid to strangers; the consequence is, they take especial
+care to remunerate themselves handsomely at the expense of those to whom
+they extend their kindness. Besides this, as they bribe the custom-house
+officers, they are able to offer many facilities, and to carry on an
+extensive contraband commerce. Those officers are sent to a vessel
+immediately on her arrival, and their boats, called hoppoo-boats are
+constantly attached to her stern while she remains in port; their
+consciences, however, are easily satisfied by the liberality of the
+comprador, and they pass their time in smoking, sleeping, and playing at
+cards; indeed, if any extraordinary smuggling is desired to be
+accomplished, they protect the offender against the officious
+interference of other officers: they keep shops on board of their boats,
+where they exercise their expertness in cheating, and, as every thing is
+sold by weight, it is necessary to weigh for yourself what you buy, to
+avoid the tricks which they always endeavour to play.
+
+Undoubtedly, the venality of the Chinese has been increased by the
+introduction of commerce from beyond the Cape of Good Hope; but there is
+no doubt also, that its existence is of very old date, and that it is
+owing to the nature and conduct of the government, more than to the
+character of the people. There are so many prohibitions and enormous
+duties to tempt their prevailing passion, avarice, that vast numbers
+engage in the contraband trade, as being the most profitable; moderate
+duties, and freedom of importation, would destroy the temptation, and
+render smuggling dangerous and unprofitable; at present it has become an
+organized system of plunder, protected by the Mandarins themselves.
+
+     "The opium trade," says Mr. Dobell, "with the exception of ten
+     chests of that pernicious drug, that are allowed to be imported
+     into Macao, for medicinal purposes, is entirely conducted by
+     smugglers. In defiance of an annual edict from the Emperor,
+     making it death to smuggle opium, the enormous quantity of
+     nearly _four thousand chests_ is imported every year to Macao
+     and Whampoa; the greater part, however, goes to the former
+     place. When I inform my readers that each chest weighs a
+     _pecul_, that is to say, 133-1/3 English pounds, and that it
+     sells for twelve to fifteen hundred, and sometimes two thousand
+     Spanish dollars a chest, they may form some judgment of the
+     value and extent of smuggling in China. It is a business that
+     all the inferior Mandarins, and some of the higher ones, their
+     protectors, are engaged in; so that opium is carried through
+     the streets of Macao, in the most bare-faced manner, in the
+     open day. The opium dealers at Whampoa, formerly took it away
+     by night, but latterly I have seen them go to the ship, with
+     the linguist of the Whampoa custom-house officer, and take it
+     out in the day time. Sixty Spanish dollars is the bribe paid
+     for each chest of opium sold at Macao; and if it goes to
+     Canton, it pays sixty more on its arrival there. Large boats
+     armed, and having from thirty to forty men, called opium boats,
+     ply between Macao and Canton, when that market offers an
+     advantage in price. These boats carry this drug, and are
+     sanctioned by the custom-house officers, who, of course,
+     receive for this business likewise, a good bribe."
+
+The only attempts made to suppress this practice, are on the initiation
+into office of new _foo-yunes_, or governors, who have not yet perfectly
+learned the established usages, or who have not been propitiated by the
+necessary gratuities. In these cases, a terrible revolution occurs in
+the peaceful and quiet frauds of the smugglers; their shops are broken
+up, their property confiscated without mercy, and all the terrors of the
+law invoked upon the persons of such, who indeed are few, as have not
+alertness and foresight enough to keep out of the way. This excess of
+virtue does not endure long however; and the liberal generosity of the
+traders generally contrives, in a month, to overcome the scruples of the
+most resolute.
+
+     "During my residence, however," says Mr. Dobell, "a _foo-yune_
+     arrived, who proved incorruptible, and he almost destroyed the
+     smugglers, as well as the profits of his colleagues; which
+     latter, becoming tired of his persecutions, united together,
+     and by their intrigues had him advanced to a much higher
+     station. Being a man of talent, he got another step again in a
+     short time, and at length came back to Canton as Tsan-tuk or
+     viceroy. The opium dealers and smugglers were greatly alarmed,
+     shut up their shops, and secreted themselves for some time. It
+     appeared their fears were groundless. This artful man, who
+     formerly persecuted them from political motives, to insure his
+     advancement, was now as mild and propitious as possible. Having
+     arrived at an elevated station, with the certainty of rising
+     still higher, he sought to enrich himself, in order to be more
+     sure of gratifying his ambition. Accordingly, he proved kind to
+     his colleagues, and polite to Europeans; and by his affability
+     of deportment, contrived to amass the largest fortune that ever
+     fell to the share of a viceroy of Canton. He was afterwards
+     made a member of the emperor's council at Pekin."
+
+The robbery of the government, if conducted with sufficient skill and
+boldness, seems to be as successful as smuggling--indeed, it is a maxim
+with those in power, never to risk a defeat, and that it is best to
+accomplish their ends, by a crafty and cautious delay until a favourable
+moment for executing them arrives. The salt trade is one of the most
+lucrative, important, and extensive, and is conducted entirely under
+special licenses from Mandarins, appointed by the crown. Some years
+since, the pirates on the coast intercepted the salt-junks, and
+compelled the monopolists to negotiate with them, and pay a certain sum
+for the safe passage of every vessel. After a while, this intercourse
+led to a regular trade, by which the captains of the salt-junks supplied
+the pirates with arms and ammunition, and the government discovering it,
+an entire stop was put to the salt trade. The pirates, however, were not
+to be so easily frightened or defeated; their admiral, Apo-Tsy,
+forthwith commenced an offensive warfare; assembled an immense fleet of
+junks and a force of upwards of twenty thousand men, invaded the country
+near Macao, cut all the ripe rice, and carried it off, as well as a
+great number of women, whom he presented to his followers. In vain did
+the viceroy attack the piratical fleet,--he was defeated in every
+engagement, and the affair was only terminated by making Apo-Tsy
+governor of the province of Fokien, and pardoning all his followers!
+Matters however did not stop here; in some of his battles, Apo-Tsy had
+taken prisoner an admiral nearly related to the heir to the crown, and
+cut off his head; as soon as the relative ascended the throne, he
+despatched a polite message to the governor of Fokien, to say, that the
+laws of the empire required blood for blood, and that his excellency's
+head was therefore required instead of the admiral's. There was no
+excuse to be made, and the twenty thousand pirates were no longer at
+hand, so that Apo-Tsy's head was conveyed to Pekin.
+
+This salt trade is very extensive; no less than twenty thousand tons of
+shipping being occupied in it alone. Indeed the great commerce of the
+Chinese appears to be that carried on by their own junks to the
+Indo-Chinese islands. One of these vessels will carry a cargo of from
+three to five thousand dollars value, in earthenware, silks, nankeens,
+ironmongery, tea, and other productions and manufactures of the Chinese.
+They have settlements on all these islands, and are certainly invaluable
+colonists, as they have sufficiently proved wherever they are
+established. They work the mines, plant cotton, make indigo and sugar,
+and acquire large fortunes among the slothful and careless Malays.
+Though they intermarry with these people, they never adopt their habits
+or religion, but remain, as well as their descendants, a distinct race;
+and wherever found, their settlements present a complete miniature
+picture of China. It is indeed a gross error to consider China a country
+wholly agricultural and manufacturing; on the contrary, the Chinese are
+one of the most commercial nations of the globe. It is true, they affect
+themselves to hold the trade which they carry on with distant nations,
+as comparatively unimportant, and assert that with the contiguous
+islands to be infinitely more lucrative; yet this is to be ascribed to
+their habit of decrying other countries; and it is not to be doubted
+that the revenue derived from the commerce they thus contemn, is very
+great. The importations into Canton from England, America, Holland,
+France, Sweden, Denmark, Manilla, and India, in European and American
+ships, in money and merchandise, must be annually from thirty to forty
+millions of dollars. The bad policy which occasions the immense
+contraband trade in opium, deprives the government of duties, annually,
+to the amount of four or five millions of dollars. Their commercial
+system with foreigners, shows a great deal of deep cunning, but it is
+repulsive to wisdom and good policy, and by no means calculated to
+afford them the advantages they might derive from that intercourse.
+
+The highly wrought principles and moral maxims, which abound in the
+writings of the lawgivers and philosophers of China, have been sometimes
+cited to prove the existence of a superior system of institutions and
+laws. Theoretical speculations, vanity, and self adulation, are one
+thing; wise administration, and practical justice, are another. The
+doctrines of Confucius are worthy to be placed with those of Solon; the
+rescripts of the celestial emperor, abound in common-places of unbending
+integrity and the sternest equity; but notwithstanding all this, the
+morals of the people are debased, the very foundations of virtue are
+sapped by bribery and corruption, with all their concomitant vices; the
+sword of justice is arrested; and license is widely given to the
+violation of public and private rights. Some instances of this
+unblushing venality are mentioned by Mr. Dobell.
+
+     "By the law of homicide, life must atone for life; and, if a
+     person dies suddenly, the master of the house is treated in the
+     same manner as if he had been guilty, until he proves the fact.
+     This keeps the Chinese always on their guard, and ready to
+     deceive the mandarins, or to bribe them, if necessity should
+     require. A person of my acquaintance related to me, that he had
+     a large garden, where there were some nice fruits, which were
+     often stolen; and although his servants had frequently watched,
+     they could not detect the offender. He therefore determined to
+     watch with them; and, having armed himself with a pike,
+     accompanied his two servants in the night, to try and detect
+     the thief. Not long after he had placed himself at his post, he
+     saw a naked man approach the trees near where he stood. He
+     called to him to stand still or he would kill him. The fellow,
+     frightened at this summons, made off with all speed; and the
+     master of the house, seeing him about to escape, threw his pike
+     at him, which killed him on the spot. He was much alarmed at
+     the accident; but recollecting himself, he promised his
+     servants a handsome present to keep the affair secret; and with
+     their assistance, threw the dead body over the wall, into his
+     neighbour's garden. This, too, was managed in so careful
+     manner, as to render it impossible to discover whence the body
+     came. His neighbour, who was a very rich tea-merchant, felt no
+     less alarmed than astonished, on the following morning, when
+     his servants informed him that a dead man had been found in the
+     garden, who to all appearance had been murdered. The story soon
+     reached the mandarin of the district, who proceeded, in all due
+     form, to execute the duties of his office, and examine the
+     body; not a little delighted to have to deal with such a man as
+     the rich tea-merchant. A corpse found in this way cannot be
+     touched or removed until the police-mandarin of the district
+     comes and inquires into the manner of the person's death; and
+     if there is any thing suspicious, he will not suffer the dead
+     man to be taken away, before he has had some satisfactory
+     proofs of the cause of his death. As none such could be
+     elicited from the merchant, who, conscious of his innocence,
+     thought the mandarin could do him no harm, the latter
+     commenced a regular process, and made him daily visits, besides
+     sending for him frequently, and thus perplexed him exceedingly.
+     All this time the dead man was left in the garden, which being
+     near the house, and the body beginning to putrefy, such an
+     odour was caused as became almost insupportable. At length, the
+     merchant, overpowered by the bad smell, and alarmed by the
+     measures the mandarin was preparing to prove him culpable, was
+     happy to compromise the affair, and have the dead body removed,
+     on paying the sum of four thousand five hundred Spanish
+     dollars!"
+
+Nor was this the end of the adventure, which reminds one of the story of
+the Little Hunch-back, in the Arabian Nights Entertainments:--
+
+     "A few years after, the person who put the dead man into the
+     merchant's garden, had himself a disagreeable affair, though it
+     cost him less trouble and money to get rid of it. In the street
+     where he lived, and not far from his house, was an eating house
+     for the lower classes. A beggar, who had been half-starved,
+     receiving from some compassionate person enough to purchase
+     himself a very ample repast, repaired to this eating house, and
+     called for several things at the same moment, which he ate most
+     voraciously. The owner of the eating house requested him to
+     stop a while before he ate again, as he perceived it must have
+     been some time since he had satisfied his hunger. The beggar,
+     however, would not listen to reason; he demanded food for his
+     money till it was all expended, and then dropped down dead.
+     This happened towards evening; and when the host perceived that
+     it was dark, he and his servants took up the dead mendicant,
+     and placed him at the door of the person before mentioned. On
+     the following morning, the beggar-mandarin of the district came
+     to him, and was very troublesome, declaring the beggar had been
+     killed by some of his family, and that he should institute a
+     process against him immediately. The accused, however, had the
+     good fortune to find a witness, who had seen the keeper of the
+     eating house and his servants put the body at his door.
+     Although the beggar-mandarin could now do nothing against him
+     in law, he refused to take the corpse away; and he was obliged
+     to pay him two hundred dollars to have it removed before it
+     became offensive. No doubt he got a good fee likewise from the
+     master of the eating house."
+
+The accounts we have of the population of China, greatly exaggerate it
+in the opinion of Mr. Dobell. The persons by whom these statements are
+given, have been generally ambassadors, missionaries and others, who
+were, from political motives, as well as convenience of travelling,
+conducted in boats on the canals and rivers which intersect the richest,
+best cultivated and most populous parts of the empire. But it is
+ridiculous to calculate the number of inhabitants, by assuming, as the
+basis, the population of a square league so settled, and to imagine that
+all the land is equally well cultivated. The truth is, that all the rice
+grounds of the empire--and the whole population eats rice--would be
+utterly insufficient to afford the necessary quantity, for any thing
+approaching to the numbers which it is currently asserted to contain.
+
+The system of husbandry, too, is defective, though the cultivators of
+the soil are industrious; about Canton and Macao, they transplant every
+stalk of rice by hand with great regularity, and make two crops in the
+year; one in July, the other in October. In the cultivation of
+vegetables of all sorts, they are not surpassed by any nation of the
+globe. Rents are usually paid in cattle, hogs, fowls, rice, and the
+various productions of the soil, and the tenure is a species of feudal
+one, derived primarily from the emperor, who is considered theoretically
+as the actual proprietor of all the soil.[6] Fruits are so plentiful,
+that there is less attention paid to them than in colder climates;
+almost every month of the year has its peculiar fruits; but those most
+esteemed are the oranges, mangoes, and lichees. Of the productions of
+the soil, however, that most prized by foreigners, as well as most used
+and esteemed in China, is tea. To the history of this celebrated plant,
+Mr. Dobell has devoted a whole chapter, but we confess that we have
+found it less perspicuous, except as to the commercial value of the
+various qualities offered for sale, than we desired or expected, after
+the opportunities of observation which he possessed. We infer, that he
+agrees with the prevailing opinion, that there is but one species of the
+tea plant. He speaks of four _stocks_, by which he seems to mean the
+varieties arising from a difference of cultivation, soil, or
+temperature. These four stocks are _Bohea_, _Ankay_, _Hyson_, and
+_Singlo_--names derived from the places in which they are particularly
+cultivated. From the two former are prepared what we call _black_ teas,
+from the two latter _green_ teas. According to the season at which the
+leaves are gathered, and the manner in which they are subsequently
+prepared, is the excellence of each kind. Of _black_ teas, the Bohea
+kinds are superior to the Ankay; thus, the simplest or commonest sort of
+the first, sells at Canton for twelve to fourteen taels per pecul,[7] of
+the other for eight to ten; and the finest sort of the first, Bohea
+Pecho, brings from forty to one hundred and twenty taels; but of the
+latter, Ankay Pecho, only thirty-two to forty-two taels. In like manner
+of _green_ teas, the Hyson kinds are superior to the Singlo; thus the
+commonest sort of the first, called Hyson Skin, sells for twenty-six to
+thirty taels, while that of the latter, called Singlo Skin, sells at
+twenty-two to twenty-five taels; and the finest sort of the first, or
+Hyson Gunpowder, brings eighty to one hundred and twenty taels, while
+Singlo Gunpowder brings only fifty to eighty taels. As the subject is
+one of considerable interest, we have condensed into a short table the
+comparative qualities and values of the different kinds of teas, so far
+as we can do so from the remarks of Mr. Dobell:--the value is reduced to
+our own currency, and the quantity to our own weights; the price is that
+of the Canton market.
+
+_Black Teas._
+
+Common Bohea,           21 dollars per 133-1/3 pounds
+Bohea Congou,           33    "     "             "
+Bohea Campoi,           34    "     "             "
+Bohea Souchong,         60    "     "             "
+Bohea Pecho,           133    "     "             "
+Common Ankay,           15    "     "             "
+Ankay Congou,           27    "     "             "
+Ankay Campoi,           38    "     "             "
+Ankay Souchong,         41    "     "             "
+Ankay Pecho,            61    "     "             "
+
+_Green Teas._
+
+Hyson Skin,             46 dollars per 133-1/3 pounds
+Hyson Young-hyson,      63    "     "             "
+Hyson,                  91    "     "             "
+Hyson Gunpowder,       166    "     "             "
+Singlo Skin,            39    "     "             "
+Singlo Young-hyson,     47    "     "             "
+Singlo Hyson,           78    "     "             "
+Singlo Gunpowder,      108    "     "             "
+
+Tea is the common beverage of all classes, and is always drunk warm,
+even in the hottest weather, and at all hours of the day. It is prepared
+by putting a small quantity of the leaves in a fine porcelain cup;
+boiling water is then poured on it, and it is covered immediately with
+another cup fitting closely: as soon as the flavour of the tea is
+slightly extracted, it is sipped hot, as it is, great strength being
+avoided; the cup is then filled again with boiling water, until all the
+flavour of the herb is exhausted. Mechanics and labourers, who cannot
+afford to drink it in this manner, draw it in a large block-tin tea-pot,
+cased with wood, and having cotton wool put between the wood and the
+vessel to preserve the warmth longer. The extreme heat of the tea, as
+preferred by the Chinese, is one of the causes, perhaps, that tend to
+produce the relaxation, weakness of digestion, and languor of nerve,
+with which they are much afflicted.
+
+The perfection of many of the mechanic arts in China, which cannot be
+denied in some instances, results less from any scientific skill, than
+from the laboured experience of ages brought slowly to a certain point.
+Beyond that, no discoveries of modern knowledge have led them. Thus, the
+brightness and permanence of colouring in their silk manufactures, are
+not produced by any secret mordents or process, but derived from a very
+nice experience of the climate, and certain concurrent circumstances.
+For instance, great numbers of persons are employed, so that great
+rapidity in the execution of the process is assured. The north wind,
+called Pak-fung, is the only period at which the silks are dried. And
+when they are packed up for exportation, great care is taken to avoid a
+time when there is the slightest dampness.
+
+Nothing has ever been more exaggerated, than the state of civilization
+and social advancement among the Chinese. They are, in general, a
+frugal, sober, and industrious people; but the accounts of their
+government, sciences, religion, public institutions, and improvement in
+morals and arts, are both false and ridiculous. The administration of
+public affairs, is such as would disgrace any country on the globe; and
+the code of laws which is expressed in such high flown metaphors, and
+boasts such wonderful wisdom in its doctrines, serves, in truth, but as
+a cloak to hide injustice and oppression. In former times, the mandarins
+or nobles were said to be chosen from amongst the best of the nation, by
+wise men sent for that purpose by the emperor; at present, money wins
+its way more easily than talent or virtue, to the hearts of these
+electors. The poorer classes live in a state of extreme wretchedness;
+their houses are low, confined, and filthy, and they crowd together in
+great numbers; on the coasts, those who live in boats,--and they are
+stated to amount at Canton to sixty or eighty thousand souls,--have much
+cleaner and more commodious habitations. There is said to be more
+deformity among them than among any other people; and all classes are
+subject to the complaints which result from debauchery and the use of
+opium. In the latter, they appear to find an almost inexpressible
+delight. The Chinese have no surgeons, and are almost totally ignorant
+of anatomy; the first physicians of Canton, have none but the most
+confused notions of the circulation of the blood; they believe it flows
+differently on the right and left sides of the body, and they therefore
+feel both pulses when they visit a patient.
+
+At Canton, during the summer months, the thermometer varies from 82° to
+92°. There is but little frost in winter, and not much rain. The streets
+are only made for foot passengers. The mandarins ride in sedan-chairs of
+large size, with glass windows, carried on the shoulders of four, six,
+ten, or twelve men; several fellows run before with whips, which they
+apply without mercy to any one obstructing the way; others beat gongs to
+warn the crowd; whilst some cry out, with a shrill voice, like the
+howling of dogs. The Chinese, indeed, though supposed to be a grave
+nation, are remarkably fond of personal display; few countries abound
+more with fops. The dress of an exquisite is very expensive, being
+composed of the most costly crapes or silks; his boots or shoes are of a
+particular shape, and made of the richest black satin of Nankin, with
+soles of a certain height; his knee caps are elegantly embroidered; his
+cap and button are of the neatest cut; his pipes elegant and
+high-priced; his tobacco of the best manufacture of Fokien; an English
+gold watch; a tooth-pick hung at his button, with a string of valuable
+pearls; and a fan from Nankin, scented with _chulan_ flowers--such are
+his personal appointments. He is attended by servants in costly
+liveries; and, when he meets an acquaintance, his studied manners and
+ceremonial are as carefully displayed, as the airs of the most
+accomplished dandy in Christian countries.
+
+All amusements are anxiously sought after. Theatrical exhibitions
+constantly take place after dinner in the houses of the rich. Cards and
+dice abound every where. Besides these, they have many other sports and
+games of chance, peculiar to the country. Cricket fighting and quail
+fighting are very common. To make two male crickets fight, they are
+placed in an earthen bowl, about five or eight inches in diameter; the
+owner of each, tickles his cricket with a feather, which makes them both
+run round the bowl different ways, frequently jostling one another as
+they pass. After several meetings in this way, they at length become
+exasperated, and fight with great fury until they literally tear each
+other limb from limb.
+
+Quails for fighting are prepared with great care. Every one has a
+separate keeper, who has his bird confined in a small bag, which he
+carries with him wherever he goes. The poor prisoner is rarely permitted
+to see the light, except when he is fed, or it is deemed necessary for
+his health; he is then held by the keeper on his hand, sometimes for
+hours. When two quails are brought to fight, they are placed in a thing
+like a large sieve, in the centre of a table, round which the spectators
+stand to witness the battle and make their bets. Some grains of millet
+seed are put into the sieve, and the quails are taken from the bags and
+placed near it, opposite to each other. If they are birds of courage,
+the moment one begins to eat he is attacked by the other, and they fight
+hard for a few minutes. The quail that is beaten flies up, and the
+conqueror remains to eat the seed. The best fights seldom last more than
+five minutes. Immense sums of money are lost and won on them, for they
+are very uncertain; sometimes one quail has been known to win several
+hundred battles, and then suddenly to be beaten by a new and untutored
+bird.
+
+Next to quail fighting, the flower-boats occupy most of a Chinese
+gentleman's leisure hours. They are the residence of women, generally of
+agreeable conversation and lively manners, but not of the purest
+character. The vessels are so called, from having the sides, windows,
+and doors, carved in flowers, and painted green and gilded. They are
+divided into rooms, which are well ventilated and fitted up with
+verandas, galleries, and all the conveniences of comfort, luxury, and
+dissipation. The gentlemen go to them in the afternoon; parties are
+formed; they all sit round a large table, well furnished, and eat,
+drink, sing, and play, until morning. It is said that from forty to
+fifty thousand dollars are spent daily in the flower-boats of Canton. By
+an ancient custom, the Hong-merchants there, when making their contracts
+for tea, (which is generally done a year in advance,) are obliged to
+invite the persons with whom they wish to contract, to partake of a
+repast in one of those boats. The bargain is always easy in proportion
+to the sumptuousness and splendour of the supper, during which it is
+concluded; and although very expensive, is fully repaid by the
+advantages gained in the contract.
+
+When a Chinese gives a ceremonious dinner, it is done with great
+splendour. Several days before, a large red paper is sent to the guests,
+on which the invitation is written in the politest terms of the
+language. On the day preceding the party, another invitation is sent on
+rose coloured paper, to remind them of it, and to ascertain whether they
+are coming. Again, on the next day, a short time before the hour
+appointed, the invitation is repeated, to inform them that the feast is
+prepared and awaits them. A great number of dishes are served on small
+ebony tables, and dressed in the most piquant manner; there are several
+courses; and, in addition to various wines, cordials of a fiery nature
+are offered from time to time. When two persons wish to pledge one
+another, they leave the tables, go into the middle of the room, and take
+care to place the cups to their lips exactly at the same instant. They
+are not apt to become intoxicated. Between the courses they rise from
+the table and walk about. The most expensive delicacy they can offer is
+_birds' nest soup,_ with pigeons' or plovers' eggs floating on it. The
+birds' nests, so used, are formed of a mucilage supposed to be collected
+from certain weeds floating on the sea, by the swallows of the Indian,
+Chinese, and Pacific oceans; some of the best come from Batavia and the
+Nikobar Islands; they are sold by weight, and a catty (one pound and
+three quarters) of the best parts, sells for the enormous price of
+forty-five to sixty dollars.
+
+The Chinese do not appear to be governed by fixed and solid principles
+of religion, such as the Christian faith, produced by conviction or
+reason. They have a superstitious reverence for certain ceremonies,
+rights, and ancient customs, which have prevailed for ages; and these
+serve, in many respects, to cover various vices and habits which are
+prevalent. They seem, however, to believe in a Supreme Being, called the
+_Great Joss_, or _Yook-Chee_, represented only to the mind, and not
+allowing his image to be made on earth; and they say, should any one be
+rash enough to make a statue of him, he would be immediately struck
+dead. He is, however, described on paper, holding the little finger of
+his right hand across the first joint of the middle finger, the
+fore-finger resting on the point of the little finger, and the third
+finger bent round it, whilst the thumb is also bent upwards, a very
+curious and difficult position to place the fingers in. They believe
+that when he opens his hand, the world and mankind are to be destroyed;
+and they consider all the other deities and spirits, to whom, however,
+they do not pay a very great adoration, as sent by him to the world.
+These are supposed to preside over rain, crops, dreams, &c., and have
+various attributes, which it would require volumes to explain. The
+Chinese have no regular priesthood, supported by the government; it
+depends on voluntary contributions and endowments of the rich; it has
+its monasteries, where numbers of both sexes devote themselves to
+celibacy; but, in general, it seems, as a body, to have less influence
+than in most countries. In all rich families, there is a shing-shang, or
+astrologer, who is consulted on all occasions; he is the tutor, and
+generally the writer; and thus becomes a man of much importance. The
+funerals are objects of great attention; and, where it is possible,
+great expense is bestowed on them; every care is taken to choose a lucky
+spot for interment, and the tombs are made very splendid.
+
+These are a few of the facts we have noted with regard to the Chinese,
+in perusing Mr. Dobell's volumes; and but a very few. Those who are
+desirous to obtain a fuller account of the country, manners, and state
+of society of that singular people, than our limited space will permit
+us to give, may turn to them with great profit. He has evidently devoted
+much attention to the collection of information; and, resulting as it
+does, from the observations of a number of years, with an opportunity of
+correcting and comparing accounts and impressions, received at various
+times and under various circumstances, we believe that just and great
+reliance may be placed on it. We must now leave China, however, and
+follow him on his expedition to the north of Asia.
+
+Leaving Canton, and proceeding along the western shore of the Pacific
+ocean, he landed at the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul, on the 25th
+of August, 1812. He describes the bay of the Avatcha, which forms the
+port, as forty versts in circumference, encompassed by forest-covered
+mountains and extensive meadows. It is so capacious and safe, that large
+fleets may securely lie there; and it affords a combination of
+picturesque beauty, grandeur, and security, rarely equalled in other
+parts of the globe. Immense tracts of low ground extend along the outlet
+of the river Avatcha, which present the appearance of having been banked
+out in former times, to prevent their being overflowed. So numerous,
+indeed, are these embankments, and so far beyond the necessities or
+ability of such a population as the present, to erect, that they are by
+many of the inhabitants supposed to be natural mounds. This conjecture,
+however, Mr. Dobell was convinced was incorrect, from repeated
+observation.
+
+     "Evident marks remain," he observes, "where the earth has been
+     dug out and thrown up; the holes, which were very deep, are now
+     ponds, whilst the shallower ones have been filled up with soft
+     mud, and have a thick surface of turf upon them, resembling
+     what is called a shaking bog. There is no doubt of their being
+     the work of man; but when and how it was performed was what I
+     could not discover. The Kamtchatdales themselves could have had
+     no inducement to undertake such a laborious task; as, when they
+     were first known, they had neither horned cattle nor horses.
+     They were probably made after the conquest of that country by
+     the Russians, when domestic animals were introduced; as they
+     are evidently intended to preserve the low lands for hay and
+     pasture. This has been so well accomplished, that the greater
+     part of them are still actually in good order."
+
+After passing a few days at Avatcha, and gratifying the inhabitants with
+a ball on board of his vessel, Mr. Dobell set out, on the first of
+September, for Nijna Kamtchatsk, a town seven hundred and fifty miles
+distant, the residence of the governor, whom it was necessary for him to
+see, in order to make the commercial arrangements he desired. He
+ascended the Avatcha river, the banks of which are for the most part
+composed of fine meadow land, or hills thickly covered with birch. Early
+on the following day, the party left their boats, and proceeded on
+horseback over two or three very steep mountains, and amid clouds of
+mosquitoes, which tormented them exceedingly. The houses at which they
+stopped, from time to time, were in general black, smoky, and dirty, but
+the inhabitants kind and hospitable beyond measure, though poor. The
+universal food is fish--men, dogs, bears, wolves, and birds of prey, all
+live upon them, and indeed they abound, in quantities fully sufficient
+to supply all; they are seen in the streams sporting about by thousands,
+and even the shores are covered with dead ones thrown up by the current.
+
+The dwelling of the Kamtchatdales is of two kinds--for the summer and
+the winter. The former, which is called a _ballagan,_ is a building of a
+conical form, composed of poles fourteen or fifteen feet long, laid up
+from the edge of a circle, ten or twelve feet in diameter, the tops
+meeting at the centre, and tied there by ozier twigs or ropes. The
+outside of these is covered with birch or pine bark, over which there is
+sometimes a thatching of coarse grass, fastened down by other poles and
+oziers. This kind of hut is generally erected in the centre of a square
+platform, elevated ten or twelve feet, upon large posts planted deep in
+the ground. Poles are again placed in rows under the building and
+between the posts, where they dry their fish, which the hut serves to
+cover from the weather, as well as to store and preserve them when
+dried. The door of the ballagan is always opposite to the water; the
+fire-place on a bed of earth outside, at one corner of the platform. A
+large piece of timber, with notches cut in it instead of steps, and
+placed against the platform at an angle of forty-five degrees, is the
+method of ascending and descending, particularly unsafe and inconvenient
+for those not accustomed to so uncouth a staircase.
+
+The winter house, or _jourta_, is a sort of subterranean dwelling. It
+generally consists of a frame of timber, put into a square hole four or
+five feet deep, and within the frame a quantity of stakes are set close
+together, inclining a little inwards, and the earth thrown against them.
+The stakes are left round on the outside, but hewn within, and the top
+is framed over in the same manner and arched and supported by
+stanchions. In the centre of the roof is a square hole, which serves the
+double purpose of a door and a chimney, the inhabitants passing in or
+out by means of a piece of timber with notches cut in it, such as we
+have before described. The top and sides of the jourta are covered
+outside with a quantity of earth and sodded. At one end, there is a
+large hole with a stopper to it, which is opened when the oven is
+heating, to force the smoke out at the door. When once heated, and the
+stopper closed, jourtas are warm, and, were it not for the smoke, would
+be comfortable. The description of such subterranean habitations, and of
+the lives led by these rude people during their long and bitter winters,
+cannot be read without reviving in the memory those lines of Virgil,
+which describe a race similar in all respects--even to the acid liquors
+they distil; but dwelling in regions far less remote from the warm skies
+of Italy.--
+
+    "Ipsi in defossis specubus secura sub altâ
+    Otia agunt terrâ; congestaque robora, totasque
+    Advolvêre focis ulmos, ignique dedêre.
+    Hic noctem ludo ducunt, et pocula læti
+    Fermento atque acidis imitantur vitea sorbis.
+    Talis hyperboreo septem subjecta trioni
+    Gens effræna virûm Riphæo tunditur Euro
+    Et pecudum fulvis velantur corpora setis."
+
+The increase of civilization, wealth, and intercourse with other
+nations, has however effected a great change in the mode of life among
+this remote people. Cottages, made generally of logs, are substituted
+for these ruder mansions, especially in the neighbourhood of the
+sea-ports; and a traveller occasionally meets with much that reminds him
+of fairer climes, and a state of society less primitive.
+
+     "On reaching Sherrom, a cottage was pointed out to us as the
+     habitation of the Toyune, the outward appearance of which was
+     too engaging not to excite anticipations of good cheer within.
+     As it was a low building, I put my head into one of the windows
+     that was open, and was quite surprised to see so neat and
+     clean a dwelling in that country. The name of the owner, who
+     was Toyune of Sherrom, was Conon Merlin. He and his wife were
+     absent fishing, but we were not less hospitably received by his
+     daughter and daughter-in-law, two clean dressed pretty young
+     women, who welcomed us with their smiles, and made us imagine,
+     that, instead of Kamtchatka, we had got into the land of
+     enchantment. Every thing about them seemed in unison with their
+     appearance. The tables and stools were of poplar white as snow;
+     no vermin was to be seen on the walls, which were hewn smooth
+     and whitened; and the whole presented a picture of neatness,
+     cleanliness, and comfort, such as we had not yet seen in
+     Kamtchatka. In fifteen minutes after our arrival, a refreshing
+     cup of tea was prepared, with fresh butter, cream, and milk;
+     and their being served up in so neat a manner, made them taste
+     more delicious than usual. Our hostess being a well-behaved
+     young woman, we requested her to do the honours of the table,
+     which she performed with the utmost cheerfulness and
+     politeness, just as if she had been bred in a city. In the
+     evening the old Toyune and his wife returned from fishing, and
+     seemed quite overjoyed to see us, as such guests, they said,
+     were not common; and they certainly took uncommon pains to
+     treat and to please us. The old man appeared between sixty and
+     seventy years of age, with a long white beard and moustachios,
+     which, added to a mild, sensible, and prepossessing
+     countenance, gave him a most sage and respectable appearance,
+     and personified to my imagination the wise enchanter whose name
+     he bore. Conon Merlin had been educated by the famous Mr.
+     Evashkin, a Russian nobleman, who was banished to Kamtchatka
+     during the reign of Catharine II., and is since dead; but who
+     was well known to former travellers in Kamtchatka. Our Toyune,
+     therefore, could write and read Russian well, knew most of the
+     dialects of Kamtchatka, and was certainly the most intelligent
+     man I ever met among the natives."
+
+On the morning of the 13th, soon after leaving the village of Klutchee,
+they beheld the majestic volcano of Klootchefsky, rearing its awful and
+flaming head far above the clouds. This huge mountain, towering to the
+skies, is a perfect cone, decreasing gradually from its enormous base to
+the summit; its top is whitened by perpetual snow, and the flame and
+smoke, for ever issuing from its crater, are seen shading the sky at the
+distance of many miles. Sometimes quantities of ashes are thrown out, so
+fine as to impregnate the atmosphere, and be inhaled in breathing; and,
+it is said, that occasionally a white clammy substance, resembling,
+perhaps, the honey dew elsewhere observed, has flowed from the crater,
+sweet to the taste, and very adhesive when touched. Altogether, this
+mountain is one of the most picturesque and sublime of the volcanoes
+described by travellers, though from its remote situation it has been,
+and probably long will be, visited but by few.
+
+Mr. Dobell reached Nijna Kamtchatsk on the 14th of September, and was
+most kindly received and treated by the governor, General Petrowsky,
+with whom he made all the arrangements he desired, and, after a visit of
+six days, returned to St. Peter and St. Paul. He describes the town of
+Nijna Kamtchatsk as one of eighty or ninety houses, and between four and
+five hundred inhabitants. Its situation is not good, the ground being
+low and moist. It is on the bank of the river Kamtchatka, about
+thirty-five versts from the sea. Since the period we allude to, the
+seat of government has been removed to St. Peter and St. Paul, and the
+town has lost nearly all its population, there being but five or six
+families left there.
+
+On his way back he again visited his kind host, the Toyune of Sherrom,
+whom he found laying in his winter stock of provisions, which offered a
+good example of the economy, wants, and supplies of a Kamtchatdale
+family. He assured Mr. Dobell that himself and his sons had killed
+twelve bears, eleven mountain sheep, several reindeer, a large number of
+geese, ducks, and tiel, and a few swans and pheasants. "In November,"
+said he, "we shall catch many hares and partridges; and I have one
+thousand fresh salmon, lately caught, and now frozen for our winter's
+stock. Added to this, in my cellar there is a good supply of cabbages,
+turnips, and potatoes, with various sorts of berries, and about thirty
+poods of sarannas, the greater part of which we have stolen from the
+field mice, who collect them in large quantities for the winter." In the
+spring, the Kamtchatdales supply themselves with the skins of the hair
+seals and other sea animals, from whose fat also they obtain oil. The
+hunting of these is therefore a matter of no small importance, and
+carries many of the Kamtchatdales down to the coast. It is accompanied
+with great fatigue and occasional risk.
+
+     "The Toyune of Malka," says Mr. Dobell, "related to me a
+     curious adventure that occurred to him and two of his friends.
+     They repaired in the latter part of April to their usual
+     hunting place, where they found the sea still covered with ice
+     for a considerable extent. Each had a sledge and five dogs, and
+     although the wind blew strongly off shore, they did not
+     hesitate to go on the ice in search of seals, as it seemed
+     firmly attached to the shore, and they observed some
+     Kamtchatdales hunting on it farther up the coast. They
+     discovered some seals at a considerable distance out, and
+     repaired thither to kill them. Already had they killed two, and
+     were preparing to tie them with thongs on their sledges, when
+     one of the party, who staid a little behind, came to them of a
+     sudden, crying that the ice was moving, and that all the other
+     Kamtchatdales had gone to the shore! This news alarmed them so
+     much, that they left their seals on the ice, and seating
+     themselves on their sankas or sledges, pushed their dogs at
+     full speed to regain the shore. Unfortunately they arrived too
+     late; the ice had already separated from the land to the extent
+     of a hundred yards; and as it began to break into pieces, they
+     were obliged to return to the part that appeared to them the
+     strongest and thickest. As the wind now blew extremely hard,
+     they were soon driven out to sea, where the swell being very
+     heavy, the ice began to break again all round them, leaving
+     them at last on a solid clump, from forty to fifty feet in
+     circumference, that was of great thickness and kept entire.
+     They were now out of sight of land, driven before a gale of
+     wind and a heavy sea, and their icy vessel rolled so dreadfully
+     that they had much difficulty to keep themselves on its
+     surface. However, being furnished with ostals, (poles pointed
+     with iron,) they made holes and planted them firmly in the ice;
+     and then tied themselves, their dogs, and sankas, fast to them.
+     Without this precaution, the Toyune said they would all have
+     been thrown into the sea. They were sea-sick and disheartened;
+     but nevertheless, said Spiridon, (the Toyune,) 'I had hopes,
+     and I told my comrades I thought we should be thrown on some
+     coast.' It was now two days they had been at sea, and towards
+     evening the wind abated a little, the weather cleared off, and
+     they saw land not far off, which one of them, who had been
+     formerly at the Kurile islands, knew to be Poromochin, and
+     they now fully expected to be drifted on its shores. However,
+     as the night approached, the wind changed to the very opposite
+     direction, and blew even more violently than before. The clump
+     of ice was tossed about in a most uneasy manner, and several
+     times the ostals and the thongs were in danger of being broken
+     by the violent concussion of the waves against the ice.
+
+     "All that night and all the next day the storm continued with
+     unceasing violence. On the morning of the fourth day, before
+     daylight, they found that their clump had been driven amongst
+     other cakes of ice, and was closely surrounded on all sides.
+     When the day broke, how great was their joy and astonishment to
+     perceive themselves near the land, and within about twenty
+     versts of the place whence they had been driven! They had
+     suffered much from thirst, as they found the ice salt as well
+     as the water. Not having either eaten or drunk during all the
+     time, they found themselves so weak that they had the greatest
+     difficulty in preparing their sledges, and in getting from the
+     ice to the land. The moment they landed, they offered up their
+     prayers and thanks to God. Spiridon charged his companions not
+     to eat snow or drink much water at a time, although they were
+     almost dying with thirst; as they could soon get to an ostrog
+     that was only about twenty or thirty versts distant. They had
+     not proceeded far before Spiridon saw the tracks of some
+     reindeer; he therefore made his companions stop, and, taking
+     his gun, walked gently round a high bluff on the coast, whither
+     the deer had gone, and had the good fortune to shoot one of
+     them. His companions no sooner heard the noise of the gun than
+     they came to him. They cut the throat of the deer immediately,
+     and drank his blood while warm. Spiridon said that they felt
+     their strength revived almost immediately after drinking the
+     blood. Having given some of the meat to the dogs, they rested
+     themselves about an hour, and then set off for the ostrog,
+     where they arrived safely. One of them, who indulged too much
+     in eating at first, died a short time after; the other two
+     survived; but Spiridon said he had ever since been afflicted
+     with a complaint in his breast and shortness of breath."
+
+On the 21st of October the winter set in, and made the travelling much
+more difficult and uncomfortable. The cold, however, in Kamtchatka, is
+by no means so severe as is generally supposed. About the sea coast, the
+thermometer rarely passes 15° to 20° of Reaumur, and in the interior,
+seldom exceeds 20° to 25°; and even this but for a short time. The
+ordinary cold is about 8° to 10°.
+
+After remaining nearly three months at St. Peter and St. Paul, Mr.
+Dobell set out on his expedition to Russia. He left the former place on
+the 15th of January, with the determination to proceed along the
+Aleuters or north-east coast of the peninsula of Kamtchatka, thence
+cross over to Kammina at the head of the sea of Ochotsk, and proceed
+along the eastern shore of that large bay to the town of Ochotsk itself.
+He was accompanied by two Chinese servants, and proceeded in sledges
+drawn by dogs. He had frequent occasions to confirm the sentiments he
+had previously entertained of the hospitable and honest character of the
+inhabitants of the peninsula of Kamtchatka; and he found the climate and
+natural resources of the country far superior to what he had been led to
+expect. He combats the opinion, long prevalent, that it is a barren and
+desolate country, depopulated of the aborigines through the extreme
+poverty of its resources; and contends that few parts of the world would
+more amply repay the industry of the inhabitants, if well peopled and
+wisely governed.
+
+The dogs displayed all the sagacity, perseverance, and swiftness for
+which they have been celebrated by travellers in northern regions, and
+he had frequent opportunities of observing the instinct or skill with
+which they pursued their way in the midst of the most violent storms,
+when every trace of the road had disappeared. He gives them a decided
+preference over the reindeer, though he states that the latter are more
+fleet, when put to their full speed. They are not docile however. When
+the snows are deep, and the roads difficult, if the reindeer be pressed
+to exert himself he becomes restive and stubborn, and neither beating
+nor coaxing will move him. He will lie down and remain in one spot for
+several hours, until hunger presses him forward; and if at the second
+attempt he is again embarrassed, he will lie down and perish in the snow
+for want of food. Reindeer consequently require a great deal of care and
+management, and should never be treated too roughly, or they become
+totally unmanageable. Besides, great attention must be paid to them in
+summer, and their pastures often changed, or they contract diseases and
+die fast.
+
+At Veyteway, the most northern point on the eastern coast visited by Mr.
+Dobell, he found a Toyune who had come a hundred and fifty versts, from
+motives of curiosity, to meet him. Though he had never before seen any
+one adopting the customs of civilized life, he behaved with great
+propriety, and did not seem in the least embarrassed. Some of the trunks
+which were covered with lackered leather and full of brass nails,
+excited his astonishment, and indeed proved a fund of amusement for the
+natives on all the road. Bets were made constantly as to the number of
+nails on each trunk, and they were counted over and over, a hundred
+times, with the greatest care. From this point Mr. Dobell struck across
+the peninsula, and reached Kammina, at the head of the sea of Ochotsk,
+on the 24th of March.
+
+In proceeding southwardly along the coast, the hardiness of his dogs was
+strongly put to the test. An insufficient supply of provisions had been
+laid in, and some time before they reached Igiga, the first town where a
+fresh stock could be obtained, they were reduced to an allowance of half
+a fish each, daily. When the dried fish were consumed, they were fed on
+reindeer meat and biscuit, of which but a very small supply was left;
+but it refreshed and strengthened them, so that one of the party, whose
+dogs were strongest, was enabled to go on more rapidly to Igiga, to beg
+from the commandant assistance and food for the rest of the party. When
+the poor creatures who were left perceived the dogs coming to assist
+them, nothing could exceed their joy. They sprang into the air, barked
+aloud, and set forward with such eagerness to meet them, that restraint
+was impossible. When they came up, they jumped and fawned upon them, and
+licked them with an expression of pleasure and satisfaction which it was
+impossible to mistake. As they approached the town, it was utterly in
+vain to hold them back, they set off at full speed, and if it had not
+been for the assistance of several of the inhabitants, who ran and
+caught hold of them, the sledges would have been upset, and every thing
+broken to pieces.
+
+Leaving Igiga, Mr. Dobell continued his journey by Yamsk and Towisk,
+through the country of the Tongusees. He found these people active,
+persevering, and obliging; those whom he employed performing every sort
+of service with cheerfulness. They are men of small stature, slightly
+made, and resembling the northern Chinese in features. Their
+countenances generally were indicative of a tractable mild disposition,
+and bore a strong Asiatic cast of character, which is indeed found
+amongst all the natives throughout Siberia. Their fidelity, however, was
+not on an equality with their other good characteristics, as our
+travellers had soon an opportunity of learning, by an event which placed
+their lives in most imminent peril. The provisions laid in at Towisk
+were nearly consumed, and the time at which they should have reached the
+next town had arrived, when the native guides confessed that they had
+mistaken the road, and there was every prospect of the whole party
+perishing in the desert. What were the feelings of Mr. Dobell, when
+awaking one morning, in this situation, he found that the Tongusees were
+no longer with him; the rascals had gone off in the night, not leaving a
+single deer for food, and deserting a party of five in number, all
+strangers, on one of the highest mountains of Siberia, in a wild and
+uninhabited country! In this emergency Mr. Dobell displayed great
+firmness, resolution, and all the energy and resources of an experienced
+traveller; indeed the portion of his volumes which contains the account
+of his escape from the perilous situation in which he was left, and of
+the sufferings he endured, and the expedients to which he was obliged to
+resort, is peculiarly and highly interesting. With the aid of a partial
+map of Kamtchatka, and a pocket compass, he set out to regain the sea
+coast, from which they were, as he supposed, not very far distant.
+Leaving all their clothes, and every article with which they could
+possibly dispense, they put the rest of their baggage on two sleds,
+which they dragged with them. They limited their nourishment to the
+least possible quantity of food, drinking tea, of which they had a small
+supply, twice in twenty-four hours, and in the morning taking some thin
+rice water, with a small lump of chocolate each, to make it palatable.
+They were obliged to construct bridges of logs over numerous rivulets,
+swelled with the snows, which crossed their path, and they were exposed
+to a succession of furious storms. On the twentieth day they arrived at
+what they supposed a long narrow lake, and determined there to pass the
+night. Having left his companions to make what preparations for so doing
+their wretched situation afforded, Mr. Dobell went to examine the lake.
+On approaching the bank, he discovered two small ducks, quite near the
+shore, and had the good fortune to shoot them both at one shot. "Running
+to the water to pick them up," he says, "God only knows the
+inexpressible joy that filled my heart, at beholding the water move, and
+finding that we were on the banks of a large river." They all set to
+work actively the next day, and had soon completed a raft on which they
+embarked, and trusted themselves to the current to reach the ocean, so
+long and eagerly desired.
+
+     "We had" says Mr. Dobell, "a most unpleasant time, but anxious
+     to arrive at the ocean, would not lie by--particularly as the
+     stream increased greatly in rapidity, and hurried us along with
+     considerable swiftness. About one o'clock on the 10th of June,
+     although we were nearly in the middle of the river, which was
+     here upwards of a verst wide, we were suddenly seized by a
+     whirlpool, and in spite of our utmost efforts, having nothing
+     but poles to guide the raft, were drawn violently towards the
+     left bank, and forced under some large trees which had been
+     undermined by the water and hung over the surface of the
+     stream, the roots still holding them fast to the shore. I
+     perceived the danger to which we were exposed, and called out
+     to every one to lie flat on his face and hold fast to the
+     baggage. The branches were so thick it was impossible for all
+     to escape, and there being barely room to admit the raft under
+     them, they swept off the two Chinese, the Karaikee, my tin-box
+     with all my papers and valuables, our soup-kettle, &c. Nothing
+     now remained but a small tea-kettle, and a few other things
+     that happened to be tied fast with thongs. The Karaikee and one
+     of the Chinese seized hold of the branches that swept them off,
+     and held their heads above water, but the youngest of the
+     Chinese having floated away with the current, the Cossack and
+     myself had the greatest difficulty in paddling the raft up to
+     him. We came just in time to poke our poles down after him as
+     he sunk for the third time, which he fortunately seized, and we
+     drew him upon the raft half drowned. As the current was running
+     at the rate of six or seven miles an hour, we were carried more
+     than half a verst down before we gained the shore; the other
+     Chinese and the Karaikee crying out for assistance. I ran up
+     the shore as quickly as possible, taking a long pole with me,
+     and leaving the Cossack to take care of the raft and the young
+     Chinese. When I arrived at the spot, my Chinese cook informed
+     me he had seized my tin-box with one hand, and was so tired of
+     holding with the other, that if I did not come soon to his
+     assistance he must leave it to the mercy of the current. Whilst
+     I attempted to walk out on the body of the tree whose branches
+     they were holding, one of the roots broke and very nearly
+     separated it from the shore; I was therefore obliged to jump
+     off and stride to one that was nearly two feet under water,
+     hauling myself along by the branches of the others, and at
+     length I got near enough to give the Chinese the pole. He
+     seized fast hold and I pulled him between two branches,
+     enabling him to get a leg over one and keep his body above
+     water. Thus placed he tied the tin-box with his handkerchief to
+     the pole, and I got it safely ashore. I was now obliged to
+     return and assist the Karaikee, who held by some branches far
+     out, and where there were no others near enough for him to
+     reach in order to draw himself in. After half an hour's labour
+     I got them both on the bank, neither of them knowing how to
+     swim, and both much exhausted by the cold, and the difficulty
+     of holding so long against a rapid current."
+
+They continued for several days longer buffeting with the stream, and
+exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather. Their food depended on
+the scanty supplies of wild fowl they could shoot, and their stock of
+cooking utensils was reduced to a small tea-kettle and the lid of the
+tin box saved by the Chinese.
+
+Between two and three o'clock in the afternoon of the seventh day since
+they had embarked on board their frail vessel, and nearly a month since
+they had been deserted on the mountains by the treacherous Tongusees,
+they found themselves in a fine wide channel, with a moderate current,
+and on a beach not far below descried a man and two boys mending a
+canoe. The effect the sight of human beings had upon them was deeply
+interesting. Every soul shed tears of joy, and when the natives
+approached to assist them in landing, they were unable for some minutes
+to reply to their inquiries, and could only answer by hasty signs. The
+elder person proved to be a Yakut who had seen Mr. Dobell before; as
+soon as he recognised him, he sprung into the raft, clasped him in his
+arms, and shed tears in abundance, exclaiming "thank God, thank God! you
+are all saved!" He informed them that the Tongusees having returned and
+confessed their treachery, an old chief living near Towisk had
+despatched his son with a party in search of them, but that every one
+there had given them up for lost, knowing how difficult it was to
+procure food on those deserted plains and mountains in the spring of the
+year. The miraculous escape of the party, after having been left in such
+a wilderness, was indeed a matter of surprise to every one; and they had
+particular reason to rejoice in having taken the route they did, as they
+found on inquiry that had they pursued any other they must infallibly
+have perished.
+
+After remaining three days with the hospitable people whom they so
+fortunately encountered, and recovering their baggage which had been
+left on the mountain, by means of the party sent in search of them from
+Towisk, they resumed their journey, and reached Ochotsk without further
+accident, on the 4th of July.
+
+Ochotsk, the capital of the Russian province of the same name, which
+embraces the most easterly portion of that vast empire, is a town
+composed of between two and three hundred houses, and about two thousand
+inhabitants. It is situated in north latitude 59° 20' 22", and east
+longitude from Greenwich 143° 20' 23", on a small island or sand bank,
+three versts and three hundred paces in length, and two hundred in
+breadth, where the town stands. The admiralty, marine stores, magazines,
+and workshops, were examined by Mr. Dobell, and found to be disposed in
+perfectly good order, and prepared for service in the best possible
+manner. In the admiralty, there are a school, and shops for coopers,
+turners, and blockmakers. There are also large forges, ropewalks, and
+all the establishments necessary for a complete naval arsenal. Whilst
+Mr. Dobell was there, a large cable was prepared for the frigate Diana,
+in the course of four or five days, and appeared quite as well made as a
+European cable. The flour magazines are large, and well supplied by
+Yakut convoys, which constantly arrive and discharge their loads there.
+These convoys consist generally of ten to thirteen horses, having seldom
+more than two men to take care of them. Each horse carries on his back
+six pood weight of rye flour, packed in two leathern bags, called in
+Russian _sumas_, impenetrable to all sorts of weather, and extremely
+convenient for carriage, hanging one on each side of the horse. These
+bags are of green hide, without the hair; the flour is forced as tightly
+as possible into them while they are damp, and when dry the surface is
+as hard as stone. On opening them, the flour, for about half an inch
+deep, is attached in a hard cake to the bag, and, if originally good, is
+preserved in a very perfect state, and will keep for a great length of
+time. Some of them have been known to remain all the winter under the
+snow without being damaged; nor does it seem possible to carry over land
+this important article of life, by any other method so safely and
+conveniently as in sumas. Notwithstanding, however, all the attention
+which is thus exhibited on the part of the Russian government to make
+Ochotsk a complete and valuable naval station; and the care paid to its
+arrangement and furnishing supplies, there yet exists an insuperable
+obstacle to all their efforts, from the fact that it has not a good
+port. No vessel of any great burthen, carrying guns, can enter or be
+wintered there, without incurring the risk of being bilged by the ice of
+the river Ochota, which flows into or forms the harbour.
+
+On the 19th of July Mr. Dobell left Ochotsk. He now turned inland, and
+leaving the shores of the Pacific ocean, directed his course westerly to
+Yakutsk, which was distant six hundred and fifty miles. He was
+accompanied a short distance by a young officer named Ivan Ivanovitch
+Kruz, who was forest-master at the first station called Maitah,
+fifty-four versts off. Such a companion was not less unexpected than
+agreeable, in so remote a corner of the world. He was a very good
+botanist, and understood French and Latin; a modest, sensible, genteel
+young man, and what must appear a little singular, perfectly happy and
+satisfied with his situation. Even in those wild regions he filled up
+his leisure hours with study and the chase, and said that he never found
+the time hang heavy on his hands.
+
+On the road they met many convoys of horses carrying provisions to
+Ochotsk; and were obliged to keep a strict watch, in order to guard
+against the depredations of the Yakuts, by whom they were conducted.
+These people are in the habit of stealing horses for food, whenever a
+good opportunity offers on the road, being fonder of horse flesh than of
+any other. When they get possession of a horse, they contrive to decamp
+suddenly, and ride several versts off, where they kill the animal, bury
+his bones, and conceal the flesh in their bags, before the person robbed
+discovers the theft. They are men generally of small stature, light, and
+very active when they choose to exert themselves; indefatigable on the
+road, and surpassing every other people in conducting and taking care of
+horses. In features they resemble strongly the Chinese of Nankin. The
+Tongusees, on the other hand, bear a striking resemblance to the Tartars
+who conquered China. The Yakuts and Tongusees however wear very much the
+same costume. The hair of the women, which hangs in two or three braids
+behind, is stuck over with small copper or silver plates, more or less
+rich in proportion to the fortune of the wearer. Sometimes a silver or
+copper plate is placed on the forehead. They occasionally wear a close
+cap, adorned likewise with plates and beads, and often ornament their
+boots with beads of various colours, having much the appearance of the
+work on the wampum belts of our Indians. The dress of the Tongusee men
+is a close coat, fitting tight round the body, with skirts reaching half
+way down the legs, and resembling a frock coat. It is composed of deer
+or dog skin, with the hair inward. In very cold weather they wear a
+shorter coat over this, as well as parkas and kokclankas or riding
+coats, which are nothing more than loose jackets or cloaks of skin, with
+sleeves reaching below the knees. The Yakut dress is made in the same
+way, but usually of horse or cow hide.
+
+On the 25th, the party crossed the ridge of mountains which extends from
+the great central chain of Asia, towards the north-east, and divides the
+waters falling into the sea of Ochotsk, from those flowing through the
+more central parts of Siberia, towards the west and the north. On the
+western side of the ridge they passed a large lake, the source of the
+river Udama, surrounded by mountains, and three or four versts in
+length. The Udama is a fine river, and though not abounding either with
+fish or water in summer, is plentifully supplied with both in spring and
+autumn, and then navigable for boats of a considerable size. It falls
+into the Maia; the Maia into the Aldan; the Aldan into the Lena, one of
+whose branches ascends to within three hundred and fifty versts of
+Irkutsk, and which flows into the Northern ocean. A navigation is thus
+afforded through the very centre of Siberia for more than two thousand
+miles. It is also well adapted to the introduction of steam navigation;
+and flat bottomed boats drawing little water might be successfully used
+on most of these streams during a considerable portion of the year. The
+adoption of such a system would tend immensely to the improvement of a
+vast country, where the population is thin, but of which the natural
+resources and advantages are very great. It is a mistake to suppose, as
+is usually done, that it is an ungrateful wilderness, fit only for the
+reception of criminals, or the home of wandering savages; no where is
+nature more profusely grand and magnificent than in Siberia; and she has
+offered many attractions to human industry and improvement in those
+remote regions. It cannot be denied that there are some parts totally
+incorrigible, owing to the severity of climate, bad soil, and other
+causes; but there is ample testimony that by far the largest portion of
+that country possesses resources, soil, and climate, very superior to
+what is generally believed, and that it would advance rapidly if well
+governed and better peopled.
+
+On the 5th of August Mr. Dobell reached the river Aldan, one of the
+principal tributaries of the Lena, and found it a very deep stream,
+about a verst and a half wide, abounding with fish. On the western shore
+he saw several jourtas beautifully situated, and on inquiry was informed
+they contained a colony of banished men, sent there by order of the
+government. They appeared very well off, having comfortable houses, with
+cattle, an abundant supply of fish, and good pastures, so that they
+could never suffer from want, unless too indolent to secure the
+necessaries of life. They call themselves Possellencies or colonists,
+but are stiled Neshchastnie Loodie, or unfortunate people, by the
+natives, who avoid, even by a name, to remind them of their unhappy
+fate.
+
+     "Banishment, then," remarks Mr. Dobell, "to such a country as
+     Siberia, is certainly no such terrible infliction, except to a
+     Russian, who, perhaps, of all beings upon earth, possesses the
+     strongest attachment to the soil on which he grows--taking root
+     like the trees that surround him, and pining when transplanted
+     to another spot, even though it should be a neighbouring
+     province, better than his own. Too much praise cannot be
+     bestowed on the humane system adopted by the Russian government
+     in saving the lives of criminals without distinction, and
+     transporting them to Siberia, to augment the population of a
+     fine country, much in want of inhabitants, where their morals
+     are strictly watched, and where they soon become useful, good
+     people. Death, in fact, is so transitory a punishment, that
+     unless a man has religion, and a perfect idea of rewards and
+     penalties in a world to come, it may have no terrors for him,
+     nor will its anticipation ever prevent the commission of crimes
+     so well as the idea of banishment and long suffering. I would
+     not be thought to be the advocate of cruelty; on the contrary,
+     I warmly espouse the principle of producing a perfect
+     contrition and change of sentiments and actions in the
+     criminal, ere we send him into the presence of his God. To
+     bring about this in an effectual manner, and be satisfied it
+     springs from a thorough conviction of his error, we must not
+     confine him in chains, with a priest praying at his side, until
+     the moment he is launched into eternity. He should be made, as
+     he generally is in Siberia, so far a free agent, as to have the
+     power of again doing wrong; else his firmness and resolution
+     are never put to the test; nor can that repentance be called
+     sincere, which springs from the imperious necessity of
+     immediately making his peace with his offended God, before
+     whose awful tribunal his merciless government sends him
+     suddenly to appear, with all his crimes fresh upon him. There
+     are certainly instances in Siberia, where convicts have again
+     committed crimes, and some of them even murder, and such are
+     confined to the mines for life; but there are few examples of
+     this sort, and the majority of the convicts acquire habits of
+     industry and good conduct superior to the same class of people
+     in Russia. Having seen the good effects of the Russian penal
+     code, what I say on the subject is no more than what truth and
+     justice demand; and I wish, that for humanity's sake, so bright
+     an example, which sheds a ray of unsullied glory on her
+     sovereignty, may be followed with equal success by every nation
+     of the earth."
+
+The route of Mr. Dobell continued to lead him through the country of the
+Yakuts, a pastoral and industrious people, sufficient in numbers to
+relieve his mind from the painful idea that so fine a country should be
+destitute of inhabitants. Their whole attention is turned to the rearing
+of horned cattle and horses. Milk, prepared in various ways, is their
+principal sustenance; fish and water-fowl they obtain in abundance,
+except in the depth of winter; but pigs, sheep, or poultry, are never
+seen. On the 14th of August, he descended into an immense and fertile
+plain, through which he beheld the noble Lena flowing along, and reached
+the town of Yakutsk early in the evening.
+
+This town was, at that time, composed of two hundred and seventy houses,
+and two thousand five hundred Russian inhabitants, besides a very
+considerable population of Yakuts, in and about it; since then, however,
+it is much increased and improved in every way. As regards climate, it
+is in winter the coldest spot in all Siberia, the frost often exceeding
+40° of Reaumur; the average heat of summer is not beyond 16°, though
+there are periods at which it is as hot as in the torrid zone. The
+public buildings are well constructed, and kept in excellent order.
+There is an ancient citadel of wood, built by the Cossacks nearly two
+hundred years ago, which still forms a strong and good defence; and
+affords evidence of the courage, perseverance, and intelligence, of the
+conquerors of Siberia, who, with a handful of men, could erect such a
+fortress in the heart of an enemy's country, and during their daily
+attacks.
+
+At Yakutsk, Mr. Dobell fell into the track of the carrying trade over
+land, which is pursued to so immense an extent through the Russian
+empire. The equipage, consisting of the pack-saddles, mats, girths, &c.,
+is the manufacture of the Yakuts themselves, for the most part, and
+though exceedingly light, is not so constructed as to enable the horse
+to carry his burthen with ease. From this circumstance, great numbers of
+horses are lost in their long journeys. The Yakuts, however, are
+themselves excellent grooms, and, in general, kind and attentive to
+their animals. They seldom beat them, and many instances are exhibited
+of strong attachment between them. It is so much so, that a herd of
+horses will not proceed without their master, should he stop and leave
+them. They are turned out to feed at night, and are always collected in
+the morning by hallooing to them. Should any of them get out of
+hearing, the Yakut jumps on one of the others, who is sure to find his
+companions in a very short time. When the Yakut calls, the first horse
+that hears answers by neighing, and immediately the whole herd begin to
+neigh and run to the keeper.
+
+Mr. Dobell speaks of the society of Yakutsk as hospitable, kind, and
+gay. He was at several balls; found the belles well-mannered, and their
+dress, like that of their fair countrywomen farther west, an object of
+peculiar study. He describes the ceremonies of a Siberian wedding, which
+may amuse the votaries of Hymen, whose matrimonial customs are varied by
+half the circumference of the globe.
+
+     "In the evening, the Governor waited on me, and invited me to
+     accompany him to a house, to see a ceremony performed,
+     previously to a wedding that was to take place the next day. We
+     repaired to the house, where we found a large party of
+     gentlemen and ladies assembled. The bride and her attendants
+     occupied one end of the room, near a large table, on which were
+     placed fruits, cakes, wines, &c. Tea and coffee were then
+     served. Afterwards, I was called to look at a procession from
+     an opposite building or store, called in this country an
+     _anbar_, where every sort of provisions, effects, &c. are kept.
+     I saw several low, four-wheeled vehicles, each drawn by a
+     single ox, loaded with furniture, bedding, clothing, &c. &c.
+     for the new married couple. Lights were carried before them,
+     and a number of young girls, assembled near the door of the
+     anbar, sang in concert, as each vehicle was loaded with the
+     effects of the bride. This ended, the party returned to the
+     house, when dancing commenced, and was kept up with spirit the
+     whole night. Before quitting the house, the parents of the
+     young bridegroom requested me to come the following morning,
+     and witness the ceremony of his taking leave of them,
+     previously to his going to church. At twelve o'clock, on the
+     22d, we attended at the father's house, where a number of the
+     friends of the bridegroom were collected: several large tables
+     were laid for dinner, and at the principal one, near the
+     images, which in a Russian house are always at the eastern
+     corner of the room, sat the bridegroom and his attendants. A
+     female relative, representing the bride, was placed in the
+     chair on the left hand of the bridegroom; and the father and
+     mother sat at the opposite side of the table. Three dishes of
+     cold meat were placed before the principal attendant, and wine
+     and watky being at the same time handed round, he cut a large
+     cross on the first one, placing it aside; then the second, then
+     the third, in the same way; and, at the cutting of each, wine
+     and watky were handed round to the company, who rose, and drank
+     to the wedding party. Nothing was eaten, this being merely a
+     ceremony to prepare the feast for the young couple when they
+     should return from the church. After this, the bridegroom went
+     round to the opposite side of the table, holding the image of
+     the Virgin in his hand, and crossed himself on his knees, and
+     bowed his head three times to the ground, before his father,
+     who, when he rose, took the image from him, kissed him, and
+     crossed him with it on his head. The same homage was paid to
+     his mother, on which she delivered the image to another person,
+     who preceded the bridegroom and his party to the church, where
+     they met the bride and her attendants; and the couple were then
+     led to the altar, and united in the holy bands of wedlock, by
+     the Protopope, or Chief of the Clergy. The ceremony resembles
+     that of the Catholic church, except that, towards the close,
+     the priest places a hymeneal crown on the heads of the man and
+     woman, and they walk three times round a table, where lie the
+     cross and the Bible. This part of the proceeding is regarded as
+     alternately binding them in strict allegiance to each other
+     during the rest of their lives. There are also two rings used,
+     which are exchanged, from the man to the woman, during the
+     ceremony. The whole party now returned to the house of the
+     bridegroom's father, where a repast was prepared for them,
+     resembling all large entertainments of this sort. The healths
+     of the principal persons of the place were drunk, and followed
+     by a salute of three guns after each toast. The evening was
+     crowned with an illumination, and a ball, at which, as a
+     stranger, I had the honour of leading off the bride."
+
+At Yakutsk Mr. Dobell embarked in a large covered boat on the Lena,
+which he ascended on his way to Irkutsk. He left the former place on the
+29th of August, being drawn by horses, with the assistance of six
+peasants, whom he hired to go fifteen hundred versts to Kiringee, and
+who were employed at places where it was difficult for the horses. The
+banks of the river were varied and picturesque; sometimes steep cliffs
+and uncouth heaps of rock, in the most fantastic shapes, rose to a great
+height; sometimes the shores sloped away into mountains covered with
+thick forests of pine and spruce.
+
+On the 5th of October he arrived at Olekma, a town six hundred versts
+above Yakutsk, in latitude 60° 22', and east longitude 89° 15' from St.
+Petersburg. He found it to contain four or five hundred inhabitants. It
+was, in former times, the place whence the Cossacks set out, when they
+waged their wars against the Chinese, and carried their depredations as
+far as the Amour. It is said, that three hundred and fifty of these
+barbarian warriors were once besieged in a fortress by twenty-two
+thousand Chinese, and held out against them a whole year, until a
+capitulation was agreed upon, at a period when their force was reduced
+to one hundred and fifty men.
+
+At Olekma, the season had become so cold, and there was so much floating
+ice in the Lena, as to render it impossible to proceed any longer by
+water. The road lay along the shores of the river, frequently obstructed
+by half frozen torrents rushing into it, and occasionally cut off by
+points and precipices which compelled the party to venture on the ice.
+
+     "At Matcha, I found a clean, comfortable dwelling, and a
+     hospitable reception from the hostess, an old woman, who said
+     she had been seventeen years in Siberia, having been sent by
+     the Government from Archangel, to assist in increasing the
+     population; but she thanked God, at the same time, that she had
+     not been banished for misconduct. She told me she had always
+     lived much better than she did in Russia, and had been so
+     happily situated as to have never felt a wish to return. Having
+     received from her a fine fat fowl, some cream, vegetables, &c.
+     I asked her in the morning what I must pay for them. She
+     replied, 'a little tea and sugar, a piece of soap, and above
+     all, a few glasses of watky--though I would not have you
+     suppose I am addicted to liquor, for I only take a little now
+     and then to preserve my health.' Her emaciated frame and sallow
+     countenance belied her assertion. Complying with her request, I
+     begged her to preserve her health by using as little of the
+     spirit as possible, as it often had the opposite effect to that
+     of assisting the health. She laughed, and drinking a bumper to
+     my advice, wished me a safe journey."
+
+Passing Veeteem and Kiringee, two considerable towns on the Lena, Mr.
+Dobell found the country improve gradually, and the post-houses
+throughout comfortable, clean, and convenient; much more so than could
+have been expected in remote Siberia. The horses were also furnished
+with great alacrity, and the inhabitants generally were kind and
+hospitable. On the 30th of October he passed Katchuk, the place where
+all the merchandise is embarked in the spring for Yakutsk and other
+towns on the Lena. The river is generally free enough from ice by the
+5th to the 12th of May, and but fourteen days are required for the
+voyage. From Katchuk to Irkutsk, the road leaves the Lena, and passes
+through a fine extensive plain, bounded on either side by well
+cultivated hills, and having villages and farm houses dispersed over it
+in all directions. This plain is principally inhabited by a horde called
+Burettas, who are, for the most part, Christians, and have taken to
+agriculture with a great deal of industry and zeal. The richer class
+live in log houses, but the great part dwell in cabins, similar to the
+winter jourtas of the more eastern hordes. Their clothing consists of a
+pelisse of dressed goat or sheep skin, with the wool inside, trimmed
+with fur, and painted in black and white stripes round the shoulders.
+
+Irkutsk, the capital of eastern Siberia, is in latitude 52° 16' 41", and
+east longitude from St. Petersburg, 73° 51' 48". It is built on the
+margin of the river Angarra, and contains a population now probably
+exceeding twenty thousand souls. The markets are good, the society is
+pleasant, and a traveller finds in the very heart of Siberia almost all
+the luxuries of life. In visiting the public works, the governor took
+Mr. Dobell to an immense brick building, where he found the workshops of
+the exiles.
+
+     "In that large range, one sees joiners, carpenters,
+     carriage-makers, saddlers, blacksmiths, and in short, all sorts
+     of tradesmen, busily occupied, and all provided with
+     comfortable apartments, clean clothing, and wholesome food.
+     From this we passed to the cloth factory, the contemplation of
+     which afforded me much pleasure, when I recollected that those
+     beings before me, who were once the victims of depravity,
+     exhibited no longer any thing to inspire me with the idea of
+     their having been criminals. All was gaiety and cheerfulness.
+     There I saw men, women, and children, all industriously
+     employed in weaving, spinning, carding, picking wool, &c. They
+     were arranged in several large, clean, warm, and comfortable
+     apartments; and they really appeared as contented as any
+     labourers I ever saw; for they looked fat and healthy.
+
+     "The cloth is made from the wool and hair of the Buretta sheep,
+     camels, and goats. It stands the Government in about a rouble
+     the arshin, and sells for two roubles. This profit, after
+     paying the expenses of the manufactory, leaves a surplus that
+     is used to furnish the hospitals, and for other laudable
+     purposes. Such an institution does honour to any country; nor
+     can there be a more praiseworthy application of the industry of
+     those exiles than that which operates to relieve the sick, the
+     fatherless, and the widow.
+
+     "There is every reason to conclude, from the examples which
+     have been furnished by those countries which have adopted this
+     system, that the idea of confinement and hard labour is a more
+     powerful preventive of the commission of crimes than the fear
+     of death."
+
+At the public ship yard, Mr. Dobell saw a brig on the stocks, destined
+to navigate the Baikal. The vessels generally used on that sea are built
+on its shores, on account of the difficulty of ascending against the
+current of the Angarra. Those belonging to the government are employed
+principally to carry convicts and stores to Nerchinsk, where there are
+mines of silver, gold, and precious stones, as well as a fine grain
+country. The neighbourhood of Irkutsk is fertile and prolific, and the
+population increasing. The climate is the mildest of Siberia, the
+thermometer of Reaumur seldom exceeding 30° to 34° of cold, and that but
+for short intervals.
+
+On the 25th of November, having taken leave of his hospitable
+acquaintances, Mr. Dobell left Irkutsk on his journey towards St.
+Petersburg. He had fresh occasion to notice the kindness and simplicity
+of the people, which his subsequent visits to the country tended to
+confirm. On one occasion, at the village of Krasnoyesk, in this
+province, he took, at the recommendation of the governor, instead of the
+usual Cossack guides, two soldiers, one a grenadier of the guards of the
+regiment of Moscow, and the other of the Semenofsky, who, having been
+allowed a certain time to go and see their friends in Siberia, from whom
+they had been absent eleven years, were anxious to return to St.
+Petersburg, and had not money to hire a conveyance.
+
+     "They had travelled from Russia on foot, near five thousand
+     versts, to see their relations. The elder of the two had a wife
+     and two children. He related to me that when he returned to his
+     family, his wife, who knew him immediately, was so frightened
+     that she fell into a swoon; and it was nearly an hour before
+     she recovered her senses. His parting with his wife and
+     children again affected us exceedingly; but he seemed to bear
+     it with firmness, and said, 'God bless you, put your trust in
+     God: I shall return to you.' Both those men, but particularly
+     the married one, were the most faithful, obedient, well-behaved
+     men I ever saw, and proved of infinite service to me on the
+     road, as I travelled not with the post-horses, but with those
+     of the common peasants. This gives me an opportunity of
+     expatiating again on the moral and religious character of the
+     Siberians, as well as their intelligence, generosity, and
+     hospitality. I found on the road, even amongst the peasants, a
+     sympathy, a kindness and attention to the wants of my family
+     and myself, and a disinterestedness, that I have no where else
+     experienced. Many times it occurred that we lodged in a house
+     for the night, were furnished with bread, milk, cream, and a
+     supper for four servants, and I had a difficulty to make the
+     man of the house accept of a couple of roubles. The demand was
+     fifty to seventy kopeks; and sometimes payment was refused
+     altogether. I met a carrier who was conveying goods from Tumen
+     to Tomsk, a distance of about one thousand five hundred versts,
+     for two and a half roubles per pood! On questioning him, how he
+     could possibly afford to take merchandise at so cheap a rate,
+     he said, 'the people of my country are kind and hospitable. I
+     live about Tomsk, so that I must return thither; and I get a
+     man and a horse found a whole day for fifteen kopeks.' The
+     grenadier also assured me that the only expense his journey on
+     foot to see his family had cost him, was about twenty-five
+     roubles; and those were spent between St. Petersburg and
+     Ecatherineburg. 'After getting fairly into Siberia,' said he,
+     'no one would ever receive a kopek from me for either food or
+     lodging.'
+
+     "After we got into Russia, and began to suffer certain
+     impositions which are put upon travellers on the great roads in
+     every country, he would often exclaim, 'God be with me and my
+     beloved Siberia! There people have their consciences and their
+     hearts in the right place!'"
+
+Tomsk is fifteen hundred versts from Irkutsk, and four thousand five
+hundred from St. Petersburg, being in latitude 56° 29' 6", and longitude
+54° 50' 6" from the latter place. Its population is about ten thousand.
+It has many manufactories, and a number of handsome houses, with a
+pleasant though small society. After leaving it, the traveller passes
+the vast and fertile plain of Baraba, where he is whirled along at the
+rate of two hundred and seventy versts a day.
+
+The first place of importance which he reaches after crossing it, is
+Tobolsk, the chief town of the province of that name, and formerly of
+Siberia. Its latitude is 55° 11' 14", and its longitude 37° 46' 14" east
+from St. Petersburg, from which, and from Irkutsk, it is distant three
+thousand versts. Fourteen years ago its population amounted to thirty
+thousand inhabitants, since when it has in all probability very much
+increased. Its manufactories are numerous; its society is agreeable, and
+gives evidence of the same hospitality which is witnessed so generally
+and so gratefully by the traveller, in those remote regions; but has it
+not in its very name a charm to the reader who peruses an account of it,
+in its connexion with those incidents, fictitious or true, which have
+been formed into one of the most simple, beautiful, and touching tales,
+that have ever flowed from the imagination or the heart?
+
+From Tobolsk, Mr. Dobell passed rapidly through the surrounding district
+of the same name, visited Ecatherineburg, where he admired, so far
+beyond the ordinary limits of the arts, works in marble, agate, and
+precious stones, which would have done honour to Italian artists; and
+arriving at the geographical boundary that divides Siberia from Russia,
+closes the narrative of his travels, which we would willingly have seen
+continued to the gates of the imperial capital of the north.
+
+     "I assure the reader," he says at the close of his truly
+     interesting account, "that in my humble attempt to describe
+     what I have seen and experienced, I have been governed by no
+     partial motives whatever. On the contrary, I have laboured to
+     represent every object faithfully as it has affected my senses.
+     I am, however, conscious at the same time, that it requires an
+     abler pen than mine to delineate adequately the sublime and
+     majestic works of nature in the regions I have been describing,
+     and to portray them to the imagination in all their simplicity,
+     beauty, and grandeur. Siberia does not possess the climate of
+     Italy, nor the luxurious productions of India; but she
+     possesses a fertile soil, a climate much better than is
+     generally believed, and natural resources of the highest value;
+     and she presents to the traveller such a magnificent picture of
+     natural objects, as is no where to be equalled except on the
+     immense continent of America. There is no longer any doubt but
+     the greater part of her territory is susceptible of high
+     cultivation, having a strong fertile soil, covered with superb
+     forests, and intersected by fine rivers, or watered by numerous
+     lakes, many of which may fairly be called seas.
+
+     "The race of men produced there, are uncommonly tall, stout,
+     and robust; certainly the best looking people I have ever seen,
+     particularly those of the Western parts. My readers will now, I
+     am sure, agree with me, that this country, hitherto considered
+     the _Ultima Thule_, or the _finis mundi_, has been highly
+     gifted by its Creator, and only wants population and
+     improvement to render it the most valuable portion of his
+     Imperial Majesty's dominions."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[6] The old English lawyers puzzled themselves greatly in tracing the
+origin of the feudal tenures. The truth is, they may be found in the
+incipient stages of society in nearly every nation. They existed, in
+fact, in Hindostan, China, and many other countries, for centuries
+before the time of the _comites_ of the German princes, mentioned by
+Tacitus, who are supposed to have founded them. The services of the
+tenant varied according to the character and condition of the
+people--the principle was every where the same.
+
+[7] The tael is $1.66; the pecul, 133-1/3 pounds.
+
+
+
+
+ART. IV.--_Précis de la Geographie Universelle ou Description de toutes
+les parties du Monde, sur un plan Nouveau D'aprês les grandes divisions
+Naturelles du Globe, &c._ Par MALTE-BRUN: Bruxelles, 1829.
+
+
+We place at the head of our article, which we mean to devote to Physical
+Geography, the title of the latest edition that we have seen of the
+great work of Malte-Brun. This, which has already become well known to
+our American public in translation, has received some additions from its
+Belgian editors, but has not been fully brought up to the present state
+of Science, nor does it contain all the new discoveries which have been
+made in that part, namely, physical geography, to which our attention is
+more immediately directed. We shall, however, endeavour to supply these
+deficiencies so far as lies in our power.
+
+Physical geography stands in immediate connexion with subjects which
+have already been presented to the readers of this journal, namely with
+Celestial Mechanics,[8] and with the Phenomena of our Atmosphere.[9] It
+shall be our endeavour to proceed from the facts laid down in the first
+of the two articles to which we have referred, to the more particular
+consideration of the state, the structure, and the condition of the
+globe we inhabit.
+
+The earth is a planet of the solar system, the third in distance from
+the sun, revolving upon its own axis, and around that central body
+attended by a satellite; circumstances which affect in a most important
+manner the phenomena that are observed upon its surface. Composed of
+material substances that mutually attract each other, each particle of
+which has a greater or less centrifugal force in proportion to its
+distance from the axis of rotation, it has a figure that is consistent
+with a state of equilibrium under the joint action of these two forces,
+and which is such as would have been assumed by a fluid body actuated by
+them. The figure that fulfils these conditions is an oblate spheroid,
+the axis of the generating ellipse coinciding with the polar diameter of
+the body. Had the earth a figure absolutely spherical, or less flattened
+than is consistent with the conditions of equilibrium, the ocean, by
+which so large a part of its surface is covered, would have arranged
+itself in a meniscoid zone around its equatorial regions; were the
+figure, on the other hand, one of greater oblateness, the waters would
+have been divided and accumulated at either pole, leaving the
+equatorial regions dry. But did its figure fulfil the conditions of
+equilibrium, the fluid mass would tend to distribute itself equally over
+the whole surface, unless prevented by irregularities in the solid mass.
+The last is the actual state of things; the ocean occupies a bed formed
+of cavities, lying below the mean surface of the spheroid, and the land
+presents to us those asperities and elevations, which rise, although to
+a comparatively small height, above the general level.
+
+Was then the earth originally in a fluid state, and has it assumed its
+present form under the strict action of mechanical laws, on a body of
+that class? are the bed of the ocean and the continents merely crusts
+formed upon the surface of a liquid globe? Does the interior still
+remain liquid, or has the induration proceeded until the whole internal
+mass has become solid? Nay, may not the interior be hollow, as we have
+recently seen gravely maintained, and heard sage legislatures recommend
+to the public attention?
+
+Mathematical investigations of incontrovertible evidence, show us that
+were the earth of equal density throughout, the flattening at the poles
+would be 1/234 of the equatorial diameter; that in the hypothetical case
+of infinite density at the centre, and infinite rarity at the surface,
+the flattening would be no more than 1/578; while, were the surface more
+dense than the interior, or did a cavity exist within, the oblateness
+must be greater than 1/234. Actual measurements of portions of the
+surface, the variation in the length of the pendulum which beats seconds
+in different latitudes, and the effect of the earth's figure on the
+lunar motions, show us that the earth cannot be flattened more than
+1/289, nor less than 1/312, or may, at a mean, be considered as a
+spheroid, whose polar and equatorial diameters are in the relation of
+299 to 300.
+
+Astronomers have ascertained the deflection of plumb lines from the
+vertical, by the action of mountains. The attraction of a projecting
+mass of known bulk and density, with one whose bulk alone is known, is
+thus determined, and hence the density of the latter may be calculated.
+
+Even comparatively small masses of matter may be placed under such
+circumstances at the surface of the earth, that their mutual action can
+be observed uninfluenced by the preponderating attraction of the earth,
+and thus a new means of comparison obtained.
+
+The pendulum whose vibrations ought to vary according to a definite law,
+as we recede from the surface of the earth, has that law affected by the
+elevated ground on which it is placed, and here again a comparison may
+be instituted between the general and local attractions.
+
+All these modes of investigation concur in, and confirm the general
+result, that the mean density of the earth is about five times as great
+as that of water. Now as a great portion of the surface is composed of
+that fluid, and as the general density of the land is little more than
+twice as great as that of water, it follows incontestably that the
+interior of the earth is far more dense than its outer covering.
+
+All material substances are capable of assuming, under proper
+modifications of latent heat, either the solid, the liquid, or the
+gaseous form; yet all are beyond doubt composed of atoms, solid, hard,
+and incapable of further division. Under their own mutual attraction
+these particles tend to unite, and cohere in solid masses, and to this
+attractive force the repulsive power of heat is constantly opposed,
+tending to prevent their aggregation, and retaining them, according to
+its intensity, in the gaseous or liquid form.
+
+The heat necessary to maintain these states of existence in bodies, may
+be produced in various ways. Our usual experience leads us to consider
+it as more generally arising from two causes, radiation from the sun,
+and the chemical action causing combustion. The former could never have
+produced the temperature known to exist at present upon the surface of
+the globe, for the earth radiates as well as the sun, and is constantly
+throwing off heat into the surrounding space. We know that these two
+actions have for twenty centuries exactly balanced each other, and that
+the mean temperature of the earth has neither increased nor diminished
+in all that period. Had the solar radiation been, previously to that
+epoch, in excess, it must at the more recent periods, counted backwards,
+have been but slightly so, and ages unnumbered must have elapsed, before
+the state of equilibrium which now exists could have been reached. The
+earth too, at distant periods, must have been colder than at present,
+while that the contrary is true is shown by numerous observations.
+
+Neither could chemical action have had any great agency in establishing
+the present temperature of the earth. The substances which burn are but
+a small portion of the crust of the earth, and their combustion, if all
+fired at a time, would cause no perceptible effect on the sensible heat
+of the surface of our globe. Were combustible bodies even infinitely
+more abundant, the supporters are insufficient to keep up their
+combustion for any length of time, without sensible diminution, and this
+would be the case, even were the whole of the oxygen that now exists as
+a component of the waters of the ocean added to their present amount. It
+is indeed possible that the outer shell of the earth, which is no more
+than a crust of oxidated matter, may have existed at first in the
+metallic state, but that crust has long intervened, and prevented any
+contact between the air or ocean, and the metallic bases of the earths,
+that in this case must lie beneath.
+
+In spite of these obvious objections to their theory, some geologists
+have madly fancied to themselves a great internal fire, maintained by
+actual combustion, a fancy but little more rational than that which
+seeks, in the present order of things, precipitation from some vast
+quantity of a liquid menstruum, every trace of whose existence has now
+vanished.
+
+There is, however, yet another source of heat, if indeed solar heat be
+not a mere case of its general action, far more general and universal,
+which has its origin in the bodies themselves, and has no reference to
+any extrinsic cause. All bodies are sensibly heated when condensed, and
+lose sensible heat when they expand, so that their temperatures vary
+with the greater or less distance of their particles. The atmosphere of
+the earth furnishes a marked illustration of this fact. Of nearly
+uniform chemical composition throughout, its elastic nature, conflicting
+with its gravity, renders it more dense in its lower than in its higher
+regions. The former are in consequence warmer than the latter, and the
+mean temperature of our climates is in fact due to this character of our
+atmosphere. But this mean temperature could not be maintained, were not
+that of the earth itself in harmony with it. The surface might, no
+doubt, be cooled or heated by the adjacent air, but the heat, if given
+out from an earth warmer than the atmosphere, would be rapidly replaced
+from within, and a constant accumulation ensue in the air, while, if the
+earth were cooler, a diminution, equally constant, of the temperature of
+the atmosphere, must take place. The earth is, however, itself subject
+to the same law. All the materials of which it is composed, are capable
+of compression, in a greater or less degree, and of being heated by
+compression. The tendency of all material substances to the centre of
+attraction, loads the parts nearest to that centre with the whole weight
+of the superincumbent mass. And in the depth of four thousand miles,
+which intervenes between the centre and the surface, the heat must be
+far more than equal to that obtained by the compound blow-pipe or
+galvanic deflagrator, under whose intense energies the most refractory
+substances liquefy. Hence it may be inferred as a fact, as certain as
+any in physical science, that the interior of the earth is at present in
+a state resembling igneous fusion, not produced, however, by any of the
+more familiar sources of heat, but by the intense pressure the upper
+masses exert upon those nearer to the centre.
+
+Here, then, we find the reason of the earth's having assumed a figure
+consistent with the equilibrium of a fluid mass, whose particles are
+endued with a mutual attraction, and which has a motion around an axis.
+
+Let us suppose all the particles which now constitute the earth, to have
+been originally disseminated throughout a vast space, and to have
+approached their common centre of gravity by the force of mutual
+attraction; the consideration thus caused would have produced the state
+of intense heat that is now kept up within by pressure; and the
+conducting power of the bodies would have propagated the heat nearly
+equal throughout the mass. The surface would then have existed in a
+liquid state as well as that beneath. But as the radiation from the
+surface of a heated body is in exact proportion to its temperature, this
+cause of cooling would have been intense, and a crust must soon have
+formed upon the outer surface; this crust would have increased in
+thickness so long as the heat thrown off by radiation exceeded that
+received from the sun. When this state of equilibrium was finally
+attained, all the great phenomena which a body thus heated could
+exhibit, would cease, and the subsequent changes would become due only
+to forces such as we now see acting upon the surface, or would be the
+completion of actions commenced during the previous state.
+
+We know, from astronomical investigations, that this state of
+equilibrium has existed for upwards of twenty centuries, while analogy
+would lead us to infer that it must have been attained at no long period
+after the last great catastrophe to which our planet was subjected.
+
+Let us now see whether the fact of the interior of the globe being more
+intensely heated than its surface, can be inferred in any other manner
+than from the course of reasoning whose principles are here cited. The
+feeble power of man, feeble at least compared to the size of the globe
+he inhabits, has been able to penetrate to but small depths in its outer
+shell, but even at these small depths, an increase of temperature has
+been remarked, and so frequently and carefully observed, as to leave no
+doubt of its being a general law. This increase, too, appears exactly
+consistent with that which it might be inferred ought to take place. But
+we, even to the present day, occasionally see the igneous fluid from
+beneath forced up to the surface, and spreading from volcanic craters
+over great regions. Observation shows us that at remote epochs such
+phenomena were much more frequent than at present. We want no more
+positive proofs that the interior of the earth is still intensely
+heated, and that the bed of the ocean and the solid land are mere crusts
+formed upon the surface of a mass in a state analogous to that of
+igneous fusion.
+
+Were the surface, as we have inferred it must have been, ever itself
+intensely heated, the volatile and gaseous matters which now constitute
+our atmosphere and oceans, must have united to form an atmosphere of far
+greater extent than it is at present. The aqueous matter rising into
+regions where the rarity of the air would cause cold sufficient to
+condense it, would have been in a state of constant motion, boiling in
+the lower regions, being precipitated in the higher, and acting most
+energetically to promote the general cooling. And so soon as the surface
+became cooler than 212°, the water would begin to settle upon its
+surface, forming at first lakes in its basins or cavities, and finally
+extending itself into one vast ocean, covering the whole or parts of the
+solid crust according to its greater or less degree of uniformity.
+
+The conversion of the igneous liquid surface into solid matter, could
+only have taken place in successive shells or concentric layers; hence
+would arise a stratified character. And as the cooling proceeded,
+lowering the mean temperature of the whole mass, a consequent diminution
+of bulk must have taken place, according to the well known law of
+expansion by heat and contraction on cooling. Such diminution in bulk
+must have broken the strata into fragments, through the fissures of
+which, according to the laws of hydrostatics, the fluid mass beneath
+would rise until the equilibrium of rotation would have been obtained,
+and the strata, originally concentric, would be dislocated and turned in
+every possible direction, pierced with veins and dikes of all possible
+magnitude, from slender threads to mountain masses, caused by the
+cooling and consolidation of the rising fluid, and occasionally
+spreading in overlying currents, congealed and fixed in ridges and
+chains. These veins and dykes would present different characters,
+according to the dates of their elevation. If raised at a period when
+the surface was still of high temperature, they must have crystallized
+slowly, and in a perfect manner; at diminished temperatures, the
+crystallization would be less complete; if raised into the mass of
+ocean, they would assume one character; if coming in contact with air,
+another. A breaking of the bed of the ocean, and bringing its waters in
+contact with the liquid mass beneath, might produce consequences
+extending in their action to districts of the globe, the most remote
+from those in which the convulsion occurred; for the water, rising into
+vapour, would tend to extend itself in one uniform atmosphere over the
+whole surface of the globe, and might be precipitated in unusual
+abundance wherever causes of condensation existed. Thus, partial, or
+even total deluges, may have occurred, great portions of the ocean being
+hurried in vapour from its bed, and precipitated upon the land whose
+temperature is not affected by the distant catastrophe.
+
+The waters might, in some cases, flow directly back to the ocean, in
+others might accumulate in basins and form lakes, fresh at first, and
+gradually becoming saline. These in turn might burst their bounds,
+carrying ruin and devastation in their course, or might by evaporation
+be dried up, and be again filled by a recurrence of the original cause
+of supply.
+
+Such violent and rapid action would finally be exhausted by the gradual
+cooling of the earth, but the outer crust would still press on the
+igneous fluid beneath, and although far less liable to rupture, its
+fluid action might yet enable it to force its way occasionally to the
+surface, but at distant intervals, and with diminished energy. Now, a
+new series of phenomena must occur, similar to the more familiar of
+those we see acting at present; at first more intense, but finally, when
+the state of equilibrium of temperature is reached, exactly such as we
+now find them both in kind and in energy.
+
+To see how far such a view of what might have occurred, under the action
+of well known causes, in case of a certain original order of things, is
+correct, let us examine the appearances our globe actually presents.
+
+To a systematized and general examination, it presents the appearance of
+a great ocean, covering about three-fourths of its whole surface, and
+surrounding two great, and a number almost infinite of smaller islands.
+The two great islands are the old and the new continents; the largest of
+those that remain is New-Holland. To exhibit this great ocean in its
+most general aspect, take an artificial globe, raise the south pole 50°
+above the horizon, and bring New-Zealand to the meridian. The hemisphere
+above the horizon will now be wholly of water, with the exception of the
+southern part of South America on the one side, and New-Holland, with
+the Indian archipelago, on the other. These bear, when united, but a
+small proportion to the entire hemisphere. The opposite hemisphere
+contains more land than water; and when it is in its turn placed above
+the horizon, the Atlantic will be seen lying almost wholly on the
+western side of the meridian, and forming, with the Arctic ocean, a
+species of channel, narrowing from the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope
+towards the northern pole, and communicating with the great ocean which
+lies principally in the opposite hemisphere by Behring's straits. On
+this hemisphere are also seen parts of the Pacific and Indian oceans,
+which are considerably more than equal in surface to the lands which
+project into the opposite one.
+
+If we turn our attention to the land, we find it unequal in its surface;
+and although compared with the whole diameter of the earth, the
+inequalities be very small, yet, compared with our own stature, they
+often present an imposing magnitude. These greater elevations are
+mountains; and we find them sometimes united in chains, sometimes
+isolated, and at other times uniting to form elevated plains or table
+lands. These table lands sometimes slope outwards, at others they are
+surrounded by eminences that prevent the efflux of the waters, or only
+admit them to pass through apertures made by their own action. Upon our
+continent, table lands of the latter description are to be found of
+great magnitude, entering as parts of the great system of the
+Cordilleras or Andes; in Europe they are rare, but in Tartary, Persia,
+and in central Africa, they occur, forming regions of great extent. In
+general, the greater part of the mountains of a continent appear to have
+a connexion more or less obvious; it has even been conceived that they
+form the skeleton upon which the rest of the land has been deposited,
+and which has determined the form of the continent. Thus we speak
+habitually of chains of mountains. Mountains, however, do not always
+present a continuous ridge, from which the peaks or more elevated
+summits rise, but occasionally, the groups we call chains, are composed
+of separate mountains divided by valleys; such are the mountains of
+Scotland, of Sweden, and Norway; and such is the general structure of
+the chain of mountains called in the state of New-York the Highlands, of
+whose connexion and grouping we shall hereafter speak.
+
+This being understood, namely, that by a chain or ridge of mountains we
+do not necessarily intend a continuous elevation, the term may be
+conveniently used in order to express the configuration of mountains.
+These chains surround or border upon greater or less basins, which are
+each distinguished by the name of the principal stream that conveys its
+surface waters to the ocean, or they may, as has been stated, envelop a
+table land, whence there is no issue for the waters, or no more than a
+mere passage sufficient to afford them an outlet. Even if a map contain
+no expression of the position of mountains, we can, by mere inspection
+of the courses of rivers, determine the lines in which the chains are
+directed, and, from the size of the rivers, judge in some measure of the
+elevation of the district. Thus, on inspection of the map of Europe, we
+find four of its greatest rivers rising at no great distance from each
+other, the Rhine, the Rhone, the Danube, and the Po; here, then, we
+might infer a great elevation, and here we accordingly find its highest
+mountains, the Alps. In another part of this continent, we see the
+Dwina, the Nieper, and the Volga, diverge from points not far distant
+from each other, and here accordingly we find an elevated table land,
+two hundred miles in length by fifty in breadth, marked however by no
+mountain summits. In central Asia, we see a vast space inclosed by lines
+joining the sources of a number of mighty rivers, the Indus, the Ganges,
+the Barrampooter, the Irrawaddy, the Houng Ha, and Kiang Ku, the Amour,
+the Lena, the Yermisir, and the Oby; accordingly, here we find the
+greatest table land surrounded by the highest mountains of the globe.
+Still, however, the instance we have cited of the rivers of Russia
+shows, that the land whence great rivers take their rise, is not
+necessarily mountainous; in this case the ascent is almost
+imperceptible, and the summit offers the aspect of a level and marshy
+plain. Such also occurs in the famous boundary between the United
+States and Canada, where the highlands that figured in two successive
+treaties have disappeared, and in their supposed place has been found a
+series of swamps.
+
+Attempts have been made to arrange the chains of mountains into
+connected systems. Of these the most successful is that of Malte-Brun.
+
+     "If we draw a line from the centre of Thibet, across Chinese
+     Mongolia towards Ochotsk, and thence towards Cape Tchutscki,
+     the eastern promontory of Asia, this line will in general
+     coincide with a great chain of mountains which runs from the
+     south-west to the north-east, and which every where descends
+     rapidly towards the Indian and Pacific oceans, while on the
+     contrary, it extends itself towards the Frozen ocean in high
+     plains and secondary hills. It is probable that we may some day
+     refer to the same rule the chain of Lapata, called the backbone
+     of the world, in Africa; at any rate this chain runs from the
+     Cape of Good Hope to that of Gardafui, in a direction
+     south-east and north-west, and therefore in nearly the same
+     direction as the great chain of Asia, but we are ignorant of
+     the disposition of the slopes of these mountains. We may regard
+     the mountains of the Happy Arabia, which are both steep and
+     lofty, as the link that connects the mountains of Lapata with
+     the table lands and mountains of Persia, which proceed from the
+     mountains of Thibet.
+
+     "If we follow the western coasts of America, from Behring's
+     straits, which hardly form a sensible interruption, to Cape
+     Horn, we find an uninterrupted chain of mountains. From time to
+     time this chain retires a little into the interior, but more
+     frequently it immediately borders upon the great ocean, in
+     immense cliffs, and often by frightful precipices. On the other
+     side of it, the manner in which the lakes discharge themselves,
+     and the direction of the great rivers, show sufficiently, that
+     the surface of America inclines gently towards the Atlantic
+     ocean.
+
+     "It results from a combination of these observations, that the
+     greatest chains of mountains on our globe, are ranged in an arc
+     of a circle around the great ocean, and the sea of India; that
+     they seem to present rapid descents towards the immense basin
+     they surround, and gentle slopes on their opposite sides; in
+     fine, from the Cape of Good Hope to Behring's straits, and
+     thence to Cape Horn, the eye of the most timid observer cannot
+     fail to see some trace of an arrangement, as surprising from
+     its uniformity, as from the vast extent of ground which it
+     embraces.
+
+     "Let us pause for an instant to consider this great fact of
+     physical geography. If we conceive ourselves placed in New
+     South Wales, with our face turned towards the north, we have
+     America on our right hand, Africa and Asia on our left. These
+     continents, which we hardly before ventured to approach in our
+     imagination, considered in this point of view, form a
+     consistent system, whose structure, as far as we are acquainted
+     with it, presents in its great features an astonishing
+     symmetry. A chain of enormous mountains surrounds an enormous
+     basin; this basin, divided into two by a vast collection of
+     islands, often bathes with its waves the feet of this great
+     primary chain of the earth."
+
+In this chain lie the greatest mountains of the globe. One peak of the
+Himmalayah rises nearly five miles above the level of the sea; another
+has a height of 25,500 feet; and a third of 22,217 feet. In South
+America are Soratu, in height 25,250 feet.
+
+    Illimani,   24,000
+    Chimborazo, 21,400
+
+not to mention Antisana, Mauflos, Chillau, Cotopaxi, all of which exceed
+in height any mountains that do not lie in this great system. Nay, did
+not the great Volcano of Owyhee enter into the order with a height of
+18,000 feet, the list of those surpassing the other mountains of the
+globe, might be very much extended.
+
+We shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the volcanic energies still
+exerted in this vast stony girdle, and shall therefore confine ourselves
+strictly to mere external form.
+
+The arms and branches of mountain chains enclose as has been seen,
+basins marked by rivers which convey their surface waters to the ocean.
+The rains which fall on the sides of mountains and hills, unite in
+torrents and streams, which follow the lines of most rapid slope in
+their course to the sea.
+
+The greater rivers mark the lowest part of a principal basin, on each
+side of which, at a greater or less distance, are to be found rising
+grounds, themselves hollowed out into lateral secondary basins,
+containing courses of water less considerable than the first, into which
+they cast themselves, and whose branches they are. The borders of these
+secondary basins are again hollowed out into basins of a third order,
+whose slopes also contain water courses less considerable than the
+preceding, into which they in turn discharge themselves. This
+ramification continues until we reach the smallest ravines of the
+boundary mountains, and the map appears, as it were, covered with a net
+work of rivers and lesser streams. The great valley of the Mississippi
+and Missouri, forms perhaps the most striking instance of this sort,
+upon the surface of our globe.
+
+Rivers and streams are constantly exerting a mechanical action on the
+surfaces over which they run; abrading and tearing off fragments even of
+the hardest rocks, they roll them in their course until the velocity
+becomes insufficient to transport them farther. At diminished velocities
+they move fragments of less size, down to the smallest pebbles; at still
+less velocities, they transport sand, and finally earthy matter, in the
+most minute division. These are deposited in succession in positions
+corresponding to the rapidity of the stream, and hence the beds of
+rivers present at each of their different sections, materials of
+magnitude and quality corresponding to the rate at which the stream
+usually flows. The increase in the magnitude of streams, due to violent
+rains and the melting of the snows, changes the position of the
+substances that compose their bed, and the more easily suspended
+materials are often held until the stream actually meets the ocean. In
+such sudden increases, the streams often overflow their usual banks, and
+make their deposits laterally, until the constant succession of such
+deposits raises the adjacent ground high enough to set bounds to the
+further spreading of the stream. This deposit is remarkable for its
+taking place in greatest quantity close to the usual bed of the stream;
+and thus it speedily opposes natural dykes to its own redundant waters.
+This action is most conspicuous at points where marked changes take
+place either permanently or periodically in the rapidity of running
+water: when streams descend from mountains into lines of less descent, a
+deposit uniformly takes place, forming _flats_ or _intervals_, as they
+are styled in the United States, of which we have such beautiful
+instances in the valleys of the Connecticut and Mohawk, and that part of
+the Hudson near Albany; again, where rivers meet the sea, they are
+interrupted in their course by the rise of the tides of the ocean, and
+here again deposits take place, sometimes forming shoals and banks in
+the ocean itself; at other times, bars and obstructions at their own
+mouths; and again, deltas of solid land, constantly encroaching upon the
+sea. This action, which is continually going forward, is called
+alluvial. The delta of greatest fame, and from which the others have
+derived their generic name, is that of the Nile; this we have evidence,
+almost historic, to prove to be wholly the gift of the river. And if it
+no longer increase as rapidly as in former ages, the cause is obvious,
+for the alluvion has been pushed so far forward as to meet a strong
+current that sweeps along the African coast, and must carry off much of
+the earth the Nile discharges into the Mediterranean. The great rivers
+of Asia and of America carry still greater quantities of solid matter,
+but we have not the same distant traditions to refer to for the amount
+of the increase they have caused; still, however, we know that the mouth
+of the Mississippi has been advanced into the Gulf of Mexico several
+leagues since the settlement of Louisiana; and that islands of great
+extent are frequently formed, in the course of a single year, by the
+deposits of the Ganges.
+
+We however find traces of aqueous action far more extensive and powerful
+than those which are now taking place under our eyes by fluviatile
+action. There is no part of the globe that has been examined, which does
+not show that it has been subjected to the action of water, in floods
+far more powerful than any we now are in the habit of seeing. Every
+where, except in the case of rocky cliffs, and steep mountains, or where
+we see obvious evidence of a recent elevation, we find the surface
+strewn with the deposits of water: boulders of greater or less size,
+beds of gravel, sand, and clay, form the present outer coating of the
+greatest part of the land. These deposits were long confounded with the
+alluvial, but have at length been proved, by incontrovertible evidence,
+to be the results of an action, which if not contemporaneous, must have
+been universal. We have seen an able attempt to show that this species
+of deposit did not take place at one and the same period, but was merely
+the general consequence of similar causes acting at different epochs.
+Our impression, we must however confess to be, that the action was not
+only co-extensive with the globe, but contemporaneous. It at any rate
+exhibits proofs the most satisfactory, that the last great and
+extensive change which our earth has undergone, was effected by the
+agency of water, in a state of rapid and violent motion. Ascribing this
+deposit to a single flood, it has been styled diluvial.
+
+There are cases where alluvial deposits rest upon the diluvium, and from
+the depth of these it has been attempted to calculate the time that has
+elapsed since the former of these actions was resumed. The diluvium has
+also been found in caverns lying upon an ancient stalagmite, and covered
+again with a new formation of that modification of carbonate of lime.
+The thickness of the latter deposit has also been made the basis of a
+calculation, and although neither of these methods is to be considered
+as approaching to an accuracy more perfect than some hundreds of years,
+the two methods confirm each other in the general result, which is,
+that, at a date not more remote than fifty or sixty centuries, there
+must have taken place a total submersion of all the land, except,
+perhaps, the tops of high mountains, did they then exist. We have in the
+sacred volume, a record of such a catastrophe, the flood of Noah, and
+from that time to the present, no convulsion, equally extensive in its
+influence, has devastated the globe. Have not then the geologists who
+have seen in these indications the convincing evidence of that
+occurrence, been warranted in their inference, of the identity of an
+event pointed out by undeniable physical evidence, with one recorded in
+a history to which one of the most confirmed sceptics has recently
+admitted the merit of truth?
+
+The diluvial deposits are found not only in the lower grounds, but on
+the tops and sides of lofty mountains; we have ourselves noted them
+distinctly characterized at high elevations upon the Kaatskills; they
+are found among the Alps at Valorsine, 6000 feet above the level of the
+sea, and in another place at more than 7000 feet. The excavations made
+in the extension of the city of New-York at Corlaer's Hook, have laid
+open a vast mass of diluvium, and afforded means for studying it with
+great facility. It in fact presented the appearance of a great cabinet
+of specimens of primitive and transition rocks, and it was possible in
+many cases to determine the very mountain whence the fragments had been
+torn. The most remarkable boulder, for instance, of a weight of at least
+an hundred tons, was distinctly recognisable as identical in every
+respect with the granitic syenite of Schooley's mountain, distant at
+least forty miles. Others had no known type nearer than Connecticut, in
+the opposite direction, while the gneiss and mica slate of the island of
+New-York, with their various embedded minerals, the serpentine and many
+of the magnesian minerals of Hoboken, with sandstone and trap of the
+Pallisadoc range, were distinctly recognisable. In this great
+excavation, where a region of a mile square was wholly removed, to a
+depth, in many places, of thirty feet, no animal remains, as far as can
+be learnt, were detected; thus marking a most important difference
+between these deposits and those of the Old continent. Such is the
+remark of an intelligent geologist, whom we are proud to reckon as our
+_collaborateur_, and to whom that branch of Natural History is under no
+small obligations.
+
+     "Fragments of granite and other primitive rocks, cast here and
+     there upon stratified formations, and interpersed in
+     diluvium,[10] present a fact as certain as it is astonishing.
+     All the chains of Mount Jura, all the mountains that precede
+     the Alps, the hills and plains of Germany and Italy, are strewn
+     with blocks of granite, often of a great dimension, and always
+     of a composition as pure, and as perfect a crystallization, as
+     the granites of the higher Alps. The same phenomenon is
+     repeated in the plains of Russia, of Poland, of Prussia, of
+     Denmark, and of Sweden. From Holstein to Eastern Prussia,
+     diluvial[11]grounds, sand and clay, are covered with an immense
+     number of blocks of granite. Near the island of Usedom, several
+     points of granite rock rise from the bottom of the Baltic. We
+     see in like manner, Scania and Jutland so filled with these
+     fragments, that they construct of them enclosures, houses and
+     churches. In the Lymfiord, a gulf of Jutland, and at some
+     places on the western side of that peninsula, great points of
+     granite rise from the bottom of the waters. But what is still
+     more remarkable, is to see immense masses of granite lying on
+     the tops of Roeduburg and Osmond, which are more than 6000
+     feet in height, and are therefore among the highest mountains
+     in the North of Europe."
+
+Beneath the diluvial deposit, we find beds and strata of substances of
+different character, and which appear on a cursory view to be involved
+in inextricable confusion. Long and careful examination has at length
+been efficient in ascertaining that in this apparent disorder are to be
+seen the traces of an order, as perfect as that of any other mechanism
+of nature, and of a succession of changes by which the earth has been
+finally fitted for the habitation of man. These strata have been finally
+arranged into five distinct classes, differing in their characters and
+position. These have been so fully described in a former article in this
+Journal, by the distinguished associate whom we have already quoted,
+that no more remains for us to say, than what is merely necessary to
+keep up the connexion of our subject.
+
+These stratified rocks or formations are remarkable for the regular
+order in which they succeed and overlie each other, furnishing distinct
+and indisputable evidence of their having been formed in succession. The
+first set of strata, which are never covered by any of the others, and
+hence are conceived to be of most recent formation, lie inclined at a
+small angle to the horizon. In many cases they do not assume the
+character of rocks, but although distinctly stratified, are often soft
+and friable, presenting beds of marle and clay, and thick deposits of
+sand. In some cases their appearance is so similar to diluvial or even
+alluvial deposits, that they might be mistaken for them, were it not
+for their more regular stratification. These are the tertiary formations
+of the German school, the superior order of Coneybeare and Philips.
+
+Issuing from beneath these, and forming in their turn a considerable
+portion of the surface of the earth, rising occasionally into
+considerable hills, are strata of less uniform and regular inclination,
+forming basins and cavities in which the tertiary deposits are often
+found to lie, curved to conform to the bottoms of these basins.
+
+The third and fourth series issue in their turn from beneath the
+preceding, as does the fifth from beneath the fourth. Each is marked in
+succession, by a greater degree of confusion or distortion in the
+stratification, until the last, which is apparently upheaved and thrown
+about without any regularity, its strata being occasionally found in
+positions almost vertical. Not only is the succession of the five
+different orders of rocks constant, but so is that in which the several
+rocks of each series overlie each other. This regularity of succession
+is, however, subject to this law; namely, that rocks of particular
+orders, or even the whole order itself, may be wanting in particular
+districts; thus, tertiary formations may be directly upon the lower
+order, and the second, third, and fourth, may not be present; or any one
+of the higher orders may lie directly upon any one of those we have
+stated to be inferior to it; but it has never been observed that the
+arrangement itself has been inverted, or that a rock which is in one
+place inferior, becomes, in its turn, superior in another.
+
+The fifth, or inferior order, is uniformly found beneath one or all of
+the others; and, we may infer, that it in fact underlies the whole
+surface of the globe, forming not only the foundation of the solid land,
+but the original bottom on which the present bed of the sea is
+deposited. The rocks that compose this series are all highly crystalline
+in their character, are mostly composed of substances wholly or nearly
+insoluble in water, are wholly devoid of organic remains, and are in
+fact such substances as might be supposed to have been formed by slow
+cooling, from a state of igneous fusion. Is it then assuming too much to
+infer, that they are in fact the crust which has been first formed upon
+the surface of the earth, intensely heated by its own condensation,
+under the action of the gravitating force, that, communicated to it by
+the hand of the Creator, determined its figure, and still maintains its
+equilibrium. We do not include in this class, as is usually done, the
+crystalline rocks not stratified, as we conceive them to have been
+formed in another manner, to which we shall hereafter refer. All the
+four higher series of strata show, in the most evident manner, that
+their formation has been due to the action of water; the grauwacke is,
+perhaps, the only rock that exists among them, in which the question
+could, even on simple inspection of specimens, appear doubtful; but this
+rock lies at the base of the old red sandstone, and upon the limestone
+of the submedial order, or transition, as it is styled by the
+Wernerians, and is equally regular in its stratification with either; we
+cannot, therefore, admit any other cause of its formation than what is
+common to them.
+
+Some of these strata are obviously mechanical, others chemical deposits;
+thus, the sandstones and conglomerates are certainly the products of the
+disintegration of older rocks by a violent abrasion of running water,
+and have settled when the currents have ceased to flow; all calcareous
+rocks, except the limestones of the inferior or fifth order, the
+primitive of Werner, on the other hand, appear to have been products of
+chemical precipitation; while there are a few cases, as in the beds of
+rock salt, where the deposit must have been due to evaporation.
+
+Of all these rocks and formations, the primitive, as has already been
+stated, and the sandstones, are wholly devoid of organic remains. And
+even the last rule is to be received as not wholly free from exception;
+for vegetable impressions have been found, as we are credibly informed,
+in sandstone, at Nyack on the Hudson, and near Belleville in New-Jersey,
+besides some other similar cases we shall hereafter note. All the other
+strata present a greater or less abundance of the traces of the organic
+kingdoms, from the slate, which lies lowest of the fourth order, to the
+most recent beds of the tertiary, and to so much of the diluvium as has
+been examined in the old continent. And although in the isolated case of
+the diluvium at New-York, no fossil remains have been found, we are yet
+unprepared to admit this as more than an exception, and are inclined to
+think that the remains of the mastodon, for instance, must be diluvian,
+or pre-diluvian. In this opinion, however, we know that we are opposed
+by high authority, and therefore do not express it without hesitation.
+
+     "Organized fossil remains belong to three different classes:
+     the remains that have preserved their natural state, at least
+     in part; petrifactions; and impressions.
+
+     "The remains of the first class are principally bones, and even
+     entire skeletons, which, after having been stripped of the skin
+     and flesh that covered them, have remained, some buried in the
+     earth, others hidden in deep caverns. They are, sometimes,
+     calcined in whole or in part, without having lost their
+     configuration; they at others preserve, not only their texture,
+     but even some traces of their hair and skin. They are also
+     occasionally seen covered with a calcareous crust.
+
+     "Petrifactions, to use this word in its familiar sense, include
+     all stony bodies that have the figure of an organized body.
+     There are cases in which a strong solution has penetrated into
+     a cavity formed by an organic body that has disappeared. Then
+     the strong substance has occupied the cavity that has been left
+     empty, and has taken the external form of the body that
+     formerly existed there. If this body were, for instance, a
+     branch or trunk of a tree, the stone will have at its surface
+     its knots and asperities; but within, it will present all the
+     characters of a true stone; it will be no more, to use the
+     language of Hauy, than the statue of the substance that it has
+     replaced.
+
+     "At other times, a vegetable or animal substance, while
+     undergoing decomposition in a successive manner, and by obvious
+     degrees, is pressed by the petrifying liquid that already
+     surrounds it. As soon as an organic particle has disappeared,
+     its place is occupied by one of stone."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     "Metallized bodies, and those which have been changed into
+     bitumen or carbon, belong to this system of formation; thus,
+     the turquoises, for instance, are the teeth of a great marine
+     animal; a metallic substance has penetrated them, and has
+     gradually replaced the softer parts of the bones.
+
+     "Impressions are often found between the plates of slaty rocks;
+     they are relievos or intaglios representing the skeletons of
+     animals, particularly fish, leaves, seeds, and entire plants,
+     of which the most common kind belong to the forus."
+
+The impressions of vegetables are most abundant in the shales that
+accompany coal formations; those of leaves and branches are the most
+common, but there are a few instances in which they retain the delicate
+structure of the flowers. All analogy leads to the inference, that those
+now found in temperate climates, are of such a character as could only
+exist in tropical regions; and when, as in some of the newer formations,
+the species are identical with those which now exist, the living type is
+only found within the torrid zone. A still more curious fact, is their
+identity in similar formations in different parts of the world. At the
+present day, the same soil in Pennsylvania and England produces plants
+of very different characters, and those which are native to each are of
+wholly distinct genera and species, while the fossils that accompany the
+coal in the two countries are precisely similar. But even those brought
+by Parry from the polar region of Melville island, are identical with
+those of England, and of course with those of this distant part of the
+same hemisphere in which the former are formed, although the character
+of the climate is so diverse. At the epoch of the coal formation, there
+existed plants, of genera, which, in temperate climates, at present
+rarely rise to more than a few inches in height, and which were at that
+remote period of enormous size. Thus, the forus must have attained the
+height of from fifty to sixty feet. At present, the forus assume the
+size of a tree only in the very warmest climates, and even there, are
+far inferior in magnitude to those of the coal formation. Now, it is
+well known, that the large size of the living species is due to great
+and constant heat, and copious moisture. Hence we may fairly infer that
+similar circumstances existed even at Melville island, where, at the
+present time, for the greater part of the year, the thermometer is below
+the freezing point.
+
+As further instances of the same kind, we may quote the following facts.
+Faujas St. Fond found, in a marly slate, covered by lava, in France, the
+tree cotton, the liquid amber styrax, the cassia fistula, and other
+plants of tropical regions. The same observer found the fruit of the
+arcea palm near Cologne. The elastic bitumen of Derbyshire in England,
+is identical with the caoutchouc, which now grows only in the warmer
+parts of South America; and the amber of Prussia appears to be a fossil
+gum, similar to the Copal.
+
+Among the more recent in formation of fossil vegetables, are the
+bituminized woods; these are often buried to great depths by diluvian
+action, but are never found in perfect rock. The most remarkable
+instance of this kind is at Bovey-Heathfield, in England, and beneath is
+found the retinasphaltum, that seems to be no more than the expressed
+viscorous juice of the trees. Coal is a similar formation, but due to a
+more ancient period. The mines of Pennsylvania occasionally furnish
+specimens, in which the fibre of the wood is as distinctly visible as in
+recently prepared charcoal. However these vast beds may have been
+formed, no doubt whatever can exist in respect to their vegetable
+origin.
+
+Among animal remains found in the fossil state, shells and zoophytes are
+the most abundant. They form the principal parts of rocks which often
+occupy considerable districts. They are most frequent in calcareous
+strata, from the transition limestones to the highest of the marles. A
+remarkable fact is observed in respect to these shells, and the other
+fossils which accompany them; those which are found in the oldest, or
+transition formations, are more different from those that now exist,
+than those in the more modern deposits. Thus the transition limestones
+and slates contain terrebratulites, with encrinites, pentacrinites, and
+trilobites; in those of the submedial and medial series we find
+belemnites and the cornu ammonis; many of which are extinct genera, and
+some of which are of families that are no longer found living on our
+globe, while even where the genus is now to be met with, the species at
+least has become extinct; while in the latest of the tertiary or
+superior formations, we find ostracites, pectinites, buccinites,
+chamites, and many other genera that are still abundant, and even types
+of living species.
+
+By far the greater part of the animals whose remains are found in the
+older strata are aquatic, and the vast extents over which they are
+distributed, show, that the waters must at one time have covered a very
+great proportion of what is now dry land. Nor has this change been
+produced by any gradual subsidence, for we find no coincidence in the
+levels of those portions of the land that contain similar fossils; some
+for instance are still lower than the level of the present ocean;
+others, again, of similar character, rest upon the tops or sides of the
+highest mountains. In Europe, the tops of the highest of the Pyrenees,
+rising 11000 feet above the level of the sea, are of limestone,
+containing numerous fossil remains, while Humboldt found a rock,
+similarly characterized, among the Andes, at the height of 14000 feet.
+
+The ancient philosophers, who, in other departments of physical science,
+were far behind the moderns, seem in this alone to have pursued a
+process of inductive reasoning, which led to results far more accurate
+than any attained by the moderns, until within a very few years. The
+dogmatism which determined to find in every fossil aquatic remain a
+proof of the particular Noachic deluge, and the timidity of those whose
+researches had made them better informed, left the world wholly in the
+dark as to the real inferences to be drawn from a study of the structure
+of the earth; but what modern geologist could better express what are
+now admitted opinions, than the words which the Roman poet puts in the
+mouth of Pythagoras.
+
+    "Vidi ego, quod quondam fuerat solidissima tellus,
+    Esse Fretum. Vidi factas ex æquore terras:
+    Et procul a pelago conchæ jacuere marinæ;
+    Et vetus inventa est in montibus anchora summis.
+    Quodque fuit campus, vallem decursus aquarum
+    Fecit: et eluvie mons est deductus in æquor:
+    Eque paludosa siccis humus aret arenis;
+    Quæque sitim tulerant, stagnata paludibus hument.
+    Hic fontes Natura novos emisit, at illie
+    Clausit: et antiquis concussa tremoribus orbis
+    Flumina prosiliunt; aut exæcata resident."
+
+The order in which fossil remains are found to succeed each other in the
+successive formations that are to be traced from the oldest rocks to the
+diluvial deposit, are well illustrated in the words of a late
+distinguished philosopher, whom we shall quote.
+
+     "In those strata which are deepest, and which must consequently
+     be supposed to be the earliest deposited, forms, even of
+     vegetable life, are rare; shells and vegetable remains are
+     found the next in order; the bones of fishes and oviparous
+     reptiles exist in the following class; the remains of birds,
+     with those of the same genera mentioned before, in the next
+     order; those of quadrupeds of extinct species in a still more
+     recent class; and it is only in the loose and slightly
+     consolidated strata of gravel and sand, and which are usually
+     called diluvial formations, that the remains of animals such as
+     now people the globe are found, with others of extinct species.
+     But in none of these formations, whether called secondary,
+     tertiary, or diluvial, have the remains of man, or any of his
+     works, been discovered: and whoever dwells upon this subject,
+     must be convinced that the present order of things, and the
+     comparatively recent existence of man as the master of the
+     globe, are as certain as the destruction of a former and
+     different order, and the extinction of a number of living
+     forms, which have types in being. In the oldest secondary
+     strata there are no remains of such animals as now belong to
+     the surface; and in the rocks which may be regarded as most
+     recently deposited, these remains occur but rarely, and with
+     abundance of distinct species;--there seems, as it were, a
+     gradual approach to the present system of things, and a
+     succession of destructions and creations preparatory to the
+     existence of man."
+
+We have stated that the zoophytes and shell-fish have left the most
+numerous fossil remains. Those of other families are not however rare.
+Fish, for instance, are found in great abundance, near Glarus in
+Switzerland, in clay slate; in Germany, at Papenheim, in a slaty marle,
+in the cupriferous slate of Eisleben, in the fetid limestone of
+Oehningen. They are also found in Egypt, and we have specimens of the
+same sort from Lyria, in a limestone apparently belonging to the oolitic
+or Jura formation. China and the coast of Coromandel have also fossils
+of this sort, but by far the greatest quantity have been procured from
+Mount Bolea, near Verona. A splendid suite from the last locality are to
+be seen in the Gibbs' Cabinet at New-Haven. Besides the impressions of
+entire fish, separate portions are very abundant, and perhaps the most
+frequent of these are the teeth of sharks, which are sometimes of a
+magnitude vastly greater than those of any living species. Animals of
+the class of amphibia appear not to have existed until after the æra
+that gave birth to fish. The oldest are probably the tortoises, of which
+a specimen has been found in sandstone near Berlingen. They have also
+been found in England, in the Netherlands near Brussels, at Aix in
+Provence, and in the quarries near Paris. The most remarkable fossils of
+this class belong, however, to the lizard family. Of these the most
+remarkable are the plesiosaurus, the megalosaurus, the iguanodon, and
+the crocodile of Maestricht, all belonging to extinct species.
+
+The marine animals that are met with in a fossil state, are in great
+part foreign to the climates in which they are found buried. It has been
+shown that the fish of Bolea have their nearest living prototypes in the
+seas of Otaheite. The perpites of Gothland have been supposed to be
+petrifactions of the medusæ of India. The madrepores, so abundant in
+Russia and in the frozen deserts of Siberia, only live now in seas
+within the tropics. Shells analogous to a great part of those found
+fossil in England, are only to be seen in the Atlantic, in a living
+state, on the coasts of Florida and Cuba. A shell-formed fossil at Havre
+is only to be met with recent at Amboyna.
+
+Of the shells found in Italy, fossil in the sub Appenine hills, many are
+common to the Mediterranean and the Indian oceans. But while those in
+the fossil slate and the recent specimens from the tropics correspond in
+size, individuals of the same species from the Mediterranean are
+dwarfish and degenerate.
+
+Thus then the remains of aquatic and amphibious animals appear to
+confirm the conclusion drawn from vegetable fossils, that a climate of
+temperature as elevated as that now found in the tropics, once extended
+into high northern latitudes. It has been seen that the fossil remains
+and impressions of shells have been found at great heights upon the
+sides, and even upon the tops of mountains; and that in the older of the
+strata no trace is to be found of any but aquatic animals. Thus before
+our existing mountains and the minerals they contain had arisen above
+the general surface; before diluvial and alluvial deposits, or even the
+great formations of sandstone and conglomerate had arisen from their
+disintegration, the globe was covered, in a great degree, and as it
+appears from considerations we have not space to enter into, by various
+successive eruptions, with waters, sometimes fresh, sometimes saline.
+These waters have, it could be readily made to appear, often rested long
+on the surface in a quiet state, after having been in violent agitation;
+and long ages of tranquillity have been succeeded and closed by
+convulsions of the most violent character.
+
+In all the regularly stratified formations, animals of the mammiferous
+or cetaceous classes are wholly wanting; at least we have no proof that
+can be relied upon of any having been found in formations which took
+place prior to the last great deluge, that covered so much of the land
+with diluvium. In this last formation, however, they are often found in
+great abundance. Some of them are of recent, others of extinct species.
+Among the most remarkable of the latter are, the palæotherium, and
+anoplotherium, found near Paris; the megalonyx, an animal of the sloth
+genus, but of the size of an ox, found in Virginia; a still larger
+sloth, called the megatherium, found near Buenos Ayres; the fossil
+elephant, as different from the living elephants of India or Africa, as
+the horse is from the ass, and which has been found in Europe, in Asia,
+and in America. The mastodon, of which several species have been
+discovered on the banks of the Hudson, in Kentucky, in Louisiana, in the
+plains of Quito, in France, and finally on the borders of the Irrawaddy.
+
+The bones of rhinoceroses, bears, elephants, and hyænas, have been found
+mixed in confusion in caverns; and it has been shown by Buckland that
+the latter animal had inhabited these caverns, and drawn thither the
+carcasses of the others as his prey, in one of the most perfect
+inductive arguments which has been produced, since Bacon propounded the
+rules of that species of reasoning.
+
+     "The moveable earths that fill the bottoms of valleys, and
+     which cover the surface of great plains, have furnished us in
+     the above two orders, of pachidermata and elephants, the bones
+     of twelve species, to wit: one rhinoceros, two hippopotami, two
+     tapirs, an elephant, and six mastodons. All these twelve
+     species are now absolutely extinct in the climates in which
+     their bones are found. The mastodons alone may be considered as
+     forming a separate genus, now unknown, but closely approaching
+     to the elephant. All the others belong to genera now existing
+     in the torrid zone. Three of these living genera are now found
+     only in the ancient continent, to wit: the rhinoceros, the
+     hippopotami, and the elephant; the fourth, that of the tapirs,
+     only exist in the new. The distribution of the fossil species
+     is different; the tapirs have been found only upon the old
+     continent, while elephants have been discovered in the new."
+
+The fossil species, although belonging to known and existing _genera_,
+are essentially different in _species_ from those which now live upon
+the earth. The former are not mere varieties, but have marked specific
+differences. This at least is beyond all doubt in respect to the
+smaller of the hippopotami, and the gigantic tapir, as well as the
+fossil rhinoceros, and is extremely probable in respect to the elephant
+and the smaller tapir. If there be any question of the fact, it is only
+in respect to the greater hippopotamus.
+
+     "These different bones are buried in all different places in
+     beds that resemble each other. They are often mixed
+     indiscriminately with those of other animals, identical with
+     those which exist at present. These beds are generally
+     moveable, sandy, or marly, and always within a short distance
+     of the surface. It is therefore probable that these bones have
+     been enveloped by the last catastrophe of the globe. In a great
+     number of places, they are accompanied by the accumulated
+     spoils of marine animals; in other places, but these are less
+     numerous, the remains of marine animals are not found, and
+     sometimes the sand or marle that covers them contains only
+     fresh-water shells. Although a small number of shells attached
+     to fossil bones indicate that, they have remained some time
+     under water, yet is there no authentic account of their having
+     been found covered with regular stony beds, filled with marine
+     remains, nor, in consequence, is there any proof of the sea
+     having made a long and peaceable stay above them.
+
+     "The catastrophe that has covered them, would appear then to
+     have been a great marine inundation, of no long duration, were
+     it not that they are found upon the tops of high mountains,
+     whither the waters of our present ocean could never have
+     reached in their most violent agitations. On the other hand,
+     these bones presenting no appearance of having been rolled,
+     being occasionally only fractured, as the remains of our
+     present domestic animals may occasionally be, and being
+     sometimes found in entire skeletons, and accumulated as if in a
+     common cemetery, demonstrate that the living beings to which
+     they have belonged, must have met their fate in the very parts
+     of the globe in which we now find the fossil monuments of their
+     existence."
+
+All the animals of which we have particularly spoken, are of genera now
+only found in the torrid zone, and the abundance of food which their
+great size would have caused them to require, renders their existence in
+numbers only possible in a warm climate. Their remains are, however,
+found in almost polar regions, whence we obtain a third link in the
+chain of evidence, that before the last great catastrophe to which the
+globe was subjected, its surface must have been warmer than at present.
+
+We have seen in a former place, that such a change of temperature may
+have gradually occurred in consequence of a cooling of the external
+surface of the globe by an excess of its radiation above the quantity of
+heat received from the sun. The final cooling of its solid crust, down
+to the mean temperature at which we now find it, might, as is obvious,
+have been effected by a great irruption of waters, like that of which we
+have distinct evidence in the diluvial deposits, and the animal remains
+upon its surface. From that time, a state of equilibrium in the action
+of solar and terrestrial radiation having been attained, while the mean
+temperature still continues to depend upon the internal structure and
+nature of the globe, the distribution of heat upon the surface, and the
+vicissitudes of the seasons, have been solely influenced by the varying
+relation between these two radiations, which if equal to each other in
+their total amounts, differ in every different latitude, for every
+successive day in the year, and during each varying hour of the day.
+
+It has been attempted to explain this change that has unquestionably
+taken place in the temperature of climate, by conceiving a change in the
+situation of the earth's axis. This hypothesis, however, is shown to be
+untenable by the calculations of physical astronomy: no other cause then
+remains but an actual change in the condition of the earth itself.
+
+The most remarkable of all the phenomena which the earth presents, are
+the great changes of weight that have taken place in identical
+formations which must have arisen from the prevalence of water, and
+therefore nearly if not exactly upon the same level. The primitive or
+lowest stratified rocks, probably had not water for their cause; still,
+however, they must have been in the fluid state, and these are not only
+found beneath all other rocks, and in the lowest places to which the
+industry of man has penetrated, but they also rise and form the greatest
+part in bulk of many of the highest mountains; indeed, if we except
+volcanic mountains, of all the more elevated masses. The transition and
+secondary formations are subject to similar although less changes of
+level, rising, as has been seen, to the tops of the Pyrenees, and to
+even a greater height on the sides of the Andes. The tertiary or
+superior formations are found in Italy and Sicily, forming mountains
+several thousand feet in height, while the latest of all, the diluvial
+with its embedded mammalia, exists in the lofty table land of Quito. The
+inference is irresistible, that we do not now find these deposits at the
+levels where they were left by the ocean, as in the case of the
+primitive rocks by their own crystallization from a fluid state, but
+that they have been altered in their positions by actions of a character
+totally distinct from that by which they were originally formed.
+
+This inference is still further confirmed by the great and sudden
+changes of level that are frequently to be seen in similar strata,
+faults, as they are styled by miners, in which the same bed has its
+level sometimes changed hundreds, nay even thousands of feet. These
+faults, if in greatest abundance in the more ancient rocks, are to be
+found even in the newest, and sometimes affect several formations
+incumbent on each other, of ages the most different. Thus, then, we have
+distinct and conclusive evidence, that as we inferred from theory, the
+solid crust of the globe has been shattered and fractured repeatedly,
+and at all the different epochs of its history. This fracturing and
+cracking we have shown, must, in conformity with strict mechanical laws,
+have been attended with the rise of the molten liquid from beneath,
+which ought in some cases to have formed veins and dykes, in the places
+where the fractures occurred. It is however possible, that the rise of
+the fluid from beneath, may not have taken place where the pressure
+occurred; but it would then have been compelled by hydrostatic pressure,
+to issue at some other point, breaking and tearing the weaker parts of
+the solid crust, in order to afford itself a vent.
+
+The latter class of phenomena are still in action, and we have evident
+traces of their occurrence in all the different stages of the world's
+existence; of the former it will also be seen there is conclusive
+evidence.
+
+The visible effects of a subterranean heat, are most frequently met with
+at the present day in the form of volcanoes. Of these, there are not
+only a great number in activity, but there are still more that have been
+certainly active since the last great change that the surface of the
+earth has undergone.
+
+That part of the great group of mountains which we have before
+described, which lies in the new continent, contains many active
+volcanoes, and others but recently extinct. Terra del Fuego, as its very
+name imports, is the seat of many; Chili has several; in Peru are to be
+noted Arequipa, Pichinca, and Cotapaxi; while Chimborazo is obviously
+one that has become extinct at a period not remote. Passing the Isthmus
+of Panama, we find the volcanoes of Guatimala and Nicaragua almost
+infinite in number. In Mexico, are Orezaba, Popocatepetl, and Jorullo;
+the last of which first rose from beneath the surface in 1759.
+California has five active volcanoes; and we know, from the observations
+of La Perouse and Cook, that they also exist along the north-western
+coast of America. Mount St. Elias, in particular, was seen in a state of
+eruption. These mountains connect those of Mexico with the volcanoes of
+the Aleutian islands and of the peninsula of Alaska, which continue the
+system towards Kamtschatka, in which peninsula there are three of great
+violence. We have seen some proofs, that there are active volcanoes to
+the north-west of China, but none now exist in Thibet; and the action
+that once took place there has sought new vents, in regions more near to
+the present bed of the ocean. Thus, Japan has eight volcanoes, Formosa
+several, and, in proceeding to the south, the land of volcanic action
+widens, and becomes of immense extent. It embraces the Philippine,
+Marian, and Molucca islands, Java, Sumatra, Queen Charlotte's islands,
+and the New-Hebrides. The active volcanoes of Europe and western Asia
+are few in number; but those that are extinct form a great system, in
+which the active ones are included, and which seems to spread in the
+form of a belt, from the Caspian sea to the Atlantic. Volcanic action
+still occurs on the shores of the Caspian. In the chain of Elburg is a
+lofty mountain that still emits smoke, and around whose base are several
+distinct craters. Syria and Palestine abound in volcanic appearances, of
+which the great crater that has swallowed up the waters of the Jordan,
+and forms the Dead sea, is the most remarkable. Greece and the Grecian
+Archipelago have been, almost within historic times, the seat of a
+volcanic action, of great extent and violence, and which has not wholly
+exhausted itself. In Sicily, Ætna has burnt for 3300 years, and is yet
+surrounded by extinct craters of more ancient date. The Lipari islands
+are wholly volcanic. Vesuvius, that had long before intermitted its
+eruptions, and broke forth again in the great one that destroyed
+Herculaneum and Pompeii, is not the only volcanic mountain of Naples. An
+extinct one of much greater size is to be found near Roccafina. The
+catacombs of Rome are excavated in lava, and Tuscany contains strong
+evidences of volcanic action. Volcanic indications can be traced near
+Padua, Verona, and Vicenza, extending into Dalmatia. A district of
+Hungary was suspected of containing the seeds of subterranean fire, and
+the suspicion has been confirmed by an actual eruption. Germany and
+Bohemia contain a great number of extinct volcanoes, as does the south
+of France, and particularly Auvergne. In Spain, too, the proofs of a
+volcanic agency are clear and decisive.
+
+Greenland and Iceland present a third group of volcanoes; in the latter
+island, a single volcano was in a state of continuous eruption for five
+or six years. The Azores, the Canaries and Madeiras, also contain
+numerous volcanoes, both active and extinct, as do the Caribbean
+islands.
+
+In comparing together volcanoes that are in present activity, and others
+in which the crater and the streams of emitted lava are too distinct to
+permit a doubt of their having arisen from the same cause, differences
+are observed that only have arisen from great differences in the
+circumstances under which the eruption has taken place. In many of the
+ancient volcanoes, we find the emitted streams are arranged in prismatic
+forms, constituting basalt, and frequently passing into what under other
+circumstances would be styled _trap_ by the Wernerians. Now, we know
+that when streams of lava enter the sea, they spontaneously assume the
+prismatic structure. Hence we may infer, that these ancient volcanoes
+originally gave vent to their craters beneath the level of the sea, at a
+time when the rocks through which they penetrated, and over which their
+streams have passed, were beds of the primitive ocean. The trap rocks
+themselves may have been formed in a similar manner, by upward pressure
+of the igneous fluid beneath, through the veins and fissures formed on
+the breaking of the solid crust. Trap traverses, in dykes of unknown
+depth, many formations, and is occasionally seen forming beds between
+successive strata. It frequently occurs in faults, and sometimes in
+extensive overlying masses. Close observation, and a just course of
+analogy, lead to the irresistible conclusion, that all the trap rocks,
+however situated or arranged, grow out of the same great cause, the
+rising of the liquid interior of the earth to its surface. An action
+sometimes taking place through veins and fissures in the solid crust,
+and sometimes by the eruption of volcanoes, both occurring during the
+pressure of water upon the surface. One of the most extensive groups of
+trap-rocks is to be seen in the north-eastern part of the state of
+New-Jersey. The Hudson is bordered for nearly forty miles by a great
+ridge of columnar rock, lying upon sandstone. When this is surveyed with
+an eye to its analogy to volcanic action, it appears as if it were the
+outpourings of a crater, whose basin is now occupied by the lake in
+which the Hackensack river takes its rise, and whence a great stream of
+lava has run over the sandstone rock, as far as the strait that
+separates Staten Island from the main land. The two Newark mountains are
+ridges of the same description, of even greater extent; other smaller
+ridges of the same kind are also distinctly visible, and the whole of
+this last system appears to have proceeded from a crater now filled by
+the alluvion of the Passaic, but which is bordered by a ridge still
+occupying two-thirds of a circle, and showing conclusive marks of
+igneous action, that goes by the name of the Hook mountain. The
+phenomenon of a dyke of trap is well exhibited in the quarries near
+Hartford in Connecticut, where this rock has been laid bare for a
+considerable depth, as it rises through a sandstone rock, instead of
+overlying it, as it is seen to do on the Hudson.
+
+The trap-rocks, which are, generally speaking, of the character called
+by mineralogists greenstone, vary in this district of New-Jersey, from a
+compact basalt of homogeneous structure, to one of regular and distinct
+crystallization, not distinguishable in hand specimens from primitive
+syenite. A rock of this last character is to be found in the mountain
+that extends from Morristown to Mount Kemble, which is columnar in its
+structure, but almost identical, in mere external characters, with
+stratified rocks of gneiss containing hornblende, that are found in the
+primitive ridges within a few miles.
+
+Thus then the older volcanic rocks gradually pass in character into
+those which, under the general name of granitic, form the apparent
+nucleus of gneiss and mica slate mountains, and penetrate them, and the
+primitive limestones, in veins. One of the best instances of veins of
+granite with which we are acquainted, are those which occur in the
+quarries of white marble at Kingsbridge, which are traversed in every
+direction by thin veins of a rock, principally composed of a white fetid
+felspar, mixed with spangles of silvery mica, and small grains of
+quartz, interspersed with occasional masses of tourmaline. The famous
+locality of chrysoberyl, beryl, and other interesting minerals, at
+Haddam, in Connecticut, is said to occur in a granitic vein passing
+through strata of gneiss.
+
+In all these cases we cannot fail to see evidence of igneous eruptions,
+taking place, however, under circumstances widely different from those
+of our present terrestrial volcanoes, or of the submarine craters of
+more remote dates, but which can be readily explained by supposing,
+either that the penetration took place when the surface of the earth was
+so intensely heated as to admit of the injected veins being slowly
+cooled, and therefore more perfectly crystallized; or that the issuing
+mass was so great as to retain its heat for a great length of time.
+
+It might at first sight appear difficult to explain how volcanic
+energies should still continue in activity, now that the mean
+temperature of the earth has become constant, and the outer crust can be
+no longer subject to the shrinking, and consequent cracking which it
+must have undergone while cooling. The phenomena that attend volcanic
+eruptions furnish a full explanation of this, for they are attended in
+almost all cases with the evolution of great quantities of gaseous
+matters, and steam, which must therefore exist in a state of intense
+compression, and at elevated temperatures, in the mass whence the
+volcanic flood issues. Their elastic energies are sufficient to account
+for all the striking effects that attend the action of volcanoes.
+
+The earthquake is a phenomenon connected with volcanic eruptions, and
+arising from the same great cause; but while the latter are confined to
+certain mountains, and restricted within narrow limits at the present
+day, an earthquake is sometimes found to prevail over a very large
+portion of the earth's surface. To omit the more usual phenomena of
+earthquakes, we shall speak of but one, which has in some cases been
+observed, that throws a great light upon the manner in which the
+stratified rocks have had their levels changed, and been dislocated and
+distorted in the manner we now find them. We allude to the sudden
+raising of countries of greater or less extent. Of this we shall quote
+three several instances from a paper of Arago's.
+
+     "During the night of the 28th September 1759, a district of
+     three or four square miles, situated in the Intendency of
+     Valladolid, in Mexico, was raised up, like an inflated bladder.
+     The limits where the elevation ceased may still be determined
+     at the present day, by the fracture of the strata. At these
+     limits the elevation of the ground above its primitive level,
+     or that of the surrounding plain, is no more than thirty-seven
+     feet; but towards the centre of the lifted district, the total
+     elevation is not less than five hundred feet.
+
+     "This phenomenon had been preceded by earthquakes that lasted
+     nearly two months; but when the catastrophe occurred, all
+     seemed tranquil; it was announced only by a horrible
+     subterranean noise, that took place at the moment when the
+     ground was lifted. Thousands of little cones, of from six to
+     ten feet in height, called by the natives ovens, arose in every
+     direction; finally six great projections were suddenly formed
+     along a great crevice lying in a north-east and south-west
+     direction, all of which were elevated from 1200 to 1600 feet
+     above the adjacent plains. The greatest of these small
+     mountains has become a true volcano, that of _Jorullo_, and
+     vomits forth lava.
+
+     "It will be seen that the most evident and well characterized
+     volcanic phenomena accompanied the catastrophe of Jorullo; that
+     they were perhaps its cause; but this did not prevent an
+     extensive plain, old and well consolidated, upon which the
+     sugar-cane and indigo were cultivated, from being, in our own
+     days, suddenly raised far above its primitive level. The escape
+     of inflamed matter, the formation of the ovens and of the
+     volcano of Jorullo, far from having contributed to produce this
+     effect, must on the contrary have lessened it; for all these
+     openings must have acted like safety valves, and permitted the
+     elevating cause to have dissipated itself, whether it were a
+     gas or a vapour. If the ground had opposed a greater
+     resistance; if it had not given way in so many points, the
+     plain of Jorullo, instead of becoming a simple hill five
+     hundred feet in height, might have acquired the relief of the
+     neighbouring summits of the Cordilleras.
+
+     "The circumstances that attended the formation of a new island
+     near Santorin, in the Greek Archipelago, seem to me also well
+     fitted to prove that subterranean fires not only contribute to
+     elevate mountains by the aid of ejections furnished by the
+     craters of volcanoes, but that they also sometimes lift the
+     already consolidated crust of the globe.
+
+     "On the 18th and 22d May 1707, there were slight shocks of an
+     earthquake at Santorin.
+
+     "On the 23d, at sun-rise, there was seen between the great and
+     little Rameni (two small islands) an object that was taken for
+     the hull of a shipwrecked vessel. Some sailors proceeded to the
+     spot, and on their return reported, to the great surprise of
+     the whole population, that it was a rock that had risen from
+     the waves. In this spot the sea had formerly a depth of from
+     400 to 500 feet.
+
+     "On the 24th, many persons visited the new island, and
+     collected upon its surface large oysters that had not ceased to
+     adhere to the rock. The island was seen sensibly to increase in
+     size.
+
+     "From the 23d May until the 13th or 14th June, the island
+     gradually increased in extent and elevation, without agitation
+     and without noise. On the 13th June it might be about half a
+     mile in circuit, and from 20 to 25 feet in height. Neither
+     flame nor smoke had issued from it.
+
+     "From the first appearance of the island, the water near its
+     shores had been troubled; on the 15th June it became almost
+     boiling.
+
+     "On the 16th, seventeen or eighteen black rocks rose from the
+     sea between the new island and the little Rameni.
+
+     "On the 17th they had considerably increased in height.
+
+     "On the 18th smoke arose from them, and great subterranean
+     noises were heard for the first time.
+
+     "On the 19th all the black rocks had united and formed a
+     continuous island, totally distinct from the first; flames,
+     columns of ashes, and red-hot stones arose from it.
+
+     "The volcanic phenomena still continued on the 23d May 1708.
+     The black island, a year after its appearance, was five miles
+     in circuit, a mile in breadth, and more than 200 feet in
+     height.
+
+     "On the 19th November 1822, at a quarter past ten in the
+     evening, the cities of Valparaiso, Melipilla, Quillota, and
+     Casa Blanca, in Chili, were destroyed by a terrible earthquake
+     that lasted three minutes. The following day several observers
+     discovered that the coast, for an extent of thirty leagues, had
+     been visibly elevated, for upon a coast where the tide never
+     rises higher than five or six feet, any rise in the land is
+     easily detected.
+
+     "At Valparaiso, near the mouth of the Coucon, and to the north
+     of Quintero, rocks were seen in the sea, near the bank, that no
+     person had before perceived. A vessel that had been stranded on
+     the coast, and whose wreck had been visited by the curious, in
+     boats, at low water, was left, after the earthquake, perfectly
+     dry. In traversing the shore of the sea, for a considerable
+     distance near Quintero, Lord Cochran, and Mrs. Maria Graham,
+     found that the water, even at high tide, did not reach rocks,
+     on which oysters, muscles, and shells still adhered, the
+     animals inhabiting which, recently dead, were in a state of
+     putrefaction. Finally the whole banks of the lake of Quintero,
+     which communicates with the sea, had evidently mounted
+     considerably above the level of the water, and in this locality
+     the fact could not escape the least attentive observers.
+
+     "At Valparaiso the country appeared to be raised about three
+     feet, near Quintero about four. It has been pretended, that at
+     a distance of a mile inland, the rise had been more than six
+     feet; but I do not know the particulars of the measures that
+     led to this last inference.
+
+     "In this case there was no volcanic eruption, no lava poured
+     forth, no stones or ashes projected, into the atmosphere, and
+     unless it be maintained that the level of the ocean have
+     fallen, it must be admitted that the earthquake of 19th.
+     November 1822, has raised the whole of Chili. Now the last
+     consequence is inevitable, for a change of level in the ocean
+     would have manifested itself equally along the whole extent of
+     the coast of America, while nothing of the kind was observed in
+     the ports of Peru, such as Paytu and Callao.
+
+     "If this discussion had not already carried us so far, the
+     preceding observations, from which it results, that in a few
+     hours, and by the effect of a few shocks of an earthquake, an
+     immense extent of country rose above its former level, might
+     have been compared with those which show, that there exists in
+     Europe, a great country (Sweden and Norway) whose level is also
+     rising, but in a gradual manner, and by a cause that acts
+     unceasingly, but which cause is unknown."
+
+Thus, then, to whatever portion of the earth's surface we turn our eyes,
+we find the proofs of igneous action; our existing volcanoes, protruding
+themselves through the newer stratified formations, and even the
+diluvium, being in some cases more recent in their origin than the last
+great catastrophe to which the earth has been subjected; those of more
+ancient date forcing their way through the upper and lower secondary and
+transition formations, which are also cut and intersected by dykes of
+trap, while granite from the size of mountain masses down to their
+veins, has upheaved and penetrated the oldest stratified rocks. We also
+find great extents of country rising, sometimes gradually, sometimes
+suddenly, above their former level.
+
+Mountains, then, are not the nucleus on which our continents and islands
+have been deposited, but are of subsequent origin, and have in their
+rise elevated the land to such a height as to be no longer accessible to
+the waters of the ocean. We may, even by examining through what strata
+the mountains have been raised, or those which compose their sides and
+crests when the elevating agent has not pierced through to the surface,
+infer the geological age which gave them birth. A research of this sort
+has been recently attempted and conducted with great ability by M. E. De
+Beaumont.
+
+We shall quote an abstract of his reasoning from the "_Annuaire,"_ for
+1830, in the words of Arago, which will also serve to illustrate various
+other points upon which we have touched.
+
+     "Among the formations of so many different kinds that form the
+     crust of our globe, there is a class which has been called
+     sedimentary (_terrains de sediment_). Those formations to which
+     this name is properly applied, are composed wholly, or in part,
+     of _detritus_, carried by water like the mud of our rivers, or
+     the sands of the beaches of the sea. These sands, in a state
+     of greater or less division, and agglutinated by siliceous or
+     calcareous cements, form the rocks called sandstones.
+
+     "Certain calcareous formations may also be reckoned in the same
+     class, even when they are wholly soluble, as is however rare,
+     in nitric acid; for the fragments of shells which they contain,
+     show, in another and perhaps better manner, that their
+     formation has also taken place in the bosom of the waters.
+
+     "Sedimentary formations are always composed of successive
+     layers, that are very distinctly marked. The more recent of
+     them may be arranged into four great divisions, which, in the
+     order of their antiquity, are
+
+     "The oolitic series or limestone of Jura;
+
+     "The system of greensand and chalk;
+
+     "The tertiary series; and finally
+
+     "The diluvian deposits.
+
+     "Although all these formations have been deposited by water,
+     and although they may all be found in the same locality lying
+     upon each other, the passage from the one to the other is never
+     made by insensible gradations. A sudden and marked change is
+     always to be perceived in the physical nature of the deposit,
+     and in that of the organized beings whose remains are found in
+     it. Thus it is evident, that between the epoch at which the
+     limestone of Jura was deposited, and that of the precipitation
+     of the system of greensand and chalk which covers it, there has
+     been upon the surface of the globe a complete change in the
+     state of things. The same may be said of the epoch that
+     separates the precipitation of the chalk from that of the
+     tertiary formations; as it is also evident that in every place
+     the state or nature of the liquid, whence the earths were
+     precipitated, must have changed completely between the time of
+     the formation of the tertiary strata, and that of the diluvium.
+
+     "These considerable variations, sudden, and not gradual, in the
+     nature of the successive deposits formed by the waters, are
+     considered by geologists as the effects of what they call '_The
+     Revolutions of the Globe_.' And even although it is very
+     difficult to say exactly in what these revolutions consisted,
+     their occurrence is not the less certain on that account.
+
+     "I have spoken of the chronological order in which these
+     different sedimentary strata have been deposited: I must
+     therefore state that this order has been determined by
+     following, without interruption, each different formation, to
+     those regions in which it could be ascertained beyond question,
+     and over a great horizontal space, that some particular layer
+     was above some other. Natural excavations, such as the cliffs
+     that border the sea, common wells, and Artesian fountains, with
+     the excavation of canals, have furnished powerful aid in this
+     inquiry.
+
+     "I have already remarked, that all these sedimentary formations
+     are stratified. In level countries, as might be expected, the
+     disposition of the layers is nearly horizontal. In approaching
+     mountainous countries, this horizontality, generally speaking,
+     ceases; finally, on the sides of mountains, some of these
+     layers are very much inclined; they even sometimes attain a
+     vertical direction.
+
+     "May not the inclined deposits that we see upon the slopes of
+     mountains, have been deposited in inclined or vertical
+     positions? Or is it not more natural to suppose, that they
+     originally formed horizontal beds, like the contemporaneous
+     beds of the same nature with which the plains are covered, and
+     that they have been lifted up and assumed new directions at the
+     moment of the elevation of the mountains on whose sides they
+     rest?
+
+     "As a general principle, it does not appear impossible that the
+     crests of mountains may have been incrusted _in place_, and in
+     their actual position, by sedimentary deposits, since we daily
+     see the vertical sides of vessels, in which waters charged with
+     sulphate of lime evaporate, covered with a saline crust, whose
+     thickness is continually augmented; but the question before us
+     does not present this general aspect, for it is merely required
+     to determine whether the _known_ sedimentary formations can
+     have been thus deposited. To this question we must reply in the
+     negative, as can be shown by two species of considerations,
+     wholly different from each other.
+
+     "Incontestable geological observations have shown, that the
+     calcareous layers which constitute the summits of Buet in
+     Savoy, and Mount Perden in the Pyrenees, elevated 11,000 or
+     12,000 feet above the level of the sea, have been formed at the
+     same time with the chalk of the cliffs that border the British
+     channel. If the mass of water whence these strata were
+     precipitated had risen 11,000 or 12,000 feet, the whole of
+     France would have been covered, and analogous deposits must
+     have existed upon all heights not exceeding 9,000 or 10,000
+     feet; now, it is found, on the contrary, that in the north of
+     France, where these deposits appear to have undergone little
+     change, the chalk never reaches a height of more than 600 feet
+     above the level of the present sea. They present precisely the
+     disposition of a deposit formed in a basin filled with a liquid
+     whose level has never reached any points that are at the
+     present day elevated more than 600 feet.
+
+     "I pass to the second proof, borrowed from Saussure, and which
+     appears even more convincing.
+
+     "Sedimentary formations often contain pebbles rounded by
+     attrition, and of a figure more or less elliptical. In the
+     places where the stratification is horizontal, the longer axes
+     of these pebbles are all horizontal, for the same reason that
+     an egg cannot stand upon its point. But where the strata are
+     inclined at an angle of 45°, the greater axes of many of these
+     pebbles form this same angle with the horizon; and when the
+     layers become vertical, the greater axes of many of the pebbles
+     become vertical also.
+
+     "This observation, in respect to the position of the axes of
+     the pebbles, _demonstrates,_ that the sedimentary formations
+     have not been deposited in the position they now occupy; they
+     have been raised in a greater or less degree, when the
+     mountains, whose sides they cover, have arisen from the bosom
+     of the earth.
+
+     "This being proved, it is evident that these sedimentary
+     formations, whose strata present themselves upon the slopes of
+     mountains, in inclined or vertical directions, existed before
+     these mountains arose. The formations of the same class that
+     are prolonged horizontally, until they meet the same slopes,
+     must be on the contrary of a date posterior to the formation of
+     the mountain; for it cannot be conceived, that, in rising from
+     the mass of the earth, it should not have elevated at the same
+     time all previously existing strata.
+
+     "Let us introduce proper names into the general and simple
+     theory which we have developed, and the discovery of M. de
+     Beaumont will be announced.
+
+     "Of the four species of sedimentary formations that we have
+     distinguished, three, and these are the uppermost, the nearest
+     to the surface of the globe, or the most modern, extend in
+     horizontal layers, from the Cote d'Or and from Forez, to the
+     mountains of Saxony; and only one, which is the oolite or
+     limestone of Jura, shows itself elevated within this district.
+
+     "Therefore the Hartz, the Cote d'Or, and Mount Pilus of Forez,
+     have risen from the globe since the formation of the Jura
+     oolite, and before the deposit of the three other formations.
+
+     "On the slopes of the Pyrenees and Appennines, two of the
+     formations are raised up, namely, the oolite and the greensand
+     and chalk; the tertiary formations, and the diluvium that
+     covers them, have preserved their primitive horizontality. The
+     Pyrenees and Appennines are, therefore, more modern than the
+     limestone of Jura, and the greensand which they have raised,
+     and more ancient than the tertiary strata and the diluvium.
+
+     "The western Alps, and among them Mount Blanc, have, like the
+     Pyrenees, raised the limestone of Jura, and the greensand, but,
+     in addition, they have also raised the tertiary formations; the
+     diluvium is alone horizontal in the vicinity of these
+     mountains.
+
+     "The date of the elevation of Mount Blanc must, therefore,
+     inevitably be placed between the epoch of the formation of the
+     tertiary strata and the diluvium.
+
+     "Finally, upon the sides of the central Alps, (Mount St.
+     Gothard,) and of the mountains of Ventorix and Liberon, near
+     Avignon, no one of the sedimentary formations is horizontal;
+     all the four have been raised up. When these mountains arose,
+     the diluvium itself must have already been deposited."
+
+     "The sedimentary formations appear, from their nature, and the
+     regular disposition of their layers, to have been deposited in
+     times of tranquillity. Each of these formations being
+     characterized by a particular system of organized beings, both
+     vegetable and animal, it is indispensable to suppose, that
+     between the epochs of tranquillity, corresponding to the
+     precipitation of two of these overlying formations, there must
+     have been a great physical revolution upon the globe. We now
+     know that these revolutions have consisted in, or at least been
+     characterized by, the raising of a system of mountains. The two
+     first liftings-up pointed out by M. de Beaumont, not being by
+     any means the greatest of the four he has succeeded in
+     classing, it will be seen that we cannot infer that the globe,
+     in growing older, becomes less fit to experience this species
+     of catastrophe, and that the present period of tranquillity may
+     not be terminated like those that have preceded it, by the
+     elevation of some immense mountain chain."
+
+M. de Beaumont next attempted, by a fancied arrangement of zones and
+parallels to great circles, to classify the mountains he had not an
+opportunity of examining, with those in respect to which he had obtained
+the above satisfactory conclusions. We fear, however, that he has
+proceeded to theorize too speedily, and before he had obtained a
+sufficient number of facts. We are certain, that in respect to the great
+Alleghany group of the United States, which he classes with the Pyrenees
+and Appennines, he must be mistaken, for no formations later than the
+transition limestone are to be found in their vicinity. In respect to
+the highlands of the state of New-York, and their branch of primitive
+rocks, which extends along the Hudson to the island of New-York, the
+sandstone of New-Jersey appears to continue horizontally until it
+reaches their bases, and no rocks appear to have been raised on the
+south-eastern side of the highlands, which are the easternmost of the
+five parallel ridges of the Alleghanies, older than the slate; but on
+their north-western side the transition limestone appears to have been
+raised. They therefore are older than any mountains examined by M. de
+Beaumont, and were we to hazard a conjecture, we should class them with
+the Grampians of Scotland, and the mountains of Wales, in both of which
+slate is the only rock of the transition series that appears to have
+been elevated.
+
+To complete our subject, it would be necessary that we should enter into
+a discussion of the manner in which the ocean is now acting, by its
+currents and tides, to distribute and deposit in its bed the sediment
+which rivers and streams are constantly hurrying into it; and that we
+should form some estimate, from what occurs within our reach, of the
+effects produced in these deposits by the vast number of organized
+beings that must people them, the deposits of vegetable matter, and the
+exuviæ, of animals. Such discussion would, however, be in a considerable
+degree purely conjectural, and we therefore shall not enter into it. It
+is sufficient to say, that formations analogous to those which the
+elevation of the continents has exposed to our view, must be now taking
+place in the bed of the ocean, whence they may be in their turn raised,
+to task the ingenuity of future races of reasoning beings.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Inquiries into the history of the changes which our earth has undergone,
+as they lead with infallible evidence to the proof of an existence of
+this globe at a period almost infinitely more remote than that at which
+man became its inhabitant, have been stigmatized as impious. The
+intolerant theologian, adhering with pertinacity to his own system of
+interpretation, fulminates anathemas against all who find in natural
+appearances convincing evidence, that the earth was not suddenly and by
+a single fiat called into existence in the exact, state in which we now
+find it. Timid geologists have bent to the storm, and have endeavoured
+to reconcile natural appearances with the arbitrary interpretations that
+have been deduced from scripture. But neither is the inquiry itself less
+holy than any of those which consider natural phenomena, exhibiting in
+their progress convincing proofs of infinite wisdom and power in the
+Creator, justifying the ways of God to man; nor is any one of the
+results of the inquiry in the slightest degree opposed to the texts of
+the sacred volume. The impiety rests with the interpreter, and not with
+the physical inquirer. The former unwisely links to his spiritual belief
+an interpretation at variance with natural appearances; and the latter,
+if he do not inquire for himself, and believe on the evidence of the
+former, that the truth or falsehood of the two distinct propositions are
+inseparably connected, must, as he sees the one to be inconsistent,
+hesitate with respect to the other. Some geologists, then, may have been
+sceptics; but could the secrets of the heart be laid open, we cannot
+help believing, that those who have most earnestly endeavoured to
+reconcile the phenomena we know to exist, with the interpretation of
+scripture, from which they appear to vary, have been at bottom the least
+sincere in their religious faith.
+
+For ourselves, we see no difficulties, no discrepancies between the
+record of direct revelation, and the sublime passages of the book of
+nature. We believe that "in the beginning God created the heavens and
+the earth;" that he called at once into existence the whole material
+world; but we also believe that he then impressed matter with laws,
+under the action of which that material world must maintain its
+existence, and secure its permanence, until the same almighty power
+shall annihilate it. We are not of those who judge of the works of the
+Deity from the conditions of the works which can alone be effected by
+the power of man. However perfect or complete be human mechanism, it can
+only move by the application of some power inherent in matter; did not
+an elastic spring expand itself after being coiled, the chronometer
+would be a dead and lifeless mass; did not fluids obey the force of
+gravitation, and currents in the atmosphere the expansive power of heat,
+the water-wheel and wind-mill would be useless; did not water form
+vapour at elevated temperatures, and condense when cooled, the still
+more powerful agency of steam would be wanting. Not only are machines of
+no value unless impelled by natural agents, but they themselves are
+subject to rapid decay, and require perpetual attention. Such is not the
+case with the machinery of the universe; its motions are perpetually
+varying, but yet in their variations invariable; continually oscillating
+on each side of mean rates, yet never losing or gaining in intensity.
+Such too is the case on the surface of our globe; the seasons
+alternately clothe the forests with verdure, and strip them of their
+leaves; seed time and harvest recur with invariable precision; the whole
+of existing vegetables perish, and animals die and decay, yet the race
+is perpetuated. Shall we set bounds to the exertion of almighty power,
+and say, that races, that families, that species and genera, nay that
+whole natural kingdoms may not in their turn decay and die, after
+providing for the repeopling of the earth by new inhabitants? The
+catastrophes of our planet are not yet at an end; the time will and must
+come, as we may guess from natural appearances, and as we find predicted
+in scripture, when the heavens shall be rolled up like a scroll, and the
+earth shall melt with fervent heat; and in the new system of
+appearances, the new heaven and earth shall succeed--the corruptible
+bodies that are now sown in dishonour, shall be raised in honour and
+incorruptible.
+
+The present surface of our globe is to our limited views slowly
+changing; to him who compares time with the immeasurable duration that
+has preceded and must succeed our existence, it is rapidly hastening to
+apparent ruin. The waters raised from the ocean, falling in greatest
+abundance on the land, tear and wear away the surface, and deposit it in
+the bed of the sea. Deltas form at the mouths of rivers by this action;
+the basin of the ocean is gradually elevated, and, in addition, islands
+and archipelagos are raised from its bed. The surface of the sea is for
+the present lessening under the influence of these causes, but the time
+must come, unless it be prevented by some catastrophe, when the ocean
+must in its turn encroach upon the land, when the plains and valleys
+shall become bays and gulfs, or even unite in continuous expanses of
+water, and the greater mountains alone, diminished in bulk by continued
+abrasion, shall stand as islands in the vast abyss. The earth would then
+again be without form and void of inhabitants, as it was before the
+creation of man. Such, however, will not be the termination of the
+present order of things; we are taught to look for this in an igneous
+eruption, the source of which now slumbers almost quiescent beneath our
+feet.
+
+Not only does revelation, but science, teach us that the earth must have
+been covered with water, and void of animate life, previous to its
+becoming the habitation of man. But they read their scriptures
+differently from us who think that this state of things was the actual
+beginning. There is no necessary connexion between the first verse of
+Genesis and the succeeding. The beginning of the existence of matter,
+and the state of vacuity and darkness whence the present order of things
+emerged, may have been, so far as the text is concerned, and were, as we
+know from appearances, separated from each other by unnumbered ages.
+
+Neither is it necessary that we accept the literal meaning of the
+passage, and conceive the Deity speaking with human voice, and calling
+creation forth by audible fiat. The voice of the Deity is that unheard
+and silent command which nature hears and obeys throughout all his
+works. The pious and sincere believer sees an overruling providence
+preserving him in kindness when it saves him from shipwreck, or
+chastening him in mercy when it deprives him of friends or relations, as
+distinctly as if he beheld the prince of the air stayed in his furious
+course, or the angel of destruction taking his visible stand beside the
+pillow of departing life. No miracles are necessary to him who sees in
+the rising and setting of the sun, in the order and beauty of the
+universe, in the absolute perfection of its mechanical laws, in his own
+fearful and wonderful structure, the evidence of infinite wisdom in
+design, and infinite power in execution; and the examination of the
+structure and character of our globe, is as well calculated as any other
+physical study to exhibit in full and brilliant light these attributes
+of the Deity.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[8] See American Quarterly, Vol. V.
+
+[9] See American Quarterly, Vol. III.
+
+[10] Our author has "alluvion."
+
+[11] Alluvial in our author.
+
+
+
+
+ART. V.--AUTO-BIOGRAPHY OF THIEVES.
+
+
+1.--_The American Trenck; or the Memoirs of Thomas Ward, now in
+confinement in the Baltimore Jail, under a sentence of ten years'
+imprisonment for robbing the United States Mail._ Baltimore. 18mo: 1829.
+
+2.--_Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux, a Swindler and Thief, now transported
+to New South Wales, for the second time, and for life. Written by
+himself._ London. 18mo: 1829.
+
+3.--_Memoirs of Vidocq, principal Agent of the French Police, until_
+1827, _and since, Proprietor of the Paper Manufactory at St. Maudé.
+Written by himself. Translated from the French._ London. 4 vols. 18mo:
+1829.
+
+
+"One half of the world does not know how the other half lives:"--so says
+the adage, and says truly. Men of reading, however, who direct their
+attention to biography, and especially to auto-biography, and who
+combine with their reading attention to the varied pursuits of mankind,
+may attain tolerably correct notions of the habits, modes of reasoning,
+and peculiarities of others, though living in evidently different
+stations, and engaged in occupations the most various. In this view, the
+volumes above announced are valuable. They furnish a remarkably clear
+insight of the ways and actings of professional thieves, and of the men
+with whom they often become connected,--police officers and jailers. But
+what assurance have we, it may be inquired, that they speak the truth?
+How can the evidence of such characters be received? These queries must
+be answered by considering several particulars. In the first place,
+then, the verity of a narrative may be partly established by its
+coherence and probability. When the events related have a manifest
+correspondence with each other, and are such as may be credited, we
+necessarily attach to them a degree of belief, which we cannot extend to
+those of an opposite character. The evidence from this source is,
+however, exceedingly imperfect, since many narratives, almost entirely
+fictitious, appear so natural, as to impose upon the reader with all the
+strength of unvarnished truth. Robinson Crusoe has deceived thousands,
+and Damberger's Travels in Africa were not suspected to be otherwise
+than true, for a considerable time after their publication; but they
+were at length proved to be a complete fabrication. Accordingly, in
+judging of doubtful works, we must resort to additional means; one of
+which is a comparison of works of a similar description with each other.
+
+When an account appears to be too wonderful for credence, we are, of
+course, disposed to rank the author with romance-writers; but when we
+find that divers accounts, equally extraordinary, are related by others
+as happening under similar circumstances, we then begin to suppose that
+we may have judged erroneously. Captain Riley's Narrative of his
+Captivity in Africa was rejected by many as half-fictitious: his
+sufferings were greater than human nature could bear, and the Arabs of
+the desert could never lead the life described. But since it has been
+found that the sufferings undergone by the crew of the French frigate,
+the Medusa, were no less horrible, and of the same kind, and that
+Clapperton and others who have subsequently crossed the Sahara,
+confirmed his statements respecting the Arabs,--he has been regarded
+very differently. And it may be supposed, that if Sir Walter Scott had
+known of the remarkable confirmation given by Benyouski, to Drury's
+account of Madagascar, he would not have expressed his doubts of the
+latter's veracity.[12] When writers, unacquainted with each other's
+productions, are found, by incidental allusions, to agree in minute
+particulars, the evidence is almost irrefutable. Paley has made an
+admirable use of this species of proof in his _Horæ Paulinæ_.
+
+Another mode of judging of an author's credibility is sometimes
+furnished, by learning whether any of his alleged facts have been
+contradicted by persons acquainted with them, especially if they are
+such as these persons would be glad to contradict. If a person is
+charged with being an accomplice in a crime, and he fails to rebut the
+accusation, we may infer that he is unable to do so. Or, if the narrator
+give place and date to certain memorable transactions, which, if false,
+might easily be shown to be so, a similar inference may be deduced, when
+it can be shown that others are interested in such exposure.
+
+Now, on bringing the works under notice to these different tests, we
+shall have tolerably strong presumptive evidence of their being, in the
+main, worthy of credence. Vaux's Memoirs contain nothing that may not be
+credited on the score of probability, while the circumstances detailed
+are remarkably coherent; they seem to arise naturally from each other.
+Vidocq's, on the contrary, contain so many marvellous escapes from
+prisons, so many perils from contests with ruffians and bravoes, and
+such varied turns of fortune, that the reader is necessitated to
+ask,--can this be true? Here, however, both Vaux and Ward offer him some
+assistance; the similarity of their accounts, though destitute of so
+many wonders, corroborating the probability of his. The three narratives
+are quite in keeping. We find in each the same restlessness, the same
+blind passion impelling to deeds of vice and desperation, and the same
+proofs of treachery amongst their companions. Each, too, has furnished
+so many means of detection, by names of persons, dates, and places,
+that,--no attempt at refutation having been made by persons
+implicated,--we are to believe that they must, at any rate, contain much
+that is true. Neither Ward's nor Vidocq's Memoirs are so connected as
+Vaux's; but in Ward's case, this may be attributed to a want of
+scholarship, as he is evidently an ignorant man; and in Vidocq's, to a
+fondness for the marvellous, in consequence of which he has introduced
+many episodes. These episodes, accordingly, detract from the merit of
+the work, considered as a veritable narrative, they being garnished with
+more of the romantic than the regular account of his own performances.
+
+After all, a degree of suspicion will attach to each of them, from the
+consideration that they are all avowed liars. If, indeed, there was
+proof, either external or internal, that they had become reformed
+characters, and, of course, abhorrers of deceit, we might value their
+self-condemnation as evidence of truth; for what man of moral feeling
+would proclaim that he had been an habitual liar, except conscious that
+the avowal was incumbent on him to substantiate the truth? This was done
+by Bunyan, the author of the Pilgrim's Progress, and by Cowper, the
+truly Christian poet:--they are respected accordingly. But in these
+narratives, except a little cant in Ward's, we find nothing approaching
+to a sense of shame or remorse. Vidocq, like Homer's Ulysses, has a lie
+ready for every occasion, and appears, like that hero, to regard himself
+as "the man for wisdom's various arts renowned." Vaux is almost equal to
+him in this respect, and exults in the success of his deceptions. If
+cunning were wisdom, Ulysses, Vidocq, and Vaux, would form a trio of
+eminently wise men. But this sort of wisdom, how much soever valued by
+pagans, must be regarded by Christians, enlightened by the Gospel, as
+utterly unjustifiable, even when employed as a means for the attainment
+of some good; since they are never to do evil that good may come.
+Accordingly, those persons who make lies their refuge, must be liable to
+be doubted, even when they speak the truth. Still, it is possible, that
+a man's conscience may be so obdurate, as not to perceive the pravity of
+mendacity, when exercised for his supposed benefit, while he yet retains
+a regard for truth when engaged in relating his exploits to others.
+This, we think, is partly the case with our heroes. Their acknowledgment
+of their disregard of truth, while prosecuting illegal measures, is,
+indeed,--so inconsistent is human nature,--some guarantee for the
+fidelity of their narratives. A solitary vice is a thing unknown; as
+Lillo expresses it, in his tragedy of George Barnwell,--"One vice as
+naturally begets another, as a father begets a son." Who, then, could
+believe a practised villain, if he professed himself untainted by
+mendacity? But if, after a plain avowal of his constant resort to it, we
+find nothing contradictory in his relation, we may reasonably yield a
+qualified assent to it; since, as Lord Bacon remarks in his Essays,
+which "come home to men's business and bosoms," a liar had need possess
+a good memory to prevent his contradicting himself. Where he is
+consistent throughout a long narrative, the natural deduction is, that
+he has mainly depended on his memory, rejecting, for the occasion, his
+temptation to beguile.[13]
+
+After these preliminary considerations, the relevancy of which is
+obvious, we proceed to furnish our readers with a few extracts; not
+doubting, that to such of them as lead domestic, retired lives, it will
+afford gratification to learn something of the ways of others, who are
+entirely opposite in their habits,--as opposite as the two electric
+poles, and, like them, "repelling and repelled." One of the most
+observable points in these volumes, is the contamination of jails. When
+men are thrown together in a place where reputation is valueless, they
+have no inducement to conceal their vices. What is the consequence? They
+delight in recounting to each other their nefarious exploits: thus
+conscience is more and more corrupted, and the young and inexperienced
+are initiated into the skilful manoeuvres of adepts. Whoever has read
+the _first_ edition of Ellwood's Life, (for the subsequent editions do
+not contain the passage,) may remember the amusing account he has given
+of the state of the common side of Newgate in the reign of Charles II.
+Ellwood was imprisoned in that persecuting reign, for adherence to his
+religious convictions as a Quaker, and had an opportunity of becoming
+acquainted with the ordinary behaviour and conversation of thieves in
+jail. He saw and lamented the evils incident to a promiscuous assemblage
+of old and young, of hardened villains and juvenile delinquents; but the
+remedy was reserved for the present age. That the remedy ought not to
+have been so long deferred, will be evident to every one who attends to
+Vaux's account of his first incarceration.
+
+     "On entering the gates of the gloomy receptacle to which I was
+     now consigned, and which, on many accounts, has not been
+     unaptly named the Bastile, the sensations I felt may be more
+     easily felt than described. Besides that this was the first
+     prison I had ever entered, every thing around me had an air of
+     unspeakable horror. After being viewed and reviewed by the
+     surly Cerberuses of this earthly Hell, I was conducted up some
+     stairs to a long gallery, or passage, six feet wide, having on
+     either side a number of dismal cells, each about six feet by
+     nine, formed entirely of stone, but having a small grated
+     window near the roof, at the further end, which admitted a
+     gloomy light, and overlooked a yard, in which other prisoners
+     were confined; there was also a similar grate over the door;
+     but, owing to their height, both these apertures were very
+     difficult of access. The cells on the other side the passage
+     were exactly similar, but overlooking another yard, and the
+     doors were immediately opposite to each other. The only
+     furniture of these dreary apartments was an iron bedstead, on
+     which were a bed, blanket, and rug, but all of the coarsest
+     kind. My conductor having given me a pitcher of water, without
+     vouchsafing a word, locked the door, and left me in utter
+     darkness.
+
+     "In order to amuse my mind during this solitary week, I climbed
+     up to the grated aperture over the door of my cell, and
+     listened to the conversation of the neighbouring prisoners;
+     and, from their discourse, I acquired a more extensive
+     knowledge of the various modes of fraud and robbery, which, I
+     now found, were reduced to a regular system, _than I should
+     have done in seven years, had I continued at large_. I was
+     indeed astonished at what I heard; and I clearly perceived
+     that, instead of expressing contrition for their offences,
+     their only consideration was, how to proceed with more safety,
+     but increased vigour, in their future depredations. And here I
+     was struck with the fallacious notions entertained by the
+     projectors of this prison, which was reputed to be upon the
+     plan of the benevolent and immortal Howard, who had recommended
+     the confinement of offenders in separate cells, in order to
+     prevent the effects of evil communication among persons who had
+     not all attained an equal degree of depravity. This object,
+     however, was not effected here; for, being within hearing of
+     each other, they could, by sitting up over the door as I have
+     described, converse each with his opposite neighbour, and even
+     form a line of communication, where the discourse became
+     general, from one end of the gallery to the other. As a proof
+     of what I have advanced, I knew several of the prisoners, then
+     confined with me in this passage, who were at that time but
+     striplings, and novices in villainy, and who, after several
+     years continuance in their evil courses, at length became
+     notorious offenders, and, having narrowly escaped a shameful
+     death, are now prisoners for life in this colony."
+
+As this subject is of great importance, we shall give a few more
+extracts connected with it. Crime, as Mr. Buxton has shown in his
+valuable Inquiry, is promoted, instead of being repressed, by such
+indiscriminate association. Corruption spreads by it, as surely as
+decomposition is assisted by heat and moisture. Ward thus describes the
+Baltimore jail:--
+
+     "About this time, I was ordered by the sheriff to be put into
+     the criminal apartment, along with untried prisoners, hardened
+     offenders, debtors, and among characters of the most abandoned
+     and vicious stamp;--men of all nations and all colours. Among
+     this mass of vile and depraved men, I had to take up my abode.
+     There was no example of moral rectitude here exhibited _but
+     that of my own_! No restraint was put by our keepers, on their
+     profane and vile language and conduct. Every one indulged to an
+     excess in every species of the most disgusting practices,
+     profaning and scandalizing every thing holy."
+
+Vidocq's description of the Bagne at Brest, corresponds with the
+above:--
+
+     "The Bagne is situated in the bosom of the bay; piles of guns,
+     and two pieces of cannon, mounted at the gates, pointed out to
+     me the entrance, into which I was introduced, after having been
+     examined by the two guards of the establishment. The boldest of
+     the condemned, however hardened, have confessed, that it is
+     impossible to express the emotions of horror, excited by the
+     first appearance of this abode of wretchedness. Every room
+     contains twenty night camp couches, called bancs (benches,) on
+     which lie six hundred fettered convicts, in long rows, with
+     red garbs, heads shorn, eyes haggard, dejected countenances,
+     whilst the perpetual clank of fetters conspires to fill the
+     soul with horror. But this impression on the convict soon
+     passes away, who, feeling that he has here no reason to blush
+     at the presence of any one, soon identifies himself with his
+     situation. That he may not be the butt of the gross jests and
+     filthy buffoonery of his fellows, he affects to participate in
+     them; and soon, in tone and gesture, this conventional
+     depravity gets hold of his heart. Thus, at Anvers, an ex-bishop
+     experienced, at first, all the outpourings of the riotous jests
+     of his companions; they always addressed him as _monseigneur_,
+     and asked his blessing in their obscenities; at every moment
+     they constrained him to profane his former character by
+     blasphemous words, and, by dint of reiterating these impieties,
+     he contrived to shake off their attacks. At a subsequent
+     period, he became the public-house keeper at the Bagne, and was
+     always styled _monseigneur,_ but he was no longer asked for
+     absolution, for he would have answered with the grossest
+     blasphemies."
+
+To complete the picture, we shall now transcribe Vaux's account of his
+being on board a prison-ship, with what he witnessed there.--
+
+     "I had now a new scene of misery to contemplate; and, of all
+     the shocking scenes I had ever beheld, this was the most
+     distressing. There were confined in this floating dungeon,
+     nearly six hundred men, most of them double ironed; and the
+     reader may conceive the horrible effects arising from the
+     continual rattling of chains, the filth and vermin naturally
+     produced by such a crowd of miserable inhabitants, the oaths
+     and execrations constantly heard amongst them; and above all,
+     from the shocking necessity of associating and communicating
+     more or less with so depraved a set of beings. On arriving on
+     board, we were all immediately stripped, and washed in large
+     tubs of water; then, after putting on each a suit of coarse
+     slop-clothing, we were ironed and sent below; our own clothes
+     being taken from us, and detained, till we could sell, or
+     otherwise dispose of them, as no person is exempted from the
+     obligation to wear the ship-dress. On descending the hatchway,
+     no conception can be formed of the scene which presented
+     itself. I shall not attempt to describe it; but nothing short
+     of a descent to the infernal regions, can be at all worthy of a
+     comparison with it. I soon met with many of my old Botany Bay
+     acquaintances, who were all eager to offer me their friendship
+     and services; that is, with a view to rob me of what little I
+     had; for, in this place, there is no other motive or subject
+     for ingenuity. All former friendships and connexions are
+     dissolved; and a man here will rob his best benefactor, or even
+     messmate, of an article worth one half-penny. If I were to
+     attempt a full description of the miseries endured in these
+     ships, I could fill a volume; but I shall sum up all by
+     stating, that, besides robbery from each other, which is as
+     common as cursing and swearing, I witnessed, among the
+     prisoners themselves, during the twelvemonth I remained with
+     them, one deliberate murder, for which the perpetrator was
+     executed at Maidstone, and one suicide."
+
+These horrible accounts must, we suppose, convince every one of the
+necessity of keeping criminals separate from each other. In vain do you
+hope by classification, labour, discipline, and moral instruction, to
+reclaim men from their vices in prison, so long as you allow them to
+associate freely together. No compromise will do, short of preventing
+their conversing with each other. Whether solitary confinement, as
+practised in Pennsylvania, or public labour in silence, as in New-York,
+be the better mode of punishment, may admit of argument; but that either
+is incomparably superior to promiscuous intercourse, is unquestionable.
+And we do conjure magistrates and legislators in every part of the
+United States, to rouse themselves from apathy on this momentous
+subject. It is due to their country and to posterity, to strive to
+remove an evil, which, like the Upas, extends its pestiferous influence
+in every direction. Let them reflect that the object of punishing
+criminals is to protect society. This object may be promoted by the
+reformation of the transgressor; but if he is placed in a situation
+where contagion is inevitable, the punishment, however severe, is not
+conducive to that result. A severe punishment may, indeed, be
+influential in deterring others from pursuing similar courses; but if
+he, on obtaining his release, instead of being disposed to conform to
+regularity of conduct, is only determined to practise more skilfully the
+very crime that was the cause of his commitment; or if, from his moral
+sense being deadened, in consequence of having heard others boast of
+their villainous exploits, he is ready to engage in new and more
+desperate attempts, the influence which his punishment may have had on
+others, is in danger of being overbalanced. What, in such a case, does
+society gain by the severity of the law? Is it not clear, that all the
+expense, trouble, and loss of time attendant on the prosecution, are
+almost fruitlessly bestowed? And here, it is impossible not to lament
+the accumulated evils arising from the slow operation of law. A man is
+charged, perhaps innocently, with petty larceny. The tribunal before
+which he is to be arraigned is not in session; accordingly, unable to
+procure bail, he is committed to jail, there to lie for three, or
+perhaps six months, and all the time uncertain whether he is to be
+acquitted or condemned. In the mean time, his character has deteriorated
+while his enjoyment has been abridged. Can such a method be consistent
+with civilization? Would it not be preferable, at the hazard of some
+injustice, to revert to the summary process of barbarism? Can it be
+right, that a magistrate shall be empowered to incarcerate a man for
+months, while he is debarred from pronouncing definitively on his guilt
+or innocence? There is an incongruity in all this, of which savages
+might be ashamed. We trust that the time is approaching when a better
+system will be established. Consolatory is it to consider, that in
+various countries of Europe, as well as in America, the subject of
+prison discipline, and of criminal jurisprudence, occupies the attention
+of philanthropists and statesmen to a degree never before witnessed, as
+from their simultaneous exertions much good may be anticipated. One of
+the causes assigned by Dr. Robertson and other historians, for the
+resuscitation of Europe from the intellectual degradation of the middle
+ages, is the discovery at Amalfi, in the twelfth century, of the
+Pandects of Justinian. Would it not then be irrational to conclude, that
+the improvements now taking place in law, will not be followed by a
+correspondent amelioration in society, since it is obvious that a much
+higher degree of civilization is attainable by man, than any country has
+yet exhibited?
+
+To those who wish for information on the subject of prison discipline,
+we recommend a perusal of the correspondence between Mr. R. Vaux of
+Philadelphia, and Mr. Roscoe of Liverpool; also of the account of the
+Auburn prison contained in Captain Hall's travels in the United States.
+In reference to the latter work, it gives us satisfaction to say, that
+the chapter referred to is unexceptionable. We wish we could say as much
+for the rest.
+
+We now proceed to furnish some specimens of the modes of life which
+thieves and swindlers fall into, that our _honest_ readers may have an
+opportunity of contrasting them with their own. In so doing, they will
+doubtless congratulate themselves on the possession of moral principle,
+satisfied that predatory propensities would have disturbed that calm
+which belongs only to virtue. The following is Ward's account of his
+first act of dishonesty.--
+
+     "Finding it impossible, as I thought, to withstand the
+     impetuosity of my inclinations and desires for freedom and
+     pleasure, I resolved, even against my better judgment, to leave
+     Mr. Pusey and seek my fortune. My hopes were raised to the
+     highest and most pleasing prospects of independence, ease, and
+     affluence; and having in my earliest life cultivated the
+     principle, that in all cases which require secrecy, we should
+     never divulge to a friend what we wish to conceal from an
+     enemy, I concealed my intentions from every body, determining
+     to embrace the first opportunity favourable for prosecuting my
+     first, long-cogitated, and, as I thought, exceedingly cunning
+     plan. Accordingly, during the autumn of 1806, on a Sabbath
+     afternoon, I determined to execute my scheme. Near home, there
+     was a store kept by Mr. Kinsey, in copartnership with Mr.
+     Pusey. I was on terms of the greatest harmony and friendship
+     with Mr. Kinsey; and, taking advantage of this confidence, I
+     had ascertained where his cash was kept. I entered the store,
+     and found no difficulty in obtaining every cent. All the family
+     being from home, I concluded to let the house take care of
+     itself, as, having done thus much, I must inevitably make my
+     departure. Having saddled Mr. Pusey's best horse, I mounted,
+     and, with saddle-bags and clothing, started from the house.
+     Being certain I should be pursued as soon as the robbery was
+     discovered, I thought it would be proper to take a course, on
+     which I could most advantageously travel by night as well as by
+     day. I accordingly took my way towards Lancaster; but about
+     four miles from home, I was seen by some person who knew me.
+     Now I was likely to be defeated in all my calculations. At
+     dark, I arrived at Witmer's Bridge, within two miles of
+     Lancaster, having ridden sixteen miles in two hours. I stopt
+     there only a few minutes to water and feed my horse, and,
+     remounting, I rode to near daylight next morning, when I
+     arrived at Anderson's Ferry on the Susquehanna. There I was
+     detained some time by the negligence of the boatmen; and I had
+     not proceeded more than half way across the river, when I heard
+     the horn blow as a signal for them to hurry back. Although I
+     trembled at the dread sound and alarm of the approach of my
+     pursuers, I vainly hoped it was impossible for them to be so
+     close after me. However, I determined now that I would give
+     them every trouble, let them take me or not. I did not stop for
+     breakfast, and as I had ridden the whole night, my horse became
+     fatigued and slow, so that about noon I was overtaken by
+     another horseman, whom I found to be my own cousin. He desired
+     me to stop immediately and return, he himself having been
+     suspected of the very act I had committed. As my horse was
+     tired down, I sprang with all my might, to secure myself by
+     taking to the woods. Here again my hopes were frustrated; for
+     my foot caught in the stirrup, and I was forced to yield to
+     superior strength. On our way back, he explained the cause of
+     his overtaking me. Having ridden his horse down, he had hired
+     fresh ones at regular distances. This mode of pursuit I had not
+     thought of; but, alas! I was told of it now, when it was too
+     late! Every measure that I had thought most fitly adapted for
+     my clearance, seemed now only to aggravate my folly. Shame for
+     my guilt filled my mind with the keenest remorse.
+
+     Mr. Pusey sent for a constable, and informed me I must go to
+     jail. Attended by the constable, and another as an assistant, I
+     started with a heavy heart. We travelled on foot, and very
+     slowly, so that when night came on, we had eight or nine miles
+     yet to go. The constable being negligent, permitted me at times
+     to be twenty or thirty yards from him; and of these
+     opportunities I designed to avail myself. Accordingly, on
+     reaching a place where the road made a short turn, I dashed
+     from them into the bushes, where I hid myself. After they had
+     passed me unnoticed, I cut a large club, and travelled my own
+     way a short distance, when I met a man who eyed me in a
+     scrutinizing manner. I immediately asked him, whether he had
+     seen a fellow running that way from the constables who were
+     taking him to jail? He answered that he had, and that he
+     believed I was the very fellow! 'Well,' said I, 'if you think
+     so, you are welcome to take me.' But fearing my large club, he
+     left me to pursue my journey. Travelling a little distance, I
+     came to a tavern, and looking through the window, saw the
+     constable and his assistant eating their supper. Their horses
+     resting under a shed, I was about to take one; but seeing a
+     barn at a short distance from me, I abandoned my intention. I
+     went into it, and retired to rest for the night. I arose next
+     morning after a refreshing sleep, and pursued my journey to my
+     father's, and arrived at Strasburgh about breakfast time. On
+     entering the tavern, I saw an elderly lady who had lived with
+     Mr. Pusey. She asked me how I was, and where I was going? I
+     told her to visit my parents. She answered, that she really
+     believed I was running away! Apprehensive of danger, I resumed
+     my journey towards my father's, and on the road I met him. From
+     my relation of the affair, he gave it as his opinion that it
+     would be imprudent in me to return again; for he had not the
+     least doubt that I should be arrested, and dealt with according
+     to my offence; so, after remaining at his house a short time, I
+     bent my course to Reading. I confidently believe, to this very
+     day, that if I had not escaped punishment for this crime, I
+     never should have committed another in my whole life."
+
+Another of his escapes we shall here insert, premising that he had been
+apprehended for stealing a horse.
+
+     "He brought with him a blacksmith, who had a load of chains
+     upon his shoulder. The smith put a collar round my neck, and
+     shackles on my ankles. Between these was a small chain for the
+     purpose of making me fast to any thing by a padlock. Mounted on
+     horseback, this chain was passed to the one attached to my
+     collar, and there locked; besides this I was hand-cuffed. Thus
+     equipped, we repaired towards Georgia, through a country mostly
+     inhabited by Indians. On arriving within two days' journey of
+     home, we took lodging at a public house, the first we had seen.
+     Dismounting, my chain was in part wrapped round one of my legs,
+     and the others around my neck. In this situation we took supper
+     with the family, and sat a considerable time after the table
+     was removed. As it was determined we should remain here for the
+     night, which was dark and rainy, I had hopes that I could some
+     way or other make my escape. Having called to a servant to
+     bring me a basin of water to wash my feet, I took care to wind
+     the chain closely around my leg. I then asked her to open the
+     front door for me, as though I intended only to throw out the
+     dirty water; this I did, and finding there were no fears of my
+     going out, I walked a few times across the floor. This gave me
+     a chance to put on my hat unnoticed, when, taking the advantage
+     of a minute, I dashed out and jumped the yard fence; but in so
+     doing, I lost my hat. Having no time to lose, I made a straight
+     course from the house. I soon heard them all in confusion, and
+     saw some of them out of doors with a light. The landlord having
+     a large dog, they brought him in pursuit of me. He took my
+     track, and had nigh taken me when I just reached a creek, into
+     the waters of which I waded some distance, turning with the
+     stream from the place I entered at. Here I stood, leg deep, for
+     some time, hearing all their conclusions respecting me.
+     Thinking I had crossed there, they gave me up, and returned to
+     the house again. I immediately made my retreat from a place
+     surrounding and threatening me with so many dangers. After
+     running and walking about four miles, fatigued and lost, I lay
+     down and slept till morning. I then steered my course across
+     the country, avoiding houses and settlements, hoping to see
+     some slaves in the fields to help me to take off my irons, but
+     could see none. Near noon, I came in sight of an old house
+     which I discovered was inhabited. I approached it at the side
+     where there was no window. I went to a wagon, and taking from
+     it an iron bolt and a linchpin, I made to the woods, where,
+     with much difficulty, I succeeded in extricating myself from my
+     collar and chains. I placed them in a pile at the root of a
+     large tree, near which I lay down and slept till evening, being
+     afraid to travel in the day-time. At dark I arose, and made my
+     way towards South Carolina, walking the whole night, and by
+     morning was thirty miles from where I started. My greatest
+     difficulty was having no hat. Coming, however, to a river, I
+     saw a bridge that crossed it a little below me. I went on it,
+     and stood leaning over its wall, till I saw a traveller coming
+     the other way. As soon as he approached me, I told him, with
+     much concern, that I had met with bad luck; for I had just been
+     looking over the wall when my hat fell off, and went rapidly
+     down the stream, the sides of which were so dangerous I could
+     not possibly get it again:--would he be so kind as to tell me
+     where I could buy another? He told me he would conduct me to a
+     store; I went with him and purchased one."
+
+The life of a thief is one of perpetual anxiety, yet with many it
+becomes a sort of passion. The earnings of honest industry, even when
+sufficient to keep them in comfort, are not sufficient to keep them
+satisfied. The recollection of dangers escaped, the chance of similar
+fortune again, the prurience of activity,--all urge to a renewal of
+their lawless pursuits; and as a thoroughbred sportsman despises the
+practice of catching game by snares, deeming it unworthy of a skilful
+marksman, so, we suspect, do thieves regard the reward of industry, when
+compared with the booty of a dangerous encounter. In Vaux's Memoirs we
+find much to lead us to this conclusion. Several times was he well
+settled in the way of obtaining, not only an honest livelihood, but of
+participating in elegancies, luxuries, and agreeable society. Still, as
+if impelled by destiny, he continually risked the loss of all, to
+gratify his bad propensity. Ward, on the contrary, had been perpetually
+unfortunate in realizing his visionary hopes; he was entreated by his
+wife to forsake his evil courses; but it was all in vain. "Resorting
+occasionally," he says, "to the company of some adepts in crime, _it
+seemed to afford me pleasure_." And in the narratives of the other two,
+we find evident delight manifested at the success of a hazardous,
+fraudulent undertaking, while the guilt of the action, and the pain and
+misery it may have occasioned, are overlooked or lightly regarded, just
+as a military hero, exulting in a victory, laments the loss of neither
+friends nor foes. Human happiness, in truth, is connected in the minds
+of different persons with the most opposite deeds and qualities.
+Diogenes in his tub, and Alexander at the head of an army, was each
+pursuing his gratification; and who shall decide which was the more
+successful? Hume, in one of his Essays, remarks, that there is no
+question that a boarding-school miss has often experienced as exquisite
+delight on finding herself the idol of a ball-room, as an orator when
+receiving the rapturous applauses of a delighted audience; and Colley
+Gibber says, that on hearing an old actor express admiration at one of
+his early performances on the stage, he felt so proud of the
+commendation, that he doubted whether "Alexander himself, or Charles
+XII., when at the head of their first victorious armies, could feel a
+greater transport in their bosoms." After reading this, some may perhaps
+think that Pope's epigram on Cibber[14] was not unmerited; but when they
+consider that thieves feel a similar exultation, they may rather be
+inclined to pity poor human nature. In exemplification of what we have
+advanced, we request attention to the following extract from Vaux. Some
+of his acquaintances in Newgate had informed him that Mr. Bilger, a
+jeweller and goldsmith, was a _good flat_.
+
+     "About 5 o'clock in the evening, I entered his shop, dressed in
+     the most elegant style, having a valuable gold watch and
+     appendages, a gold eye-glass, &c. I had posted my old friend
+     and aid-de-camp, Bromley, at the door, in order to be in
+     readiness to act as circumstances might require, and
+     particularly to watch the motions of Mr. Bilger and his
+     assistants on my quitting the premises. On my entrance, Mrs.
+     Bilger issued from a back parlour behind the shop, and politely
+     inquiring my business, I told her I wished to see Mr. Bilger;
+     she immediately rang a bell, which brought down her husband
+     from the upper apartments. He saluted me with a low bow, and
+     handed me a seat. I was glad to find no other person in the
+     shop, Mrs. Bilger having again retired. I now assumed the air
+     of a Bond-street lounger, and informed Mr. Bilger, that I had
+     been recommended by a gentleman of my acquaintance to deal with
+     him, having occasion for a very elegant diamond ring, and
+     requested to see his assortment. Mr. Bilger expressed his
+     concern that he happened not to have a single article of that
+     description by him, but if I could without inconvenience call
+     again, he would undertake in one hour to procure me a selection
+     from his working-jeweller, to whom he would immediately
+     despatch a messenger. I affected to feel somewhat disappointed;
+     but, looking at my watch, after a moment's reflection, I said,
+     'Well, Mr. Bilger, I have an appointment at the Cannon
+     coffee-house, which requires my attendance, and if you will,
+     without fail, have the articles ready, I may probably look in a
+     little after six.' This he promised faithfully to do, declaring
+     how much he felt obliged by my condescension; and I sauntered
+     out of the shop, Mr. Bilger attending me in the most obsequious
+     manner to the outer door. After walking a short distance,
+     Bromley tapped me on the shoulder, and inquired what conduct I
+     meant next to pursue; for he had viewed my proceedings through
+     a glass-door in the shop, and saw that I had not executed my
+     grand design. I related to Bromley the result of my
+     conversation with Mr. Bilger, and added that I meant to retire
+     to the nearest public-house, where we could enjoy a pipe and a
+     glass of negus, until the expiration of the hour to which I had
+     limited myself. We accordingly regaled ourselves at a very snug
+     house, nearly opposite Bilger's, until about half after six,
+     when I again repaired to the scene of action, leaving Bromley,
+     as at first, posted at the door. Mr. Bilger received me with
+     increased respect, and producing a small card box, expressed
+     his sorrow that his workman had only been enabled to send three
+     rings for my inspection, but that if they were not to my taste,
+     he should feel honoured and obliged in taking my directions for
+     having one made, and flattered himself he should execute the
+     order to my satisfaction. I proceeded to examine the rings he
+     produced, one of which was marked sixteen guineas, another nine
+     guineas, and the third six guineas. They were all extremely
+     beautiful; but I affected to consider them as too paltry,
+     telling Mr. Bilger that I wanted one to present to a lady, and
+     that I wished to have a ring of greater value than the whole
+     three put together, as a few guineas would not be an object in
+     the price. Mr. Bilger's son, who was also his partner, now
+     joined us, and was desired by his father to sketch a draught in
+     pencil of some fancy rings, agreeable to the directions I
+     should give him. The three rings I had viewed, were now removed
+     to the end of the counter next the window, and I informed the
+     young man that I wished to have something of a cluster, a large
+     brilliant in the centre, surrounded with smaller ones; but
+     repeated my desire that no expense might be spared to render
+     the article strictly elegant, and worthy a lady's acceptance.
+     The son having sketched a design of several rings on a card, I
+     examined them with attention, and appeared in doubt which to
+     prefer, but desired to see some loose diamonds, in order to
+     form a better idea of the size, &c. of each ring described in
+     the drawing. Mr. Bilger, however, declared he had not any by
+     him. It is probable he spoke truth, or he might have lost such
+     numbers by showing them, as to deter him from exhibiting them
+     in future. Without having made up my mind on the subject, I now
+     requested to see some of his most fashionable brooches, or
+     shirt-pins. Mr. Bilger produced a show-glass, containing a
+     great variety of articles in pearl, but he had nothing of the
+     kind in diamonds. I took up two or three of the brooches, and
+     immediately _sunk_ a very handsome one, marked three guineas,
+     in my coat sleeve. I next purloined a beautiful clasp for a
+     lady's waist, consisting of stones set in gold, which had the
+     appearance and brilliancy of real diamonds, but marked only
+     four guineas. I should probably have gone still deeper, but at
+     this moment a lady coming in, desired to look at some
+     ear-rings, and the younger Mr. Bilger immediately quitted his
+     father to attend upon her at the other end of the shop. It
+     struck me that now was my time for a decisive stroke. The card
+     containing the diamond rings, procured from the maker, lying
+     very near the show-glass I was viewing, and many small articles
+     irregularly placed round about them, the candles not throwing
+     much light on that particular spot, and Mr. Bilger's attention
+     being divided between myself and the lady, to whom he
+     frequently addressed himself, I suddenly took the three rings
+     from the card, and committed them to my sleeve, to join the
+     brooch and lady's clasp; but had them so situated, that I
+     could, in a moment, have released and replaced them on the
+     counter, had an inquiry been made for them. I then looked at my
+     watch, and observing that I was going to the theatre, told Mr.
+     Bilger that I would not trouble him any further, as the
+     articles before me were too tawdry and common to please me, but
+     that I would put the card of draughts in my pocket-book, and if
+     I did not meet with a ring of the kind I wanted, before Monday
+     or Tuesday, I would certainly call again, and give him final
+     directions. I was then drawing on my gloves, being anxious to
+     quit the shop while I was well; but Mr. Bilger, who seemed
+     delighted with the prospect of my custom, begged so earnestly
+     that I would allow him to show me his brilliant assortment of
+     gold watches, that I could not refuse to gratify him, though I
+     certainly incurred a great risk by my compliance. I therefore
+     answered,--'Really, Mr. Bilger, I am loath to give you that
+     unnecessary trouble, as I have, you may perceive, a very good
+     watch already, in point of performance; though it cost me a
+     mere trifle, only twenty guineas; but it answers my purpose as
+     well as a more valuable one. However, as I may probably, before
+     long, want an elegant watch for a lady, I dont care if I just
+     run my eye over them.' Mr. Bilger replied, that the greater
+     part of his stock were fancy watches, adapted for ladies, and
+     he defied all London united, to exhibit a finer collection. He
+     then took from his window a show-glass, containing about thirty
+     most beautiful watches, some ornamented with pearls or
+     diamonds, others elegantly enamelled, or chased in the most
+     delicate style. They were of various prices, from thirty to one
+     hundred guineas, and the old gentleman, rubbing his hands with
+     an air of rapture, exclaimed,--'There they are, sir,--a most
+     fashionable assortment of goods; allow me to recommend them;
+     they're all a-going, sir--all a-going.' I smiled inwardly at
+     the latter part of this speech, and thought to myself,--'I wish
+     they were going, with all my heart, along with the diamond
+     rings.' I answered, they were certainly very handsome, but I
+     would defer a minute inspection of them till my next visit,
+     when I should have more time to spare. These watches were
+     ranged in exact order, in five parallel lines, and between each
+     watch was placed a gold seal or other trinket appertaining to a
+     lady's watch. It was no easy matter, therefore, to take away a
+     single article without its being instantly missed, unless the
+     economy of the whole had been previously deranged. I contrived,
+     however, to displace a few of the trinkets, on pretence of
+     admiring them, and ventured to secrete one very rich gold seal,
+     marked six guineas. I then declared I could stay no longer, as
+     I had appointed to meet a party at the theatre; but that I
+     would certainly call again in a few days, and lay out some
+     money in return for the trouble I had given. Mr. Bilger
+     expressed his thanks in the most respectful terms, and waited
+     upon me to the door, where he took leave of me with a low
+     _congé, à la mode de France_, of which country he was a native.
+     I now put the best foot foremost, and having gained a remote
+     street, turned my head, and perceived Bromley at my heels, who
+     seized my hand, congratulating me on my success, and
+     complimenting me on the address I had shown in this exploit;
+     for he had witnessed all that passed, and knew that I had
+     succeeded in my object, by the manner in which I quitted the
+     shop. He informed me that Mr. Bilger had returned to his
+     counter, and without attending to the arrangement of the
+     articles thereon, had joined his son, who was still waiting
+     upon the lady, and that he, Bromley, had finally left them both
+     engaged with her."
+
+Who can fail to perceive, in the above narrative, the satisfaction of
+the author in displaying his adroitness? His vanity seems to be as much
+gratified, as if he had been relating some performance meriting
+approbation. The feeling of shame is altogether alien to him. And thus,
+by Vidocq's account, it always is with thieves, they glorying as much in
+detailing their successful exploits, as if no ignominy could attach to
+them. Amongst his confederates too, and all of the same class, his
+reputation is proportionate to his daring and skill. Of this, take the
+following instance related by Vidocq.--
+
+     "The incredible effrontery of Beaumont, almost surpasses
+     belief. Escaped from the Bagne at Rochefort, where he was
+     sentenced to pass twelve years of his life, he came to Paris,
+     and scarcely had he arrived there, where he had already
+     practised, when, by way of getting his hand in, he committed
+     several trifling robberies, and when, by these preliminary
+     steps, he had proceeded to exploits more worthy of his ancient
+     renown, he conceived the project of stealing a treasure. No
+     one will imagine that this was in the Central Office, now the
+     Prefecture of Police!! It was already pretty difficult to
+     procure impressions of the keys, but he achieved the first
+     difficulty, and soon had in his possession all the means of
+     effecting an opening; but to open was nothing; it was necessary
+     to open without being perceived, to introduce himself without
+     fear of being disturbed, to work without witnesses, and go out
+     again freely. Beaumont, who had calculated all the difficulties
+     that opposed him, was not dismayed. He had remarked that the
+     private room of the chief officer, M. Henry, was nigh to the
+     spot where he proposed to effect his entrance; he espied the
+     propitious moment, and wished sincerely that some circumstance
+     would call away so dangerous a neighbour for some time, and
+     chance was subservient to his wishes. One morning, M. Henry was
+     obliged to go out. Beaumont, sure that he would not return that
+     day, ran to his house, put on a black coat, and in that
+     costume, which, in those days, always announced a magistrate,
+     or public functionary, presents himself at the entrance of the
+     Central Office. The officer to whom he addressed himself,
+     supposed of course that he was at least a commissary. On the
+     invitation of Beaumont, he gave him a soldier, whom he placed
+     as sentinel at the entrance to the narrow passage which leads
+     to the depôt, and commanded not to allow any person to pass. No
+     better expedient could be found for preventing surprise. Thus
+     Beaumont, in the midst of a crowd of valuable objects, could,
+     at his leisure, and in perfect security, choose what best
+     pleased him; watches, jewels, diamonds, precious stones, &c. He
+     chose those which he deemed most valuable, most portable, and
+     as soon as he had made his selection, he dismissed the sentinel
+     and disappeared.
+
+     "This robbery could not be long concealed, and the following
+     day was discovered. Had thunder fallen on the police, they
+     would have been less astonished than at this event. To
+     penetrate to the very sanctuary! The holy of holies! The fact
+     appeared so very extraordinary, that it was doubted. Yet it was
+     evident that a robbery had taken place, and to whom was it to
+     be attributed? All the suspicions fell on the clerks, sometimes
+     on one, sometimes on another, when Beaumont, betrayed by a
+     friend, was apprehended, and sentenced a second time. The
+     robbery he had committed might be estimated at some hundred
+     thousand francs, the greater part of which were found on him.
+
+     "Beaumont enjoyed amongst his confraternity a colossal
+     reputation; and even now, when a rogue boasts of his lofty
+     exploits,--'Hold your tongue,' they say, 'you are not worthy to
+     untie the shoe-strings of Beaumont!' In effect, to have robbed
+     the police was the height of address."
+
+We now proceed to make the reader acquainted with the habits and
+exertions of police-officers, who perform exploits equal in craft and
+danger to those of thieves. In order to detect the latter, they often
+resort to the vilest places, and associate with the vilest of mankind;
+assume various characters and occupations; and sometimes,
+perhaps,--stimulated by the hope of reward,--lead others to commit
+crimes in order to entrap them. Vidocq, however, professes in every case
+to have acted without any desire to entice. He says that he himself
+never proposed any scheme of robbery; but took care to concur in such as
+were proposed by others. This declaration must, we suppose, be received
+with some qualification, as without an occasional suggestion, he would
+probably have been suspected in his designs. Be that as it may, he was
+eminently successful in securing villains; for having practised villainy
+himself, he knew their ways and devices, thus verifying the propriety of
+the maxim,--"Set a thief to catch a thief." Some of the convicts at
+Botany Bay make the best police-officers. Of this we have an instance
+in Barrington, the famous London pick-pocket, who rendered such
+essential services to the colony, that in his old age he was pensioned
+by the government. By what means Vidocq, after all his devotion, came to
+lose his office, he has not mentioned; an omission rather singular,
+which lays his character open to suspicion, especially as he has given
+the circumstances that first led him to offer himself to the police.
+These circumstances it may be proper to glance at, as they exhibit a
+view of the dangers attendant on a lawless course of life.
+
+     "At this period, it seemed as if the whole world was leagued
+     against me; I was compelled to draw my purse-strings at every
+     moment, and for whom? For creatures who, looking on my
+     liberality as compulsory, were prepared to betray me as soon as
+     I ceased to be a certain source of reliance. When I went home
+     from my wife's, I had still another proof of the wretchedness
+     affixed to the state of a fugitive galley-slave. Annette and my
+     mother were in tears. During my absence, two drunken men had
+     asked for me, and on being told that I was from home, they had
+     broke forth in oaths and threats, which left me no longer in
+     doubt of the perfidy of their intentions. By the description
+     which Annette gave me of these two individuals, I easily
+     recognised Blondy, and his comrade, Deluc. I had no trouble in
+     guessing their names; and besides, they had left an address,
+     with a formal injunction to send them forty francs, which was
+     more than enough to disclose to me who they were, as there were
+     not in Paris any other persons who could send me such an
+     intimation. I was obedient, very obedient; only in paying my
+     contribution to these two scoundrels, I could not help letting
+     them know how inconsiderately they had behaved. 'Consider what
+     a step you have taken,' said I to them; 'they know nothing at
+     my house, and you have told them all. My wife, who carries on
+     the concern in her name, will perhaps turn me out, and then I
+     must be reduced to the lowest ebb of misery.'--'Oh! you can
+     come and rob with us,' answered the two rascals. I endeavoured
+     to convince them, how much better it was to owe an existence to
+     honest toil, than to be in incessant fears from the police,
+     which, sooner or later, catches all malefactors in its nets. I
+     added, that one crime generally leads to another; that he would
+     risk his neck who ran straight towards the guillotine; and the
+     termination of my discourse was, that they would do well to
+     renounce the dangerous career on which they had entered. 'Not
+     so bad!' cried Blondy, when I had finished my lecture, 'not so
+     bad.' 'But can you, in the mean time, point out to us any
+     apartment that we can ransack? We are, you see, like Harlequin,
+     and have more need of cash than advice;' and they left me,
+     laughing deridingly at me. I called them back, to profess my
+     attachment to them, and begged them not to call again at my
+     house. 'If that is all,' said Deluc, 'we will keep from
+     that.'--'Oh yes, we'll keep away,' added Blondy, 'since that is
+     unpleasant to your mistress.' But the latter did not stay away
+     long: the very next day, at night-fall, he presented himself at
+     my ware-house, and asked to speak to me privately. I took him
+     into my own room. 'We are alone?' said he to me, looking round
+     at the room in which we were; and when he was assured that he
+     had no witnesses, he drew from his pocket eleven silver forks,
+     and two gold watches, which he placed on a stand. 'Four hundred
+     francs for this would not be too much--the silver plate and the
+     gold watches.--Come, tip us the needful.'--'Four hundred
+     francs!' said I, alarmed at so abrupt a total,--'I have not so
+     much money.'--'Never mind; go and sell the goods.'--'But if it
+     should be known!'--'That's your affair; I want the ready; or if
+     you like it better, I'll send you customers from the
+     police-office;--you know what a word would do;--come,
+     come,--the cash, the chink, and no gammon.' I understood the
+     scoundrel but too well: I saw myself denounced, dragged from
+     the state in which I had installed myself, and led back to the
+     Bagne. I counted out the four hundred francs."
+
+Considering the danger in which Vidocq was placed, his offer to serve
+the police was judicious. What could be more trying than to lie at the
+mercy of rascals? Obliged to be continually supplying them with
+hush-money, and yet always afraid of being betrayed by them, he was in
+perpetual torment; but, his services once accepted by the police, all
+this was at an end. He must have felt himself like a man escaped from a
+wreck, and from the horrors of contending elements; like Ulysses, to
+whom we have before compared him, when, having accepted the mantle
+offered him by Leucothea, he reached the friendly shore of Pheacia. Like
+him, too, his toils were to be renewed. He had enemies to cope with and
+subdue, and who required to be encountered with as much subtlety and
+resolution as Penelope's suitors. The following is his account of his
+first capture.--
+
+     "One morning I was hastily summoned to attend the chief of the
+     division. The matter in hand was to discover a man named
+     Watrin, accused of having fabricated and put in circulation
+     false money and bank-notes. The inspectors of the police had
+     already arrested Watrin, but, according to custom, had allowed
+     him to escape. M. Henry gave me every direction which he deemed
+     likely to assist me in the search after him; but,
+     unfortunately, he had only gleaned a few simple particulars of
+     his usual habits and customary haunts. Every place he was known
+     to frequent was freely pointed out to me; but it was not very
+     likely he would be found in those resorts, which prudence would
+     call upon him carefully to avoid: there remained, therefore,
+     only a chance of reaching him by some bye-path. When I learnt
+     that he had left his effects in a furnished house, where he
+     once lodged, on the boulevard of Mont Parnasse, I took it for
+     granted, that, sooner or later, he would go there in search of
+     his property; or, at least, that he would send some person to
+     fetch it from thence; consequently I directed all my vigilance
+     to this spot; and after having reconnoitred the house, I lay in
+     ambush in its vicinity, night and day, in order to keep a
+     watchful eye upon all comers and goers. This went on for nearly
+     a week, when, weary of not observing any thing, I determined
+     upon engaging the master of the house in my interest, and to
+     hire an apartment of him, where I accordingly established
+     myself with Annette, certain that my presence could give rise
+     to no suspicion. I had occupied this post for about fifteen
+     days, when, one evening, at eleven o'clock, I was informed that
+     Watrin had just come, accompanied by another person. Owing to a
+     slight indisposition, I had retired to bed earlier than usual;
+     however, at this news I rose hastily, and descended the
+     staircase by four stairs at a time; but whatever diligence I
+     might use, I was only just in time to catch Watrin's companion;
+     him I had no right to detain, but I made myself sure that I
+     might, by intimidation, obtain further particulars from him. I
+     therefore seized him, threatened him, and soon drew from him a
+     confession, that he was a shoemaker, and that Watrin lived with
+     him, No. 4, _Rue des Mauvais Garçons_. This was all I wanted to
+     know: I had only time to slip an old great coat over my shirt,
+     and, without stopping to put on more garments, I hurried on to
+     the place thus pointed out to me. I reached the house the very
+     instant that some person was quitting it: persuaded that it was
+     Watrin, I attempted to seize him; he escaped from me, and I
+     darted after him up a staircase; but at the moment of grasping
+     him, a violent blow, which struck my chest, drove me down
+     twenty stairs. I sprung forward again, and that so quickly,
+     that, to escape from my pursuit, he was compelled to return
+     into the house through a sash-window. I then knocked loudly at
+     the door, summoning him to open it without delay. This he
+     refused to do. I then desired Annette, who had followed me, to
+     go in search of the guard; and, whilst she was preparing to
+     obey me, I counterfeited the noise of a man descending the
+     stairs. Watrin, deceived by this feint, was anxious to satisfy
+     himself whether I had actually gone, and softly put his head
+     out of the window, to observe if all was safe. This was exactly
+     what I wanted. I made a vigorous dart forwards, and seized him
+     by the hair of his head: he grasped me in the same manner, and
+     a desperate struggle took place: jammed against the
+     partition-wall which separated us, he opposed me with a
+     determined resistance. Nevertheless, I felt that he was growing
+     weaker; I collected all my strength for a last effort; I
+     strained every nerve, and drew him nearly out of the window
+     through which we were struggling; one more trial, and the
+     victory was mine; but in the earnestness of my grasp, we both
+     rolled on the passage floor, on to which I had pulled him. To
+     rise, snatch from his hands the shoemaker's cutting knife with
+     which he had armed himself, to bind him and lead him out of the
+     house, was the work of an instant. Accompanied only by Annette,
+     I conducted him to the prefecture, where I received the
+     congratulations, first of M. Henry, and afterwards those of the
+     prefect of police, who bestowed on me a pecuniary recompense."
+
+The next account we shall transcribe, is one of his freeing the
+community of a receiver of stolen goods. This man had been long watched
+by the police; but all attempts to convict him had failed. Accordingly
+M. Henry was desirous that Vidocq should use his endeavours, which he
+readily did as follows.
+
+     "Posted near the house of the suspected dealer in stolen
+     property, I watched for his going out; and, following him when
+     he had gone a few steps down the street, addressed him by a
+     different name to his own. He assured me I was mistaken; I
+     protested to the contrary; he insisted upon it I was deceived;
+     and I affected to be equally satisfied of his identity,
+     declaring my perfect recognition of his person, as that of a
+     man who, for some time, had been sought after by the police
+     throughout Paris and its environs. 'You are grossly mistaken,'
+     replied he warmly; 'my name is so and so, and I live in such a
+     street.' 'Come, come, friend,' said I, 'excuses are useless; I
+     know you too well to part with you so easily.' 'This is too
+     much,' cried he, 'but, at the next police station, I shall
+     probably be able to meet with those who can convince you, that
+     I know my own name better than you seem to do.' This was
+     exactly the point at which I wished to arrive. 'Agreed,' said
+     I, and we bent our steps to the neighbouring guard-house. We
+     entered, and I requested him to show me his papers; he had none
+     about him. I then insisted upon his being searched, and, on his
+     person, were found three watches, and twenty-five double
+     Napoleons, which I caused to be laid aside till he should be
+     examined before a magistrate. These things had been wrapped in
+     a handkerchief, which I contrived to secure, and, after having
+     disguised myself as a messenger, I hastened to the house of
+     this receiver of stolen goods, and demanded to speak with his
+     wife. She, of course, had no idea of my business, or knowledge
+     of my person, and seeing several persons besides herself
+     present, I signified to her, that my business being of a
+     private nature, it was important that I should speak to her
+     alone; and in token of my claims to her confidence, produced
+     the handkerchief, and inquired whether she recognised it?
+     Although still ignorant of the cause of my visit, her
+     countenance became troubled, and her whole person was much
+     agitated, as she begged me to let her hear my business. 'I am
+     concerned,' replied I, 'to be the bearer of unpleasant news;
+     but the fact is, your husband has just been arrested, every
+     thing found on his person has been seized, and, from some words
+     which he happened to overhear, he suspects he has been
+     betrayed; he therefore wishes you to remove out of the house
+     certain things, you are aware would be dangerous to his safety
+     if found on the premises. If you please, I will lend you a
+     helping hand, but I must forewarn you that you have not one
+     moment to lose.' The information was of the first importance.
+     The sight of the handkerchief, and the description of the
+     objects it had served to envelope, removed from her mind every
+     doubt as to the truth of the message I had brought her; and she
+     easily fell into the snare I had laid to entrap her. She
+     thanked me for the trouble I had taken, and begged I would go
+     and engage three hackney coaches, and return to her with as
+     little delay as possible. I left the house to execute my
+     commission, but on the road, I stopped to give one of my people
+     instructions to keep the coaches in sight, and to seize them,
+     with their contents, directly I should give the signal. The
+     vehicles drew up to the door, and, upon re-entering the house,
+     I found things in a high state of preparation for removing. The
+     floor was strewed with articles of every description;
+     time-pieces, candelabra, Etruscan vases, cloths, cachemires,
+     linen, muslin, &c. All these things had been taken from a
+     closet, the entrance to which was cleverly concealed by a large
+     press, so skilfully contrived, that the most practised eye
+     could not have discovered the deception. I assisted in the
+     removal, and, when it was completed, the press having been
+     carefully replaced, the woman begged of me to accompany her,
+     which I did; and no sooner was she in one of the coaches, ready
+     to start, than I suddenly pulled up the window, and, at this
+     previously concerted signal, we were immediately surrounded by
+     the police. The husband and wife were tried at the assizes,
+     and, as may be easily conceived, were overwhelmed beneath the
+     weight of an accusation, in support of which there existed a
+     formidable mass of convicting testimony."
+
+We must extract one more account from Vidocq, to show the desperate
+hazards which police-officers sometimes run, in capturing criminals;
+hazards which, when surmounted, they naturally exult in. Information had
+been received at the police-office, that one Fossard, who had several
+times effected escapes from jail, was living with his mistress in a
+certain district of Paris; that the windows of his apartment had yellow
+curtains; and that a hump-backed seamstress lived in the same house.
+This was very indefinite; for neither the street, nor the number of the
+house was known, and curtains might be changed. However, Vidocq was not
+deterred from undertaking a search; accordingly, disguised as an
+old-fashioned gentleman, he began the enterprise. He went from street to
+street; ascended staircase after staircase till his limbs ached; called
+at the doors of scores of seamstresses, but no hump-backed damsel
+appeared;--all were as straight as arrows! Not more ardently, he says,
+did Don Quixote pant for Dulcinea, than he for Humpina. Days rolled on
+unsuccessfully: he began to despair. At length he resolved to change his
+measures, and, instead of clambering up flights of steps, to station
+himself near the stand of a gossiping milk-woman, and watch her
+customers. Numbers of women came to buy their milk in the morning, but
+not one adorned with the delectable hump. At length, in the evening, he
+caught sight of one whose back had the desired ornament. He followed her
+from the milk-woman's to the grocer's, from the grocer's to the
+tripe-shop, and, finally, to her home; but when he got there, no yellow
+curtains were to be seen. What was to be done? He resolved to speak to
+her at all events; so, feigning himself to be a deserted husband, he
+inquired of her whether Fossard and his mistress were occupants of any
+part of the house? Her reply was disheartening:--they had quitted their
+lodgings, and were gone, she knew not where. Still, the case did not
+appear hopeless. He had employed a porter to carry his goods, and might
+not that porter be found? A new search was requisite, and it terminated
+successfully, by his tracing Fossard to a vintner's. Considering, then,
+that it was advisable to have the vintner on his side, he called on him
+in his usual dress, and informed him, from the police, that his lodgers
+meditated robbing him. He and his wife were in consternation at the
+intelligence; but Vidocq having pacified them, arranged his plans. The
+grand difficulty to be overcome, arose from Fossard's always carrying a
+loaded pistol in his hand, and which, they knew from his character, he
+would assuredly discharge at the first man that laid hands on him. Here
+Vidocq must tell his own tale, we premising, that Fossard's mistress
+styled herself Madame Hazard.--
+
+     "At an early hour, on the 29th of December, I betook myself to
+     my station. It was desperately cold; the watch was a protracted
+     one, and the more painful as we had no fire. Motionless,
+     however, and my eyes fixed against a small hole in the shutter,
+     I kept my post. At last, about three o'clock, he went out. I
+     followed gladly, and recognised him; for, up to that period, I
+     had my doubts. Certain now of his identity, I wished, at that
+     moment, to put into execution the order for his apprehension;
+     but the officer who was with me, said he saw the terrible
+     pistol. That I might authenticate the fact, I walked quickly
+     and passed Fossard, and then returning, saw clearly that the
+     agent was right. To attempt to arrest him would have been
+     useless, and I resolved to defer it. On the 31st of December,
+     at eleven o'clock, when all my batteries were charged and my
+     plans perfect, Fossard returned, and, without distrust,
+     ascended the staircase shaking with cold; and, twenty minutes
+     after, the disappearance of the light indicated that he was in
+     bed. The moment had now arrived. The commissary and gend'armes,
+     summoned by me, were waiting at the nearest guard-house until I
+     should call them, and then enter quietly. We deliberated on the
+     most effectual mode of seizing Fossard, without running the
+     risk of being killed or wounded; for they were persuaded, that,
+     unless surprised, this robber would defend himself desperately.
+     My first thought was, to do nothing till daybreak, as I had
+     been told that Fossard's companion went down very early to get
+     the milk; we should then seize her, and, after having taken the
+     key from her, we should enter the room of her lover; but might
+     it not happen that, contrary to his usual custom, he might go
+     out first? This reflection led me to adopt another expedient.
+     The vintner's wife, in whose favour, as I was told, M. Hazard
+     was much prepossessed, had one of her nephews at her house, a
+     lad about ten years of age, intelligent beyond his years, and
+     the more desirous of getting money, as he was a Norman. I
+     promised him a reward, on condition that, under pretence of his
+     aunt's being taken suddenly ill, he should go and beg Madame
+     Hazard to give him some Eau de Cologne. I desired the little
+     chap to assume the most piteous tone he could; and was so well
+     satisfied with the specimen he gave me, that I began to
+     distribute the parts to my performers. The dénouement was near
+     at hand. I made all my party take off their shoes, doing the
+     same myself, that we might not be heard whilst going up stairs.
+     The little snivelling pilot was in his shirt; he rang the
+     bell;--no one answered: again he rang;--'Who's there,' was
+     heard.--'It is I Madame Hazard; it is Louis: my poor aunt is
+     very bad, and begs you will be so very obliging as to give her
+     a little Eau de Cologne.--Oh! she is dying!--I have got a
+     light.' The door was opened; and scarcely had Madame Hazard
+     presented herself, when two powerful gend'armes seized on her,
+     and fastened a napkin over her mouth to prevent her crying out.
+     At the same instant, with more rapidity than the lion when
+     darting on his prey, I threw myself upon Fossard; who,
+     stupified by what was doing, and already fast bound and
+     confined in his bed, was my prisoner before he could make a
+     single movement, or utter a single word. So great was his
+     amazement, that it was nearly an hour before he could
+     articulate even a few words. When a light was brought, and he
+     saw my black face and garb of a coalman, he experienced such an
+     increase of terror, that I really believe he imagined himself
+     in the devil's clutches. On coming to himself, he thought of
+     his arms,--his pistols and dagger,--which were upon the table;
+     and, turning his eyes towards them, he made a struggle, but
+     that was all; for, reduced to the impossibility of doing any
+     mischief, he was passive."
+
+From the above extracts, a tolerably correct idea may be formed of
+thieves and police-officers;--men who co-exist in every civilized
+community, but who lead lives requiring the cunning and personal bravery
+of savages. The thief exults in the success of a daring exploit, and
+prides himself on his skill in avoiding the meshes of magistrates and
+lawyers: the police-officer is no less vain of his skill, in detecting
+and dragging to justice the man who boasts of his superiority in
+artifice, while he almost defies the arm of vengeance. In order that the
+number of such characters may be reduced, all reasonable attempts should
+be made to reclaim juvenile delinquents; prisons should be not only
+places of terror, but places where the spread of corruption is
+effectually prevented, by the prohibition of intercourse amongst the
+inmates; and, above all, education, founded on a moral and religious
+basis, should be extended throughout society. Facts bear us out in
+asserting, that crimes of the greatest magnitude, such as murder,
+burglary, and arson, considerably diminish with the spread of
+civilization, which operates, like the circle formed by the pebble
+thrown into water, in extending its influence in proportion to its
+circumference. As philanthropists in many different countries are
+labouring simultaneously to promote this great end, we are justified in
+considering the present age as the harbinger of a better; and we may
+rejoice in the anticipation. The progressive improvement of the human
+family is a delightful subject for meditation, giving us, perhaps, a
+prelibation of the joys of futurity, and animating us to contribute our
+aid, trifling as it may be, to the melioration of the condition of our
+country.
+
+Before closing this article, we can scarcely forbear remarking, that the
+translator of Vidocq has used various words which have been considered
+by English writers as Americanisms; such as _to progress_, _to
+approbate_, and _lengthy_; also _chicken-fighting_ for cock-fighting.
+Whether he is an American or an Englishman we know not; but certain we
+are, that nearly every one of the alleged peculiarities in language,
+adopted by Americans, may be found either in old English authors, or are
+known to have been used in one or other of the provincial brogues of
+England. Captain Basil Hall notices the substitution of _fall_ for
+Autumn; but he might have known, that though nearly obsolete in England,
+it is still current in the west of England amongst the vulgar.[15] Even
+the much laughed at _I guess_, is in vogue in Lancashire; so that with
+the exception of _to tote_ for to carry, which, as Dr. Webster remarks,
+was introduced by the negroes into the southern states, we do not know
+whether a single word or expression supposed to be peculiar to the
+United States, may be found, which cannot be traced to Great Britain or
+Ireland. In the volume on Insect Architecture, issued by the Society for
+the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, we notice the word _sparse,_ which,
+till then, we had supposed to be of American formation; and a late
+writer in Blackwood's Magazine says, that the New-England word
+_tarnation_, is current in the county of Suffolk in old England. The
+probability of its being introduced into Massachusetts from that part of
+England, is confirmed by the great number of towns in Massachusetts
+bearing the same names as towns in the counties of Suffolk and Essex,
+and by the correspondence remarked by travellers between the dialects of
+the two districts. Every one may have observed, that the
+New-Englanders,--many even of the educated amongst them,--pronounce the
+participle _been_, as if written _ben_; and this peculiarity, we are
+assured, is prevalent in the part of England just mentioned.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[12] See the second series of Tales of a Grandfather.
+
+[13] Since the above was written, we have met with an old schoolfellow
+of Vaux's, and who also knew him in after life; and from him we have
+learnt that Vaux's Memoirs have strong claim to credence, from the
+circumstance that the account of his early life appears to be correctly
+given, as also that part of his subsequent career which is known to our
+informant. He added, that his manners were quite fascinating.
+
+[14] As many of our readers may not recollect it, we here insert it.
+Cibber, it should be borne in mind, was poet-laureate.
+
+"In merry old England, it once was a rule, That the king had his poet,
+and also his fool; But the times are so altered, I'd have you to know
+it, That Cibber will serve both for fool and for poet!"
+
+Cibber seems so little to have minded this, and the rest of Pope's
+satire on him in the Dunciad, that he wrote another epigram nearly as
+pungent on himself! We give the following stanzas as a specimen of it.
+
+     "When Bayes thou play'st, thyself thou art;
+        For that by nature fit,
+      No blockhead better suits the part,
+        Than such a coxcomb wit.
+
+      In Wronghead, too, thy brains we see
+        Who might do well at plough;
+      As fit for Parliament was he,
+        As for the laurel thou."
+
+[15] See A Summary View of America. By an Englishman. 8vo. London: 1824.
+
+
+
+
+ART. VI.--TOBACCO.
+
+1.--"_Counterblaste to Tobacco._" By KING JAMES I. _of England._ Works,
+fol. from 214 to 222.
+
+2.--_A Dissertation on the Use and Abuse of Tobacco._ By The Rev. ADAM
+CLARKE. pp. 32. October: 1798.
+
+3.--_Observations upon the influence of the habitual use of Tobacco upon
+Health, Morals, and Property._ By BENJAMIN RUSH, M.D. Essays. p. 263 to
+274. 1798.
+
+4.--_Notices relative to Tobacco._ By DR. A. T. THOMSON. _Appendix (Note
+B) to Mrs. A. T. Thomson's Life of Sir Walter Ralegh._ pp. 24: 1830.
+
+
+The annals of literature furnish abundant examples of authors, who,
+through wantonness, whimsicality, a desire to say something, where many
+could say nothing, and few could say much, or from some other impulse,
+(for which it were now unprofitable to search,) have adopted themes
+either insignificant in themselves, or repugnant to truth; subjects
+barren, or improbable, or laborious, or palpably absurd. Thus Homer has
+celebrated the battle of the Frogs and Mice; Virgil sung of Bees;
+Polycrates commended Tyranny; Phavorinus sets forth the praises of
+Injustice; and Cardan pronounced the eulogy of Nero. The Golden Ass of
+Apulcius is well known; Henry Cornelius Agrippa has employed his wit and
+learning on an elaborate "Digression in praise of the Asse." Other
+authors have discovered virtues and excellencies in this animal, though
+the generality of mankind have agreed in supposing it possessed nothing
+remarkable but dulness and obstinacy. Lucian exercised his genius on a
+fly; and Erasmus has dignified Folly in his _Encomium Moriæ_, which, for
+the sake of the pun, he inscribed to Sir Thomas More. The subject of
+Michael Psellus is a Gnat; Antonius Majoragius took for his theme Clay;
+Julius Scaliger wrote concerning a Goose; Janus Dousa on a Shadow; and
+Heinsius (_horresco referens_) eulogized a Louse. This last animal
+elicited some fine moral verses from Burns; Libanus thought the Ox
+worthy of his pen; and Sextus Empiricus selected the faithful Dog.
+Addison composed the Battle of the Pigmies and Cranes; Rochester
+versified about Nothing; and Johannes Passeratius made a Latin poem on
+the same subject, which is quoted at full length by Dr. Johnson at the
+end of his Life of Rochester. The Jeffreidos were written to commemorate
+the perils to which Sir Jeoffrey Hudson was exposed; Sir William Jones
+thought Chess worthy of the epopee; and at the foot of this list of
+egregious triflers, we place Dr. Raphael Thorius, who wrote a much and
+often praised Latin poem on the Virtues of Tobacco.
+
+Now, to most of our readers, this last theme would seem to offer fewer
+inducements to the poet's pen than any of those thus enumerated; and
+genius could scarcely have selected one, which seemed less ennobling in
+itself, or rather, which at once presented such palpable
+discouragements, from the coarse associations connected with it, and the
+cureless vulgarity and nauseousness with which the whole subject appears
+to be invested. In opposition to so many obstacles and dissuasives, this
+great man yielded to the impulse of his muse, and obtained an
+immortality to which no other action of his life would have entitled
+him. It is with unaffected regret that we are compelled to state, that,
+to procure a sight of this celebrated poem, we have ransacked our
+libraries without the least success. How painful is the reflection, that
+perhaps this work has never yet reached the United States! What a
+reproach to our republic, that a poem whose object was to celebrate the
+virtues of the most incomparable of all our native plants, should be
+totally unknown in that new world, with whose discovery it was nearly
+contemporaneous! But perhaps our Jeremiad may be premature; for in some
+obscure corner in Virginia, (the garden of this weed,) a copy of the
+poem may at this very moment exist, like unobtrusive merit, disregarded
+and despised. For the honour of our country, we hope this may prove
+true; since it may lessen the odium with which men habitually load poor
+republics, a name which has long been the by-word and synonime of
+ingratitude.
+
+We are fully aware of the contemptuous manner in which Doctor Clarke
+speaks of this production, and its English translation by the Rev. W.
+Berwick, declaring them to be "of equal merit, and that they scarce
+deserve to be mentioned." But to the merit of this work we have
+testimony infinitely higher than the opinion of the Reverend Doctor.
+Thus, Howell, in his inimitable "Familiar Letters," a book which cannot
+be too highly commended, or too often read, says, "if you desire to read
+with pleasure all the virtues of this modern herb, you must read Dr.
+Thorius's Potologis, an accurate peece, couched in a strenuous heroic
+verse, and continuing its strength from first to last; insomuch that for
+the bignes it may be compared to any piece of antiquity, and in my
+opinion is beyond [Greek: Batzachomnomachia] or [Greek:
+Galeômnomachia]."[16] The learned Mr. Bayle speaks of the same
+production in very commendatory language.[17] Bayle tells an excellent
+story of Thorius, which, as it illustrates the character of the great
+tobacco poet, deserves to be read. He was extremely fond of his glass of
+wine, and had, beside, that hydrophobic distaste, which has been
+imagined essential to the true poet. Being one day seated at the dinner
+table, in company with the celebrated Peireskius, in the festivity of
+the occasion, he was urging the latter to quaff off a bumper of wine,
+and after the most importunate intreaties, Peireskius at last agreed to
+do it upon one condition, which was, that Thorius should immediately
+afterwards drink a bumper himself. No condition could be more
+acceptable, no penalty more easy; but what was the surprise and horror
+of Thorius, when his turn came, to find that he was called upon to drink
+a bumper, not of wine, but of water!--which insipid and unaccustomed
+beverage, after sundry efforts and awry faces, he contrived to get down,
+amidst peals of laughter from his hilarious and learned friends.
+
+We classed Thorius's poem among the extravagant vagaries of genius; but
+the more we reflect upon the subject matter of this poem, the more the
+conviction fastens upon our minds, that it is by no means a trivial or
+undignified topic; that considered in what light it may, tobacco must be
+regarded as the most astonishing of the productions of nature, since,
+although unsightly, offensive, and, perhaps, in every way pernicious, it
+has, in the short period of about three centuries, subdued not one
+particular nation, but the whole world, Christian and Pagan, into a
+bondage more abject and irremediable than was ever known to tyranny or
+superstition. Kings have forbidden it; popes have anathematized it; and
+physicians have warned against it. Even ministers of the gospel have
+lifted up their voices, and thundered their denunciations from the
+pulpit; but all has been in vain; its use has increased, is increasing,
+and will increase, as long as the earth continues to yield this
+miraculous vegetable to the unnatural appetite of man.
+
+That what is persecuted should thrive the more in consequence of
+persecution, can excite no surprise in any one at all skilled in the
+history of human nature; but this is altogether inadequate to account
+for that preternatural eagerness with which men seek after this
+wonderful plant. In fact, there appears to be some occult charm
+connected with it--some invisible spirit, which, be it angel, or be it
+devil, has never yet been, and perhaps never will be, satisfactorily
+explained. To those who have never revelled in this habit, and
+consequently can neither comprehend its nature or strength, the
+hyperbolical language which most authors use when they speak of tobacco,
+must appear, in an eminent degree, burlesque and overstrained.
+"Tobacco," says the Anatomist of Melancholy, "divine, rare,
+superexcellent tobacco, which goes far beyond all their panaceas,
+potable gold, and philosophers' stones, a soveraign remedy to all
+diseases--A good vomit, I confess, a vertuous herb, if it be well
+qualified, opportunely taken, and medicinally used; but as it is
+commonly abused by most men, which take it as tinkers do ale, 'tis a
+plague, a mischief, a violent purger of goods, lands, and health;
+hellish, devilish, and damned tobacco; the ruine and overthrow of body
+and soul."[18] So in his valedictory to tobacco, Mr. Lamb is not less
+extravagant and contradictory. The health of the poet it appears had
+suffered seriously from the immoderate use of tobacco, which had been in
+consequence interdicted by his physician. Compelled to surrender his
+favourite enjoyment, he vents his feelings in a very spirited "Farewell
+to Tobacco," which exhibits a singular mixture of opposite sentiments,
+and of violent struggles between his propensity to the habit and his
+acquiescence in the necessity which severs him from it, together with
+feeble attempts to curse that, without which, life to the unhappy poet
+seemed scarcely endurable.
+
+    "Stinking'st of the stinking kind,
+    Filth of the mouth and fog of the mind,
+    Africa that brags her foyson,
+    Breeds no such prodigious poison,
+    Henbane, nightshade, both together,
+    Hemlock, aconite----
+              ----Nay, rather
+    Plant divine, of rarest virtue;
+    Blisters on the tongue would hurt you;
+    'Twas but in a sort I blamed thee,
+    None e'er prospered who defamed thee."
+
+But tobacco has had enemies of exalted station, whose persecution has
+been uniform, and whose hatred has been unmixed. Such was James the
+First of England, who is not less remarkable for his sagacity in
+discovering the gunpowder plot, and having supported the divine right of
+kings, than for having written a "Counterblaste to Tobacco."[19] But let
+the king speak for himself:--
+
+     "Tobacco," says he, "is the lively image and pattern of hell,
+     for it hath, by allusion, all the parts and vices of the world
+     whereby hell may be gained; to wit. 1. It is a smoke; so are
+     all the vanities of this world. 2. It delighteth them that take
+     it; so do all the pleasures of the world delight the men of the
+     world. 3. It maketh men drunken and light in the head; so do
+     all the vanities of the world, men are drunkards therewith. 4.
+     He that taketh tobacco can not leave it; it doth bewitch him;
+     even so the pleasures of the world make men loath to leave
+     them; they are for the most part enchanted with them. And,
+     farther, besides all this, it is like hell in the very
+     substance of it, for it is a stinking loathsome thing, and so
+     is hell."
+
+The mythological fable which existed among the Indians as to the manner
+in which this plant was first bestowed upon mankind, is extremely
+whimsical, somewhat discreditable, and withal of such a nature as to
+preclude the propriety of our introducing it in this place to the
+acquaintance of our readers. But writers are not wanting who have
+carried the original of tobacco into the Grecian fabulous ages, and
+attributed to Bacchus the glory of having discovered and disclosed to
+mortals its virtues. Thorius, as Dr. Clarke tells us, very ominously
+ascribes the discovery and first use of this herb to Bacchus, Silenus,
+and the Satyrs, (drunkenness, gluttony, and lust,) and yet, continues
+the Doctor, with a sneer, this poem was written in praise of it. Mr.
+Lamb, in the poem before quoted, has the same thought, and he farther
+adds a belief, that the tobacco plant was the true Indian conquest for
+which the jolly god has been so celebrated. He moreover intimates, that
+the Thyrsus of that deity was afterwards ornamented with leaves of
+tobacco, instead of ivy. Even the name of the plant has been derived
+from Bacchus. This is particularly mentioned by Mr. Joseph Sylvester,
+quoted by Dr. Clarke, who wrote a poem on tobacco which he inscribed to
+Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. The title of this tirade is very quaint,
+viz. "Tobacco battered, and the Pipes shattered (about their Ears who
+idly idolize so base and barbarous a Weed; or at least-wise overlove so
+loathsome a Vanity) by a Volley of holy Shot from Mount Helicon."
+
+    "For even the derivation of the name
+    Seems to allude and to include the same;
+    Tobacco as [Greek: tôBakchô] one would say
+    To cup-god Bacchus dedicated ay."
+
+Nor should all this appear so extraordinary, when we consider that
+Charlevoix, with the utmost seriousness, discusses the question, whether
+the calumet of the North American Indians was the same as the caduceus
+of Mercury.[20] It is however beyond all doubt, that tobacco has always
+been regarded by the Indians with religious veneration, and employed by
+them in all religious ceremonies. Mr. Stith informs us, that they
+thought this plant "of so great worth and virtue that the gods
+themselves were delighted with it; and therefore they sometimes made
+sacred fires, and instead of a sacrifice, threw in the dust of tobacco;
+and when they were caught in a tempest, they would sprinkle it into the
+air and water--upon all their new fishing nets they would cast some of
+it, and when they had escaped any remarkable danger, they would throw
+some of this dust into the air, with strange distorted gestures,
+sometimes striking the earth with their feet in a kind of time and
+measure, sometimes clapping their hands and throwing them up on high,
+looking towards the heavens, and uttering barbarous and dissonant
+words."[21]--Sir Hans Sloan tells us, also, that the Indians employ
+tobacco in all their enchantments, sorceries, and fortune-tellings; that
+their priests intoxicate themselves with the fumes, and in their
+ecstacies give forth ambiguous and oracular responses.[22]
+
+A few words will now be devoted to the subject of the numerous names
+which have belonged to tobacco; many persons conceiving the title of any
+thing, to be of equal importance with the christening of a person; and
+surely where the etymology of a name of either person or thing can throw
+any light upon their respective histories, the time employed thereon can
+hardly be looked upon as either lost or misspent. But it unfortunately
+happens, as is almost always the case in regard to persons and things
+belonging to mythological eras, that the greatest confusion and
+perplexity exist in regard to the Indian titles which have been bestowed
+upon tobacco; and as we frankly confess ourselves utterly unversed in
+Occidental philology, we shall, with whatever reluctance, be obliged to
+omit even the mention of many appellations, whose true meaning and value
+have passed into obscurity, with the languages and nations from which
+such appellations were derived.[23]
+
+Sir Hans Sloan informs us, that the name was originally picielt, and
+that tobacco was given it by the Spaniards.[24] Several authors say,
+that it was called by the inhabitants of the West India islands
+yoli--but that on the continent they gave it the name of pætum, peti,
+petunum, or petun.[25] Some say it was sent into Spain from Tabaco, a
+province of Yucatan, where it was first discovered, and from whence it
+takes its common name. Pourchot declares, that the Portuguese brought it
+into Europe from Tobago, an island in North America; but the island
+Tobago, says another, was never under the Portuguese dominion, and that
+it seems rather to have given its name to that island. The inhabitants
+of Hispaniola call it by the name cohiba, or pete be cenuc, and the
+instrument by which they smoke it tabaco, and hence, say they, it
+derived its name. Stith, in his History of Virginia, speaks of one Mr.
+Thomas Harriot,[26] a domestic of Sir Walter Ralegh, a man of learning,
+who was sent by Ralegh to Virginia chiefly to make observations, which
+were afterwards published. Now this Harriot, speaking of tobacco, says
+it was called, by the Indians of Virginia, uppowoc.[27] But the
+principal names by which this article is now known, either in common
+parlance or scientific discourse, are three, viz.--pætum, which seems to
+be its poetical title--tobacco, its vulgar and most intelligible
+name--and nicotiana, its scientific and botanical name; which latter we
+will explain more fully hereafter.[28]
+
+The Abbot Nyssens thought it was the Devil who first introduced tobacco
+into Europe. We do not design to discuss so important a question,
+concerning which there must needs be a contrariety of opinions; but we
+cannot forbear to observe, that to give the Devil more than his due, is
+by no means new or uncommon in ecclesiastical inquiries. We have
+something parallel to this in the history of Hercules, though springing
+most probably from a very different source; for to him the ancients were
+wont to attribute any great action for which they could not find a
+certain author. We are informed that this plant was first seen smoked by
+the Spaniards, under Grijalva, in 1518. In 1519, the illustrious Cortez
+sent a specimen of it to his king, and this was the date of its
+introduction into Europe. Others say, one Roman Pane carried it into
+Spain. By the Cardinal Santa Croce it was conveyed to Italy. It should
+be observed, however, that the ancestors of the Cardinal already enjoyed
+the reputation of having brought into Italy the true cross, and the
+double glory which attaches to the Santa Croce family in consequence, is
+well described in the following Latin lines, taken from Bayle's
+Dictionary.[29] These verses are valuable in another respect, since they
+contain a full enumeration of the real or supposed virtues of the herb.
+They are also copied by the Reverend Dr. Clarke; and the English verses
+which accompany them, are by the Dr. attributed to M. de Maizeaux.--
+
+    "Nomine quæ sanctæ crucis herba vocatur ocellis
+    Subvenit, et sanat plagas, et vulnera jungit,
+    Discutit et strumas, cancrum, cancrosaque sanat
+    Ulcera, et ambustis prodest, scabiemque repellit,
+    Discutit et morbum cui cessit ab impete nomen,
+    Calefacit, et siccat, stringit, mundatque, resolvit,
+    Et dentium et ventris mulcet capitisque dolores;
+    Subvenit antiquæ tussi, stomachoque rigenti
+    Renibus et spleni confert, ultroque, venena
+    Dira sagittarum domat, ictibus omnibus atris
+    Hæc eadem prodest; gingivis proficit atque
+    Conciliat somnum: nuda ossa carne revestit;
+    Thoracis vitiis prodest, pulmonis itemque,
+    Quæ duo sic præstat, non ulla potentior herba.
+    Hanc Sanctacrucius Prosper quum nuncius esset,
+    Sedis Apostolicæ Lusitanas missus in horas
+    Huc adportavit Romanæ ad commoda gentis,
+    Ut proavi sanctæ lignum crucis ante tulere
+    Omnis Christiadum quo nunc respublica gaudet,
+    Et Sanctæ crucis illustris domus ipsa vocatur
+    Corporis atque animæ nostræ studiosa salutis."
+
+We subjoin the following "faithful but inelegant translation," which is
+given by M. de Maizeaux in his translation of Bayle.
+
+    "The herb which borrows Santa Croce's name
+    Sore eyes relieves, and healeth wounds; the same
+    Discusses the king's evil, and removes
+    Cancers and boils; a remedy it proves
+    For burns and scalds, repels the nauseous itch,
+    And straight recovers from convulsion fits.
+    It cleanses, dries, binds up, and maketh warm;
+    The head-ach, tooth-ach, colic, like a charm
+    It easeth soon; an ancient cough relieves,
+    And to the reins and milt, and stomach gives
+    Quick riddance from the pains which each endures;
+    Next the dire wounds of poisoned arrows cures;
+    All bruises heals, and when the gums are sore,
+    It makes them sound and healthy as before.
+    Sleep it procures, our anxious sorrows lays,
+    And with new flesh the naked bone arrays.
+    No herb hath greater power to rectify
+    All the disorders in the breast that lie
+    Or in the lungs. Herb of immortal fame!
+    Which hither first by Santa Croce came,
+    When he (his time of nunciature expired)
+    Back from the court of Portugal retired;
+    Even as his predecessors great and good,
+    Brought home the cross, whose consecrated wood
+    All Christendom now with its presence blesses;
+    And still the illustrious family possesses
+    The name of Santa Croce, rightly given,
+    Since they in all respects resembling Heaven,
+    Procure as much as mortal men can do,
+    The welfare of our souls and bodies too."
+
+It is agreed on all hands, that tobacco was introduced into France by
+John Nicot, (whence it obtains its common name Nicotiana) Lord of
+Villemain and Master of Requests of the household of Francis the Second.
+He was born at Nismes, and was sent as embassador to the Court of
+Portugal in 1559, from whence, on his return, he brought to Paris this
+herb. From Nicot, it was also called the embassador's herb. The
+question, whether it was known in France before it was carried into
+England, was long agitated, and is perhaps not settled yet, since the
+precise epocha of its introduction into any particular country, cannot
+with absolute certainty be fixed. The French writers, generally, are of
+opinion that Sir Francis Drake conveyed it to England before Nicot made
+it known in France. Thevet, who has discussed the subject, is thought by
+them to have settled it in favour of the English. A French writer, Jean
+Liebault, says tobacco grew wild in France long before the discovery of
+the New World. Mr. Murray inclines to the belief, that tobacco existed
+in Europe before the discovery of America, but he thinks it proceeded
+from Asia.[30] Mr. Savary asserts, that among the Persians it was known
+at least five hundred years since, but that they obtained it from Egypt,
+and not from the East Indies, where its cultivation was but recent. But,
+what has not been said of this extraordinary plant? It has often been
+called a Nepenthe, and we are under belief that some have even imagined
+that the tobacco leaf forms a principal ingredient in the wondrous and
+potent mixture which Helen prepares for her guests in the fourth
+Odyssey.--
+
+              [Greek: "Phazmachon
+    Nêpendes t' acholon te kakôn epilêthon apantôn."]
+
+              "Of sovereign use to assuage
+    The boiling bosom of tumultuous rage;
+    To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled care,
+    And dry the tearful sluices of despair."
+
+In the same passage, Homer tells us that Helen learned the nature of
+drugs and herbs from the wife of Thone, King of Egypt. Now, by
+considering this latter fact, in conjunction with what is asserted by
+Mr. Savary, some verisimilitude seems to be imparted to the hypothesis
+of the tobacco plant having sprung originally from Egypt. We are not
+aware of any author (though we think it not improbable that such may
+exist) who has carried matters so far as to assert that tobacco was the
+tree of Paradise, "whose mortal taste brought death into the
+world,"--nor would this appear for a moment extravagant, if one only
+calls to mind the strange traditions which the Rabbinnical writers have
+handed down upon theological points of far more importance, or the
+equally absurd and monstrous notions which the modern history of
+sectarianism furnishes. From what has been said, however, it appears
+very clear, that Satan has had too much to do with tobacco. If it be
+verily the tree of knowledge, it must be admitted that he has preserved
+it with infinite care, as if grateful for the mighty mischief which was
+wrought in Eden, and as a fit instrument for those injuries in future to
+the human family, which so many authors assure us it is producing at the
+present day. How tobacco ever got to America is a difficulty of very
+little moment, when we remember that writers are not agreed in what
+manner America was even peopled. Even were we to admit that the
+aboriginal Americans were not descended from Adam and Eve, still if we
+concede that Satan has had the especial care of tobacco, we cannot be
+surprised at his finding the means, if he had the desire, of introducing
+it into America. We have before alluded to what the Abbot Nyssens says,
+and if in addition we call to mind what others have uttered about its
+diabolical nature, and that the American Indians were wont to propitiate
+the powers of darkness by making offerings to them of tobacco, we cannot
+help thinking that King James was nearer truth and propriety than he
+imagined, when he declared that if he were to invite the Devil to dine
+with him, he would be sure to provide three things,--1. a pig,--2. a
+poll of ling and mustard,--3. a pipe of tobacco for digestion.
+
+It is not certainly known whether tobacco grew spontaneously in
+Virginia, or whether it came originally from some more southern region
+of America. At all events, the English who first visited Virginia
+certainly found it there, and Harriot is of opinion, that it was of
+spontaneous growth. Mr. Jefferson thinks it was a native of a more
+southern climate, and was handed along the continent from one nation of
+savages to another.[31] Dr. Robertson informs us, that it was not till
+the year 1616 that its cultivation was commenced in Virginia.[32]
+However this may be, the gallant and unfortunate Sir Walter Ralegh has
+the credit of bringing it into fashion in England.[33] It is well known
+that the colony planted in Virginia by Sir Walter, suffered many
+calamities, and we are told, that Ralph Lane,[34] one of the survivers
+who was carried back to England by Sir Francis Drake, was the person who
+first made tobacco known in Great Britain. This was in the 28th year of
+Queen Elizabeth, A. D. 1585.[35] Sir Walter himself is said to have been
+very fond of smoking, and many humorous stories have been recorded
+concerning it, particularly of a wager he made with Queen Elizabeth,
+that he would determine exactly the weight of the smoke which went off
+in a pipe of tobacco. This he did by first weighing the tobacco which
+was to be smoked, and then carefully preserving and weighing the ashes,
+and the queen paid the wager cheerfully, being satisfied that what was
+wanting to the prime weight must have been evaporated in smoke. Every
+one remembers the story of the alarm of one of Sir Walter's servants,
+who, coming into a room and beholding his master enveloped in smoke,
+supposed him to be on fire.
+
+To the devout and genuine worshippers of this weed, it may be
+satisfactory to know, that a tobacco-box and some pipes, belonging
+formerly to Sir Walter, are still in existence, and all smokers who may
+feel so disposed may perform a pilgrimage to them when they visit
+England, they being in the museum of Mr. Ralph Thoresby of Leeds,
+Yorkshire.[36] We shall conclude our remarks upon Sir Walter, by a
+poetical tribute to his memory, which is both apposite and eloquent.
+
+    "Immortal Ralegh! were potatoes not,
+      Could grateful Ireland e'er forget thy claim?[37]
+    'Were all thy proud historic deeds forgot,'
+      Which blend thy memory with Eliza's fame;
+    Could England's annals in oblivion rot,
+      Tobacco would enshrine and consecrate thy name."
+
+We cannot forbear to make a quotation concerning the Virginia colony, at
+a more flourishing subsequent period, which, as it records a historical
+fact, cannot fail to be interesting, while at the same time it is
+sufficiently comic. "The adventurers," says Malte-Brun, "who increased
+from year to year, were reduced, in consequence of the scarcity of
+females, to import wives by order, as they imported merchandise. It is
+recorded, that ninety girls, 'young and uncorrupt,' came to the Virginia
+market in 1620, and sixty in 1621; all of whom found a ready sale. The
+price of each at first was one hundred pounds of tobacco, but afterwards
+rose to one hundred and fifty. What the prime cost was in England is not
+stated."[38]
+
+In whatever manner tobacco found its way into Europe, it met with a very
+hostile reception from several crowned heads. Elizabeth published an
+edict against its use. James imposed severe prohibitory duties, and
+Charles, his successor, continued them.
+
+     "In 1590," says Dr. Thomson, "Shah Abbas prohibited the use of
+     tobacco in Persia, by a penal law; but so firmly had the luxury
+     rooted itself in the minds of his subjects, that many of the
+     inhabitants of the cities fled to the mountains, where they hid
+     themselves, rather than forego the pleasure of smoking. In
+     1624, Pope Urban VIII. anathematized all snuff-takers, who
+     committed the heinous sin of taking a pinch in any church; and
+     so late as 1690, Innocent XII. excommunicated all who indulged
+     in the same vice in Saint Peter's church at Rome. In 1625,
+     Amurath IV. prohibited smoking as an unnatural and irreligious
+     custom, under pain of death. In Constantinople, where the
+     custom is now universal, smoking was thought to be so
+     ridiculous and hurtful, that any Turk, who was caught in the
+     act, was conducted in ridicule through the streets, with a pipe
+     transfixed through his nose. In Russia, where the peasantry now
+     smoke all day long, the Grand Duke of Moscow prohibited the
+     entrance of tobacco into his dominions, under the penalty of
+     the _knaut_ for the first offence, and death for the second;
+     and the Muscovite who was found snuffing, was condemned to have
+     his nostrils split. The Chambre au Tabac for punishing smokers,
+     was instituted in 1634, and not abolished till the middle of
+     the eighteenth century. Even in Switzerland, war was waged
+     against the American herb: to smoke, in Berne, ranked as a
+     crime next to adultery; and in 1653, all smokers were cited
+     before the Council at Apenzel, and severely punished."[39]
+
+We shall see hereafter what a host of enemies tobacco found also among
+medical writers. We speak here particularly of the moderns; for many of
+the older physicians extolled its healing virtues to the skies, and they
+were giants in knowledge; but as an old author says, "Pigmei gigantum
+humeris impositi plusquam ipsi gigantes vident." Indeed it must be
+admitted, as a very powerful argument against the efficacy of tobacco as
+a medicine, that the physicians of our day have in many cases abandoned
+its use, and in others adopted some less dangerous succedaneum.
+
+It may not be unamusing to the curious reader to know in what manner
+this subject is handled by King James. The "Counterblaste" commences by
+denouncing tobacco, because "the vile and stinking custome comes from
+the wilde, godlesse, and slavish Indians," by whom it was used as an
+antidote against the most dreadful of all diseases. Its use was
+introduced "neither by a king, great conqueror, nor learned Doctor of
+Physicke, but by some Indians who were brought over;" they died, but the
+"savage custome" survived. King James contents himself by examining only
+four of the principal grounds or arguments upon which tobacco is used,
+two founded "on the theoricke of a deceivable appearance of reason," and
+two "upon the mistaken practicke of generall experience." Thus, "1. An
+aphorisme in the Physickes that the brains of all men being naturally
+cold and wet, all dry and hote things should be good for them." Ergo,
+this "stinking suffumigation."--2. The argument grounded on a show of
+reason, is "that this filthy smoke, as well through the heat and
+strength thereof, as by a natural force and quality, is able and fit to
+purge both the head and stomach of rhewmes and distillations, as
+experience teacheth by the spitting and avoiding fleame immediately
+after the taking of it."--3. That "the whole people would not have taken
+so general a good liking thereof, if they had not by experience found it
+very soveraigne and good for them."--4. That "by the taking of tobacco,
+divers and very many doe finde themselves cured of divers diseases; as
+on the other hand no man ever received harme thereby." The King after
+having, as he trusts, sufficiently answered "the most principal
+arguments" that are used in defence of this "vile custome," proceeds "to
+speake of the sinnes and vanities committed in the filthy abuse
+thereof." And 1. As being a sinneful and shameful lust.--2. As a branch
+of drunkennesse.--3. As disabling both persons and goods. His majesty
+concludes the "Counterblaste" by calling the smoking of tobacco "a
+custome loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmeful to the
+brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the blacke and stinking fume
+thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stigian smoke of the pit that
+is bottomlesse."[40]
+
+Let it not be supposed that tobacco has been without friends, wise,
+learned, and distinguished; but space forces us to pretermit the mention
+of many who have ascribed to it as many virtues as were ever ascribed to
+the grand elixir of Alchemy. We shall content ourselves with two or
+three miscellaneous testimonies.--Thus Acosta tells us it is a plant,
+"which hath in it rare virtues, as amongst others it serves for a
+counterpoison--for the Creator hath imparted his virtues at his
+pleasure, not willing that any thing should grow idle."[41] Lord Bacon
+speaks of its "cheering and comforting the spirits," and that it
+relieves in lassitude.[42] Again he says, "doubtless it contributes to
+alleviate fatigues and discharge the body of weariness. 'T is also
+commonly said to open the passages, and draw off humours; but its
+virtues may be more justly attributed to its _condensing_ the
+spirits."[43] "It is a good companion," says Howell, "to one that
+converseth with dead men, for if one hath bin poring long upon a book,
+or is toiled with the pen, or stupified with study, it quickeneth him,
+and dispels those clouds that usually oreset the brain. The smoke of it
+is one of the wholesomest sents that is against all contagious airs, for
+it oremasters all other smells; as _King James_ they say found true,
+when being once a hunting, a showr of rain drave him into a pigsty for
+shelter, where he caused a pipe full to be taken of purpose."[44] It
+were easy to multiply quotations both in prose and verse, but it is to
+the latter, most especially, that we must look for the most glowing
+ascriptions--to poetry which has ever delighted.[45]
+
+    "To sing the praises of that glorious weed--
+    Dear to mankind, whate'er his race, his creed,
+    Condition, colour, dwelling, or degree!
+    From Zembla's snows to parched Arabia's sands,
+    Loved by all lips, and common to all hands!
+    Hail sole cosmopolite, tobacco, hail!
+    Shag, long-cut, short-cut, pig-tail, quid, or roll,
+    Dark Negrohead, or Orinooka pale,
+    In every form congenial to the soul."
+
+Before we proceed to consider the use of tobacco as a habit, which
+modern physicians are pleased to consider so pestiferous and baleful,
+let us attend for a few moments to what has been said concerning its
+culture and manufacture. Mr. Jefferson, in his Notes, says that its
+culture is productive of infinite wretchedness; that it is found easier
+to make 100 bushels of wheat than 1000 pounds of tobacco, and that they
+are worth more when made.[46] Davies, in his History of the Carriby
+Islands, after giving an account of the culture and preparation of
+tobacco, adds, "that if the people of Europe who are so fond of it, had
+themselves seen the poor servants and slaves who are employed about this
+painful work, exposed the greatest part of the day to the scorching heat
+of the sun, and spending one half of the night in reducing it to that
+posture wherein it is transported into Europe; no doubt they would have
+a greater esteem for, and think much more precious that herb which is
+procured with the sweat and labours of so many miserable creatures."[47]
+
+Numerous medical writers, of the justest celebrity, have assured us,
+that endless and dreadful evils are the portion of all who are engaged
+in the manufacture of tobacco; that the workmen are in general meagre,
+jaundiced, emaciated, asthmatic, subject to colic, diarrheas, to
+vertigo, violent headach, and muscular twitchings, to narcotism, and to
+various diseases of the breast and lungs.[48] They have also declared
+that some of these evils have befallen families from the fact alone of
+being in the neighbourhood of a tobacco manufactory.[49] Ramazzini says
+that even the horses employed in the tobacco mills are most powerfully
+affected by the particles of the tobacco. Now if these things be true,
+when we call to mind the countless multitudes employed in this "dreadful
+trade," what a throng of evils present themselves upon the very
+threshold of our subject.[50] In this view of the case, one could not
+pass such a manufactory without an involuntary shudder, regarding it as
+a charnel house, or rather as a Pandora's box, to those wretched beings
+who are doomed to work or dwell within its pestilential precincts.[51]
+But in spite of the various and respectable testimony which has been
+produced by writers opposed to the use of tobacco, we cannot help
+regarding their statements as exceedingly exaggerated. We have not space
+to enter into a more minute examination of this portion of our subject,
+but to such of our readers as may feel desirous of prosecuting the
+inquiry, we take great pleasure in recommending a very able memoir by
+Messieurs Parent-Duchatelet and D'Arcet,[52] in which the whole subject
+of the effects of tobacco upon the persons connected with its
+manufacture, is most satisfactorily discussed, and the opinions and
+assertions of those who have gone so far as to declare that it was even
+necessary to the public health that the manufactories of tobacco should
+be removed out of large towns because of their great insalubrity, shown
+to be either without any just grounds, or the results of prejudice and
+ignorance.
+
+The fecundity of this plant is marvellous. Linnæus has calculated that a
+single plant of tobacco contains 40,320 grains, and says that if each
+seed came to perfection, the plants of tobacco in vegetation in the
+course of four years, would be more than sufficient to cover the whole
+surface of the earth. We are elsewhere informed that these seeds
+preserve their germinative properties for six years and even longer.
+"Sir Thomas Browne observes," says Mather, "that of the seeds of
+tobacco, a thousand make not one grain, (though Otto de Guericke, as I
+remember, says, fifty-two cyphers with one figure would give the number
+of those which would fill the space between us and the stars,) a plant
+which has extended its empire over the whole world, and has a larger
+dominion than any of all the vegetable kingdom."[53] Our readers may
+very easily amuse themselves by making calculations on the immense
+consumption and value of this plant. The following account from a French
+medical writer,[54] will be sufficient. On a rough calculation, the
+tobacco sold yearly in France amounts to 40,000,000 pounds weight, which
+at three francs per pound, the ordinary price, will make the enormous
+annual sum of 120,000,000 francs. One-fourth of the French population
+use tobacco, so that of 8,000,000 of human beings, each individual
+consumes annually, in the various forms of snuffing, chewing, and
+smoking, about six pounds. This quantity may seem too great for some
+persons, but it should be remembered that there are many who use a dozen
+or twenty pounds in the course of the year.
+
+If we contemplate man in connexion with tobacco as a necessary, the
+juxtaposition cannot fail to strike us as exceedingly ludicrous. From
+the earliest ages of philosophy, it has been a favourite employment of
+the wise to propose such definitions of man as should fully distinguish
+him from the rest of animated nature, and yet no definition of ancient
+times will, we are satisfied, appear so excellently discriminative as
+one which grows out of our present subject, and which denominates him
+the only tobacco loving animal, for (to pass over the tobacco-worm) the
+only creature known beside man, whose nature does not abhor tobacco, is,
+as Dr. Rush informs us, the solitary rock goat of Africa, one of the
+wildest and most filthy of animals. "Were it possible," says he, "for a
+being who had resided on our globe, to visit the inhabitants of a planet
+where reason governed, and to tell them that a vile weed was in general
+use among the inhabitants of the globe it had left, which afforded no
+nourishment; that this weed was cultivated with immense care, that it
+was an important article of commerce, that the want of it produced real
+misery, that its taste was extremely nauseous, that it was unfriendly to
+health and morals, and that its use was attended with a considerable
+loss of time and property, the account would be thought incredible."[55]
+It is idle to speak of tobacco, as being "extremely nauseous," that it
+is the "meanest and most paltry of all gratifications," &c. Had not man
+discovered in it a delight and comfort which was to be derived from few
+other sources, the habitual use of tobacco would long since have been
+neglected. To say man uses tobacco for no other reason but its
+offensiveness, is a solecism; scarcely would it be more absurd to adopt
+the habitual use of castor oil as a cordial, or assafoetida as a
+perfume. On this subject Mr. Chamberet[56] has a very interesting
+passage, which, as it is so well expressed by the author, we take the
+liberty of offering to our readers in his own language.
+
+     "Observons," says he, "que l'homme, en vertu de son
+     organization a sans cesse besoin de sentir, que presque
+     toujours il est malheureux, soit par les fleaux que la nature
+     lui envoie, soit par les tristes resultats de ses passions
+     aveugles, de ses erreurs de ses prejugés, de son ignorance, &c.
+     Le tabac exercant sur nos organes une impression vive et forte,
+     susceptible d'etre renouvelée frequemment et a volonté, on
+     s'est livré avec d'autant plus d'ardeur a l'usage d'un
+     semblable stimulant qu'on y a trouvé a la fois le moyen de
+     satisfaire le besoin imperieux de sentir, qui caracterise la
+     nature humaine, et celui d'etre distrait momentanément des
+     sensations pénibles ou douloureuses qui assiégent sans cesse
+     notre espèce, que le tabac aide ainsi a supporter l'accablant
+     fardeau de la vie. Avec le tabac, le sauvage endure plus
+     courageusement la faim, la soif, et toutes les vicissitudes
+     atmospheriques, l'esclave endure plus patiemment la servitude,
+     &c. Parmi les hommes qui se disent civilisés, son recours est
+     souvent invoqué contre l'ennui, la tristesse; il soulage
+     quelquefois momentanément les tourmens de l'ambition déçues de
+     ses esperances, et concourt a consoler, dans certains cas les
+     malheureuses victimes de l'injustice."
+
+Dr. Walsh says that tobacco used with coffee, after the Turkish
+fashion, "is singularly grateful to the taste, and refreshing to the
+spirits; counteracting the effects of fatigue and cold, and appeasing
+the cravings of hunger, as I have often experienced. Hearne, I think, in
+his journey to the mouth of the Coppermine river, mentions his
+experience of similar effects of tobacco. He had been frequently
+wandering without food for five or six days, in the most inclement
+weather, and supported it all, he says, in good health and spirits, by
+smoking tobacco, &c."[57] Willis, as quoted by Mons. Merat, recommends
+the use of tobacco in armies, as able to supply the necessaries of life
+to a great extent, and also as an excellent preventive against various
+diseases.[58] And Dr. Rush relates that he was informed by Colonel Burr,
+that the greatest complaints of dissatisfaction and suffering which he
+heard among the soldiers who accompanied General Arnold in his march
+from Boston to Quebec through the wilderness, in the year 1775, were
+from the want of tobacco. This was the more remarkable, as they were so
+destitute of provisions as to be obliged to kill and eat their dogs.[59]
+
+Tobacco possesses narcotic powers in common with many other substances,
+of which neither time nor space will permit us to make mention.
+Narcotics, when used to a due extent, become poisons, and hence tobacco
+holds a very high rank in toxicology. A thousand experiments, as well as
+accidents, show that it is a most deadly poison.[60] It has also been
+called a counterpoison, but those who have asserted this have been
+contradicted by numerous writers. Dr. Rush affirms that repeated
+experience in Philadelphia has proved, that it is equally ineffectual in
+preserving those who use it from the influenza and yellow fever. In the
+plague, it was said to be useful, but what has been advanced on this
+subject is now shown to be without much foundation. Still it may be said
+of tobacco, that though it does not contain any specific antidote to
+contagion, or possess antiseptic properties, it may nevertheless, as a
+powerful narcotic, by diminishing the sensibility of the system, render
+it less liable to contagion. It also moderates anxiety and fear, which
+we are told quicken the activity of contagion. "Thus," says Cullen, "the
+antiloimic powers of tobacco are upon the same footing with wine,
+brandy, and opium."[61]
+
+Dr. Fowler has written a treatise upon the effects of tobacco in the
+cure of dropsies and dysuries. The Doctor seemed determined to discover
+virtue in this plant, because he tells us in his preface, that he was
+nowise discouraged in his inquiries into the medicinal effects of
+tobacco, although the generality of writers on the materia medica have
+spoken of it with great caution and reserve, and for the most part have
+declared it either _obsolete_, or so _uncertain_, _violent_, and
+_deleterious_ in its effects, as to render its exhibition _unadvisable_.
+Dr. Cullen says that he employed tobacco in various cases of dropsy, but
+with very little success.[62] Even those who advocate the medicinal use
+of tobacco, admit that it is one of those violent remedies, which
+nothing but the most skilful management can render beneficial; such as
+arsenic, prussic acid, and many other deadly poisons, which, if
+cautiously and properly administered, become excellent medicines. Thus
+the liniment of tobacco, which has formerly been called one of the best
+in the dispensatory, is said, in a case mentioned by Mr. Murray, to have
+caused the deaths of three children, who expired within twenty-four
+hours in convulsions, in consequence of its application for scald head.
+Innumerable instances are given of its deleterious effects, even when
+used medicinally, and with the greatest caution. In some cases it has
+entirely failed to give the anticipated relief, and in others been
+followed by the most deplorable consequences. We believe, however, that
+eminent practitioners still continue to employ it, and find it
+serviceable in some diseases. We have indeed heard it remarked, by a
+distinguished physician, that much of the medicinal effect which might
+otherwise be derived from tobacco, is often lost by the habitual use of
+the article, which renders the system less sensible to its influence.
+
+As a vulnerary, tobacco was used by the Indians, and physicians say that
+it promotes the cicatrization and healing of inveterate ulcers. It has
+been used in most cutaneous disorders, and its smoke has been considered
+useful in rheumatisms, gout, chronic pains, &c.; but in all these cases
+its virtue has also been denied, or it has been asserted that many other
+medicines possess more certain efficacy. As an emetic it is considered
+dangerous, being extremely violent, and succeeded by too much distress
+and sickness. That it has been found useful in destroying insects, and
+in preserving old clothes laid by against the inroads of vermin, there
+can be no doubt; but on the mosquito and fly, two pests to whose cruel
+torments we are most exposed, it will be within the painful remembrance
+of many of our readers, that no quantity of tobacco smoke appears to
+have the least effect.
+
+Even though we admitted and could prove tobacco to be a useful medicine,
+still this fact would afford no argument in favour of its habitual use
+in a state of health. On the contrary, it would be the very reason for
+its non-use; for the habitual use will in time weaken and destroy its
+medicinal powers. Many, after finding or fancying relief from its
+occasional, have fallen into its habitual use, and the remedy has thus
+virtually proved worse than the disease. Besides, by this course,
+persons take away the hope of future benefit from the application, in
+case of a recurrence of their disorder.
+
+That this habit is entirely unevangelical, Dr. Clarke attempts to show
+with much zeal. Let those who profess to renounce the lusts of the flesh
+read his tract, and determine, conscientiously, how far his arguments
+are worthy of attention. That the devout "roll this sin as a sweet
+morsel under the tongue," is fully evinced by every day's experience;
+and the following anecdote from Dr. Clarke forms a good illustration of
+this text.
+
+     "An eminent physician," says he, "gave me the following
+     account:--'When I was at L----, in the year 1789, a certain
+     religious people at one of their annual meetings made a rule,
+     or rather revived one which had been long before made and
+     established among them by their venerable founder, but had been
+     in a great measure lost sight of, viz.--That no minister in
+     their connexion should use snuff or tobacco, unless prescribed
+     by a physician. This rule at once showed their prudence and
+     good sense. Towards the conclusion of the meeting, having
+     offered my assistance to as many as stood in need of medical
+     help, several of them consulted me on the subject of taking
+     tobacco in one form or other; and with very little variation
+     their mode of address was as follows:--'Doctor, I am troubled
+     frequently with such a complaint, (naming it,) I take tobacco,
+     and have found great benefit from the use of it; I am sure were
+     I to give it up I should be very ill indeed; and I am certain
+     that you are too wise and too skilful a man to desire me to
+     discontinue a practice which has been so beneficial to me.'
+     After such an address what could I say? It was spoken with
+     serious concern, and was properly _argumentum ad hominem_: I
+     knew they were sincere, but I knew also they were deceived:
+     however, to the major part of them I ventured to speak thus:
+     'gentlemen, you certainly do me honour in the confidence you
+     repose in my skill, but you have brought me into a dilemma from
+     which I cannot easily extricate myself; as I find I must either
+     say as you say on the subject, or else renounce all pretensions
+     to wisdom and medical skill. However, I cannot in conscience
+     and honour prescribe to you the continued use of a thing which
+     I know does many of you immense hurt.'"
+
+But the anti-christian nature of this habit is placed in a very strong
+light, in a curious passage, by Dr. Rush.[63] "What reception," says he,
+"may we suppose, would the apostles have met with, had they carried into
+the cities and houses to which they were sent, snuff-boxes, pipes,
+segars, and bundles of cut, or rolls of hog, or pigtail tobacco?"
+
+The effects of tobacco upon the morals have been often animadverted
+upon, and in no particular more frequently, and with greater emphasis,
+than in its obvious tendency to promote temulency. Charlevoix intimates
+the near connexion which exists between intemperance and smoking, when
+he assures us, that amongst many nations, to smoke out of the same pipe
+in token of alliance, is the same thing as to drink out of the same
+cup.[64]
+
+"Smoking and chewing tobacco," says Rush, "by rendering water and simple
+liquors insipid to the taste, dispose very much to the stronger stimulus
+of ardent spirits. The practice of smoking segars has, in every part of
+our country, been more followed by a general use of brandy and water as
+a common drink, more especially by that class of citizens who have not
+been in the habit of drinking wine or malt liquors."[65] "One of the
+greatest sots I ever knew," says the same author, "acquired a love for
+ardent spirits by swallowing cuds of tobacco, which he did to escape
+detection in the use of it; for he had contracted the habit of chewing,
+contrary to the advice and commands of his father. He died of a dropsy
+under my care, in the year 1780."[66] On this subject, a very late
+writer is still more express. "We consider tobacco," says he, "closely
+allied to intoxicating liquors, and its confirmed votaries as a species
+of drunkards." Again. "I have observed that persons who are much
+addicted to liquor, have an inordinate liking to tobacco in all its
+different forms; and it is remarkable, that in the early stages of
+ebriety, almost every man is desirous of having a pinch of snuff. This
+last fact it is not easy to explain; but the former may be accounted for
+by that incessant craving after excitement, which clings to the system
+of the confirmed drunkard."[67]
+
+The limits of our article will not allow us to embrace all the
+considerations which belong to this subject, and which have been
+bestowed upon it by various writers. We will therefore proceed to the
+few remarks which we have to make upon the three chief modes of using
+tobacco, viz., snuffing, smoking, and chewing. Catherine de Medicis, the
+personage said to have prompted the horrible massacre of St.
+Bartholomew's day at Paris, is commonly regarded as the inventress of
+snuff-taking. In Russia and Persia the penalty of death was annexed to
+the use of tobacco in every form except that of snuff. For this lighter
+offence, the punishment was softened down to simple mutilation, no
+greater severity being deemed necessary than that of cutting off the
+nose. We doubt exceedingly whether either penalty would deter the
+inveterate snuff-takers of the present day. Indeed, we are told
+somewhere that it was very common among the Persians to expatriate
+themselves, when they were no longer allowed to indulge in tobacco in
+their native country. One of the first effects of snuff is to injure the
+nerves of the nose, which are endowed with exquisite sensibility, and of
+which an incredible number are spread over the inner membrane of the
+nostrils. This membrane is lubricated by a secretion, which has a
+tendency to preserve the sense. By the almost caustic acrimony of snuff,
+the mucus is dried up, and the organ of smelling becomes perfectly
+callous. The consequence is, that all the pleasure we are capable of
+deriving from the olfactory organs, the _omnis copia narium_, as Horace
+curiously terms it, is totally destroyed. Similar effects are also
+produced upon the saliva, and hence it is that habitual snuff-takers are
+often unable to speak with proper distinctness; and the sense of taste
+for the same reason is very much obtunded. A snuffer may always be
+distinguished by a certain nasal twang--an asthmatic wheezing--and a
+sort of disagreeable noise in respiration, which is nearly allied to
+incipient snoring. Snuff also frequently occasions fleshy excrescences
+in the nose, which, in some instances, end in polypi. Individuals have
+oftentimes a predisposition to cancer in little scirrhous
+intumescencies, which, if kept easy and free from every thing of an
+irritating character, will continue harmless, but which the use of snuff
+sometimes frets into incurable ulcers and cancers. By the use of snuff,
+tumours are also generated in the throat, which obstruct deglutition,
+and even destroy life. Dr. Hill saw a female die of hunger, who could
+swallow no nourishment because of a polypus which closed up the stomach,
+the formation of which was attributed to the excessive use of snuff.
+Some portion of the snuff will involuntarily find its way into the
+stomach, where its pernicious properties soon manifest themselves, being
+frequently followed by nausea, vomitings, loss of appetite, and impaired
+digestion. The drain of the juices has a tendency to injure the muscles
+of the face, to render them flaccid, to furrow and corrugate the skin,
+and to give a gaunt, withered, and jaundiced appearance to "the human
+face divine."
+
+We are also informed that it embrowns the complexion, by withdrawing
+those peculiar secretions which communicate the fine vermillion hue of
+beauty. In our country, however, women do not abandon themselves to this
+impure habit, till they are married, and have no farther desire to
+please, or till they are somewhat _passées_, and find their faculties of
+pleasing impaired. What a death-blow does snuffing give to all that
+romance with which it is the interest of refined society to invest the
+fair sex! How vulgar the thought "that a sneeze should interrupt a
+sigh!"--How unpoetical is snuff! The most suitable verses which a lover
+could address to a snuff-taking mistress, would be imitations of
+Horace's lines to the Sorceress Canidia. What sylph would superintend
+the conveyance of this dust to the nostrils of a belle? What Gnome would
+not take a fiendish delight in hovering over a pipe-loving beauty?
+
+"The only advantage," says Dr. Leake, "of taking snuff, is that of
+sneezing, which, in sluggish phlegmatic habits, will give universal
+concussion to the body, and promote a more free circulation of the
+blood; but of this benefit snuff-takers are deprived, from being
+familiar with its use." When the stimulus of snuff ceases to be
+sufficient, recourse is immediately had to certain admixtures, by which
+the necessary excitement is procured; thus pepper, euphorbium,
+hellebore, and even pulverised glass, are made use of to give it
+additional pungency. Snuffing is also a frequent cause of blindness.
+Nature has appointed certain fluids to nourish and preserve the eye,
+which, if withdrawn, cause the sight to become prematurely old, impaired
+by weakness, and sometimes totally destroyed. We are also told that it
+dries up and blackens the brain, and gives the stomach a yellow hue;[68]
+that it injures the moral faculties, impairs the memory, and, indeed,
+debilitates all the intellectual powers, and that it taints the breath
+"with the rank odour of a tobacco cask." "We read in the Ephemerides des
+Curieux de la Nature, that a person fell into a state of somnolency, and
+died apoplectic, in consequence of having taken by the nose too great a
+quantity of snuff."[69] In fine, snuffing is said to bring on
+convulsions, promote pulmonary consumption, and to cause madness and
+death! Napoleon is thought to have owed his death to a morbid state of
+stomach, superinduced by snuffing to excess. Dr. Rush relates that Sir
+John Pringle was afflicted with tremors in his hands, and had his memory
+impaired by the use of snuff; when, on abandoning the habit, at the
+instance of Dr. Franklin, he found his power of recollection restored,
+and he recovered the use of his hands.[70]
+
+When the habit of snuffing is once contracted, it becomes almost
+impossible to divest ourselves of it. It becomes as necessary as food,
+or any of those first wants of life "quibus negatis natura doleat." The
+following story we translate from a French medical writer:--
+
+     "I recollect, about twenty years since, while gathering simples
+     one day in the Forest of Fontainebleau, I encountered a man
+     stretched out upon the ground; I supposed him to be dead, when,
+     upon approaching, he asked in a feeble voice if I had some
+     snuff; on my replying in the negative, he sunk back
+     immediately, almost in a state of insensibility. In this
+     condition he remained till I brought a person who gave him
+     several pinches, and he then informed us that he had commenced
+     his journey that morning, supposing he had his snuff-box with
+     him, but found very soon he had started without it; that he had
+     travelled as long as he was able, till at last, overcome by
+     distress, he found it impossible to proceed any farther, and
+     without my timely succour he would have certainly
+     perished."[71]
+
+The consumption of time and great expense of this artificial habit,
+almost surpass belief. "A man who takes a pinch of snuff every twenty
+minutes," says Dr. Rush, "(which most habitual snuffers do), and snuffs
+fifteen hours in four-and-twenty, (allowing him to consume not quite
+half a minute every time he uses the box,) will waste about five whole
+days of every year of his life in this useless and unwholesome practice.
+But when we add to the profitable use to which this time might have been
+applied, the expenses of tobacco, pipes, snuff, and spitting boxes--and
+of the injuries which are done to the clothing, during a whole life, the
+aggregate sum would probably amount to several hundred dollars. To a
+labouring man this would be a decent portion for a son or daughter,
+while the same sum saved by a man in affluent circumstances, would have
+enabled him, by a contribution to a public charity, to have lessened a
+large portion of the ignorance or misery of mankind." But Lord Stanhope
+makes a far more liberal estimate than Dr. Rush; "Every professed,
+inveterate, and incurable snuff-taker," says he, "at a moderate
+computation, takes one pinch in ten minutes. Every pinch, with the
+agreeable ceremony of blowing and wiping the nose, and other incidental
+circumstances, consumes a minute and a half. One minute and a half out
+of every ten, allowing sixteen hours to a snuff-taking day, amounts to
+two hours and twenty-four minutes out of every natural day, or one day
+of every ten. One day out of ten amounts to thirty six days and a half
+in a year. Hence, if we suppose the practice to be persisted in forty
+years, two entire years of the snuff-taker's life will be devoted to
+tickling his nose, and two more to blowing it." The same author proposes
+in a subsequent essay to show, that from the expense of snuff,
+snuff-boxes, and handkerchiefs, a fund might be formed to pay off the
+English National debt!
+
+The subject of snuffing having employed more of our time than we
+anticipated, the two following heads of smoking and chewing will be more
+briefly noticed. On the subject of smoking, Mr. Beloe has preserved the
+following old epigram.[72]
+
+    "We buy the dryest wood that we can finde,
+    And willingly would leave the smoke behinde:
+    But in tobacco a thwart course we take
+    Buying the herb only for the smoke's sake."
+
+Smoking was the earliest mode of using tobacco,[73] (as might be
+inferred from the epigram) and for a long time the only mode in which it
+was used in Europe. Certainly in our day it is the most general, and at
+the same time the most expensive, and although several rivals contend
+with Sir Walter Ralegh for the praise of having introduced tobacco into
+England, yet the "bright honour" of having taught his countrymen to
+imitate the Indians, in this particular, he "wears without corrival."
+Almost all the arguments which have been employed against the use of
+tobacco as a sternutatory, are more or less applicable to it when used
+in the way of fumigation.[74] Good old Cotton Mather, who was fully
+aware of the disadvantages as well as sinfulness of this habit,
+deprecates it with a qualification at which it is impossible to repress
+a smile. It savours so much of "beating the Devil round a bush." Thus he
+says--"May God preserve me from the indecent, ignoble, criminal slavery,
+to the mean delight of smoking a weed, which I see so many carried away
+with. And _if_ ever I should smoke it, let me be so wise as to do it,
+not only with moderation, but also with such employment of my mind, as I
+may make that action afford me a leisure for!"[75]
+
+The effects of smoking on the breath, clothes, hair, and indeed the
+whole body, are most offensive. What is more overpowering than the stale
+smell remaining in a room where several persons have been smoking? When
+the practice is carried to excess, it causes the gums to become lax and
+flabby, and to recede from the discoloured teeth, which appear long,
+unsightly, and at length drop out. Dr. Rush, in his "Account of the life
+and death of Edward Drinker," tells us that that individual lost all his
+teeth by drawing the hot smoke of tobacco into his mouth. By the waste
+of saliva, and the narcotic power of tobacco, the digestive powers are
+impaired, and "every kind of dyspeptic symptoms," says Cullen, "are
+produced."[76] King James does not forget to note this habit as a breach
+of good manners. "It is a great vanitie and uncleannesse," says he,
+"that at the table, a place of respect, of cleanlinesse, of modestie,
+men should not be ashamed to sit tossing pipes, and puffing of the smoke
+of tobacco one to another, making the filthy smoke and stinke thereof to
+exhale athwart the dishes and infect the aire, when very often men that
+abhorre it, are at their repast."
+
+We come now to the subject of chewing. Whether the rock goat, the filthy
+animal to which we have before adverted, or the tobacco worm, first
+taught imitative man to masticate tobacco, we are ignorant. One thing,
+however, is most certain, that of all modes of using it, chewing seems
+most vulgar and ungentlemanlike, and it is worthy of particular remark,
+that in our country it is more used in this manner, among the better
+class of society, than in any other part of the world.[77] All the worst
+effects which have been ascribed to it in the two former modes of using
+it, are, with increased severity, imputed to chewing. But tobacco used
+in this form is said to diminish hunger. "We have been told," says Dr.
+Leake, "that tobacco, when chewed, is a preservative against hunger; but
+this is a vulgar error, for in reality it may more properly be said to
+destroy appetite by the profuse discharge of saliva, which is a powerful
+dissolving fluid, essential both to appetite and digestion." In the use
+of the quid, or cud, accidents sometimes happen from swallowing
+portions, which must needs be very hurtful. Chewers are often taken by
+surprise, and rather than be detected in the unclean practice, they
+will, with Spartan fortitude, endure the horrible agonies of swallowing
+the juice, and sometimes even the quid itself. But we must close our
+remarks upon this vile habit, which we do by the following quotation
+from a French writer. "Quant a la coutume de chiquer le tabac, elle est
+bornée, je crois, à un petit nombre d'individus grossiers, et le plus
+souvent voués a des habitudes crapuleuses, du moins si j'en juge par
+ceux que j'y vois livrés." We take the liberty of referring tobacco
+chewers to Dr. Clark's treatise, (p. 24,) for a quotation he makes from
+Simon Paulli, physician to the King of Denmark, who wrote a treatise on
+the danger of using this herb, and also to a note at the foot of the
+page, both which we are unwilling to repeat.
+
+We are almost prepared to assert, that there is scarcely a conceivable
+mode of applying tobacco to the human body, which has not been thought
+of and practised. In former times, it was used by the oculists. Howell
+says "that it is good to fortify and preserve the sight, the smoak being
+let in round about the balls once a week, &c." We have even known snuff
+to be blown into the eyes to cure inflammation. This latter remedy
+should be somewhat perilous, if what Sauvages relates be true, that a
+female was thrown into a catalepsy by a small portion of snuff which had
+accidentally entered her eye. The Rev. S. Wesley, speaking of the abuse
+of tobacco, intimates an apprehension that the human ear will not long
+remain exempted from its application.
+
+    "To such a height with some is fashion grown,
+    They feed their very nostrils with a spoon,[78]
+    One, and but one degree is wanting yet,
+    To make their senseless luxury complete;
+    Some choice regale, useless as snuff and dear,
+    To feed the mazy windings of the ear."
+
+Now, as a medicine, at least, it has been used for the ear; for Sir Hans
+Sloan positively affirms that the "oyl or juice dropped into the ear is
+good against deafness."[79] Another mode of using tobacco, and not very
+common we hope, is what is called plugging, that is, thrusting long
+pellets or rolls of tobacco up the nose, and keeping them there during
+the night. As a dentifrice it is used in many parts of the world. We
+have had an opportunity of witnessing this fact in various parts of
+South America, but especially in Brazil, where respectable women do not
+scruple openly to use tobacco for this purpose. We have known several
+very respectable individuals of both sexes in our own country, who use
+snuff as a tooth powder, and with them its employment was just as much a
+habit as any other mode of using tobacco. These have been generally West
+Indians, or persons who have resided much in the West India islands. In
+some of our southern states, tobacco is much used among the ladies as a
+dentifrice. Indeed there appears to prevail generally, a very strong
+opinion, that it is an excellent preservative of the teeth, which is
+certainly an error; though we think it probable that the stimulus of
+tobacco, to those who use it in excess, may become in a certain degree
+necessary to their preservation.
+
+Tobacco is truly a leveller. It equalizes the monarch and the hind, and
+is acceptable to the sage as well as the sailor. "Its smoke," says
+Thomson, "rising in clouds from the idolatrous altar of the native
+Mexican, opened the world of spirits to his delirious imagination,"
+while it has "even assisted in extending the boundaries of intellect, by
+aiding the contemplations of the Christian philosopher." If we advert
+to the irrefragable proofs of the virulent properties of this plant, and
+the various arguments which have been urged against its habitual use, we
+cannot fail to be struck with the extraordinary fact, that so large a
+portion of mankind should voluntarily struggle through its repugnant
+qualities, both of taste and effect, until by habit its stimulus grows
+pleasurable, and the system becomes mithridated against its poison! It
+would almost seem as if the use of some substance of this class were
+necessary to the intellectual and physical economy of man, since no
+nation nor age, of which we have any account, has been found without. Of
+the various masticatories which have been in general use, if we except
+opium, tobacco is unquestionably the most pernicious. Although its
+moderate use may not shorten life, or prove perceptibly hurtful to
+health, yet its excessive employment certainly generates many formidable
+disorders, particularly of the nerves and stomach, and subjects its
+votary to innumerable inconveniences and sufferings. Our space will not
+permit us to expatiate any further; and we shall therefore conclude our
+article by relating from Rush a very interesting anecdote of Dr.
+Franklin, which places the common-sense view of this matter in the
+strongest possible light. _A few months before Franklin's death, he
+declared to one of his friends, that he had never used tobacco in the
+course of his long life, and that he was disposed to believe there was
+not much advantage to be derived from it, for that he had never known a
+man who used it, who advised him to follow his example._
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[16] Epistolæ Hoelianæ, p. 405.
+
+[17] Critical and Historical Dictionary, article Thorius.
+
+[18] Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy, fol. p. 235.
+
+[19] King James's Works, fol. p. 214.
+
+[20] Hist. North America, vol. i. p. 322.--See also Hennepin's Voyages,
+p. 93 et seq.
+
+[21] Stith's Hist. of Virginia, p. 19.
+
+[22] Sloan's Nat. Hist. Jamaica, vol. i. p. 147.
+
+[23] This hiatus we are in some measure able to supply from a note in
+the Appendix to Mrs. Thomson's Life of Ralegh, (Note B. Notices
+concerning Tobacco by Dr. Thomson,) p. 458. "In the Mexican or Aztuk
+tongue, it is called _yetle_; in Algonkin, _sema_; in the Huron,
+_ayougoua_; in the Peruvian, it is _sayri_; in Chiquito, _pais_; in
+Vilela, _tusup_; Albaja, _nalodagadi_; Moxo, _sabare_; Omagua, _potema_;
+Tumanac, _cavai_; Mayhure, _jema_; and in the Cabre, _sena_. The other
+synonymes are, _tabac_, in French; _tabak_, in German, Dutch, and
+Polish; _tobak_, in Swedish and Danish; _tobaco_, Spanish and
+Portuguese; and _tobacco_ in the Italian. In the Oriental languages,--it
+is _tambacu_, in Hindostanee; _tamracutta_, in Sanscrit; _pogheielly_,
+in Tamool; _tambracco_, in the Malay tongue; _tambracco_, in Javanese;
+_doorkoole_, in Cingalese; and _bujjerhony_, in Arabic."
+
+[24] Nat. Hist. Jam. vol. i. p. 147.
+
+[25] Dr. Tobias Venner, in his "Treatise of Tobacco," at the end of his
+curious old work, entitled, "Via recta ad longam vitam," says
+humorously, that petum is the "fittest name that both we and other
+nations may call it by, deriving it of peto, for it is far-fetched and
+much desired." p. 386.
+
+[26] This Harriot, or Herriot, was a distinguished mathematician, and
+the instructer of Ralegh, in whom both himself and the celebrated
+Richard Hakluyt, the industrious and indefatigable compiler of voyages,
+found a liberal friend and patron.--Mrs. A. T. Thomson's Life of Sir W.
+Ralegh, pp. 46 and 48.
+
+[27] Stith, p. 17.
+
+[28] "Le Cardinal de Sainte Croix, nonce en Portugal, et Nicholas
+Tornabon, legat en France, l'introduisent en Italie ou elle reçut les
+noms d'herbe de Sainte Croix, et de Tornabonne; elle a encore porté
+d'autres noms fondés sur des proprietés vraies ou supposées, ou sur la
+haute idée qu'on avait de ses vertus: c'est ainsi qu'on l'a appelée
+Buglose ou Panacée Antarctique, Herbe Sainte ou Sacrée, Herbe a tous
+maux, Jusquiame du Peron," &c. &c. Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales,
+Art. Tabac, par Mons. Merat.
+
+[29] Article Santa Croce, where they are attributed to Victor Duranti.
+
+[30] M. Merat ut supra.
+
+[31] Jefferson's Notes on Virginia, p. 62.
+
+[32] Robertson's Hist. of America, vol. iv. p. 97.
+
+[33] It is said that Ralegh used to give smoking parties at his house,
+where his guests were treated with nothing but a pipe, a mug of ale, and
+a nutmeg.--Thomson's Life of Ralegh, p. 471.
+
+[34] Ralph Lane was lieutenant of the fleet of Sir Richard Grenville,
+which had been sent to Virginia by Sir Walter Ralegh, in 1585, where he
+was made governor.--Hakluyt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 251.
+
+[35] Camden has the following passage: "Et hi reduces," speaking of
+those survivers who were carried home by Drake, "Indicam illam plantam,
+quam tabaccam vocant et nicotiam, qua contra cruditates, ab Indis
+edocti, usi erant, in Angliam primi quod sciam, intulerunt. Ex illo sane
+tempore usu coepit esse creberrimo, et magno pretio, dum quamplurimi
+graveolentem illius fumum, alii lascivientes, alii valetudini
+consulentes, per tubulum testaceum inexplebili aviditate passim hauriunt
+et mox e naribus efflant; adeo ut tabernæ tabacanæ non minus quam
+cervisiariæ et vinariæ," beer-houses and grog-shops, we presume, "passim
+per oppida habeantur. Ut Anglorum corpora (quod salse ille dixit) qui
+hac planta tantopere delectantur in barbarorum naturam degenerasse
+videantur; cum iisdem quibus barbari delectentur et sanari se posse
+credant."--Camdeni Ann. Rer. Anglican. p. 415.
+
+[36] These valuables are thus described in a note to Cayley's Life of
+Sir Walter Ralegh, vol. i. p. 81. "Among Thoresby's artificial
+curiosities, we have Sir W. Ralegh's tobacco-box, as it was called, but
+is rather the case for the glass wherein it was preserved, which was
+surrounded with small wax candles of various colours. This is of gilded
+leather, like a muff-case, about half a foot broad and thirteen inches
+high, and hath cases for sixteen pipes in it.--Ducatus Leodensis, fol.
+1715, p. 485."
+
+[37] Ralegh is believed to have introduced the culture of the potato, as
+well as tobacco, into Ireland. The latter on his own estate at Youghal,
+in the county of Cork.
+
+[38] Universal Geography, vol. iii. p. 223.
+
+[39] Appendix, p. 466.
+
+[40] King James's Works, fol. from page 214 to 222.
+
+[41] Naturall and Morall Historie of the Indies, p. 289.
+
+[42] Silva Silvarum--Lassitude.
+
+[43] History of life and death. Lord Bacon's Works, vol. iii. p. 377.
+
+[44] Howell's Epist. Hoel. or Familiar Letters, p. 405.
+
+[45] In the TEXNODAMIA or Marriage of the Arts, by Barten Holiday, 1680,
+there is a singular poem on the subject of Tobacco, where, in successive
+stanzas, if is compared to a musician, a lawyer, a physician, a
+traveller, a crittike, an ignis fatuus, and a whyffler. Beloe's
+Sketches, vol. ii. p. 10.
+
+[46] Notes on Virginia, pp. 278, 279.
+
+[47] Davies' Hist. of the Carriby Islands, fol. p. 192.
+
+[48] Ramazzini also says that the breath of those who labour at tobacco
+is intolerably offensive, "efficit, ut tabacariarum semper foeteant
+animæ."
+
+[49] "Tanta enim ex illâ tritura partium tenuim," says Ramazzini,
+"æstate præsertim, diffunditur exhalatio, ut tota vicinia tabaci odorem,
+non sine querimonia, et nausea persentiat."
+
+[50] Puellam hebræam novi, quæ tota die explicandas placentas istas ex
+tabaco incumbens, magnum ad vomitum irritamentum sentiebat, et
+frequenter alvi subductiones patiebatur, mihique narrabat, vasa
+hemorroidalia multum sanguinis profudisse, cum super placentas illas
+sederet.
+
+[51] Tourtel, in his Elémens d'Hygiène tom. ii. p. 410, assures us it is
+very dangerous to sleep in tobacco magazines. He cites an observation of
+Buchoz, who says that a little girl, five years old, was seized with
+frightful vomitings, and expired in a very short time from this sole
+cause.
+
+[52] This memoir is entitled "Influence du tabac sur la santé des
+ouvriers," and is published in the "Annales d'hygiène publique et de
+medecine legale," first volume, April, 1829--p. 169.
+
+[53] Mather's Christian Philosopher, p. 128.
+
+[54] M. Merat.
+
+[55] Rush's Essays, p. 261.
+
+[56] Flore Medicale, tom. six. p. 205.
+
+[57] Journey from Constantinople to England, p. 4.
+
+[58] Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales. Art. Tabac.
+
+[59] Essays, p. 267.
+
+[60] Brodie, Macartney, &c. See also Nancrede's Orfila, p. 289.
+
+[61] Materia Medica, vol. ii. p. 197.
+
+[62] Mat. Med. vol. ii. p. 198.
+
+[63] Essays, p. 271.
+
+[64] Hist. N. America, vol. i. p. 322.
+
+[65] Rush's Works, vol. i. p. 167.
+
+[66] Essays, p. 270.
+
+[67] Macnish's Anatomy of Drunkenness, p. 83.
+
+[68] "Qu'on ne pense pas, malgré l'usage immense et presque general du
+tabac, qu'il n'y ait aucun inconvenient a s'en servir. Les auteurs
+rapportent des faits qui prouvent le contraire, et sans ajouter foi a ce
+que raconte Borrichius (dans un lettre ecrite a Bartholin) d'une
+personne qui s'etait tellement desséché le cerveau a force de prendre du
+tabac, qu'aprés sa mort, on ne lui trouva dans le crâne, au lieu
+d'encephale, qu'un petit grumeau noir; ni meme à ce que dit Simon Pauli,
+que ceux qui fument trop de tabac ont le cerveau et la crâne tout noirs,
+nonplus qu'a l'assertion de Van Helmont qui a vu, affirme-t-il, un
+estomac teint enjaune par la vapeur du tabac; tout le monde sait qu'il
+affaiblit l'odorat par suite de ses irritations répétées sur la membrane
+olfactive, qu'il nuit a l'integrité du gout, parce qu'il en passe
+toujours un peu dans la bouche et jusque sur la langue. Ce que l'on
+n'ignore pas nonplus c'est qu'il dérange la memoire, la rends moins
+nette, moins entière; il produit de plus des vertiges, des céphalées et
+meme l'apoplexie."--_Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, art. Tabac._
+
+[69] Orfila's Toxicology, p. 291.
+
+[70] Essays, p. 265.
+
+[71] M. Merat.
+
+[72] Sketches of Literature and Scarce books, vol. ii. p. 130.
+
+[73] Mr. Brodigan, in his treatise on the tobacco plant, quotes
+Herodotus, Strabo, Pomponius Mela, and Solinus, to prove that _tobacco_
+was smoked in very ancient times, but the passages merely go to show
+that the smoking of _herbs_ was common.
+
+[74] Venner gives ten precepts on the manner in which tobacco is to be
+used, and afterwards summarily rehearses the consequences to all who use
+it contrary to the order and way he sets down; viz. that "it drieth the
+brain, dimmeth the sight, vitiateth the smell, dulleth and dejecteth
+both the appitite and stomach, destroyeth the concoction, disturbeth the
+humours and spirits, corrupteth the breath, induceth a trembling of the
+limbs, exsiccateth the wind-pipe, lungs, and liver, annoyeth the milt,
+scorcheth the heart, and causeth the blood to be adusted. Moreover it
+eliquateth the pinguie substance of the kidneys, and absumeth the
+geniture. In a word, it overthroweth the spirits, perverteth the
+understanding, and confoundeth the sences with a sudden astonishment and
+stupiditie of the whole body." Via recta ad longam vitam. p. 404.
+
+[75] Christian Philosopher, p. 136.
+
+[76] Materia Medica, vol. ii. p. 196.
+
+[77] In many parts of Europe it is almost impossible for a tobacco
+chewer to be regarded as a gentleman.
+
+[78] The fashionable snuff-taker was formerly accustomed to dip up the
+snuff with a little spoon or ladle, "which ever and anon he gave his
+nose."
+
+[79] Natural Hist. Jam. vol. i. p. 147.
+
+
+
+
+ART. VII.--_Voyages and Discoveries of the Companions of Columbus._ By
+WASHINGTON IRVING: Philadelphia: Carey & Lea: 1831.
+
+
+When we noticed, three years since, a former production of Mr. Irving,
+we took occasion to express an opinion of its merits, which has been
+fully confirmed. No work of the present era appears to have afforded
+more general and unmingled gratification to its readers, than his Life
+of Columbus; and he has received, in the approbation, not only of his
+own countrymen, but of Europeans, the most gratifying reward an author
+can desire. The fame which he had acquired, and that most justly, by the
+happy works of fiction in which he was introduced to the public, is now
+changed into one of higher character; and he becomes entitled to take
+his stand among those writers who have done more than amuse the fancy,
+or even gratify the heart. He is to be classed with the historians of
+great events; for if the period of which he has treated is limited, or
+the persons whose actions he has described are not numerous, yet the one
+included within it, short as it was, circumstances that have produced an
+effect which long ages have not always surpassed in importance or
+wonderful consequences; and the others embrace individuals whose actions
+have more deeply affected the human race than many of the revolutions of
+great and populous nations.
+
+Having these feelings in regard to the former work of Mr. Irving, we
+open the present volume with mingled apprehension and pleasure. We
+rejoice that we are to follow again the same guide in adventurous
+voyages among the clustering Antilles; but we almost fear that the
+narrative may want much of that interest, novelty, and beauty, which
+make the story of Columbus among the most attractive ever recorded. The
+followers of the Admiral were, it is true, brave, adventurous, gallant
+men; the skies beneath which they sailed were as blue, clear, and
+tranquil as when he first admired their delightful serenity; the islands
+they visited were as flowery and as fertile as when they first blessed
+the sight of the enterprising sailor; if the iron hand of Christian
+civilization had, here and there, broken down the gentle and benevolent
+spirit of the naked beings who wandered through a life of inglorious
+bliss, in their remote and peaceful regions, there were yet haunts
+undiscovered where they might roam in undisturbed security--there were
+yet bays over which they might dart unobstructed their light
+canoes--green and shady forests beneath which they might chant their
+songs, and rich valleys not yet searched for gold. But yet with all
+this, he, the master spirit, is no longer among the voyagers. There is
+no longer the novelty of a vast discovery. The way has been opened by
+the daring pioneer, and we are now only to follow in the plain track his
+genius conceived, discovered, and marked out. We can merely watch the
+footsteps of those who followed the triumphal chariot; the hero of the
+ovation has already passed along, and our eyes are still dazzled with
+his splendour--our minds are still filled with admiration of his genius,
+his enterprise, his undaunted and noble spirit. We are to turn from
+those loftier efforts of human intellect and perseverance, which mark,
+now and then, a human being, as a beacon in the midst of his fellow men,
+to the more common, though it is true, the bold and spirited adventures
+which attend the fortunes of many in the career of life. The story of
+these adventures is indeed full of interest, but it is an interest less
+in degree; and we can no more venture to compare it with that which
+attends the actions and fortunes of him who seeks and finds a new world,
+than we can compare the patient inquirer, who nightly searches through
+his telescope for new stars in the vast firmament, with him who
+proclaimed and proved the theory of the universe--than we can see in
+every military exploit of Parmenio and Seleucus, the master spirit that
+planned and effected the subjugation of the world.
+
+Yet the pen which has described with so much felicity the life of
+Columbus, cannot fail to impart great attraction to an account of those
+who followed in the career they had commenced with him; who were
+emboldened by the energy they had witnessed, and the success in which
+they had partaken; and who completed the discovery of those regions,
+which he was permitted scarcely to see, and of whose vast extent he had
+no conception. While they were yet his associates, these voyagers had
+become acquainted with the pearl fisheries of Paria and Cubaga; they
+learned to believe that they had approached the confines of the golden
+regions of the east, described by the ancients in glowing colours; and
+they had heard something of a vast ocean to the south, in which they
+expected to find the oriental islands of spice and perfumes. All that
+they thus collected from tradition or partial observation, they
+treasured up to form the groundwork of schemes for future adventures,
+which they might pursue for the purposes of individual gain, or from
+motives of individual ambition, when no longer sailing under the ensign
+of their great commander. The more selfish objects of these exploits,
+their want of connexion with the lofty views that inspired Columbus, the
+comparatively small scale on which they were conducted, gave to them a
+sort of daring and chivalrous character, which much resembles the
+warfare of the predatory nobles of Europe during the middle ages. While
+they were as far removed from the treacherous rapine of the buccaneers,
+as the inroads of the armed bands of knights were from the secret
+attacks of the robber and assassin; they were yet the offspring of
+personal interest, and were distinguished by innumerable incidents of
+personal valour. They offered new fields where the burning desire for
+romantic achievement might be gratified; and the old spirit of Castile,
+which no longer found scope among the fastnesses of Andalusia, or the
+rich valleys of Granada, was delighted to embark on the waves of an
+ocean scarcely known, and to seek beyond it wealth and glory in golden
+regions, of which the discovery had already made one man the object of
+unmingled admiration and applause.
+
+Of these voyagers, the first to whom Mr. Irving directs our attention is
+_Alonzo de Ojeda_--a man whose daring exploits, enterprising spirit, and
+headlong valour, cannot be forgotten by those who have already read the
+History of Columbus. He was his companion in the second voyage, and, it
+may be remembered, attracted the admiration of the bold cacique Caonabo,
+who paid that reverence to his undaunted prowess, which he refused to
+the superior rank of Columbus. Whether his restless and ambitious spirit
+could not bear the control of a superior, or whether he had formed,
+during the voyage he had made, some plan of individual enterprise, he
+did not accompany the admiral in his subsequent expeditions. He could
+not, however, long endure the irksome life of a courtier; and he could
+less bear to hear, without desiring to partake of the discoveries which
+were announced by every returning vessel, of new coasts and islands,
+abounding with drugs, spices, precious stones, and pearls, said to
+surpass in size and clearness those gathered in the East. Through the
+influence of a relative, he obtained the patronage of the bishop Don
+Juan Rodriguez Fonseca, who had the chief management of the affairs of
+the Indies, and was permitted to fit out an expedition to visit any
+territories in the new world, except such as appertained to Portugal, or
+such as had been discovered in the name of Spain previous to the year
+1495. The latter part of the exception being craftily intended to leave
+open to him the coast and pearl fisheries of Paria, notwithstanding the
+rights reserved to Columbus. Destitute of wealth, the young adventurer
+contrived, by his reputation for boldness and enterprise, and by his
+confident promises of rich rewards, to obtain money from the merchants
+of Seville. He united with him as associates, _Juan de la Cosa_, a hardy
+veteran who had already navigated the new seas with the admiral, and
+_Amerigo Vespucci_, who seems then to have been distinguished by little
+but a roving disposition and a broken fortune, but who is now known from
+the accident which has forever attached his name to the discoveries of
+Columbus.
+
+Ojeda sailed from Port St. Mary on the 20th of May 1499; he reached land
+on the coast of Surinam; thence he steered along the shore of South
+America, passed and beheld with wonder the mouths of the mighty rivers
+that there flow into the Atlantic, and first landed among the natives on
+the island of Trinidad. He then kept his course along the coast of Terra
+Firma, until he arrived at Maracapana, where he unloaded and careened
+his vessels, and built a small brigantine. He found the natives
+hospitable and well disposed, but differing greatly in character from
+the gentle and peaceful inhabitants of the islands within the gulf. They
+were tall, well made, and vigorous; expert with the bow, the lance, and
+the buckler, and ready for the wars in which they delighted to engage.
+The martial spirit of Ojeda was soon roused, and he readily proffered
+his aid to the savages, in an expedition against a hostile tribe of
+cannibals, in a neighbouring island. As soon as his ships were refitted,
+he attacked and defeated, with great slaughter, the savage warriors,
+who, decorated with coronets of gaudy plumes, their bodies painted, and
+armed with bows, arrows, and lances, gallantly met and resolutely fought
+him on the beach. He then pursued his voyage along the coast, passed the
+island of Curacoa, and penetrated into the deep gulf to the south. On
+the eastern shore he found an Indian village which struck him with
+surprise. The houses were built on piles, and the communication was
+carried on in canoes. From these resemblances to the Italian city, he
+called it Venezuela, or little Venice, a name it still bears, and which
+is now extended to the bay and the province around. The natives made a
+treacherous attack on Ojeda, but manning his boats, the gallant Spaniard
+charged among the thickest of the enemy, and soon drove them to the
+shore, whence they fled into the woods. Not desiring to cause useless
+irritation, he continued his voyage as far as the port of Maracaibo,
+which still retains its Indian name. In the territory beyond, called
+Coquibacoa, he found a gentler race of inhabitants, who received the
+Spaniards with delight, and solicited them to visit their towns.
+
+     "Ojeda, in compliance with their entreaties, sent a detachment
+     of twenty-seven Spaniards on a visit to the interior. For nine
+     days they were conducted from town to town, and feasted and
+     almost idolized by the Indians, who regarded them as angelic
+     beings, performing their national dances and games, and
+     chanting their traditional ballads for their entertainment.
+
+     "The natives of this part were distinguished for the symmetry
+     of their forms; the females in particular appeared to the
+     Spaniards to surpass all others that they had yet beheld in the
+     new world for grace and beauty; neither did the men evince, in
+     the least degree, that jealousy which prevailed in other parts
+     of the coast.
+
+     "By the time the Spaniards set out on their return to the ship,
+     the whole country was aroused, pouring forth its population,
+     male and female, to do them honour. Some bore them in litters
+     or hammocks, that they might not be fatigued with the journey,
+     and happy was the Indian who had the honour of bearing a
+     Spaniard on his shoulders across a river. Others loaded
+     themselves with the presents that had been bestowed on their
+     guests, consisting of rich plumes, weapons of various kinds,
+     and tropical birds and animals. In this way they returned in
+     triumphant procession to the ships, the woods and shores
+     resounding with their songs and shouts.
+
+     "Many of the Indians crowded into the boats that took the
+     detachment to the ships; others put off in canoes, or swam from
+     shore, so that in a little while the vessels were thronged with
+     upwards of a thousand wondering natives. While gazing and
+     marvelling at the strange objects around them, Ojeda ordered
+     the cannon to be discharged, at the sound of which, says
+     Vespucci, the Indians 'plunged into the water like so many
+     frogs from a bank.' Perceiving, however, that it was done in
+     harmless mirth, they returned on board, and passed the rest of
+     the day in great festivity. The Spaniards brought away with
+     them several of the beautiful and hospitable females from this
+     place, one of whom, named by them Isabel, was much prized by
+     Ojeda, and accompanied him in a subsequent voyage."
+
+Leaving these friendly Indians, Ojeda pursued his way along the coast to
+the westward, until he reached cape de la Vela. During his long voyage
+he had been disappointed in finding the ready treasures of gold and
+pearls which he had expected, and now, wearied with his fruitless
+efforts, and embarrassed by the crazy state of his vessels, he resolved
+reluctantly to return to Spain. On his way, he stopped, in spite of the
+clause in his commission, at Hispaniola, to cut dye-wood, but was
+prevented by the governor, and obliged to set sail. He then cruised
+among the islands, and seizing the natives, carried them home to sell
+for slaves. He reached Cadiz in June, 1500, but so unproductive was his
+expedition, that it is said, after the expenses were paid, but five
+hundred ducats remained to be divided among fifty-five adventurers.
+
+The private enterprise of Ojeda did not fail to excite the same spirit
+among other followers of Columbus, who remained in Spain. He had been
+scarcely a month gone, before _Pedro Alonzo Niño_, who had been the
+pilot of the admiral on his first voyage, set out from Palos with
+_Christoval Guerra_, the brother of a Sevillian merchant who supplied
+the outfit. The vessel of these bold adventurers was but a bark of fifty
+tons, the crew but thirty-three men--yet with the daring spirit of the
+Spanish sailors of those days, they embarked fearlessly and joyfully to
+explore barbarous shores and unknown seas. Reaching the coasts of Paria
+and Cumana, they carried on for some time a profitable commerce with the
+natives, from whom they obtained pearls and gold in exchange for glass
+beads and other trinkets; but falling in at length with tribes less
+peaceful, and not, like Ojeda, enjoying warlike renown as much as
+profitable traffic, they returned to Spain after an absence of ten
+months, and making fewer discoveries but more profit than had yet
+resulted from any voyage across the Atlantic.
+
+In the month of December of the same year, 1499, _Vicente, Yañez
+Pinzon_, one of the three brave men of that family who aided Columbus in
+his first voyage, but who had since remained in Spain, owing to the
+difference that arose between his brother and the admiral, embarked with
+two of his nephews, sons of Martin Alonzo, in an armament consisting of
+four caravels, from the port of Palos, the cradle of American discovery.
+Carried by a storm south of the equator, they were perplexed with the
+new aspect of the heavens, and it was not till the 28th of January,
+1500, that they were consoled by the sight of land. The headland they
+saw, now known as cape St. Augustin, the most prominent point of Brazil,
+they named Santa Maria de la Consolacion. They found the natives warlike
+and inhospitable, treating with haughty contempt the hawks' bills and
+trinkets which were exhibited to them; and Pinzon and his weary
+messmates were fain to pursue their voyages, amid occasional conflicts
+whenever they landed, along the shores that stretched to the north. He
+discovered the mouth of the vast river of the Amazons, visited a number
+of fresh and verdant islands lying within it, and thence passing the
+gulf of Paria, made his way directly to Hispaniola. From there, sailing
+to the Bahamas, he encountered a violent storm, and sustained so much
+damage that he returned to Spain.
+
+Scarcely had Pinzon sailed from Palos, when he was followed by his
+townsman _Diego de Lepe_. Of his voyage, however, but little is known,
+except that he doubled cape St. Augustin, and enjoyed for ten years the
+reputation of having extended his discoveries farther south than any
+other voyager.
+
+In October following, soon after the return of Ojeda, a wealthy notary
+of Seville, by name _Rodrigo de Bastides_, desirous of speculating in
+the new El Dorado, engaged the services of the veteran pilot and
+companion of Ojeda, Juan de la Cosa, and set out with two caravels in
+quest of gold and pearls. They continued the discoveries along Terra
+Firma, from cape de la Vela, where Ojeda had stopped, to the port
+afterwards called Nombre de Dios; they treated the natives kindly, and
+acquired rich cargoes; but unfortunately their vessels were cast away on
+the coast of Hispaniola, and the crews were forced to travel on foot to
+the city of St. Domingo, provided only with a small store of trinkets
+and other articles of Indian traffic, with which to buy provisions on
+the road. The moment Bastides made his appearance, he was seized as an
+illicit trader by the governor Bobadilla, the oppressor and superseder
+of Columbus, and sent for trial to Spain. He was there acquitted, and
+his voyage was so lucrative, that he had considerable profit after all
+his misfortunes.
+
+The reports of these successive adventures were not heard by Ojeda, who
+had continued to linger about the bishop of Fonseca, without reanimating
+his bold spirit. He found numbers ready to listen to his wonderful
+stories, and embark in his wild expeditions; he found others who desired
+to increase their wealth, by aiding him with the means to renew them.
+The king made him governor of the province of Coquibacoa, which he had
+discovered; and in 1502 he again set sail, with four vessels well fitted
+out. Arriving at his new government, he selected a bay which he named
+Santa Cruz, but which is supposed to be that now called Bahia Honda, as
+the site of a settlement, and commenced at once the erection of a
+fortress. Before long, however, dissensions broke out between him and
+some of his principal companions, which ended in his being seized by the
+latter, accused as a defaulter to the crown of Spain, and thrown into
+irons. The whole community then set sail with their former chief for St.
+Domingo. They arrived at the island of Hispaniola, and while at anchor
+within a stone's throw of the land, Ojeda, confident of his strength and
+skill as a swimmer, let himself quietly down the side of the ship during
+the night, and tried to gain the shore. His arms were free, but his feet
+were shackled, and the weight of the irons threatened to sink him. He
+was obliged to call for help; a boat was sent from the ship; and the
+unfortunate governor, half drowned, was restored to captivity. He was
+tried at San Domingo and condemned, but appealing to the sovereign, was
+afterwards acquitted. The long litigation, however, exhausted his
+fortune, and he again found himself a ruined man.
+
+If ruined, however, he was yet in the vigour of his years, and his
+spirit was undaunted. He still yearned for the gold of Terra Firma. All
+he wanted was money to fit out an armament. In this difficulty he was
+aided by an old and tried friend. Juan de la Cosa, the hardy pilot of
+Columbus, and the companion of Ojeda in his first voyage, and
+subsequently of Rodrigo de Bastides, had remained in Hispaniola, and
+contrived to fill his purse in subsequent cruises among the islands. The
+friends united together, and applied to the crown of Spain for a grant
+of territory and command on Terra Firma. A similar application was made
+about the same time by Diego de Nicuesa, an accomplished courtier of
+noble birth.--
+
+     "Nature, education, and habit, seemed to have combined to form
+     Nicuesa as a complete rival of Ojeda. Like him he was small of
+     stature, but remarkable for symmetry and compactness of form,
+     and for bodily strength and activity; like him he was master at
+     all kinds of weapons, and skilled, not merely in feats of
+     agility, but in those graceful and chivalrous exercises, which
+     the Spanish cavaliers of those days had inherited from the
+     Moors; being noted for his vigour and address in the jousts or
+     tilting matches after the Moresco fashion. Ojeda himself could
+     not surpass him in feats of horsemanship, and particular
+     mention is made of a favourite mare, which he could make caper
+     and carricol in strict cadence to the sound of a viol; beside
+     all this, he was versed in the legendary ballads or romances of
+     his country, and was renowned as a capital performer on the
+     guitar! Such were the qualifications of this candidate for a
+     command in the wilderness, as enumerated by the reverend Bishop
+     Las Casas. It is probable, however, that he had given evidence
+     of qualities more adapted to the desired post; having already
+     been out to Hispaniola in the military train of the late
+     Governor Ovando."
+
+King Ferdinand found some difficulty in deciding between the claims of
+candidates whose merits were so singularly balanced; he ultimately
+divided that part of the continent lying along the isthmus, and
+extending from cape de la Vela to cape Gracias à Dios, into two
+provinces, separated by the bay of Uraba, which is at the head of the
+gulf of Darien. Of these provinces, the eastern was assigned to Ojeda,
+the western to Nicuesa.
+
+The armaments of the rival governors met in the port of St. Domingo. It
+was not long before cause of collision arose between two men, both
+possessed of such swelling spirits. They quarrelled about the boundaries
+of their governments, and the province of Darien was boldly claimed by
+each.--
+
+     "Their disputes on these points ran so high, that the whole
+     place resounded with them. In talking, however, Nicuesa had the
+     advantage; having been brought up in the court, he was more
+     polished and ceremonious, had greater self-command, and
+     probably perplexed his rival governor in argument. Ojeda was no
+     great casuist, but he was an excellent swordsman, and always
+     ready to fight his way through any question of right or dignity
+     which he could not clearly argue with the tongue; so he
+     proposed to settle the dispute by single combat. Nicuesa,
+     though equally brave, was more a man of the world, and saw the
+     folly of such arbitrament. Secretly smiling at the heat of his
+     antagonist, he proposed as a preliminary to the duel, and to
+     furnish something worth fighting for, that each should deposit
+     five thousand castillanos, to be the prize of the victor. This,
+     as he foresaw, was a temporary check upon the fiery valour of
+     his rival, who did not possess a pistole in his treasury; but
+     probably was too proud to confess it."
+
+How long the poverty of Ojeda could have kept down his fiery spirit, we
+may doubt. Fortunately he had in his companion, the brave Juan de la
+Cosa, a friend who could control him, as well as follow and support him.
+Juan reconciled, at least for a time, the quarrel of the rival
+governors, and it was agreed that the river Darien should be the
+boundary of their provinces. Things being thus arranged, Ojeda was
+anxious to set sail; he still, however, wanted pecuniary assistance to
+complete his equipment; though careless of money himself, he seems to
+have had a facility in commanding the purses of his neighbours; and on
+this occasion he found, in a quarter, where perhaps he could scarce have
+expected it, both personal and pecuniary aid. There lived at San
+Domingo, the bachelor _Martin Fernandez de Enciso,_ a shrewd lawyer, who
+had contrived to accumulate a considerable fortune by the litigation
+which already flourished in the New World. He was dazzled by the visions
+of unbounded wealth, he was promised the lofty office and title of
+Alcalde Mayor, and in an evil hour the worthy bachelor united in the
+enterprise of Ojeda, in search of fame and fortune. It was determined
+that he should stay at St. Domingo till he could collect a larger store
+of provisions and more men; and then follow his partner, who set sail
+without delay. The armament of Nicuesa still remained in port; for that
+gallant cavalier, notwithstanding his challenge to his rival, had
+exhausted all the money he could raise; he was even threatened with a
+prison; and it was not till some time after his rival had sailed, that
+he was enabled by unexpected assistance to embark.
+
+In the month of November 1509, Ojeda reached the harbour of Cartagena,
+in his new province. In addition to Juan de la Cosa, he had as a
+companion _Francisco Pizarro_, who afterwards conquered Peru. The
+former, knowing from previous voyages the savage character of the
+natives, advised Ojeda not to stop there, but to proceed to the bay of
+Uraba. Such advice was useless to a proud warrior, who despised a naked
+and a savage foe. Having failed to keep his commander from danger, the
+faithful Juan could only stand by to aid him. Ojeda, who was a good
+Catholic, thought that he performed a pious duty in reducing the savages
+to the dominion of the king and the knowledge of the true faith. He
+carried as a protecting relic a small painting of the Holy Virgin; he
+summoned the Indians in the name of the Pope, and he assured them in
+the most solemn terms that they were the lawful subjects of the
+sovereigns of Castile.
+
+     "On landing, he advanced towards the savages, and ordered the
+     friars to read aloud a certain formula, which had recently been
+     digested by profound jurists and divines in Spain. It began in
+     stately form. 'I, Alonzo de Ojeda, servant of the most high and
+     mighty sovereigns of Castile and Leon, conquerors of barbarous
+     nations, their messenger and captain, do notify unto you, and
+     make you know, in the best way I can, that God our Lord, one
+     and eternal, created the heaven and the earth, and one man and
+     one woman, from whom you and we, and all the people of the
+     earth proceeded, and are descendants, as well as all those who
+     shall come hereafter.' The formula then went on to declare the
+     fundamental principles of the Catholic Faith; the supreme power
+     given to St. Peter over the world and all the human race, and
+     exercised by his representative the pope; the donation made by
+     a late pope of all this part of the world and all its
+     inhabitants, to the Catholic sovereigns of Castile; and the
+     ready obedience which had already been paid by many of its
+     lands and islands and people to the agents and representatives
+     of those sovereigns. It called upon those savages present,
+     therefore, to do the same, to acknowledge the truth of the
+     Christian doctrines, the supremacy of the pope, and the
+     sovereignty of the Catholic King, but, in case of refusal, it
+     denounced upon them all the horrors of war, the desolation of
+     their dwelling, the seizure of their property, and the slavery
+     of their wives and children. Such was the extraordinary
+     document, which, from this time forward, was read by the
+     Spanish discoverers to the wondering savages of any newly-found
+     country, as a prelude to sanctify the violence about to be
+     inflicted on them."
+
+The pious manifesto was uttered in vain to the warlike savages: they
+brandished their weapons, and Ojeda, after a short prayer to the Virgin,
+had to discard the parchment, brace up his armour, and charge the foe at
+the head of his followers. He was not long in defeating his naked
+enemies, who fled into the forests. Juan de la Cosa again tried his
+influence with his commander, and urged him to desist from pursuit. It
+was in vain. Ojeda, with Juan faithfully at his side, rushed madly on
+through the mazes of unknown woods. The Indians rallied and waylaid the
+imprudent Spaniards. It was in vain that Ojeda inspired them with fresh
+courage by the example of his undaunted prowess. Numbers prevailed; the
+weapons of the savages were steeped in a deadly poison; and one after
+one the invaders were left dead. Among those who fell was the brave Juan
+de la Cosa; and a Spaniard, who was near him when he died, was the only
+surviver of seventy that had followed Ojeda in his rash and headlong
+inroad.
+
+For days those who remained at the ships waited the arrival of their
+companions. They searched the woods and shouted along the shore, but
+they could hear no signal from them. What was their surprise one day, at
+catching in a thicket of mangrove trees, a glimpse of a man in Spanish
+attire. They entered, and found the unfortunate Ojeda; he lay on the
+matted roots of the trees; he was speechless, wan, and wasted; but his
+hand still grasped his sword. They restored him with wine and a warm
+fire; he recounted the story of his rash expedition; of his struggles
+among rocks and forests to reach the shore; and he bitterly reproached
+himself with the death of his faithful companion. While the crowd of
+Spaniards were yet on the beach administering to the recovery of their
+commander, they beheld steering into the harbour, a squadron of ships,
+which they soon recognised as that of Nicuesa. Ojeda recollected at once
+his quarrel; his valiant spirit was quelled by the hardships he had
+suffered; he feared to meet his rival; and he directed his followers to
+leave him concealed in the woods until the disposition of Nicuesa should
+be known.--
+
+     "As the squadron entered the harbour, the boats sallied forth
+     to meet it. The first inquiry of Nicuesa was concerning Ojeda.
+     The followers of the latter replied, mournfully, that their
+     commander had gone on a warlike expedition into the country,
+     but days had elapsed without his return, so that they feared
+     some misfortune had befallen him. They entreated Nicuesa,
+     therefore, to give his word, as a cavalier, that should Ojeda
+     really be in distress, he would not take advantage of his
+     misfortunes to revenge himself for their late disputes.
+
+     "Nicuesa, who was a gentleman of noble and generous spirit,
+     blushed with indignation at such a request. 'Seek your
+     commander instantly,' said he; 'bring him to me if he be alive;
+     and I pledge myself not merely to forget the past, but to aid
+     him as if he were a brother.'
+
+     "When they met, Nicuesa received his late foe with open arms.
+     'It is not,' said he, 'for Hidalgos, like men of vulgar souls,
+     to remember past differences when they behold one another in
+     distress. Henceforth, let all that has occurred between us be
+     forgotten. Command me as a brother. Myself and my men are at
+     your orders, to follow you wherever you please, until the
+     deaths of Juan de la Cosa and his comrades are revenged.'
+
+     "The spirits of Ojeda were once more lifted up by this gallant
+     and generous offer. The two governors, no longer rivals, landed
+     four hundred of their men and several horses, and set off with
+     all speed for the fatal village. They approached it in the
+     night, and, dividing their forces into two parties, gave orders
+     that not an Indian should be taken alive."
+
+Dreadful indeed was the carnage, and fierce the vengeance the two
+commanders wreaked upon the natives. Having sacked the village, they
+left it a smoking ruin, and returned in triumph to their ships. The
+spoil, which was great, was divided among the followers of each
+governor, and they now parted with many expressions of friendship,
+Nicuesa proceeding westward to his province.
+
+Ojeda did not long continue at a spot so fatal. He proceeded along the
+coast, and at length selected a height on the east side, at the entrance
+of the gulf of Darien, as the place for his town, which he named St.
+Sebastian. He immediately erected a fortress to defend himself against
+the natives, and considering this as his permanent seat of government,
+despatched a ship to Hispaniola, with a letter to the bachelor Enciso,
+requesting him to join the colony with the provisions and men he had
+collected. In the meanwhile, those who remained soon exhausted the
+stores they had, and were reduced to great want. They were fortunately
+relieved by the arrival of a vessel commanded by _Bernardo de_
+_Talavera_, a reckless adventurer, who being threatened with
+imprisonment by his creditors in St. Domingo, had persuaded a set of
+men, as reckless as himself, to seize by force a vessel, lying off shore
+loaded with provisions, and join the new colony. While the supply
+brought by Talavera lasted, Ojeda was able to pacify his murmuring
+companions, and to persuade them peacefully to await the arrival of
+Enciso. When this however was exhausted, and famine threatened them,
+they became outrageous in their clamours, and Ojeda was compelled, as
+the only means of appeasing them, to agree to go himself to St. Domingo
+for aid, leaving those who stayed under the command of Francisco
+Pizarro, as his lieutenant. Talavera, already tired of the hardships he
+had encountered, was willing enough to return, and set sail with the
+commander in his vessel. The ill luck which had attended Ojeda during
+this expedition still continued. The vessel was cast on the island of
+Cuba, and completely wrecked; and the unhappy Spaniards had no choice
+but to perish on the beach, or to traverse the wide morasses that spread
+along the coast, until they reached some place where they could obtain
+aid. These morasses, as they proceeded, became deeper and deeper, the
+water sometimes reaching to their girdles; and when they slept, they had
+to creep up among the twisted roots of the mangrove trees, which grew in
+clusters in the waters. Of all the party, Ojeda alone kept up his spirit
+undaunted. He cheered his companions; he shared his food among them;
+whenever he stopped to repose in the mangrove trees, he took out his
+treasured picture of the Virgin, which he had carefully preserved
+through all his troubles, and placing it before him, commended himself
+to the Holy Mother; and by persuading his companions to join him, he
+renewed their patience and courage. It was on one of these occasions
+that he made a vow to erect a chapel and leave his relic in the first
+Indian town to which he came. At length, after incredible sufferings,
+they reached a village; the natives gathered round the poor wanderers,
+and gazed at them with wonder; they treated them with humanity, and
+after restoring them to health and strength, aided and accompanied them
+till they reached the point of land nearest Jamaica. At that spot they
+procured canoes, arrived at a settlement of their countrymen, and thence
+returned to St. Domingo.
+
+Ojeda was too pious a Catholic to forget the vow he had made in his
+distress, though it must have sorely grieved him to part with the relic
+to which he attributed his safety in so many perils. At the village,
+however, where he had been so kindly succoured, he faithfully performed
+it.
+
+     "He built a little hermitage or oratory in the village, and
+     furnished it with an altar, above which he placed the picture.
+     He then summoned the benevolent cacique, and explained to him,
+     as well as his limited knowledge of the language, or the aid of
+     interpreters would permit, the main points of the Catholic
+     faith, and especially the history of the Virgin, whom he
+     represented as the mother of the Deity that reigned in the
+     skies, and the great advocate for mortal man.
+
+     "The worthy cacique listened to him with mute attention, and
+     though he might not clearly comprehend the doctrine, yet he
+     conceived a profound veneration for the picture. The sentiment
+     was shared by his subjects. They kept the little oratory always
+     swept clean, and decorated it with cotton hangings, laboured by
+     their own hands, and with various votive offerings. They
+     composed couplets or areytos in honour of the Virgin, which
+     they sang to the accompaniment of rude musical instruments,
+     dancing to the sound under the groves which surrounded the
+     hermitage.
+
+     "A further anecdote concerning this relique may not be
+     unacceptable. The venerable Las Casas, who records these facts,
+     informs us that he arrived at the village of Cuebás some time
+     after the departure of Ojeda. He found the oratory preserved
+     with the most religious care, as a sacred place, and the
+     picture of the Virgin regarded with fond adoration. The poor
+     Indians crowded to attend mass, which he performed at the
+     altar; they listened attentively to his paternal instructions,
+     and at his request brought their children to be baptized. The
+     good Las Casas having heard much of this famous relique of
+     Ojeda, was desirous of obtaining possession of it, and offered
+     to give the cacique in exchange, an image of the Virgin which
+     he had brought with him. The chieftain made an evasive answer,
+     and seemed much troubled in mind. The next morning he did not
+     make his appearance.
+
+     "Las Casas went to the oratory to perform mass, but found the
+     altar stripped of its precious relique. On inquiring, he learnt
+     that in the night the cacique had fled to the woods, bearing
+     off with him his beloved picture of the Virgin. It was in vain
+     that Las Casas sent messengers after him, assuring him that he
+     should not be deprived of the relique, but, on the contrary,
+     that the image should likewise be presented to him. The cacique
+     refused to venture from the fastnesses of the forest, nor did
+     he return to his village and replace the picture in the
+     oratory, until after the departure of the Spaniards."
+
+The fate of Ojeda was that of a ruined man. He lingered for some time at
+San Domingo, but he no longer appeared there as the governor of a
+province. He was a needy wanderer. His health was broken down by wounds
+and hardships, and he died at last so poor that he did not leave money
+enough to pay for his interment; and so broken in spirit, that he
+entreated with his last breath, that his body might be buried at the
+portal of the Monastery of St. Francisco, in humble expiation of his
+past pride, "so that every one who entered might tread upon his grave."
+
+When the gallant and generous minded Nicuesa left Ojeda, he sailed to
+the west to encounter perils still greater than his rival endured. His
+squadron arrived safely on the coast of Veragua. He there embarked
+himself in a small caravel belonging to it, that he might the better
+explore the inlets and places along the shore, committing the charge of
+the other vessels to his lieutenant Lope de Olano. One night, shortly
+after making this arrangement, a violent storm came on, and when day
+dawned, Nicuesa was left without one of the squadron in sight. Taking
+refuge in a river, his caravel was wrecked, and the unfortunate
+commander was left on the desert shore with the crew of the vessel, and
+nothing remaining to them but the boat, which was accidentally cast on
+the beach. Day after day they hoped for the arrival of their
+companions, until they began to suspect that the lieutenant had
+determined to profit by the absence of Nicuesa, assume his power, and
+leave him to perish. They wandered along shore, in the direction, as
+they supposed, of the place where they had been separated from the
+squadron. They crossed the rivers and sailed to the islands near the
+coast in their boat. At length, to complete their misfortunes, at one of
+the latter, four of the party deserted, took with them the boat, and
+left their commander and the rest of the party, without food,
+assistance, or means to regain the land. In this sad situation they
+remained for weeks; many of them died, and those who lived envied,
+instead of mourning over, their fate. At length one of the brigantines
+of the squadron appeared; it had been sent by Lope de Olano, who had
+been found by the four mariners in the boat; and Nicuesa and the
+survivers were conveyed to their companions, who had made a settlement
+at the mouth of the river Belen. Finding that spot unhealthy, Nicuesa
+broke up the settlement, and established the remnant of his once large
+colony, now reduced to a hundred emaciated wretches, at "El Nombre de
+Dios." "Here let us stop," exclaimed the weary commander to his
+companions, "in the name of God (en el nombre de Dios,)"--whence the
+port derived its name.
+
+While the two governors were thus struggling to establish their
+colonies, the bachelor Enciso, whom we have mentioned as having enlisted
+with Ojeda, set out from St. Domingo to join that adventurer with the
+men and provisions he had collected. Among his recruits was _Vasco Nuñez
+de Balboa_, another name destined to become famous on these seas. The
+bachelor had hardly reached Terra Firma before he fell in with Francisco
+Pizarro, and the small remains of the colony left by Ojeda at St.
+Sebastian. He heard the story of their misfortunes and the departure of
+their commander, but nothing daunted, the worthy gentleman of the robe
+assumed the courageous bearing of a knight errant, and determined to
+pursue the adventures on which he had embarked. Having heard of a great
+sepulchre not far in the interior, where the natives were said to be
+buried with all their ornaments of gold, he determined at once to pounce
+on so valuable a mine. He held it no sacrilege to plunder the graves of
+pagans and infidels, and he took care to secure the law on his side, by
+causing to be read and interpreted to all the caciques, a declaration,
+informing them of the nature of the Deity, the supremacy of the pope,
+and the undoubted validity of his grant of their country to the Catholic
+sovereigns.
+
+     "The caciques listened to the whole very attentively, and
+     without interruption, according to the laws of Indian courtesy.
+     They then replied, that, as to the assertion that there was but
+     one God, the sovereign of heaven and earth, it seemed to them
+     good, and that such must be the case; but as to the doctrine
+     that the pope was regent of the world in place of God, and
+     that he had made a grant of their country to the Spanish king,
+     they observed that the pope must have been drunk to give away
+     what was not his, and the king must have been somewhat mad to
+     ask at his hands what belonged to others. They added, that they
+     were lords of those lands, and needed no other sovereign, and
+     if this king should come to take possession, they would cut off
+     his head and put it on a pole; that being their mode of dealing
+     with their enemies.--As an illustration of this custom, they
+     pointed out to Enciso the very uncomfortable spectacle of a row
+     of grisly heads impaled in the neighbourhood."
+
+On hearing this answer, the bachelor at once discarded the legal, and
+assumed the warlike character. He charged the Indians, and routed them
+with ease. He forthwith plundered the sepulchres, but whether he
+obtained the expected booty is not recorded. After this exploit, the
+worthy bachelor set about establishing the provincial government as
+Alcalde Mayor of Ojeda. St. Sebastian being in ruins, and the scene of
+so many misfortunes, was speedily deserted, and by the advice of Vasco
+Nuñez he seized on the village of Darien, drove out the inhabitants,
+collected at it great quantities of food and golden ornaments, and
+established his capital under the sounding title of Santa Maria de la
+Antigua del Darien.
+
+It so happened that this new town was on the western shore of the river
+Darien, and consequently within the province of Nicuesa, not of Ojeda.
+Some discontented or ambitious persons in the colony took advantage of
+this, and attacked the alcalde in his own way, with legal weapons,
+questioning his right to rule. Among these Vasco Nuñez and one Zamudio
+were the leaders, and aspired to the bachelor's post. It was however at
+last determined to seek for the rightful head of the colony, Nicuesa;
+and bring him to the new capital. That woe-worn commander accepted with
+delight the unexpected proffer; foolishly however he assumed at once the
+haughty airs of a governor, and before he had seen his new colony, spoke
+of the punishment he would inflict on the disturbers of its harmony. The
+inhabitants of Darien heard of this language, and repented of their
+hasty measure. Placing Vasco Nuñez at their head, they awaited the
+arrival of Nicuesa on the beach, and when they saw his vessel enter the
+bay, refused him permission to land. It was in vain that the unfortunate
+cavalier entreated, promised, and explained. Even Vasco Nuñez, who was
+of a generous spirit, supplicated for his reception as a private
+individual, without effect. The determination of the populace was made
+up; and sad to tell, Nicuesa was driven to sea in his crazy bark, and
+never heard of more.
+
+The bachelor Enciso now again claimed his right to command the colony.
+The people, however, were all on the side of Vasco Nuñez; he had become
+a great favourite, from his frank and fearless character, and his
+winning affability; in fact, he was peculiarly calculated to manage the
+fiery and the factious, yet generous and susceptible nature of his
+countrymen, and in addition to this he was in the vigour of his age,
+tall, well formed and hardy. After a fruitless struggle, Enciso left the
+colony, and Vasco Nuñez, well aware of the appeal he would make to the
+Spanish government, sent at the same time Zamudio to represent and
+defend him before the same tribunal. Vasco Nuñez at once exerted himself
+to prove his capacity as governor. His first expedition was against
+Careta, the neighbouring cacique of Coyba, for the purpose of obtaining
+supplies. By a stratagem he made captives of the cacique, his wives, and
+children, and many of his people. He discovered also their store of
+provisions, and returned with his booty and his captives to Darien.
+
+     "When the unfortunate cacique beheld his family in chains, and
+     in the hands of strangers, his heart was wrung with despair;
+     'What have I done to thee,' said he to Vasco Nuñez, 'that thou
+     shouldst treat me thus cruelly? None of thy people ever came to
+     my land that were not fed, and sheltered, and treated with
+     loving kindness. When thou camest to my dwelling, did I meet
+     thee with a javelin in my hand? Did I not set meat and drink
+     before thee, and welcome thee as a brother? Set me free
+     therefore, with my family and people, and we will remain thy
+     friends. We will supply thee with provisions, and reveal to
+     thee the riches of the land. Dost thou doubt my faith? Behold
+     my daughter, I give her to thee as a pledge of friendship. Take
+     her for thy wife, and be assured of the fidelity of her family
+     and her people!'
+
+     "Vasco Nuñez felt the force of these words, and knew the
+     importance of forming a strong alliance among the natives. The
+     captive maid, also, as she stood trembling and dejected before
+     him, found great favour in his eyes, for she was young and
+     beautiful. He granted, therefore, the prayer of the cacique,
+     and accepted his daughter, engaging, moreover, to aid the
+     father against his enemies, on condition of his furnishing
+     provisions to the colony.
+
+     "Careta remained three days at Darien, during which time, he
+     was treated with the utmost kindness. Vasco Nuñez took him on
+     board of his ships and showed him every part of them. He
+     displayed before him also the war horses, with their armour and
+     rich caparisons, and astonished him with the thunder of
+     artillery. Lest he should be too much daunted by these warlike
+     spectacles, he caused the musicians to perform a harmonious
+     concert on their instruments, at which the cacique was lost in
+     admiration. Thus having impressed him with a wonderful idea of
+     the power and endowments of his new allies, he loaded him with
+     presents and permitted him to depart.
+
+     "Careta returned joyfully to his territories, and his daughter
+     remained with Vasco Nuñez, willingly for his sake giving up her
+     family and native home. They were never married, but she
+     considered herself his wife, as she really was, according to
+     the usages of her own country, and he treated her with
+     fondness, allowing her gradually to acquire great influence
+     over him. To his affection for this damsel, his ultimate ruin
+     is, in some measure, to be ascribed."
+
+Vasco Nuñez did not neglect the favourable occasion these circumstances
+offered, of extending his power among the neighbouring Indians. Those
+who were hostile he attacked; those who were friendly he conciliated.
+From all he obtained supplies of provisions and gold, to support and
+enrich his colony. It was in one of his excursions to a friendly chief,
+the cacique of Comagre, that he obtained the information which gave
+greater scope to his adventurous spirit, and enabled him to place
+himself in the same degree with Pizarro and Cortez among the
+discoverers who succeeded the great admiral. The cacique had made a
+present or tribute of a large quantity of gold, and the followers of
+Vasco Nuñez quarrelled as they were dividing among them their respective
+shares in the presence of the Indian chief.
+
+     "The high minded savage was disgusted at this sordid brawl
+     among beings whom he had regarded with such reverence. In the
+     first impulse of his disdain he struck the scale with his fist,
+     and scattered the glittering gold about the porch. Before the
+     Spaniards could recover from their astonishment at this sudden
+     act, he thus addressed them: 'Why should you quarrel for such a
+     trifle? If this gold is indeed so precious in your eyes, that
+     for it alone you abandon your homes, invade the peaceful lands
+     of others, and expose yourselves to such sufferings and perils,
+     I will tell you of a region where you may gratify your wishes
+     to the utmost.--Behold those lofty mountains,' continued he,
+     pointing to the south; 'beyond these lies a mighty sea, which
+     may be discerned from their summit. It is navigated by people
+     who have vessels almost as large as yours, and furnished, like
+     them, with sails and oars. All the streams which flow down the
+     southern side of those mountains into that sea abound in gold;
+     and the kings who reign upon its borders eat and drink out of
+     golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as plentiful and common among
+     those people of the south as iron is among you Spaniards.'
+
+     "Struck with this intelligence, Vasco Nuñez inquired eagerly as
+     to the means of penetrating to this sea and to the opulent
+     regions on its shores. 'The task,' replied the prince, 'is
+     difficult and dangerous. You must pass through the territories
+     of many powerful caciques, who will oppose you with hosts of
+     warriors. Some parts of the mountains are infested by fierce
+     and cruel cannibals, a wandering lawless race: but, above all,
+     you will have to encounter the great cacique Tubanamá, whose
+     territories are at the distance of six days journey, and more
+     rich in gold than any other province; this cacique will be sure
+     to come forth against you with a mighty force. To accomplish
+     your enterprise, therefore, will require at least a thousand
+     men armed like those who follow you."
+
+The effect of this intelligence, on the enterprising spirit of Vasco
+Nuñez, may be well imagined. The Pacific ocean and its golden realms
+seemed to be at his feet. He beheld within his power an enterprise which
+would at once elevate him from a wandering and desperate man, to a rank
+among the great captains and discoverers of the earth. He lost no time
+in making every preparation to realize the splendid vision. With this
+object he sent for aid to Don Diego Columbus, who then governed at St.
+Domingo; and in the mean time endeavoured to strengthen himself with the
+surrounding tribes of natives, and to quiet the spirit of
+insubordination which would occasionally break out at Darien. At length,
+on the 1st of September, 1513, he set out with one hundred and ninety
+Spaniards, and a number of Indians. At Coyba he left half his company
+with the cacique Careta, to await his return, and with the residue, on
+the sixth of the month, struck off towards the mountains. By some of the
+Indian tribes he was kindly received, by others hostile intentions were
+displayed. These were soon overcome by the use of fire arms and blood
+hounds, which terrified the natives and put them at once to flight. On
+the evening of the 25th of September, the party, now reduced to
+sixty-seven Spaniards, arrived at the foot of the last mountain, from
+whose top they were told they would command the long sought prospect.
+Vasco Nuñez obtained fresh Indian guides, and ordered his men to retire
+early to repose, that they might be ready to set off at the cool and
+fresh hour of daybreak, so as to reach the summit of the mountain before
+the noontide heat.
+
+     "The day had scarcely dawned, when Vasco Nuñez and his
+     followers set forth from the Indian village and began to climb
+     the height. It was a severe and rugged toil for men so wayworn,
+     but they were filled with new ardour at the idea of the
+     triumphant scene that was so soon to repay them for all their
+     hardships.
+
+     "About ten o'clock in the morning they emerged from the thick
+     forests through which they had hitherto struggled, and arrived
+     at a lofty and airy region of the mountain. The bald summit
+     alone remained to be ascended, and their guides pointed to a
+     moderate eminence from which they said the southern sea was
+     visible.
+
+     "Upon this Vasco Nuñez commanded his followers to halt, and
+     that no man should stir from his place. Then, with a
+     palpitating heart, he ascended alone the bare mountain-top. On
+     reaching the summit the long-desired prospect burst upon his
+     view. It was as if a new world were unfolded to him, separated
+     from all hitherto known by this mighty barrier of mountains.
+     Below him extended a vast chaos of rock and forest, and green
+     savannahs and wandering streams, while at a distance the waters
+     of the promised ocean glittered in the morning sun.
+
+     "At this glorious prospect Vasco Nuñez sank upon his knees, and
+     poured out thanks to God for being the first European to whom
+     it was given to make that great discovery. He then called his
+     people to ascend: 'Behold, my friends,' said he, 'that glorious
+     sight which we have so much desired. Let us give thanks to God
+     that he has granted us this great honour and advantage. Let us
+     pray to him that he will guide and aid us to conquer the sea
+     and land which we have discovered, and in which Christian has
+     never entered to preach the holy doctrine of the Evangelists.
+     As to yourselves, be as you have hitherto been, faithful and
+     true to me, and by the favour of Christ you will become the
+     richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies; you will
+     render the greatest services to your king that ever vassal
+     rendered to his lord; and you will have the eternal glory and
+     advantage of all that is here discovered, conquered, and
+     converted to our holy Catholic faith.'
+
+     "The Spaniards answered this speech by embracing Vasco Nuñez,
+     and promising to follow him to death. Among them was a priest,
+     named Andres de Vara, who lifted up his voice and chanted _Te
+     Deum laudamus_--the usual anthem of Spanish discoverers. The
+     people, kneeling down, joined in the strain with pious
+     enthusiasm and tears of joy; and never did a more sincere
+     oblation rise to the Deity from a sanctified altar than from
+     that wild mountain summit. It was indeed one of the most
+     sublime discoveries that had yet been made in the New World,
+     and must have opened a boundless field of conjecture to the
+     wondering Spaniards. The imagination delights to picture forth
+     the splendid confusion of their thoughts. Was this the great
+     Indian Ocean, studded with precious islands, abounding in gold,
+     in gems, and spices, and bordered by the gorgeous cities and
+     wealthy marts of the East? Or was it some lonely sea, locked up
+     in the embraces of savage uncultivated continents, and never
+     traversed by a bark, excepting the light pirogue of the Indian?
+     The latter could hardly be the case, for the natives had told
+     the Spaniards of golden realms, and populous and powerful and
+     luxurious nations upon its shores. Perhaps it might be bordered
+     by various people, civilized in fact, but differing from Europe
+     in their civilization; who might have peculiar laws and customs
+     and arts and sciences; who might form, as it were, a world of
+     their own, intercommuning by this mighty sea, and carrying on
+     commerce between their own islands and continents; but who
+     might exist in total ignorance and independence of the other
+     hemisphere.
+
+     "Such may naturally have been the ideas suggested by the sight
+     of this unknown ocean. It was the prevalent belief of the
+     Spaniards, however, that they were the first Christians who had
+     made the discovery. Vasco Nuñez, therefore, called upon all
+     present to witness that he took possession of that sea, its
+     islands, and surrounding lands, in the name of the sovereigns
+     of Castile, and the notary of the expedition made a testimonial
+     of the same, to which all present, to the number of sixty-seven
+     men, signed their names. He then caused a fair and tall tree to
+     be cut down and wrought into a cross, which was elevated on the
+     spot from whence he had at first beheld the sea. A mound of
+     stones was likewise piled up to serve as a monument, and the
+     names of the Castilian sovereigns were carved on the
+     neighbouring trees. The Indians beheld all these ceremonials
+     and rejoicings in silent wonder, and, while they aided to erect
+     the cross and pile up the mound of stones, marvelled
+     exceedingly at the meaning of these monuments, little thinking
+     that they marked the subjugation of their land."
+
+From the summit of the mountain Vasco Nuñez cheerfully pursued his
+journey to the coast; when he tasted the water and found it salt, he
+felt assured that he had indeed discovered an ocean; he again returned
+thanks to God, and drawing his dagger from his girdle, marked three
+trees with crosses in honour of the Trinity and in token of possession.
+
+He remained on the shore of the Pacific ocean till the 3d of November.
+In the interval, he conciliated by his good management the kind feelings
+of the natives; he visited some of the neighbouring islands; he was
+shown the valuable pearl fisheries; and was loaded when he left there
+with pearls and gold. On his return he had several hostile rencounters
+with the natives, and reached Darien on the 19th of January, 1514.
+
+     "Thus ended one of the most remarkable expeditions of the early
+     discoverers. The intrepidity of Vasco Nuñez in penetrating,
+     with a handful of men, far into the interior of a wild and
+     mountainous country, peopled by warlike tribes; his skill in
+     managing his band of rough adventurers, stimulating their
+     valour, enforcing their obedience, and attaching their
+     affections, show him to have possessed great qualities as a
+     general. We are told that he was always foremost in peril, and
+     the last to quit the field. He shared the toils and dangers of
+     the meanest of his followers, treating them with frank
+     affability; watching, fighting, fasting and labouring with
+     them; visiting and consoling such as were sick or infirm, and
+     dividing all his gains with fairness and liberality. He was
+     chargeable at times with acts of bloodshed and injustice, but
+     it is probable that these were often called for as measures of
+     safety and precaution; he certainly offended less against
+     humanity than most of the early discoverers; and the unbounded
+     amity and confidence reposed in him by the natives, when they
+     became intimately acquainted with his character, speak strongly
+     in favour of his kind treatment of them.
+
+     "The character of Vasco Nuñez had, in fact, risen with his
+     circumstances, and now assumed a nobleness and grandeur from
+     the discovery he had made, and the important charge it had
+     devolved upon him. He no longer felt himself a mere soldier of
+     fortune, at the head of a band of adventurers, but a great
+     commander conducting an immortal enterprise. 'Behold,' says old
+     Peter Martyr, 'Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, at once transformed from
+     a rash royster to a politic and discreet captain:' and thus it
+     is that men are often made by their fortunes; that is to say,
+     their latent qualities are brought out, and shaped and
+     strengthened by events, and by the necessity of every exertion
+     to cope with the greatness of their destiny."
+
+While Vasco Nuñez was thus exulting in his successful expedition,
+fortune was preparing for him a sad reverse. The bachelor Enciso had
+arrived in Spain, and notwithstanding the statements of Zamudio, had
+made an unfavourable impression in regard to Vasco Nuñez. The result
+was, that a new governor of Darien was appointed, in the person of Pedro
+Arias Davila, commonly called Pedrarias, a brave warrior, but little
+fitted to command in a colony such as that to which he was sent. A
+number of young Spanish nobles and gentlemen determined to accompany
+him, having heard wild stories of the wealth and adventures which the
+new world offered. Pedrarias was also attended by his heroic wife, Doña
+Isabella de Bobadilla, and by the bishop Quevedo, a just and benevolent
+priest. Scarcely had the new expedition left the shores of Spain, when
+news arrived there of the splendid discoveries of Vasco Nuñez, and the
+king repented that he had so hastily superseded him.
+
+In the month of June, the squadron of Pedrarias anchored before Darien.
+When the hardy veterans of the colony heard that their beloved commander
+was to be thus removed, they were loud in their murmurs, and eagerly
+desired to resist the newly arrived governor. Not so Vasco Nuñez; he
+bowed at once to the mandates of the king, and acknowledged the
+authority of Pedrarias. This frank and honourable conduct was ill repaid
+by the new chief; he took advantage of the unsuspecting confidence of
+Vasco Nuñez, and directed him to be prosecuted for usurpation and
+tyrannical abuse of power. Fortunately, the bishop was opposed to the
+conduct of the governor, and even his wife ventured to express her
+respect and sympathy for the discoverer. This alone saved him from being
+sent in irons to Spain. In the mean time, the gallant Spanish cavaliers
+sunk beneath the fatal climate, to which they were unaccustomed, and the
+affairs of the colony became distracted. Pedrarias, to engage them,
+fitted out an expedition for the Pacific, but it ended in disappointment
+and disaster, and had little result but to change some of the friendly
+Indian tribes into implacable enemies.
+
+While things were in this state, despatches arrived from Spain. In a
+letter addressed to Vasco Nuñez, the king expressed his high sense of
+his merits and services, and constituted him adelantado of the South
+Sea, though subordinate to the general command of Pedrarias. That
+governor, still envious of the renown of his rival, refused to confer on
+him the powers belonging to his new office, and all that Vasco Nuñez
+could obtain was the recognition of the title. Still further to thwart
+the honourable plans of the discoverer, he determined to explore, under
+his own auspices, the pearl fisheries and islands discovered by Vasco
+Nuñez on the Pacific, and for this purpose fitted out an expedition
+under the command of his own relative Morales; he sent with him,
+however, Francisco Pizarro, who had accompanied Vasco Nuñez on his first
+expedition. These explorers were kindly received by the caciques, who
+willingly gave them pearls for hatchets, beads, and hawks' bills, which
+they valued much more. An incident occurred on their visit to Isla
+Rica, which, connected with the future history of Pizarro, was
+singularly interesting.
+
+     "Finding that pearls were so precious in the eyes of the
+     Spaniards, the cacique took Morales and Pizarro to the summit
+     of a wooden tower, commanding an unbounded prospect. 'Behold
+     before you,' said he, 'the infinite sea, which extends even
+     beyond the sun-beams. As to these islands which lie to the
+     right and left, they are all subject to my sway. They possess
+     but little gold, but the deep places of the sea around them are
+     full of pearls. Continue to be my friends, and you shall have
+     as many as you desire; for I value your friendship more than
+     pearls, and, as far as in me lies, will never forfeit it.'
+
+     "He then pointed to the main land, where it stretched away
+     towards the east, mountain beyond mountain, until the summit of
+     the last faded in the distance, and was scarcely seen above the
+     watery horizon. In that direction, he said, there lay a vast
+     country of inexhaustible riches, inhabited by a mighty nation.
+     He went on to repeat the vague but wonderful rumours which the
+     Spaniards had frequently heard about the great kingdom of Peru.
+     Pizarro listened greedily to his words, and while his eye
+     followed the finger of the cacique, as it ranged along the line
+     of shadowy coast, his daring mind kindled with the thought of
+     seeking this golden empire beyond the waters."
+
+On their way back through the mountains, the Spaniards were attacked by
+the savages with great ferocity; and when they reached Darien their
+party was greatly diminished, though the spoil they brought with them
+was great.
+
+In the mean time, the disagreement between Pedrarias and Vasco Nuñez
+continued, to the great regret of the bishop Quevedo, and the
+mortification of Doña Isabella. At length a plan was suggested by the
+former which had the fortunate effect of producing a reconciliation. It
+was agreed that Vasco Nuñez should marry the daughter of the governor,
+then in Spain, and he was accordingly betrothed at once. Pedrarias now
+looked upon the exploits of his rival as those of one of his own family,
+and no longer thwarted him. He cheerfully aided him in a new expedition
+which was planned for transporting timber across the isthmus, building
+brigantines on the Pacific, and exploring the country farther to the
+south. When Vasco Nuñez found himself floating in large vessels, on the
+waves of the vast ocean he had discovered, he felt an honourable pride,
+and a thousand visions of discoveries yet to be made crowded on his
+fancy. Alas! they were not destined to be realized. A person who had a
+private pique against him, insinuated himself into the confidence of
+Pedrarias; declared that Vasco Nuñez had schemes of boundless ambition;
+that he would soon throw off his connexion with the governor, and above
+all, that such was his devotion to the Indian damsel, the daughter of
+Careta, that he would never wed her to whom he was betrothed. All the
+ancient enmity of Pedrarias was renewed; he determined at once to put an
+end to the rivalry of Vasco Nuñez; by fair promises he induced him
+unsuspectingly to return; and as soon as he arrived within his power had
+him arrested and tried for treason. His condemnation was to be
+expected, but deep was the emotion and surprise among the colonists when
+they learned that it was to be followed by the immediate death of the
+unfortunate soldier. No entreaties, however, could induce the governor
+to relent. He had his victim now in his power and he determined he
+should not escape.
+
+     "It was a day of gloom and horror at Acla, when Vasco Nuñez and
+     his companions were led forth to execution. The populace were
+     moved to tears at the unhappy fate of a man, whose gallant
+     deeds had excited their admiration, and whose generous
+     qualities had won their hearts. Most of them regarded him as
+     the victim of a jealous tyrant; and even those who thought him
+     guilty, saw something brave and brilliant in the very crime
+     imputed to him. Such, however, was the general dread inspired
+     by the severe measures of Pedrarias, that no one dared to lift
+     up his voice, either in murmur or remonstrance.
+
+     "The public crier walked before Vasco Nuñez, proclaiming, 'This
+     is the punishment inflicted by command of the king, and his
+     lieutenant Don Pedrarias Davila, on this man, as a traitor and
+     an usurper of the territories of the crown.'
+
+     "When Vasco Nuñez heard these words, he exclaimed, indignantly,
+     'It is false! never did such a crime enter my mind. I have ever
+     served my king with truth and loyalty, and sought to augment
+     his dominions.'
+
+     "These words were of no avail in his extremity, but they were
+     fully believed by the populace.
+
+     "Thus perished, in his forty-second year, in the prime and
+     vigour of his days and the full career of his glory, one of the
+     most illustrious and deserving of the Spanish discoverers--a
+     victim to the basest and most perfidious envy.
+
+     "How vain are our most confident hopes, our brightest triumphs!
+     When Vasco Nuñez, from the mountains of Darien, beheld the
+     Southern ocean revealed to his gaze, he considered its unknown
+     realms at his disposal. When he had launched his ships upon its
+     waters, and his sails were in a manner flapping in the wind, to
+     bear him in quest of the wealthy empire of Peru, he scoffed at
+     the prediction of the astrologer, and defied the influence of
+     the stars. Behold him interrupted at the very moment of his
+     departure; betrayed into the hands of his most invidious foe;
+     the very enterprise that was to have crowned him with glory
+     wrested into a crime; and himself hurried to a bloody and
+     ignominious grave, at the foot, as it were, of the mountain
+     from whence he had made his discovery! His fate, like that of
+     his renowned predecessor Columbus, proves, that it is sometimes
+     dangerous even to discern too greatly!"
+
+There yet remain in this interesting volume the history of _Valdivia_
+and his companions, and of the bold _Juan Ponce de Leon_. Each contains
+scenes and incidents scarcely less interesting than those we have
+rapidly noticed; but the termination of the story of Vasco Nuñez affords
+us a place to pause, and we are recalled from the agreeable task of
+narrating to that of expressing some opinion on the merits of the work
+which has so delightfully detained us. We may add that there is also an
+appendix, containing a narrative of a visit or pilgrimage, truly
+American, made by the author to the little port of Palos, where Columbus
+and so many of his followers embarked for America; it is in the happiest
+style, and cannot be read without the strongest emotions; we can
+scarcely refrain, notwithstanding its length, from presenting it entire
+to the reader.
+
+The copious quotations we have made, and the abstract of some of the
+more interesting parts of the narrative, will be sufficient to relieve
+us in a great degree from the necessity of criticism. Our readers will,
+themselves, be able to form a just estimate of the power and skill of
+the writer, and of the pleasure to be derived from the story he has
+recorded. We venture to say, that by none will that estimate be
+otherwise than favourable, either to the talents of the author, or the
+interest of the work.
+
+The style of Mr. Irving has been objected to as somewhat elaborate, as
+sacrificing strength and force of expression, to harmony of periods and
+extreme correctness of language. We cannot say that we have been
+inclined to censure him for this. If he assumed a style more than
+usually refined, it was in those works of fiction, those short but
+agreeable narratives, in which he desired to win the fond attention of
+the reader, but in which he never endeavoured to call up violent
+emotions, to engage in the wild speculations of a discursive fancy, or
+to treat topics requiring logical or historical correctness. For such
+works as the Sketch Book, we believe the style adopted by Mr. Irving to
+be eminently well fitted, and we do not hesitate to attribute much of
+the success of those charming tales to this very circumstance. We
+believe so the more readily, because we find him adopting in the Life of
+Columbus, and in the volume before us, a different manner, but one
+equally well suited to the different nature of the subject he treats.
+Without losing the elegance and general purity by which it has been
+always characterized, it seems to us to have acquired more freshness,
+more vivacity; to flow on more easily with the course of the spirited
+narrative; to convey to the reader that exquisite charm in historical
+writing--an unconsciousness of any elaboration on the part of the
+writer, yet a quick and entire understanding of every sentiment he
+desires to convey.
+
+But connected with this, the writing of Mr. Irving possesses another
+characteristic, which has never been more strongly and beautifully
+exhibited than in the present volume. We mean that lively perception of
+all those sentiments and incidents, which excite the finest and the
+pleasantest emotions of the human breast. As he leads us from one savage
+tribe to another--as he paints successive scenes of heroism,
+perseverance, and self-denial--as he wanders among the magnificent
+scenes of nature--as he relates with scrupulous fidelity the errors, and
+the crimes, even of those whose lives are for the most part marked with
+traits to command admiration, and perhaps esteem--every where we find
+him the same undeviating, but beautiful moralist, gathering from all
+lessons to present, in striking language, to the reason and the heart.
+Where his story leads him to some individual, or presents some incident
+which raises our smiles, it is recorded with a naive humour, the more
+effective from its simplicity; where he finds himself called on to tell
+some tale of misfortune or wo--and how often must he do so when the
+history of the gentle and peaceful natives of the Antilles is his
+subject--the reader is at a loss whether most to admire the beauty of
+the picture he paints, or the deep pathos which he imperceptibly
+excites.
+
+Nor has he shown less judgment in the selection of his subject. To all
+persons the discovery of this continent is one which cannot fail to
+engage and reward attention--to him who loves to speculate on the
+changes and progress of society, to him who loves to trace the paths of
+science and knowledge, to him who loves to dwell on bold adventures and
+singular accidents, to him who loves carefully to ascertain historical
+truth. We scarcely know any topics at the present day, explored and
+exhausted as so many fields have been, that afford a richer harvest than
+those which Mr. Irving has now selected. We trust that many more works
+are yet to be the fruits of his most fortunate visit to the peninsula.
+The sources of information so liberally opened to him, and already so
+judiciously used--and which have contributed to add new reputation to so
+many names honourable to Spain--must yet furnish ample materials to
+illustrate other men, to disclose the incidents attending other
+adventures; and we trust that three years more may not elapse, before we
+again sail with our author over the newly discovered billows of the
+Pacific, or explore the plains of Mexico and Peru, or wander with some
+of the hardy adventurers who first dared to penetrate the defiles of the
+Andes.
+
+We have already mentioned, in the notice of the Life of Columbus, the
+circumstances which led Mr. Irving to the investigation of this period
+of Spanish history, and the facilities afforded him in the prosecution
+of his labours. The materials for this volume were procured during the
+same visit. In addition to the historical collections of Navarrete, Las
+Casas, Herrera, and Peter Martyr, he profited by the second volume of
+Oviedo's history, of which he was shown a manuscript copy in the
+Columbian library of the cathedral of Seville, and by the legal
+documents of the law case between Diego Columbus and the crown, which
+are deposited in the Archives of the Indies.
+
+
+
+
+ART. VIII.--_The History of Louisiana, from the earliest period._ By
+FRANÇOIS-XAVIER MARTIN: 2 vols. 8vo. New-Orleans: Lyman and Beardslee.
+1827.
+
+
+It is about a year and a half since a very good translation of the
+History of Louisiana by _Barbé Marbois_, was laid before the public.
+Another work on the same subject, by _Francis Xavier Martin_, has
+recently come to our knowledge. We use this expression, because,
+although the title page shows a publication of the book in 1827, we
+neither saw it nor heard of it until the close of the last year; and,
+even now, we know of no copy but that in our possession. It may be that
+the honourable author, (for he is a Judge of the Supreme Court of the
+state whose history he has written,) was satisfied with collecting and
+preserving his materials by printing them, and cared not for the fame or
+profit of an extensive circulation and sale of his work. His philosophy
+may make him as indifferent to the one as his fortune does to the other,
+or his modesty may be greater than either. We think we shall perform an
+acceptable service by introducing the stranger to our readers, who will
+not fail to derive from him many things which will reward the time and
+trouble given to acquire them.
+
+History has seldom appeared under the sanction of names better entitled
+to credit and respect than those we have mentioned. M. Marbois is known
+to us by his residence in the United States, as the secretary of the
+French legation, and Consul General of France, during the revolutionary
+war; and, afterwards, as _Chargé d' Affaires_; in which situations he
+was distinguished for his extraordinary capacity in the business of
+diplomacy, as well as for the integrity of his principles, and the
+frankness and amenity of his manners. By living long among us, he seems
+to have acquired not only an affection and respect for the American
+people, but an ardent admiration of our political institutions, which
+have adhered to him with undiminished strength through the various
+fortunes he has since encountered. He has prefixed to his History, an
+"Introduction," which is, as it professes to be, "An Essay on the
+Constitution and Government of the United States of America;" and
+although the venerable author had passed his eightieth year, he had lost
+none of the freshness of his attachment to our republic and its
+citizens, or of the vigour of his pen in portraying them. No foreigner
+has ever understood us so well, and few Americans better.
+
+That part of his history which relates to the cession of Louisiana to
+the United States, is particularly entitled to attention from its
+curious details, and will be received with implicit belief, as M.
+Marbois was the negotiator on the part of France in that extraordinary
+transaction, fraught with consequences so momentous. He relates nothing
+but what was in his personal knowledge. We will not anticipate our
+notice of this event, but we cannot suppress the remark, that the
+acquisition of this vast region by the United States, now so prosperous,
+so loyal and efficient a portion of our grand confederacy, by which we
+were not only saved from a war, but liberty, happiness, and wealth have
+been spread over a country, before that time neglected, mismanaged, and
+unproductive, and dispensed to an intelligent and industrious people,
+who had for a century been struggling with oppression and innumerable
+difficulties, changing with their repeated changes of masters, was owing
+to the keen sagacity and prompt decision of Napoleon. It is thus that
+the destinies of mankind wait upon the fortunes, the caprice, the
+foresight, and the blunders of the great, and are determined, for weal
+or wo, by causes and accidents in which those who are most affected by
+them have no agency. The people of Louisiana, and their fertile
+territory, which from their first settlement had been a subject of
+barter among the powers of Europe, to make a peace, to round off a
+treaty, or answer some policy or interest of a distant sovereign, are
+now irrevocably fixed as a member of a great republic, never again to be
+a helpless and degraded makeweight in the bargains of foreign princes.
+
+_F. X. Martin_, the author of the work now in our review, has held for
+many years the high station of a Judge of the Supreme Court of
+Louisiana; respected for the learning and integrity with which he
+discharges the duties of his office, and equally so, in all his public
+and private relations. He, also, is at once the historian and the
+witness of some of the interesting transactions he narrates; and the
+veracity of his testimony is unquestionable, as to those matters of
+which he speaks from his personal knowledge. Being as independent in his
+circumstances as he is in his principles, and having no resentments, of
+which we have heard, to gratify, by calumniating any man, there is
+nothing to draw him from the line of rectitude, and we presume that no
+errors, at least of intention, will be imputed to him.
+
+With this acquaintance with the character of the author, and his means
+of information, we may open his book with more than the confidence
+usually due to similar productions.
+
+Before we introduce our readers to the materials of which these volumes
+are composed, we would say a word, and do it frankly, upon the plan
+adopted by the author in presenting them to the world. We speak not of
+the language or style of the composition, which is sufficiently clear
+and correct to be secure from criticism, especially under the apology of
+the writer, that "as he does not write in his vernacular tongue,
+elegance of style is beyond his hope, and consequently without the scope
+of his ambition." We are not so well satisfied with his reasons for the
+wide range he has taken over time and space in a "History of Louisiana."
+He has commenced, as every annalist of an American village has done,
+with the discoveries of Columbus; he has given us, with considerable
+detail, the circumstances which attended the settlements of the English
+and French provinces in this hemisphere; and has drawn "the attention of
+his readers to transactions on the opposite side of the Atlantic,"
+which have no apparent connexion with his subject. The "chronological
+order" which he has adopted, is not confined to the affairs of
+Louisiana, but comprehends occurrences in every part of the globe, and
+sometimes brings together on the same page such a heterogeneous mass, as
+to force a smile from us in spite of the official gravity which belongs
+to the office of a reviewer. The assemblages of events are often so
+unexpected and grotesque, that we should believe a joke was intended, if
+they had not been brought together on the summons of a Judge of a
+Supreme Court. Assuredly nothing like them was ever seen in a jury-box,
+even in the mixed population of Louisiana. A few references will explain
+the nature and meaning of our criticism.
+
+The "Discovery of America" being disposed of, the reader of the History
+of Louisiana has his recollection recalled to the reigns of Charles
+VIII. in France; of Henry VII. of England; and Ferdinand and Isabella,
+of course; with notices of various movements in those countries in their
+several reigns. The second chapter is got up in the same manner, taking
+a zigzag course over our continent, north, south, east, and west, with
+occasional excursions to Europe to keep up the variety. This procedure
+often produces an assemblage of events, as we have said, on the same
+page, rather startling to themselves as well as to us.--Thus on page 48
+of the first volume--"On the 20th of December, a ship from England
+landed one hundred and twenty men near Cape Cod, who laid the foundation
+of a colony, which, in course of time, became greatly conspicuous in the
+annals of the northern continent. They called their first town Plymouth.
+Philip III. on the 21st of March of the following year, the forty-third
+of his age, transmitted the crown of Spain to his son Philip IV. This
+year James I. of England granted to Sir William Alexander, all the
+country taken by Argal from the French in America. The Iroquois,
+apprehending that if the French were suffered to gain ground in
+America." So on page 157--"Iberville returned to France in the
+fleet--William III. of England died on the 16th of March, in consequence
+of a fall from his horse, in the fifty-third year of his age. Mary, his
+queen, had died in 1694; neither left issue. Anne, her sister, succeeded
+her." Can we avoid to ask what has all this to do with Louisiana? In
+page 234--John Law's well known scheme is thus abruptly introduced.
+"Another Guinea-man landed three hundred negroes a few days after. John
+Law, of Lauriston in North Britain, was a celebrated financier," &c.
+
+The work abounds with such odd combinations, nor have we selected the
+most singular, arising from the "chronological order" adopted by the
+author, which, while it has advantages in narrations confined to one
+object, will not do in a history extended over half of the world. We
+have presented to us, in the same incongruous manner, the settlement of
+Maryland--of Nova Scotia--sketches of English history under Oliver
+Cromwell--an account of the hooping cough in Quebec--and an earthquake
+in Canada. The cough was supposed to be the effect of enchantment,--"and
+many of the faculty did, or affected to believe it." "It was said a
+fiery crown had been observed in the air at Montreal; lamentable cries
+heard at Trois Rivieres, in places in which there was not any person;
+that, at Quebec, a canoe, all on fire, had been seen on the river, with
+a man armed _cap-a-pie_, surrounded by a circle of the same element." On
+the subject of the earthquake, the account of which is taken from
+Charlevoix, it was indeed a fearful visitation, if the truth be not
+exaggerated by terror and superstition.--
+
+     "A dreadful earthquake was felt in Canada, on the fifth of
+     February, 1663. The first shock is said by Charlevoix, to have
+     lasted half an hour; after the first quarter of an hour, its
+     violence gradually abated. At eight o'clock in the evening, a
+     like shock was felt; some of the inhabitants said they had
+     counted as many as thirty-two shocks, during the night. In the
+     intervals between the shocks, the surface of the ground
+     undulated as the sea, and the people felt, in their houses, the
+     sensations which are experienced in a vessel at anchor. On the
+     sixth, at three o'clock in the morning, another most violent
+     shock was felt. It is related that at Tadoussac, there was a
+     rain of ashes for six hours. During this strange commotion of
+     nature, the bells of the churches were kept constantly ringing,
+     by the motion of the steeples; the houses were so terribly
+     shaken, that the eaves, on each side, alternately touched the
+     ground. Several mountains altered their positions; others were
+     precipitated into the river, and lakes were afterwards found in
+     the places on which they stood before. The commotion was felt
+     for nine hundred miles from east to west, and five hundred from
+     north to south.
+
+     "This extraordinary phenomenon was considered as the effect of
+     the vengeance of God, irritated at the obstinacy of those, who,
+     neglecting the admonitions of his ministers, and contemning the
+     censures of his church, continued to sell brandy to the
+     Indians. The reverend writer, who has been cited, relates it
+     was said, ignited appearances had been observed in the air, for
+     several days before; globes of fire being seen over the cities
+     of Quebec and Montreal, attended with a noise like that of the
+     simultaneous discharge of several pieces of heavy artillery;
+     that the superior of the nuns, informed her confessor some time
+     before, that being at her devotions, she believed 'she saw the
+     Lord irritated against Canada, and she involuntarily demanded
+     justice from him for all the crimes committed in the country;
+     praying the souls might not perish with the bodies: a moment
+     after, she felt conscious the divine justice was going to
+     strike; the contempt of the church exciting God's wrath. She
+     perceived almost instantaneously four devils, at the corners of
+     Quebec, shaking the earth with extreme violence, and a person
+     of majestic mien alternately slackening and drawing back a
+     bridle, by which he held them.' A female Indian, who had been
+     baptized, was said to have received intelligence of the
+     impending chastisement of heaven. The reverend writer concludes
+     his narration by exultingly observing, 'none perished, all were
+     converted.'"
+
+The fourth chapter still keeps us at a distance from the "promised
+land." The discontents and disturbances which agitated Canada, are
+minutely narrated, and, in some respects, not without considerable
+interest. One of the causes of the commotion, was an arbitrary act of
+power of the Count de Frontenac, who "had imprisoned the Abbe de
+Fenelon, then a priest of the seminary of St. Sulpice at Montreal, who
+afterwards became archbishop of Cambray." Thus were the genius, the
+learning, and the virtues of this great and good man, laid prostrate at
+the feet of a petty tyrant; and might have been for ever lost to the
+world. It is by such abuses of power that men learn and feel the value
+of a government of laws, supreme and superior to the influence of office
+and the power of the sword. In this chapter we are introduced to the
+name of Robert C. Lasalle, afterwards so conspicuous for his courage and
+perseverance in the settlement of these regions. Some interesting
+details of his life and adventures, which may be called romantic, are
+given, for which we refer to the book.
+
+As the character and conduct of the Founder of Pennsylvania has been
+lately assailed, with exceeding injustice, by a Pennsylvanian, and a
+judge too, it will add something to the testimony already so abundant in
+his behalf, to quote the following extract--
+
+     "The year 1680 is remarkable for the grant of Charles the
+     Second, to William Penn, of the territory that now constitutes
+     the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware. The grantee, who was
+     one of the people called Quakers, imitating the example of
+     Gulielm Usseling and Roger Williams, disowned a right to any
+     part of the country included within his charter, till the
+     natives voluntarily yielded it on receiving a fair
+     consideration. There exists not any other example of so liberal
+     a conduct towards the Indians of North America, on the erection
+     of a new colony. The date of Penn's charter is the twentieth of
+     February."
+
+We follow our author into his fifth chapter, which we find occupied with
+a variety of matters, sufficiently interesting in themselves, but having
+no relation to the professed subject of our history; and which have been
+collected from works of no difficult access to any body. We notice,
+however, an occurrence, especially worthy of our attention at this time,
+when a project is entertained of introducing a government paper currency
+into the United States.--
+
+     "Louis the Fourteenth having approved the emission of card
+     money made in Canada, during the preceding year, another
+     emission was now prepared in Paris, in which pasteboard was
+     used instead of cards. An impression was made on each piece, of
+     the coin of the kingdom, of the corresponding value.
+
+     "Pasteboard proving inconvenient, cards were again resorted to.
+     Each had the flourish which the intendant usually added to his
+     signature. He signed all those of the value of four livres and
+     upwards, and those of six livres and above were also signed by
+     the governor.
+
+     "Once a year, at a fixed period, the cards were required to be
+     brought to the colonial treasury, and exchanged for bills on
+     the treasurer-general of the marine, or his deputy at
+     Rochefort. Those which appeared too ragged for circulation were
+     burnt, and the rest again paid out of the treasury.
+
+     "For a while the cards were thus punctually exchanged once a
+     year; but in course of time bills ceased to be given for them.
+     Their value, which till then had been equal to gold, now began
+     to diminish; the price of all commodities rose proportionably,
+     and the colonial government was compelled, in order to meet the
+     increased demands on its treasury, to resort to new and
+     repeated emissions; and the people found a new source of
+     distress in the means adopted for their relief."
+
+This subject is frequently referred to, and always as a source of
+distress; as a disastrous measure of policy.--
+
+     "Louisiana suffered a great deal from the want of a circulating
+     medium. Card money had caused the disappearance of the gold and
+     silver circulating in the colony before its emission, and its
+     subsequent depreciation had induced the commissary ordonnateur
+     to have recourse to an issue of _ordonances_, a kind of bills
+     of credit, which although not a legal tender, from the want of
+     a metallic currency, soon became an object of commerce. They
+     were followed by treasury notes, which being receivable in the
+     discharge of all claims of the treasury, soon got into
+     circulation. This cumulation of public securities in the
+     market, within a short time threw them all into discredit, and
+     gave rise to an _agiotage_, highly injurious to commerce and
+     agriculture."
+
+     "The province was at this time inundated by a flood of paper
+     money. The administration, for several years past, had paid in
+     due bills all the supplies they had obtained, and they had been
+     suffered to accumulate to an immense amount. A consequent
+     depreciation had left them almost without any value. This had
+     been occasioned, in a great degree, by a belief that the
+     officers who had put these securities afloat, had, at times,
+     attended more to their own than to the public interest, and
+     that the French government, on the discovery of this, would not
+     perhaps be found ready to indemnify the holders against the
+     misconduct of its agents. With a view, however, to prepare the
+     way for the redemption of the paper, the colonial treasurer was
+     directed to receive all that might be presented, and to give in
+     its stead certificates, in order that the extent of the evil
+     being known, the remedy might be applied."
+
+     "The province laboured under great difficulties, on account of
+     a flood of depreciated paper, which, inundating it, annihilated
+     its industry, commerce, and agriculture. So sanguine were the
+     inhabitants of their appeal to the throne, that they instructed
+     their emissary, after having accomplished the principal object
+     of his mission, to solicit relief in this respect."
+
+We turn also to Marbois, on this subject, and trust we shall be excused
+for giving so much of our time to it, by the interest the people of the
+United States now have in it. We have had our own experience of the
+fatal consequences of such schemes; let us also listen to the experience
+of others, which points to the distress and ruin that attend such
+experiments. Speaking of Law's great scheme of finance, this wise and
+venerable statesman says--"A foreigner of an eccentric mind, though a
+skilful calculator, had engaged the regent in operations the most
+disastrous to the finances of the state. John Law, after having
+persuaded credulous people that paper money might advantageously take
+the place of specie, drew from this false principle the most extravagant
+consequences. They were adopted by ignorance and cupidity." This writer,
+with the experience of more than half a century in public affairs,
+adds--"These chimeras, called by the name of system, do not differ much
+from the schemes that are brought forward in the present age, under the
+name of credit."
+
+Speaking of the paper money created for Louisiana, M. Marbois tells us--
+
+     "The expenses resulting from want of order had no limits: in no
+     condition to provide for them, the heads of the government had
+     recourse to paper money, the desperate resource of financiers
+     without capacity. The following remarks on this subject are
+     from a despatch of M. Rouillé, minister of marine.
+
+     "'The disorder, which has for some time prevailed in the
+     finances and trade of Louisiana, principally arises from
+     pouring into the province treasury orders and other kinds of
+     paper money; all of which soon fell into discredit, and
+     occasioned a depreciation of the currency, which has been the
+     more injurious to the colony and its trade, as the prices of
+     all things, and particularly of manual labour, have increased
+     in proportion to the fall in the treasury notes.'
+
+     "It was on the 30th of November, 1744, that this minister thus
+     expressed himself with regard to the chimerical systems of
+     credit, which have never been more in vogue than in our time."
+
+We pass over the sixth chapter of our book, without any particular
+notice of its contents. It is occupied with miscellaneous transactions
+in other provinces; with Indian wars; the abdication of James II., and
+the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England; which, in
+pursuance of the chronological order, we find snugly deposited between
+the census of Canada and some affairs in Fort Louis. These things, with
+the peace made between the Marquess de Denonville and some Indians, and
+some other matters, cover one page.
+
+The seventh chapter of this volume brings us again in sight of
+Louisiana; and we thought our author was a little like Louis XIV., who,
+it is said, "seemed to have lost sight of Louisiana in the prosecution
+of the war," &c. Some interesting details are here given of the early
+attempts to plant a French colony in this territory, interrupted by
+hostilities with the Indians, and other impediments not unusual to
+enterprises of this kind. The northern provinces, however, are not
+neglected; and we are specially informed of the determination of the
+British cabinet to attack Montreal and Quebec--this was in 1710.
+
+In tracing the history of a country which has attained the strength and
+importance of Louisiana, it is gratifying, occasionally, to look back to
+the days of its weakness, and particularly so when the advance has been
+surprisingly rapid, and may be fairly traced to the freedom of the
+government under which it was made. Our author has, from time to time,
+exhibited the population, agriculture, production, and trade of this
+province, at various periods, and under different circumstances.
+
+     "In 1713, there were in Louisiana two companies of infantry of
+     fifty men each, and seventy-five Canadian volunteers in the
+     king's pay. The rest of the population consisted of
+     twenty-eight families; one half of whom were engaged, not in
+     agriculture, but in horticulture: the heads of the others were
+     shop and tavern keepers, or employed in mechanical occupations.
+     A number of individuals derived their support by ministering to
+     the wants of the troops. There were but twenty negroes in the
+     colony: adding to these the king's officers and clergy, the
+     aggregate amount of the population was three hundred and eighty
+     persons. A few female Indians and children were domesticated in
+     the houses of the white people, and groups of the males were
+     incessantly sauntering or encamped around them.
+
+     "The collection of all these individuals, on one compact spot,
+     could have claimed no higher appellation than that of a hamlet;
+     yet they were dispersed through a vast extent of country, the
+     parts of which were separated by the sea, by lakes, and wide
+     rivers. Five forts, or large batteries, had been erected for
+     their protection at Mobile, Biloxi, on the Mississippi, and at
+     Ship and Dauphine Islands.
+
+     "Lumber, hides, and peltries, constituted the objects of
+     exportation, which the colony presented to commerce. A number
+     of woodsmen, or _coureurs de bois,_ from Canada, had followed
+     the missionaries, who had been sent among the nations of
+     Indians, between that province and Louisiana. These men plied
+     within a circle, of a radius of several hundred miles, of which
+     the father's chapel was the centre, in search of furs,
+     peltries, and hides. When they deemed they had gathered a
+     sufficient quantity of these articles, they floated down the
+     Mississippi, and brought them to Mobile, where they exchanged
+     them for European goods, with which they returned. The natives
+     nearer to the fort, carried on the same trade. Lumber was
+     easily obtained around the settlement: of late, vessels, from
+     St. Domingo and Martinique, brought sugar, coffee, molasses,
+     and rum, to Louisiana, and took its peltries, hides, and
+     lumber, in exchange. The colonists procured some specie from
+     the garrison of Pensacola, whom they supplied with vegetables
+     and fowls. Those who followed this sort of trade, by furnishing
+     also the officers and troops, obtained flour and salt
+     provisions from the king's stores, which were abundantly
+     supplied from France and Vera Cruz. Trifling but successful
+     essays had shown, that indigo, tobacco, and cotton, could be
+     cultivated to great advantage: but hands were wanting.
+     Experience had shown, that the frequent and heavy mists and
+     fogs were unfavourable to the culture of wheat, by causing it
+     to rust."
+
+What a change have a few years of good government and undisturbed
+industry and enterprise made in this country; for up to the time of its
+cession to the United States, its improvement was slow, uncertain, and
+by no means remarkable! Who can now recognise in this rich and
+prosperous state, the member of a great confederation, of a powerful
+republic, known and respected by every nation of the earth, the desolate
+wilds, the miserable and scattered habitations, "few and far between,"
+with a population half savage and half civilized, of various bloods and
+colours, and scarcely able to support a pinched and comfortless
+existence, by excessive toil and a constant exposure to hardships and
+peril!
+
+After the charter of Crouzat, in September 1712, and a subsequent
+charter to a new corporation five years after, the settlement of the
+colony was better attended to, and measures taken to advance its
+prosperity. Unfortunately for humanity, and perhaps for the ultimate
+happiness of the province, it was found, or thought, to be necessary, to
+introduce the negroes of Africa, for the cultivation of the soil. This
+species of labour was resorted to in Louisiana in the year 1719.
+
+     "Experience had shown the great fertility of the land in
+     Louisiana, especially on the banks of the Mississippi, and its
+     aptitude to the culture of tobacco, indigo, cotton, and rice;
+     but the labourers were very few, and many of the new comers had
+     fallen victims to the climate. The survivers found it
+     impossible to work in the field during the great heats of the
+     summer, protracted through a part of the autumn. The necessity
+     of obtaining cultivators from Africa, was apparent; the company
+     yielding thereto, sent two of its ships to the coast of Africa,
+     from whence they brought five hundred negroes, who were landed
+     at Pensacola. They brought thirty recruits to the garrison."
+
+Whatever may hereafter be the consequences of this determination to
+employ slave-labour, its immediate effects were beneficial to the
+planters; and in the next year, it is said that the company represented
+to the king that "the planters had been enabled, by the introduction of
+a great number of negroes, to clear and cultivate large tracts of land."
+It will be observed, that at this time the cultivation of sugar was not
+thought of.
+
+The discursive manner of our author frequently furnishes us with
+anecdotes of interest, sometimes relating to habits of the Indians, and
+sometimes to other persons and subjects. In this class we reckon an
+account of a female adventurer who appeared in Louisiana so early as the
+year 1721.--
+
+     "There came, among the German new comers, a female adventurer.
+     She had been attached to the wardrobe of the wife of the
+     Czarowitz Alexius Petrowitz, the only son of Peter the Great.
+     She imposed on the credulity of many persons, but particularly
+     on that of an officer of the garrison of Mobile, (called by
+     Bossu, the Chevalier d'Aubant, and by the king of Prussia,
+     Maldeck) who having seen the princess at St. Petersburg,
+     imagined he recognised her features in those of her former
+     servant, and gave credit to the report which prevailed, that
+     she was the Duke of Wolfenbuttle's daughter, whom the Czarowitz
+     had married, and who, finding herself treated with great
+     cruelty by her husband, caused it to be circulated that she had
+     died, while she fled to a distant seat, driven by the blows he
+     had inflicted on her--that the Czarowitz had given orders for
+     her private burial, and she had travelled incog. into France,
+     and had taken passage at L'Orient, in one of the company's
+     ships, among the German settlers.
+
+     "Her story gained credit, and the officer married her. After a
+     long residence in Louisiana, she followed him to Paris and the
+     Island of Bourbon, where he had a commission of major. Having
+     become a widow in 1754, she returned to Paris, with a daughter,
+     and went thence to Brunswick, when her imposture was
+     discovered; charity was bestowed on her, but she was ordered to
+     leave the country. She died in 1771, at Paris, in great
+     poverty.
+
+     "A similar imposition was practised for a while with
+     considerable success, in the southern British provinces, a few
+     years before the declaration of their independence. A female,
+     driven for her misconduct from the service of a maid of honour
+     of Princess Matilda, sister to George the Third, was convicted
+     at the Old Bailey, and transported to Maryland. She effected
+     her escape before the expiration of her time, and travelled
+     through Virginia and both the Carolinas, personating the
+     princess, and levying contributions on the credulity of
+     planters and merchants; and even some of the king's officers.
+     She was at last arrested in Charleston, prosecuted, and
+     whipped."
+
+When we read the account of New-Orleans, a century ago, we can hardly
+credit that it is the same New-Orleans which we now know.--
+
+     "New-Orleans, (according to his account,) consisted at that
+     time of one hundred cabins, placed without much order, a large
+     wooden warehouse, two or three dwelling houses, that would not
+     have adorned a village, and a miserable storehouse, which had
+     been at first occupied as a chapel; a shed being now used for
+     this purpose. Its population did not exceed two hundred
+     persons."
+
+In the enormous increase of population and wealth which this highly
+favoured city exhibits, a Pennsylvanian may feel pride in observing,
+that the industrious Germans, who have never failed to improve and
+enrich the soil they inhabit, have had their share. John Randolph once
+said on the floor of Congress, that the land on which a slave set his
+foot was cursed with barrenness. The reverse of this may be truly
+asserted of the German settlers. To their persevering industry, patient
+labour, and habitual economy, every difficulty yields, and every soil
+becomes fertile. An accident brought them to New-Orleans, with no
+intention of remaining; and their usefulness was felt and encouraged.
+
+     "Since the failure of Law, and his departure from France, his
+     grant at the Arkansas had been entirely neglected, and the
+     greatest part of the settlers, whom he had transported thither
+     from Germany, finding themselves abandoned and disappointed,
+     came down to New-Orleans, with the hope of obtaining a passage
+     to some port of France, from which they might be enabled to
+     return home. The colonial government being unable or unwilling
+     to grant it, small allotments of land were made to them twenty
+     miles above New-Orleans, on both sides of the river, on which
+     they settled in cottage farms. The Chevalier d'Arensbourg, a
+     Swedish officer, lately arrived, was appointed commandant of
+     the new post. This was the beginning of the settlement, known
+     as the German coast, or the parishes of St. Charles and St.
+     John the Baptist. These laborious men supplied the troops and
+     the inhabitants of New-Orleans with garden stuff. Loading their
+     pirogues with the produce of their week's work, on Saturday
+     evening, they floated down the river, and were ready to spread
+     at sun-rise, on the first market that was held on the banks of
+     the Mississippi, their supplies of vegetables, fowls, and
+     butter. Returning, at the close of the market, they reached
+     their homes early in the night, and were ready to resume their
+     work at sun-rise; having brought the groceries and other
+     articles needed in the course of the week."
+
+A few years later, the Jesuit and Ursuline nuns arrived at New-Orleans,
+and began the improvement of a tract of land immediately above the city.
+They erected a house and chapel; they planted the front of their land
+with the myrtle wax shrub. Soon after, the foundation was laid for a
+large nunnery, into which the ladies removed in 1730, and occupied it
+until 1824. On every side the work of improvement proceeded gradually,
+but effectually. Among other expedients to hasten the progress of
+population, "a company ship brought out a number of poor girls, shipped
+by the company. They had not been taken, as those whom it had
+transported before, in the houses of correction in Paris. It had
+supplied each of them with a small box, _cassette_, containing a few
+articles of clothing. From this circumstance, and to distinguish them
+from those who had preceded them, they were called girls _de la
+cassette_. Till they could be disposed of in marriage, they remained
+under the care of the nuns."
+
+The fig tree was introduced from Provence, and the orange from
+Hispaniola, both now so abundant and so excellent at New-Orleans.
+
+Injustice to the aborigines seems to have marked the march of the white
+man in all its stages; nor were the victims of his cupidity slow in
+their revenge, or wanting in courage and ingenuity in prosecuting it. We
+have an instance of this, which we think interesting enough to be
+extracted.--
+
+     "The indiscretion and ill conduct of Chepar, who commanded at
+     Fort Rosalie, in the country of the Natchez, induced these
+     Indians to become principals, instead of auxiliaries, in the
+     havock.
+
+     "This officer, coveting a tract of land in the possession of
+     one of the chiefs, had used menaces to induce him to surrender
+     it, and unable to intimidate the sturdy Indian, had resorted to
+     violence. The nation, to whom the commandant's conduct had
+     rendered him obnoxious, took part with its injured member--and
+     revenge was determined on. The suns sat in council to devise
+     the means of annoyance, and determined not to confine
+     chastisement to the offender; but, having secured the
+     co-operation of all the tribes hostile to the French, to effect
+     the total overthrow of the settlement, murder all white men in
+     it, and reduce the women and children to slavery. Messengers
+     were accordingly sent to all the villages of the Natchez and
+     the tribes in their alliance, to induce them to get themselves
+     ready, and come on a given day to begin the slaughter. For this
+     purpose bundles of an equal number of sticks were prepared and
+     sent to every village, with directions to take out a stick
+     everyday, after that of the new moon, and the attack was to be
+     on that on which the last stick was taken out.
+
+     "This matter was kept a profound secret among the chiefs and
+     the Indians employed by them, and particular care was taken to
+     conceal it from the women. One of the female suns, however,
+     soon discovered that a momentous measure, of which she was not
+     informed, was on foot. Leading one of her sons to a distant and
+     retired spot, in the woods, she upbraided him with his want of
+     confidence in his mother, and artfully drew from him the
+     details of the intended attack. The bundle of sticks for her
+     village had been deposited in the temple, and to the keeper of
+     it, the care had been intrusted of taking out a stick daily.
+     Having from her rank access to the fane at all times, she
+     secretly, and at different moments, detached one or two sticks,
+     and then threw them into the sacred fire. Unsatisfied with
+     this, she gave notice of the impending danger to an officer of
+     the garrison, in whom she placed confidence. But the
+     information was either disbelieved or disregarded."
+
+This well concerted plan of revenge was carried into a terrible
+execution; and the aggressor who had caused it was among the victims.
+
+A circumstance, purely accidental, and, in itself, altogether
+insignificant, was the beginning of an agricultural experiment in
+Louisiana, which, long afterwards, was followed by a success, important
+not only to that territory, but to these United States.
+
+     "Two hundred recruits arrived from France on the 17th of April,
+     for the completion of the quota of troops allotted to the
+     province. The king's ships, in which they were embarked,
+     touched at the cape, in the Island of Hispaniola, where, with a
+     view of trying with what success the sugar cane could be
+     cultivated on the banks of the Mississippi, the Jesuits of that
+     island were permitted to ship to their brethren in Louisiana, a
+     quantity of it. A number of negroes, acquainted with the
+     culture and manufacture of sugar, came in the fleet. The canes
+     were planted on the land of the fathers immediately above the
+     city, in the lower part of the spot now known as the suburb St.
+     Mary. Before this time, the front of the plantation had been
+     improved in the raising of the myrtle wax shrub; the rest was
+     sown with indigo."
+
+In this humble manner was the sugar cane introduced into Louisiana,
+which has now become a principal source of its wealth. We will here
+advance upon our work in order to trace, in a connected manner, the
+various attempts which were made to fix the cultivation of this plant,
+with their failures and success, for many years vibrating in
+uncertainty. The experiment we have just alluded to was made in 1751;
+eight years afterwards, our author tells us:--
+
+     "Although the essay, which the Jesuits had made in 1751, to
+     naturalize the sugar cane in Louisiana, had been successful,
+     the culture of it, on a large scale, was not attempted till
+     this year, when Dubreuil erected a mill for the manufacture of
+     sugar, on his plantation, immediately adjoining the lower part
+     of New-Orleans--the spot now covered by the suburb Marigny."
+
+In 1769, the project seems to have been given up, as we are then
+informed that--"the indigo of Louisiana was greatly inferior to that of
+Hispaniola, the planters being quite unskilful and inattentive in the
+manufacture of it; that of sugar had been abandoned, but some planters
+near New-Orleans raised a few canes for the market."
+
+No explanation is given of the causes of the abandonment of this most
+valuable product, which subsequent experience has shown is so admirably
+adapted to the soil and climate of Louisiana. It is the more
+unaccountable, as a large capital had been embarked in it, for the
+purchase of slaves principally. It may be that it did not receive the
+protection from jealous rivals, which is indispensable for the success
+of every new enterprise of this kind, even under the most favourable
+circumstances; at least until it is firmly established; its expenditures
+secured or reimbursed; and its capacity brought into full development
+and operation.
+
+From the period we have last spoken of, 1769, until 1796, we hear, from
+our author, of no effort to resume the cultivation of the sugar cane;
+although we may presume it was not absolutely extinguished; for in the
+record of the events of this year, (1796) he tells us--"Boré's success,
+in his first attempt to manufacture sugar, was very great, and he sold
+his crop for ten thousand dollars. His example induced a number of other
+planters to plant cane." In the transactions of 1794, we are indeed
+informed upon this point; and of the origin of Boré's undertaking this
+culture.
+
+     "Since the year 1766, the manufacture of sugar had been
+     entirely abandoned in Louisiana. A few individuals had,
+     however, contrived to plant a few canes in the neighbourhood of
+     the city: they found a vent for them in the market. Two
+     Spaniards, Mendez and Solis, had lately made larger
+     plantations. One of them boiled the juice of the cane into
+     syrup, and the other had set up a distillery, in which he made
+     indifferent taffia.
+
+     "Etienne Boré, a native of the Illinois, who resided about six
+     miles above the city, finding his fortune considerably reduced
+     by the failure of the indigo crops for several successive
+     years, conceived the idea of retrieving his losses by the
+     manufacture of sugar. The attempt was considered by all as a
+     visionary one. His wife, (a daughter of Destrehan, the colonial
+     treasurer under the government of France, who had been one of
+     the first to attempt, and one of the last to abandon, the
+     manufacture of sugar) remembering her father's ill success,
+     warned him of the risk he ran of adding to instead of repairing
+     his losses, and his relations and friends joined their
+     remonstrances to hers. He, however, persisted; and, having
+     procured a quantity of canes from Mendez and Solis, began to
+     plant."
+
+So that in two years after Boré began to plant, he was able to make a
+crop which sold for ten thousand dollars. From this time the culture of
+the cane may be considered as established in Louisiana, constantly and
+rapidly increasing in its importance, until it has become a principal
+product of its soil, in which an immense capital is embarked. We have
+before us a copy of a "Letter of Mr. Johnston of Louisiana, to the
+secretary of the treasury, in reply to his circular of the 1st July
+1830, relative to the culture of the sugar cane." This interesting
+document contains a mass of authentic information, which leaves no doubt
+of the importance of the culture of the cane, not only to those regions
+of the United States which are suitable to it, but to all or most of the
+other states; and the inference he justly draws from it is, that it
+deserves and still requires all the protection it now receives from the
+government. If it should be discontinued or diminished so as to affect
+materially the sugar planter, the injury will not stop there, but be
+extended to thousands of our citizens, who may not have reflected upon
+the direct interest they have in this question. We deem it to be so
+important, that we believe our readers, many of whom may not see the
+letter of the honourable senator, will not find a page or two
+unprofitably given to some extracts from it. In the introduction of his
+subject he says:
+
+     "When Louisiana was acquired by the United States, there was a
+     duty on brown sugar of two and a half cents a pound, levied for
+     revenue. The people of that state, who had already made some
+     experiments in the culture of the cane, saw that the duty
+     afforded them some protection from foreign competition, and
+     secured the benefit of the home market, which was then of
+     considerable extent, and rapidly increasing. This induced them,
+     within the region then considered adapted to the cane, to turn
+     their attention to the production of sugar. They embarked their
+     whole fortunes, and for a long time struggled, under very
+     discouraging circumstances, against the effects of the climate,
+     the vicissitudes of seasons, the deficiency of capital, the
+     want of skill, and all the difficulties incident to the
+     commencement of such an enterprise. It was for many years a
+     doubtful experiment and hazardous undertaking, but they
+     persevered.
+
+     "The cane gradually adapted itself to the climate. Different
+     kinds of cane were introduced, skill was acquired by
+     experience, capital increased, machinery and steam power
+     applied, improvements adopted, and expenses diminished.
+
+     "At the close of the war, Congress, for the purpose of
+     increasing the revenue, and of protecting the domestic
+     industry, increased the rate of duty on sugar half a cent a
+     pound, as a part of a general system. This had a most decisive
+     effect in bringing this great national interest to its present
+     state, and they have now finally triumphed over every obstacle.
+
+     "It was more than twenty years before they could produce 40,000
+     hogsheads; and during the greater part of that time very little
+     profit was made upon the capital employed.
+
+     "The increase of capital, the introduction of machinery, the
+     diversion of labour from other less profitable pursuits, the
+     acquisition of skill, and, above all, the confidence of the
+     people in the protection of the government, have vastly
+     augmented the means of production. It now promises an ample
+     supply for the consumption of the country, and a steady but
+     moderate profit. They are in a course of experiment, that will
+     in a short period establish this great interest upon a scale
+     adequate to the wants of the people.
+
+     "Under the faith of the laws, they have embarked their capital
+     in the production of one of the great necessaries of life, and
+     in support of a national system, which they understood it was
+     the object of the government to establish. They have opened a
+     new and extensive field of agricultural industry; directed
+     labour to more profitable employment; maintained the value of
+     slaves; and increased the internal commerce of the country.
+     They have contributed their full share to all the duties paid
+     on other articles. They came into this Union, charged with _an
+     immense public debt_, which was greatly increased by the war,
+     in which they suffered in common: they have freely contributed
+     their portion to its payment."
+
+He proceeds to show that the value of lands and slaves "is predicated
+upon the value of the sugar, and that depends upon the rate of duty
+established by the laws." The effects of a reduction of the duty is thus
+detailed.
+
+     "The present price of sugar, at 5-1/2 cents, is sustained by a
+     duty of 3 cents a pound. If that duty was removed, foreign
+     sugar would be sold 3 cents less, and ours would fall in the
+     same proportion. That reduction would bring sugar below the
+     actual cost, and therefore it could not be made, even if slaves
+     and lands cost nothing. A reduction of 2 cents would bring the
+     price to the exact amount of 3-1/2 cents a pound, the precise
+     cost of the sugar, independent of the capital, and therefore
+     would yield nothing to the cultivator. A reduction of 1 cent
+     would bring sugar to 4-1/2 cents, which would leave only 1 cent
+     profit to pay for the capital--that is, the lands and slaves.
+     That would diminish the present profit one half, and the value
+     of the slaves in the same proportion. This reduction of duty
+     operates entirely upon the _profit_; and a reduction of
+     one-third of the duty operates a reduction of one-half of the
+     profit, and thereby one-half of the value of the capital, and
+     one-half of the slaves. Capital has been invested in Louisiana
+     by the present standard of value. A reduction in that standard
+     would produce a corresponding reduction in the value of all
+     property. A reduction of one-third of the duty would sink half
+     the value of property in the state, and ruin all those who have
+     made engagements upon the faith of the laws."
+
+The writer subsequently presents very precise and satisfactory
+statements, to show the capital required for this branch of agriculture,
+and the prices which are necessary to sustain it; with some calculated
+anticipations of its increase, if not crushed by foreign competition.
+Should it be asked, what interest have the other states of the Union in
+this concern? It may be a very profitable employment of the money and
+slaves of the rich planters of Louisiana; but is this a fair reason for
+imposing heavy duties on a necessary of life, thus enhancing its cost to
+those who consume it? To meet this inquiry, and remove the objection
+contained in it; to show that the citizens of the states who consume the
+sugar have an immediate participation in the profits of its cultivator,
+Mr. Johnston says--
+
+     "It is said that this is a local concern, interesting only to
+     Louisiana. The slaves are taken, as beforementioned, from
+     cotton and tobacco, and are furnished by the Southern States.
+
+     "The provisions and animals come from the Western States.
+
+     "The clothing from the North.
+
+     "The engines, machinery, &c. come from the different foundries
+     in the United States--principally from the West.
+
+     "One-third of the capital comes from the South--and more than
+     three-fifths of the whole production goes either in sugar or
+     money to the other states, as their portion of the contribution
+     in making it. The remaining two-fifths, being the profit on
+     the capital, goes back chiefly to Virginia and Maryland, to
+     purchase more slaves.
+
+     "There are estimated now, 35,000 slaves: it will require 26,000
+     more to supply the consumption of 1835.
+
+     "There are estimated 725 plantations, which, when brought into
+     operation, will yield an average of 300 hogsheads, sufficient
+     for the consumption of 1836.
+
+     "These have required 725 mills for grinding, as many sets of
+     kettles, &c. There are now about 100 steam engines--there will
+     be required in addition, upwards of 600 steam engines.
+
+     "These plantations require also a large amount of horses,
+     mules, and oxen; carts, wagons, ploughs, tools, iron, &c.
+
+     "The present consumption for the slaves, is 35,000 barrels of
+     pork.
+
+     "Which will be increased in 1835 to--say 60,000     "    "
+
+     "They purchase now about ... 50,000 barrels of corn.
+
+     "Each mill, with steam engine and kettles, &c. will cost
+     $5,000.
+
+     "There are employed on the sugar plantations (independent of
+     the cotton estates) 22,000 horses--value $1,500,000. These are
+     to be renewed every seven years, or it will require $200,000 a
+     year to supply the market. There were purchased in 1827-8,
+     2,500 horses--in 1828-9, 2,800--in 1829-30, 3,000 horses.
+
+     "Of the 100,000 hogsheads of sugar made in Louisiana, 50,000
+     hogsheads are transported up the Mississippi in steam-boats,
+     for the supply of the Western States, who obtain it in exchange
+     for their productions. Here, then, there is an internal trade
+     of five millions, created in the Western States.
+
+     "The remainder of the sugar is transported coastwise by our
+     vessels, to the North, to restore the balance of trade with
+     that quarter, as well as with foreign nations.
+
+     "Thus every interest of agriculture, manufactures, commerce,
+     and navigation, connects itself intimately with this object.
+
+     "The sugar is indeed made in Louisiana, but a portion of the
+     money on which the establishments are founded, the whole of the
+     labour by which it is produced, the chief supply of food, and
+     the entire amount of clothing, and the transportation of the
+     article, are furnished from the different states."
+
+A prospect is reasonably held out of the reduction of the price of the
+article, by continuing the protection, to a point as low as need be
+desired, or could be obtained if we were to depend upon a foreign
+supply.
+
+     "When the estates are paid for, and the general diminution of
+     value in other things takes place, with the improvements in
+     machinery and other causes, sugar will be profitably made at 4
+     cents, and that is about the price at which we purchase it now
+     in the islands: at that price we can, after supplying this
+     country, enter into the general market of the Baltic,
+     Mediterranean, and Black Seas."
+
+On this part of the case a more satisfactory ground is taken; and it is
+made manifest, by authentic documents, that since the production of
+sugar in Louisiana, with the duties by which it is protected, a
+reduction has taken place in the price of the article, of _one-half_.
+The results of the tables annexed to the letter are thus given.
+
+     "The protecting duty on sugar, besides opening a new field of
+     industry, diverting a large portion of labour from other
+     objects, maintaining the value of all the slave property in the
+     country, and supplying the people with an article of general
+     use and prime necessity, has actually diminished the price
+     one-half in twelve years.
+
+     "In paper A, it will be seen that the prices in 1818 ranged
+     from $14 to 15, and that in 1829 they had fallen to $7.50.
+
+     "In paper marked B, it will be seen, that the brown of Havana
+     has fallen 3 cents in 6 years, from 10 to 7 cents, while the
+     sugar of Louisiana has varied from 8-1/2 to 6-1/2. The price
+     of sugar has in that time depreciated more than the duty, and
+     will produce still greater effect. The general average of
+     Havana brown, for six years, is 9-3/4, which now sells at from
+     7 to 8. The general average of Louisiana for the same period is
+     8-1/4; the present price ranges from 6-1/2 to 7-1/2. The sugar
+     of Louisiana now sells in New-Orleans at 5-1/2; freight, &c.
+     will bring it to 6-1/2 in the Atlantic ports."
+
+Mr. Johnston has no doubt of the capacity of the sugar region of the
+United States to supply all our demands for it, for a long period to
+come.
+
+     "Without entering into any exact calculation, I can with
+     confidence assure you, that Louisiana alone can produce enough
+     for the consumption of the country for twenty-five or thirty
+     years, and including Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia
+     south of the 32d degree, will supply it for twice that period.
+
+     "It thus appears, that the people of Louisiana, under a
+     confidence in the permanency of the policy of the government,
+     have embarked their fortunes in the production of an article of
+     extensive use; that they are now in the course of successful
+     experiment, which promises, in a few years, to supply the
+     consumption of the country; that they have opened a new field
+     of agricultural industry and enterprise, requiring a vast
+     amount of labour and capital; that they have actually reduced
+     the price of the article one-half, and have saved the country
+     an expense of six or seven millions a-year, and will reduce the
+     price still lower, when the experiment is complete."
+
+Having found in our "History of Louisiana," the feeble commencement of
+the culture of the sugar cane in that country, we thought it not beside
+our purpose, and likely to be agreeable to our readers, to trace it to
+its present strong and flourishing condition; to show the causes of its
+increase, and its immense value to those who have embarked their
+fortunes in it; to those by whom its produce is consumed, and finally to
+the revenue of the government. All these matters, doubtless, will be
+carefully examined and considered by the public councils whose right and
+duty it is to decide upon them.
+
+We return to our history; the colony seems now to have attracted the
+attention of the mother country, and liberal assistance was given to
+advance its population.
+
+     "The ships landed also sixty poor girls, who were brought over
+     at the king's expense. They were the last succour of this kind,
+     which the mother country supplied. They were given in marriage
+     to such soldiers whose good conduct entitled them to a
+     discharge. Land was allotted to each couple, with a cow and
+     calf, a cock and five hens; a gun, axe, and hoe. During the
+     three first years, rations were allowed them, with a small
+     quantity of powder, shot, and grain for seed."
+
+This was in 1751.
+
+An anecdote is recorded, exhibiting at once a feature of aboriginal
+justice, and the strength of parental affection in the "poor Indian."
+
+     "In a quarrel between a Choctaw and a Colapissa, the former
+     told the latter his countrymen were the dogs of the
+     French--meaning their slaves. The Colapissa, having a loaded
+     musket in his hands, discharged its contents at the Choctaw,
+     and fled to New-Orleans. The relations of the deceased came to
+     the Marquis de Vaudreuil to demand his surrender: he had in the
+     mean while gone to the German coast. The Marquis, having vainly
+     tried to appease them, sent orders to Renaud, the commandant
+     of that post, to have the murderer arrested; but he eluded the
+     pursuit. His father went to the Choctaws and offered himself a
+     willing victim: the relations of the deceased persisted in
+     their refusal to accept any compensation in presents. They at
+     last consented to allow the old man to atone, by the loss of
+     his own life, for the crime of his son. He stretched himself on
+     the trunk of an old tree, and a Choctaw severed his head from
+     the body, at the first stroke. This instance of paternal
+     affection was made the subject of a tragedy by Leblanc de
+     Villeneuve, an officer of the troops lately arrived from
+     France. This performance is the only dramatic work which the
+     republic of letters owes to Louisiana."
+
+In the same year the white men furnished a subject for a tragedy far
+more cruel and vindictive than the self-immolation of an Indian father,
+and far less just and amiable.
+
+     "During the summer, some soldiers of the garrison of Cat
+     Island, rose upon and killed Roux, who commanded there. They
+     were exasperated at his avarice and cruelty. He employed them
+     in burning coal, of which he made a traffic, and for trifling
+     delinquencies had exposed several of them, naked and tied to
+     trees in a swamp, during whole nights, to the stings of
+     musquetoes. Joining some English traders in the neighbourhood
+     of Mobile, they started in the hope of reaching Georgia,
+     through the Indian country. A party of the Choctaws, then about
+     the fort, was sent after and overtook them. One destroyed
+     himself; the rest were brought to New-Orleans, where two were
+     broken on the wheel--the other, belonging to the Swiss regiment
+     of Karrer, was, according to the law of his nation, followed by
+     the officers of the Swiss troops in the service of France,
+     sawed in two parts. He was placed alive in a kind of coffin, to
+     the middle of which two sergeants applied a whip saw. It was
+     not thought prudent to make any allowance for the provocation
+     these men had received."
+
+The removal of the Acadians from their country; stripping them of their
+lands and goods; permitting them to carry nothing away but their
+household furniture and money, of which they had but little; laying
+waste their fields and their dwellings, and consuming their fences by
+fire, was another awful tragedy performed by civilized man upon the weak
+and defenceless, upon the pretences of policy. It was an act of British
+inhumanity; the sufferings of these miserable outcasts and wanderers are
+described by our author.
+
+     "Thus beggared, these people were, in small numbers and at
+     different periods, cast on the sandy shores of the southern
+     provinces, among a people of whose language they were ignorant,
+     and who knew not theirs, whose manners and education were
+     different from their own, whose religion they abhorred, and who
+     were rendered odious to them, as the friends and countrymen of
+     those who had so cruelly treated them, and whom they considered
+     as a no less savage foe, than he who wields the tomahawk and
+     the scalping knife.
+
+     "It is due to the descendants of the British colonists, to say,
+     that their sires received with humanity, kindness, and
+     hospitality, those who so severely smarted under the calamities
+     of war. In every province the humane example of the legislature
+     of Pennsylvania was followed, and the colonial treasury was
+     opened to relieve the sufferers; and private charity was not
+     outdone by the public. Yet but a few accepted the proffered
+     relief, and sat down on the land that was offered them.
+
+     "The others fled westerly, from what appeared to them a hostile
+     shore--wandering till they found themselves out of sight of any
+     who spoke the English language. They crossed the mighty spine,
+     and wintered among the Indians. The scattered parties, thrown
+     off on the coast of every colony from Pennsylvania to Georgia,
+     united, and trusting themselves to the western waters, sought
+     the land on which the spotless banner waved, and the waves of
+     the Mississippi brought them to New-Orleans."
+
+The practice of _shipping off_ individuals who were obnoxious to the
+dominant party, seems to have obtained in Louisiana at a very early
+period; and, as we shall see, became a favourite process in the
+administration of justice. A pretty strong case of this employment of
+physical force, without any consultation with the officers of the law,
+or any regard to the civil rights of the people, occured in 1759. We
+shall give it to our readers.
+
+     "Diaz Anna, a Jew from Jamaica, came to New-Orleans, on a
+     trading voyage. We have seen, that by an edict of the month of
+     March, 1724, that of Louis the Thirteenth, of the 13th of
+     April, 1615, had been extended to Louisiana. The latter edict
+     declared, that Jews, as enemies of the Christian name, should
+     not be allowed to reside in Louisiana; and if they staid in
+     spite of the edict, their bodies and goods should be
+     confiscated: Rochemore had the vessel of the Israelite and her
+     cargo seized. Kerlerec sent soldiers to drive away the guard
+     put on board the vessel, and had her restored to the Jew.
+     Imagining he had gone too far to stop there, he had Belot,
+     Rochemore's secretary, and Marigny de Mandeville, de Lahoupe,
+     Bossu, and some other officers, whom he suspected to have
+     joined the ordonnateur's party, arrested, and a few days after
+     shipped them for France."
+
+Thus far we have seen this province under the dominion of France, and
+gradually ameliorating its condition under her government. We come now
+to the period when a new master was to be given to it, or rather, when
+it was to be given to a new master. It is thus that kings have used
+territories and their people, their industry and their wealth, as
+subjects of diplomatic traffic and political accommodation. "On the 3d
+of November 1763, a secret treaty was signed between the French and
+Spanish kings, by which the former ceded to the latter the part of the
+province of Louisiana which lies on the western side of the Mississippi,
+with the city of New-Orleans, and the island on which it stands." When
+the rumours of this cession reached the colonists, it produced the
+deepest distress; they had a dread of passing "under the yoke of Spain."
+Official intelligence of the event was not received until October 1764,
+when an order came from the king to deliver possession of the ceded
+territory to the governor of the Catholic king. "This intelligence
+plunged the inhabitants in the greatest consternation;" especially as it
+estranged them from their kindred and friends in the eastern part of the
+province--transferring them to a foreign potentate. Every effort was
+made by meetings and memorials to avert the calamity. The actual
+delivery was delayed; and a hope was entertained that the cession might
+be rescinded, for two years had elapsed since the direction had been
+given to surrender the province to Spain. In the summer of 1766,
+intelligence was received that Don Ulloa had arrived at Havana, to take
+the possession, for Spain, of Louisiana. Soon after he landed at
+New-Orleans, and was received "with dumb respect." He declined
+exhibiting his powers, and of course delayed to receive the possession
+of the country. In 1768 the council insisted that Don Ulloa should
+produce his powers or depart from the province; he chose the latter
+alternative, and sailed for Havana, and from thence to Spain. In the
+following year a governor of a different temperament was sent from
+Spain, attended by a strong military force, with a large supply of arms
+and ammunition. On the 24th of July, Don Alexander O'Reilly landed on
+the levee. "The inhabitants immediately came to a resolution to choose
+three gentlemen to wait on him, and inform him that the people of
+Louisiana were determined to abandon the colony, and had no other favour
+to ask from him, but that he would allow them two years to remove
+themselves and their effects." O'Reilly received the deputies with great
+politeness; made professions of his desire to promote the interests of
+the colonists, and said every thing he thought would flatter the people.
+At this time the Spanish armament had not reached the city; it cast
+anchor on the 16th of August. In the afternoon of the 18th, the
+Spaniards disembarked; the French flag was lowered, and the Spanish was
+seen flying in its place in the middle of the square. We have been thus
+particular in narrating these events, because they were the precursors
+of a proceeding of military violence, astonishing _even for that day_,
+and under circumstances of open disaffection and opposition to the
+government; for some of the planters had taken up arms on the arrival of
+O'Reilly.
+
+One of the first acts of O'Reilly's administration was to take a census
+of the inhabitants of New-Orleans. The aggregate population was 3190, of
+every age, sex, and colour; of these 1902 were free; 1225 slaves, and
+sixty domesticated Indians; the number of houses was 468; the whole
+province contained but 13,538 inhabitants.
+
+We have seen that the cession of the province had created the utmost
+discontent; and the arrival of O'Reilly was considered as a general
+calamity. The transfer had been impeded and resisted by all the means in
+the power of the colonists. Although Don Ulloa had not ventured to
+execute his commission with the force at his command, he had,
+nevertheless, "set about building forts and putting troops into them."
+On the other side, plans of resistance were contemplated by the people;
+and assistance looked for from their English neighbours in West Florida;
+and in the fall of 1768 Don Ulloa was, as we have seen, ordered away. By
+this brief retrospect, the temper of the colonists, on the arrival of
+O'Reilly, will be understood, and will serve as a key to his
+proceedings. He resolved to lose nothing by timidity and hesitation. In
+the reckless pride and unbridled passions of military despotism, he
+disdained to temporize, or endeavour to sooth the irritated feelings of
+the people, or to conciliate their confidence, or calm their fears. He
+had been accustomed to rely upon no power but that of the sword, and to
+respect no authority but a military commission. To him the _law_ was a
+subject of scorn, and the civil rights of citizens or subjects an idle
+tale. He looked upon his five thousand troops, with their arms and
+ammunition, and he saw there the only power be respected, or would
+condescend to use to maintain his government. Such principles led or
+drove him to a course of desperate violence, having then no parallel in
+any country pretending to a government of laws, or any civil rights. We
+shall give his proceedings in the language of our historian.
+
+     "Towards the last day of August, the people were alarmed by the
+     arrest of Foucault, the commissary-general and ordonnateur, De
+     Noyant and Boisblanc, two members of the superior council; La
+     Freniere, the attorney-general, and Braud, the king's printer.
+     These gentlemen were attending O'Reilly's levé, when he
+     requested them to step into an adjacent apartment, where they
+     found themselves immediately surrounded by a body of
+     grenadiers, with fixed bayonets, the commanding officer of whom
+     informed them they were the king's prisoners. The two first
+     were conveyed to their respective houses, and a guard was left
+     there: the others were imprisoned in the barracks.
+
+     "It had been determined to make an example of twelve
+     individuals; two from the army, and an equal number from the
+     bar; four planters, and as many merchants. Accordingly, Marquis
+     and De Noyant, officers of the troop; La Freniere, the
+     attorney-general, and Doucet, (lawyers,) Villere, Boisblanc,
+     Mazent, and Petit, (planters,) and John Milhet, Joseph Milhet,
+     Caresse and Poupet, (merchants,) had been selected.
+
+     "Within a few days, Marquis, Doucet, Petit, Mazant, the two
+     Milhets, Caresse, and Poupet, were arrested and confined.
+
+     "Villere, who was on his plantation at the German coast, had
+     been marked as one of the intended victims; but his absence
+     from the city rendering his arrest less easy, it had been
+     determined to release one of the prisoners on his being
+     secured. He had been apprized of the impending danger, and it
+     had been recommended to him to provide for his safety by
+     seeking the protection of the British flag waving at Manshac.
+     When he was deliberating on the step it became him to take, he
+     received a letter from Aubry, the commandant of the French
+     troops, assuring him he had nothing to apprehend, and advising
+     him to return to the city. Averse to flight, as it would imply
+     a consciousness of guilt, he yielded to Aubry's recommendation,
+     and returned to New-Orleans; but as he passed the gate, the
+     officer commanding the guard arrested him. He was immediately
+     conveyed on board of a frigate that lay at the levee. On
+     hearing of this, his lady, a grand daughter of La Chaise, the
+     former commissary-general and ordonnateur, hastened to the
+     city. As her boat approached the frigate, it was hailed and
+     ordered away. She made herself known, and solicited admission
+     to her husband, but was answered she could not see him, as the
+     captain was on shore, and had left orders that no communication
+     should be allowed with the prisoner. Villere recognised his
+     wife's voice, and insisted on being permitted to see her. On
+     his being refused, a struggle ensued, in which he fell, pierced
+     by the bayonets of his guards. His bloody shirt thrown into the
+     boat, announced to the lady that she had ceased to be a wife;
+     and a sailor cut the rope that fastened the boat to the
+     frigate.
+
+     "O'Reilly's assessors heard and recorded the testimony against
+     the prisoners, and called on them for their pleas.
+
+     "The prosecution was grounded on a statute of Alfonso the
+     eleventh, which is the first law of the seventh title of the
+     first partida, and denounces the punishment of death and
+     confiscation of property against those who excite any
+     insurrection against the king or state, or take up arms under
+     pretence of extending their liberty or rights, and against
+     those who give them any assistance.
+
+     "Foucault pleaded he had done nothing, except in his character
+     of commissary-general and ordonnateur of the king of France in
+     the province, and to him alone he was accountable for the
+     motives that had directed his official conduct. The plea was
+     sustained; he was not, however, released; and a few days
+     afterwards, he was transported to France.
+
+     "Brand offered a similar plea, urging he was the king of
+     France's printer in Louisiana. The only accusation against him,
+     was that he had printed the petition of the planters and
+     merchants to the superior council, soliciting that body to
+     require Ulloa to exhibit his powers or depart. He concluded
+     that he was bound, by his office, to print whatever the
+     ordonnateur sent to his press; and he produced that officer's
+     order to print the petition. His plea was sustained and he was
+     discharged.
+
+     "The other prisoners declined also the jurisdiction of the
+     tribunal before which they were arraigned: their plea was
+     overruled. They now denied the facts with which they were
+     charged, contended that if they did take place, they did so
+     while the flag of France was still waving over the province,
+     and the laws of that kingdom retained their empire in it, and
+     thus the facts did not constitute an offence against the laws
+     of Spain; that the people of Louisiana could not bear the yokes
+     of two sovereigns; that O'Reilly could not command the
+     obedience, nor even the respect of the colonists, until he made
+     known to them his character and powers; and that the Catholic
+     king could not count on their allegiance, till he extended to
+     them his protection.
+
+     "It had been determined at first, to proceed with the utmost
+     rigour of the law against six of the prisoners; but, on the
+     death of Villere, it was judged sufficient to do so against
+     five only. The jurisprudence of Spain authorizing the
+     infliction of a less severe punishment than that denounced by
+     the statute, when the charge is not proved by two witnesses to
+     the same act, but by one with corroborating
+     circumstances.--Accordingly two witnesses were produced against
+     De Noyant, La Freniere, Marquis, Joseph Milhet, and Caresse.
+     They were convicted; and O'Reilly, by the advice of his
+     assessor, condemned them to be hanged, and pronounced the
+     confiscation of their estates.
+
+     "The most earnest and pathetic entreaties were employed by
+     persons in every rank of society, to prevail on O'Reilly to
+     remit or suspend the execution of his sentence till the royal
+     clemency could be implored. He was inexorable; and the only
+     indulgence that could be obtained, was, that death should be
+     inflicted by shooting, instead of hanging. With this
+     modification, the sentence was carried into execution on the
+     twenty-eighth of September.
+
+     "On the morning of that day, the guards, at every gate and post
+     of the city, were doubled, and orders were given not to allow
+     any body to enter it. All the troops were under arms, and
+     paraded the streets or were placed in battle array along the
+     levee and on the public square. Most of the inhabitants fled
+     into the country. At three o'clock of the afternoon, the
+     victims were led, under a strong guard, to the small square in
+     front of the barracks, tied to stakes, and an explosion of
+     musketry soon announced to the few inhabitants who remained in
+     the city, that their friends were no more.
+
+     "Posterity, the judge of men in power, will doom this act to
+     public execration. No necessity demanded, no policy justified
+     it. Ulloa's conduct had provoked the measures to which the
+     inhabitants had resorted. During nearly two years, he had
+     haunted the province as a phantom of dubious authority. The
+     efforts of the colonists, to prevent the transfer of their
+     natal soil to a foreign prince, originated in their attachment
+     to their own, and the Catholic king ought to have beheld in
+     their conduct a pledge of their future devotion to himself.
+     They had but lately seen their country severed, and a part of
+     it added to the dominion of Great Britain; they had bewailed
+     their separation from their friends and kindred; and were
+     afterwards to be alienated, without their consent, and
+     subjected to a foreign yoke. If the indiscretion of a few of
+     them needed an apology, the common misfortune afforded it.
+
+     "A few weeks afterwards, the proceedings against the six
+     remaining prisoners were brought to a close. One witness only
+     deposing against any of them, and circumstances corroborating
+     the testimony, Boisblanc was condemned to imprisonment for
+     life; Doucet, Mazent, John Milhet, Petit, and Poupet, were
+     condemned to imprisonment for various terms of years. All were
+     transported to Havana, and cast into the dungeons of the Moro
+     Castle."
+
+O'Reilly was not satisfied with this bloody vengeance on the individuals
+who had incurred his resentment and offended his pride. The "Superior
+council" in a body must be prostrated by his power.
+
+     "A proclamation of O'Reilly, on the twenty-first of November,
+     announced to them that the evidence received during the late
+     trials, having furnished full proof of the part the superior
+     council had in the revolt during the two preceding years, and
+     of the influence it had exerted in encouraging the leaders,
+     instead of using its best endeavours to keep the people in the
+     fidelity and subordination they owed to the sovereign, it had
+     become necessary to abolish that tribunal, and to establish, in
+     Louisiana, that form of government and mode of administering
+     justice prescribed by the laws of Spain, which had long
+     maintained the Catholic king's American colonies in perfect
+     tranquillity, content, and subordination."
+
+A year after these deeds of military heroism, O'Reilly took passage for
+Europe. But what said his royal master, the King of Spain, for such
+outrages upon the lives and liberty of his newly acquired subjects? We
+are told in one short paragraph--"Charles III. _disapproved_ of
+O'Reilly's conduct, and he received on his landing at Cadiz, an order
+prohibiting his appearance at court." Well, it is something that his
+conduct was _disapproved_ of, and not rewarded with new honours and
+powers. Some _sovereigns_ might have done this.
+
+We pass from these distressing and disgraceful scenes, and find nothing
+of peculiar interest in our History, until we come to the period of our
+revolution. Although in 1778, the people of Louisiana could have had no
+prophetic vision to warn them that they would become a member of the
+American Republic, they felt and manifested a friendly disposition
+toward us, and rendered us efficient aid in the struggle then carrying
+on for our independence.
+
+     "During the month of January, Captain Willing made a second
+     visit to New-Orleans. Oliver Pollock now acted openly as the
+     agent of the Americans, with the countenance of Galvez, who
+     now, and at subsequent periods, afforded them an aid of upwards
+     of seventy thousand dollars out of the royal treasury. By this
+     means, the posts occupied by the militia of Virginia on the
+     Mississippi, and the frontier inhabitants of the state of
+     Pennsylvania, were supplied with arms and ammunition."
+
+Now that we have become one people, and our Independence has made the
+independence of Louisiana, it is gratifying to recall to our
+recollection every testimony that may draw us closer together in our
+affections, as we are in our interests and common welfare. We take
+pleasure also in presenting an instance of American enterprise and
+gallantry, which ought not to be forgotten.
+
+     "Colonel Hamilton, who commanded at the British post at
+     Detroit, came this year to Vincennes, on the Wabash, with about
+     six hundred men, chiefly Indians, with a view to an expedition
+     against Kaskaskia, and up the Ohio as far as Fort Pitt, and the
+     back settlements of Virginia. Colonel Clark heard, from a
+     trader who came down from Vincennes to Kaskaskia, that
+     Hamilton, not intending to take the field until spring, had
+     sent most of his force to block up the Ohio, or to harass the
+     frontier settlers, keeping at Vincennes sixty soldiers only,
+     with three pieces of cannon and some swivels. The resolution
+     was immediately taken to improve the favourable opportunity for
+     averting the impending danger; and Clark accordingly despatched
+     a small galley, mounting two four pounders and four swivels, on
+     board of which he put a company of soldiers, with orders to
+     pursue her way up the Wabash, and anchor a few miles below
+     Vincennes, suffering nothing to pass her. He now sat off with
+     one hundred and twenty men, the whole force he could command,
+     and marched towards Vincennes. They were five days in crossing
+     the low lands of the Wabash, in the neighbourhood of Vincennes,
+     after having spent sixty in crossing the wilderness, wading for
+     several nights up to their breasts in water. Appearing suddenly
+     before the town, they surprised and took it. Hamilton for a
+     while defended the fort, but was at last compelled to
+     surrender."
+
+We now approach a period in the History of Louisiana when her direct
+communication and commerce with the United States began; and from this
+moment she became an object of great and growing interest to us. The
+commencement of this intercourse is of a singular character, and was
+conducted with singular address.
+
+     "The foundation was now laid of a commercial intercourse,
+     through the Mississippi, between the United States and
+     New-Orleans, which has been continued, with but little
+     interruption, to this day, and has increased to an immense
+     degree; and, to the future extent of which, the imagination can
+     hardly contemplate any limit. Hitherto, the boats of the
+     western people, venturing on the Mississippi, were arrested by
+     the first Spanish officer who met them; and confiscation
+     ensued, in every case; all communication between the citizens
+     of the United States and the Spaniards being strictly
+     prohibited. Now and then, an emigrant, desirous of settling in
+     the district of Natchez, by personal entreaty and the
+     solicitations of his friends, obtained a tract of land, with
+     permission to settle on it with his family, slaves, farming
+     utensils, and furniture. He was not allowed to bring any thing
+     to sell without paying an enormous duty. An unexpected incident
+     changed the face of affairs in this respect.
+
+     "The idea of a regular trade was first conceived by General
+     Wilkinson, who had served with distinction as an officer in the
+     late war, and whose name is as conspicuous in the annals of the
+     west, as any other. He had connected with it a scheme for the
+     settlement of several thousand American families in that part
+     of the present state of Louisiana, now known as the parishes of
+     East and West Feliciana, and that of Washita, and on White
+     river, and other streams of the present territory of Arkansas.
+     For these services to the Spanish government, he expected to
+     obtain the privilege of introducing, yearly, a considerable
+     quantity of tobacco into the Mexican market.
+
+     "With a view to the execution of his plan, Wilkinson descended
+     the Mississippi, with an adventure of tobacco, flour, butter,
+     and bacon. He stopped at Natchez while his boat was floating
+     down the stream to New-Orleans, the commandant at the former
+     place having been induced to forbear seizing it, from an
+     apprehension that such a step would be disapproved by Miro, who
+     might be desirous of showing some indulgence to a general
+     officer of a nation with whom his was at peace--especially as
+     the boat and its owner were proceeding to New-Orleans, where he
+     could act towards them as he saw fit.
+
+     "Wilkinson having stopped at a plantation on the river, the
+     boat reached the city before him. On its approaching the levee,
+     a guard was immediately sent on board, and the revenue officers
+     were about taking measures for its seizure, when a merchant,
+     who was acquainted with Wilkinson, and had some influence with
+     Miro, represented to him that the step Navarro was about to
+     take might be attended with unpleasant consequences; that the
+     people of Kentucky were already much exasperated at the conduct
+     of the Spaniards in seizing all the property of those who
+     navigated the Mississippi, and if this system was pursued, they
+     would probably, in spite of Congress, take means themselves to
+     open the navigation of the river by force. Hints were, at the
+     same time, thrown out, that the general was a very popular
+     character among those who were capable of inflaming the whole
+     of the western people, and that, probably, his sending a boat
+     before him, that it might be seized, was a scheme laid by the
+     government of the United States, that he might, on his return,
+     influence the minds of his countrymen; and, having brought them
+     to the point he wished, induce them to choose him for their
+     leader, and, spreading over the country, carry fire and
+     desolation from one part of Louisiana to the other.
+
+     "On this, Miro expressed his wish to Navarro that the guard
+     might be removed. This was done; and Wilkinson's friend was
+     permitted to take charge of the boat, and sell the cargo,
+     without paying any duty.
+
+     "On his first interview with Miro, Wilkinson, that he might not
+     derogate from the character his friend had given him, by
+     appearing concerned in so trifling an adventure as a boat-load
+     of tobacco, flour, &c. observed that the cargo belonged to
+     several of his fellow-citizens in Kentucky, who wished to avail
+     themselves of his visit to New-Orleans to make a trial of the
+     temper of the colonial government. On his return he could then
+     inform the United States government, of the steps taken under
+     his eye; so that, in future, proper measures might be adopted.
+     He acknowledged with gratitude the attention and respect
+     manifested towards himself, and the favour shown to the
+     merchant who had been permitted to take care of the boat;
+     adding, he did not wish that the intendant should expose
+     himself to the anger of the court, by forbearing to seize the
+     boat and cargo, if such were his instructions, and he had no
+     authority to depart from them when circumstances might require
+     it.
+
+     "Miro supposed, from this conversation, that Wilkinson's object
+     was to produce a rupture rather than to avoid one. He became
+     more and more alarmed. For two or three years before,
+     particularly since the commissioners of the state of Georgia
+     came to Natchez to claim the country, he had been fearful of an
+     invasion at every rise of the water; and the rumour of a few
+     boats having been seen together on the Ohio, was sufficient to
+     excite his apprehensions. At his next interview with Wilkinson,
+     having procured further information of the character, number,
+     and disposition of the western people, and having revolved, in
+     his mind, what measures he could take, consistently with his
+     instructions, he concluded that he could do no better than to
+     hold out a hope to Wilkinson, in order to secure his influence
+     in restraining his countrymen from an invasion of Louisiana,
+     till further instructions could be received from Madrid. The
+     general sailed in September for Philadelphia."
+
+In 1788, Don Martin Navarro, the intendant, left the province for Spain,
+and we cannot deny him the credit of sagacity, in his last communication
+to the king.
+
+     "Navarro's last communication to the king was a memorial which
+     he had prepared, by order of the minister, on the danger to be
+     apprehended by Spain, in her American colonies, from the
+     emancipation of the late British provinces on the Atlantic. In
+     this document, he dwells much on the ambition of the United
+     States, and their thirst for conquest; whose views he states to
+     be an extension of territory to the shores of the Pacific
+     ocean; and suggests the dismemberment of the western country,
+     by means of pensions and the grant of commercial privileges, as
+     the most proper means, in the power of Spain, to arrest the
+     impending danger. To effect this, was not, in his opinion, very
+     difficult. The attempt was therefore strongly recommended, as
+     success would greatly augment the power of Spain, and forever
+     arrest the progress of the United States to the west.
+
+     "It would not have been difficult for the King of Spain, at
+     this period, to have found, in Kentucky, citizens of the United
+     States ready to come into his views. The people of that
+     district met, this year, in a second convention, and agreed on
+     a petition to congress for the redress of their grievances--the
+     principal of which was, the occlusion of the Mississippi. Under
+     the apprehension that the interference of congress could not be
+     obtained, or might be fruitless, several expedients were talked
+     of, no one of which was generally approved; the people being
+     divided into no less than five parties, all of which had
+     different, if not opposite, views.
+
+     "The first was for independence of the United States, and the
+     formation of a new republic, unconnected with them, who was to
+     enter into a treaty with Spain.
+
+     "Another party was willing that the country should become a
+     part of the province of Louisiana, and submit to the admission
+     of the laws of Spain.
+
+     "A third desired a war with Spain, and the seizure of
+     New-Orleans.
+
+     "A fourth plan was to prevail on congress, by a show of
+     preparation for war, to extort from the cabinet of Madrid, what
+     it persisted in refusing.
+
+     "The last, as unnatural as the second, was to solicit France to
+     procure a retrocession of Louisiana, and extend her protection
+     to Kentucky."
+
+We think the Don's scheme, for preventing the evils he anticipated,
+altogether chimerical; but our author has more faith in it, and believes
+"it would not have been difficult for the King of Spain, at this period,
+to find, in Kentucky, citizens of the United States ready to come into
+his views." We trust this is a mistake. The occlusion of the Mississippi
+was the grievance they deplored. It is, however, worthy of our special
+attention, that at the period when these matters were agitated in our
+western country, our states were held together by the weak and
+inefficient bonds of the old confederation, under which, state
+selfishness and state pride, now called _state rights_, predominated
+over the great and general interests of the Union; and the weaker
+members were neglected, having no superintending, supreme federal power
+to give an equal care and protection to every part. Our author
+distinctly says, that "it was in the western part of the United States
+that the inefficacy of the power of Congress was most complained of."
+The present strength and prosperity of the west, are the fruits of our
+"more perfect union," and the wisdom and gratitude of the west will
+forever make it the friend and support of that Union.
+
+We are now introduced to the Baron de Carondelet, a name which
+afterwards became conspicuous in the History of Louisiana, and familiar
+to the citizens of the United States. He was appointed governor of the
+province, and entered upon his duties in 1792. "The sympathies and
+partialities of the people of Louisiana began to manifest themselves
+strongly in favour of the French patriots, principally in New-Orleans."
+The Baron thought it to be his duty, especially as he was a native of
+France, "to restrain excesses against monarchical government." He began
+by stopping "the exhibition of certain martial dances and revolutionary
+airs" at the theatre. He afterwards thought it necessary to adopt
+stronger measures to suppress the growing inclination to popular
+doctrines, and betook himself to the _custom of the country_, the
+New-Orleans _common law_, or rather the law of its governors, _to ship
+off the obnoxious persons_, without any form of trial or condemnation.
+He caused six individuals to be arrested and confined in the fort, and
+soon afterwards, "shipped them for Havana, where they were detained a
+twelve month." This may be a very pretty military mode of getting rid of
+disagreeable or troublesome people--the summary arrest--the fort--the
+ship and banishment; but we cannot reconcile it to our notions of
+liberty and law.
+
+We pass over, as matters well known, the plans of _Genet_ at this
+period, and the proceedings of the Baron to defeat them.--The Baron also
+followed up, with great perseverance, "his favourite plan for the
+separation of the western people from the Union," and he continued to do
+so, subsequent to the ratification of the treaty between the United
+States and Spain. The report made by _Power_, the Baron's agent, of the
+dispositions of the western people, was altogether unpropitious to his
+design. He, however, delayed the delivery of the posts, to which the
+United States were entitled, under various pretences; still having the
+separation in view. His proceedings to effect this object are detailed,
+and will be read with interest. It is needless to say, that no ray of
+success shone upon his enterprise. Power, the active agent of the
+mischief, came very near to be tarred and feathered at Louisville, and
+was afterwards arrested by General Wilkinson, at Detroit. The Baron must
+have opened his eyes in astonishment at his egregious miscalculation of
+the dispositions of the West, when Wilkinson informed him, "that the
+people of Kentucky had proposed to him to raise an army of ten thousand
+men to take New-Orleans in case of a rupture with Spain."
+
+Our author gives a concise account of the cession of Louisiana by Spain
+to France, and again by France to the United States. The negotiator by
+whom the latter transfer was conducted, on the part of France, was M.
+Marbois, and his work is the most satisfactory authority for the curious
+details of that extraordinary proceeding. The general character of the
+transaction, and the terms of purchase, are sufficiently known; but M.
+Marbois lets us into some of the secrets of the negotiation, and of the
+reasons which induced the first consul to part with this valuable
+territory as soon as he had acquired it. We will be brief with them.
+
+The cession of Louisiana by France to Spain in 1763, was not only, as we
+have seen, a cause of violent discontent to the inhabitants of that
+province, but was considered in all the maritime and commercial cities
+of France, as impolitic and injurious; and a general wish prevailed to
+recover the colony. This did not escape Bonaparte, who did not delay to
+renew with the court of Madrid, a negotiation on the subject; having
+also in view a diminution of the power of England, which was never out
+of his mind. Profiting by the ascendancy he acquired by the victory of
+Marengo, he easily persuaded the Prince of Peace to restore Louisiana to
+France. This was done by a treaty made in October 1800. It was
+stipulated that the surrender should be made six months after. The
+treaty of 21st March 1801, renews these dispositions; but Louisiana
+continued for some time longer under the dominion of Spain. The
+differences between the United States and the French republic were
+terminated by a convention at Paris, on 30th of September 1800; and on
+the next day the treaty above mentioned with Spain was concluded at St.
+Ildephonso. As the war between France and England still continued, the
+cession of Louisiana to France was not made public; nor was possession
+taken. This difficulty was not removed for some time. In October 1801,
+preliminaries of peace were signed at London, followed up by the treaty
+of Amiens in March 1802. In the following September General Victor was
+appointed governor general of Louisiana; and Laussat the prefect sailed
+for New-Orleans in January.
+
+The retrocession of the province to France created much uneasiness and
+alarm in the United States. The free navigation of the Mississippi
+became daily of more importance, and it was apprehended that the French
+would not be found as peaceable neighbours as the Spaniards. Every one
+remembers the short and uneasy existence of the insincere peace of
+Amiens. A renewal of the war was seen to be inevitable, and the American
+cabinet perceived that, in such an event, France would postpone the
+occupation of Louisiana. This state of things was justly thought to be
+favourable to an arrangement with France on the subject of the deposit
+at New-Orleans and the navigation of the river. Mr. Monroe was sent to
+that country for this purpose, where Mr. Livingston, our minister, had
+been pursuing it for many months; his overtures received little or no
+attention. The debates in our senate are not forgotten, on the motion of
+Mr. Ross; nor the prospect then in view of our taking by force of arms
+what it was believed would never be gained by treaty. In the spring of
+1803, war was clearly inevitable between France and England; and
+Bonaparte knew that Louisiana, in that event, would be at the mercy of
+his enemy. He at once determined to change his policy in regard to that
+province, and to part with it, as the only means of saving it from
+England. On the 10th of April 1803, he entered upon the execution of his
+design, and called two counsellors to him, and addressed them "with that
+vehemence and passion which he particularly manifested in political
+affairs." He said he knew the full value of Louisiana, and had been
+desirous of repairing the fault by which it was lost--that "a few lines
+of a treaty have restored it to me, and I have scarcely recovered it
+when I must expect to lose it." Looking to the strength it would give to
+the United States, he said: "But if it escapes from me, it shall one
+day cost dearer to those who oblige me to strip myself of it, than to
+those to whom I wish to deliver it." After some remarks upon the naval
+strength in the Gulf of Mexico, and the ease with which they might take
+Louisiana, he added;--
+
+     "I think of ceding it to the United States. I can scarcely say
+     that I cede it to them, for it is not yet in our possession.
+     If, however, I leave the least time to our enemies, I shall
+     only transmit an empty title to those republicans whose
+     friendship I seek. They only ask of me one town in Louisiana,
+     but I already consider the colony as entirely lost, and it
+     appears to me that in the hands of this growing power, it will
+     be more useful to the policy and even to the commerce of
+     France, than if I should attempt to keep it."
+
+The counsellors differed in their opinions, diametrically, each giving
+his reasons at large. The first consul decided the question immediately;
+he promptly declared, that
+
+     "Irresolution and deliberation are no longer in season. I
+     renounce Louisiana. It is not only New-Orleans that I will
+     cede, it is the whole colony without any reservation. I know
+     the price of what I abandon, and I have sufficiently proved the
+     importance that I attach to this province, since my first
+     diplomatic act with Spain had for its object the recovery of
+     it. I renounce it with the greatest regret. To attempt
+     obstinately to retain it would be folly. I direct you to
+     negotiate this affair with the envoys of the United States. Do
+     not even await the arrival of Mr. Monroe: have an interview
+     this very day with Mr. Livingston."
+
+We hope and believe that one of the predictions of this luminous mind
+will not be fulfilled, although we have lately seen some appearances of
+its accomplishment.
+
+     "Perhaps it will also be objected to me, that the Americans may
+     be found too powerful for Europe in two or three centuries: but
+     my foresight does not embrace such remote fears. Besides, we
+     may hereafter expect rivalries among the members of the Union.
+     The confederations, that are called perpetual, only last till
+     one of the contracting parties finds it to its interest to
+     break them, and it is to prevent the danger, to which the
+     colossal power of England exposes us, that I would provide a
+     remedy."
+
+"The conferences began the same day between Mr. Livingston and M. Barbé
+Marbois, to whom the first consul confided the negotiation." Pending the
+preliminary discussions, Mr. Monroe arrived at Paris; but even then Mr.
+Livingston despaired of success, and said to Mr. Monroe, "I wish that
+the resolution offered by Mr. Ross in the senate had been adopted. Only
+force can give us New-Orleans; we must employ force; let us first get
+possession of the country and negotiate afterwards." Mr. Livingston,
+however, was happily mistaken. "The first difficulties," says M.
+Marbois, "were smoothed by a circumstance which is rarely met with in
+congresses and diplomatic conferences. The plenipotentiaries having been
+long acquainted, were disposed to treat each other with confidence." The
+negotiation, under such auspices, proceeded rapidly, but not without
+some distrust on our part.
+
+     "Mr. Monroe, still affected by the distrust of his colleague,
+     did not hear without surprise the first overtures that were
+     frankly made by M. de Marbois. Instead of the cession of a
+     town and its inconsiderable territory, a vast portion of
+     America was in some sort offered to the United States. They
+     only asked for the mere right of navigating the Mississippi,
+     and their sovereignty was about to be extended over the largest
+     rivers of the world. They passed over an interior frontier to
+     carry their limits to the great Pacific ocean."
+
+The termination of this important negotiation was as speedy and
+satisfactory, as it has been and will be important in its consequences.
+M. Marbois truly observes, "the cession of Louisiana was a certain
+guarantee of the future greatness of the United States; and opposed an
+insurmountable obstacle to any design formed by the English of becoming
+predominant in America." In relation to the stipulations in the treaty,
+that the inhabitants should be incorporated in the Union, and, in due
+time, be admitted as a state, &c. M. Marbois records.
+
+     "The first consul, left to his natural disposition, was always
+     inclined to an elevated and generous justice. He himself
+     prepared the article which has been just recited. The words
+     which he employed on the occasion are recorded in the journal
+     of the negotiation, and deserve to be preserved. 'Let the
+     Louisianians know that we separate ourselves from them with
+     regret; that we stipulate in their favour every thing that they
+     can desire, and let them hereafter, happy in their
+     independence, recollect that they have been Frenchmen, and that
+     France, in ceding them, has secured for them advantages which
+     they could not have obtained from a European power, however
+     paternal it might have been. Let them retain for us sentiments
+     of affection; and may their common origin, descent, language,
+     and customs, perpetuate the friendship.'"
+
+The arrangement being completed, M. Marbois says--"the following words
+sufficiently acquaint us with the reflections which then influenced the
+first consul. This accession of territory, said he, strengthens forever
+the power of the United States, and I have just given to England a
+maritime rival, that will sooner or later humble her pride."
+
+We return to the History of Judge Martin, who describes the ceremonies
+of delivering the colony to the United States. Some citizens of the
+United States waved their hats, but "no emotion was manifested by any
+other part of the crowd. The colonists did not appear conscious that
+they were reaching the _Latium sedes ubi fata quietas ostendunt_."
+
+We pass on to the year 1806, when the celebrated plot of Aaron Burr is
+introduced. The president had received information of it, but not at
+first with such certainty as warranted any steps to be taken against the
+accused. General Wilkinson, then commanding in the west, afterwards made
+communications to the president, "involving men distinguished for
+integrity and patriotism; men of talents, honoured by the confidence of
+the government, in the flagitious plot." The designs of Burr and his
+associates were fully developed on his trial, and we need not repeat
+them here; but the proceedings of General Wilkinson are not so generally
+understood, and it is well that they should be. Nobody can be better
+qualified than our historian to give the information, nor to obtain
+implicit belief of all he narrates. We shall here see again that the old
+practice of _shipping off_ obnoxious individuals was resorted to by a
+military commander; as if there was something in the climate of
+New-Orleans to excite men in power to this mode of punishment or
+revenge. We cannot present these transactions better than in the
+language of our author.
+
+     "On Sunday, the fourteenth, Dr. Erick Bollman was arrested by
+     order of Wilkinson, and hurried to a secret place of
+     confinement, and on the evening of the following day
+     application was made on his behalf, for a writ of habeas
+     corpus, to Sprigg, one of the territorial judges, who declined
+     acting, till he could consult Mathews, who could not then be
+     found. On the sixteenth, the writ was obtained from the
+     superior court; but Bollman was, in the meanwhile, put on board
+     of a vessel and sent down the river. On the same day,
+     application was made to Workman, the judge of the county of
+     Orleans, for a writ of habeas corpus, in favour of Ogden and
+     Swartwout, who had been arrested a few days before, by order of
+     Wilkinson, at Fort Adams, and were on board of a bomb ketch of
+     the United States lying before the city. Workman immediately
+     granted the writ, and called on Claiborne to inquire whether he
+     had assented to Wilkinson's proceedings: Claiborne replied he
+     had consented to the arrest of Bollman, and his mind was not
+     made up as to the propriety of that of Ogden and Swartwout.
+     Workman then expatiated on the illegality and evil tendency of
+     such measures, beseeching Claiborne not to permit them, but to
+     use his own authority, as the constitutional guardian of his
+     fellow-citizens, to protect them; but he was answered that the
+     executive had no authority to liberate those persons, and it
+     was for the judiciary to do it, if they thought fit. Workman
+     added, that he had heard that Wilkinson intended to ship off
+     his prisoners, and if this was permitted, writs of habeas
+     corpus would prove nugatory.
+
+     "From the alarm and terror prevalent in the city, the deputy
+     sheriff could procure no boat to take him on board of the
+     ketch, on the day the writ issued. This circumstance was made
+     known early on the next morning, to Workman, who thereupon
+     directed the deputy sheriff to procure a boat by the offer of a
+     considerable sum of money, for the payment of which he
+     undertook the county would be responsible. The writ was served
+     soon afterwards, and returned at five in the evening by
+     Commodore Shaw, and the commanding officer of the ketch,
+     Lieutenant Jones; Swartwout had been taken from the ketch
+     before the service of the writ. Ogden was produced and
+     discharged, as his detention was justified on the order of
+     Wilkinson only.
+
+     "On the eighteenth of December, Wilkinson returned the writ of
+     habeas corpus into the superior court, stating that, as
+     commander in chief of the army of the United States, he took on
+     himself all responsibility for the arrest of Erick Bollman,
+     charged with misprison of treason against the government of the
+     United States, and he had adopted measures for his safe
+     delivery to the government of the United States: that it was
+     after several conversations with the governor and one of the
+     judges of the territory, that he had hazarded this step for the
+     national safety, menaced to its basis by a lawless band of
+     traitors, associated under Aaron Burr, whose accomplices were
+     extended from New-York to New-Orleans: that no man held in
+     higher reverence the civil authorities of his country, and it
+     was to maintain and perpetuate the holy attributes of the
+     constitution, against the uplifted arm of violence, that he had
+     interposed the force of arms in a moment of the utmost peril,
+     to seize upon Bollman, as he should upon all others, _without
+     regard to standing or station_, against whom any proof might
+     arise of a participation in the lawless combination.
+
+     "This return was, afterwards, amended, by an averment that, at
+     the time of the service of the writ, Bollman was not in the
+     possession or power of the person to whom it was addressed.
+
+     "On the following day Ogden was arrested a second time by the
+     commanding officer of a troop of cavalry of the militia of the
+     territory, in the service of the United States, by whom
+     Alexander was also taken in custody; on the application of
+     Livingston, Workman issued writs of habeas corpus for both
+     prisoners.
+
+     "Instead of a return, Wilkinson sent a written message to
+     Workman, begging him to accept his return to the superior
+     court, as applicable to the two traitors, who were the subjects
+     of his writs. On this, Livingston procured from the court, a
+     rule that Wilkinson make a further and more explicit return to
+     the writs, or show cause why an attachment should not issue
+     against him.
+
+     "Workman now called again on Claiborne, and repeated his
+     observations, and recommended, that Wilkinson should be opposed
+     by force of arms. He stated, that the violent measures of that
+     officer had produced great discontent, alarm, and agitation, in
+     the public mind; and, unless such proceeding were effectually
+     opposed, all confidence in government would be at an end. He
+     urged Claiborne to revoke the order, by which he had placed the
+     Orleans volunteers under Wilkinson's command, and to call out
+     and arm the rest of the militia force, as soon as possible. He
+     stated it as his opinion, that the army would not oppose the
+     civil power, when constitutionally brought forth, or that, if
+     they did, the governor might soon have men enough to render the
+     opposition ineffectual. He added, that, from the laudable
+     conduct of Commodore Shaw and Lieutenant Jones, respecting
+     Ogden, he not only did not apprehend any resistance to the
+     civil authority from the navy, but thought they might be relied
+     on. Similar representations were made to Claiborne by Hall and
+     Mathews; but they were unavailing.
+
+     "On the twenty-sixth, Wilkinson made a second return to the
+     writ of habeas corpus, stating that the body of neither of the
+     prisoners was in his possession or control. On this, Livingston
+     moved for process of attachment.
+
+     "Workman now made an official communication to Claiborne. He
+     began by observing, that the late extraordinary events, which
+     had taken place within the territory, had led to a
+     circumstance, which authorized the renewal, in a formal manner,
+     of the request he had so frequently urged in conversation, that
+     the executive would make use of the constitutional force placed
+     under his command, to maintain the laws, and protect his
+     fellow-citizens against the unexampled tyranny exercised over
+     them.
+
+     "He added, it was notorious that the commander in chief of the
+     military forces had, by his own authority, arrested several
+     citizens for civil offences, and had avowed on record, that he
+     had adopted measures to send them out of the territory, openly
+     declaring his determination to usurp the functions of the
+     judiciary, by making himself the only judge of the guilt of the
+     persons he suspected, and asserting in the same manner, and as
+     yet without contradiction, that his measures were taken, after
+     several consultations with the governor.
+
+     "He proceeded to state, that writs of habeas corpus had been
+     issued from the court of the county of New-Orleans: on one of
+     them, Ogden had been brought up and discharged, but he had
+     been, however, again arrested, by order of the general,
+     together with an officer of the court, who had aided
+     professionally in procuring his release. The general had, in
+     his return to a subsequent writ, issued on his behalf, referred
+     the court to a return made by him to a former writ of the
+     superior court, and in the further return which he had been
+     ordered to make, he had declared that neither of the prisoners
+     was in his power, possession, or custody; but he had not
+     averred what was requisite, in order to exempt him from the
+     penalty of a contempt of court, that these persons were not in
+     his power, possession, or custody, at the time when the writs
+     were served, and, in consequence of the deficiency, the court
+     had been moved for an attachment.
+
+     "The judge remarked, that although a common case would not
+     require the step he was taking, yet, he deemed it his duty,
+     before any decisive measure was pursued against a man, who had
+     all the regular force, and in pursuance of the governor's
+     public orders, a great part of that of the territory, at his
+     disposal, to ask whether the executive had the ability to
+     enforce the decrees of the court of the county, and if he had,
+     whether he would deem it expedient to do it, in the present
+     instance, or whether the allegation by which he supported these
+     violent measures was well founded?
+
+     "Not only the conduct and power of Wilkinson, said the judge,
+     but various other circumstances, peculiar to our present
+     situation, the alarm excited in the public mind, the
+     description and character of a large part of the population of
+     the country, might render it dangerous, in the highest degree,
+     to adopt the measure usual in ordinary cases, of calling to the
+     aid of the sheriff, the _posse comitatus_, unless it were done
+     with the assurance of being supported by the governor in an
+     efficient manner.
+
+     "The letter concluded by requesting a precise and speedy answer
+     to the preceding inquiries, and an assurance that, if certain
+     of the governor's support, the judge should forthwith punish,
+     as the law directs, the contempt offered to his court: on the
+     other hand, should the governor not think it practicable or
+     proper to afford his aid, the court and its officers would no
+     longer remain exposed to the contempt or insults of a man, whom
+     they were unable to punish or resist.
+
+     "The legislature met on the twelfth of January. Two days after,
+     General Adair arrived in the city, from Tennessee, and reported
+     he had left Burr at Nashville, on the twenty-second of
+     December, with two flat boats, destined for New-Orleans. In the
+     afternoon of the day of Adair's arrival, the hotel at which he
+     had stopped was invested by one hundred and twenty men, under
+     Lieutenant Colonel Kingsbury, accompanied by one of Wilkinson's
+     aids. Adair was dragged from the dining table, and conducted to
+     head quarters, where he was put in confinement. They beat to
+     arms through the streets; the battalion of the volunteers of
+     Orleans, and a part of the regular troops, paraded through the
+     city, and Workman, Kerr, and Bradford, were arrested and
+     confined. Wilkinson ordered the latter to be released, and the
+     two former were liberated on the following day, on a writ of
+     habeas corpus, issued by the district judge of the United
+     States. Adair was secreted until an opportunity offered to ship
+     him away."
+
+We approach a very interesting portion of our history, in which certain
+transactions are detailed, with great precision, for some of which
+General Jackson has obtained, and deserved, a brilliant crown of
+military glory, and for others has been visited with deep and indignant
+reproaches; whether justly or not, the reader will decide by the facts
+of the case.
+
+On the 2d of December 1814, General Jackson reached New-Orleans; and on
+the next day commenced his operations to put the city in a state of
+defence against the attack expected to be made upon it. A large naval
+force of the enemy was off the port of Pensacola; and it was understood
+that New-Orleans was their object. The force in New-Orleans consisted of
+seven hundred men of the United States regiments; one thousand state
+militia, and some sailors and marines. Reinforcements from Tennessee and
+Kentucky were looked for. It is not to our purpose, and must be
+unnecessary, to recapitulate all the interesting occurrences which took
+place at this alarming crisis; all evincing the gallantry and patriotism
+of our countrymen. In this early stage of the contest, our author, with
+great warmth and strong testimony, asserts the unshaken fidelity and
+active efficient attachment of the people of New-Orleans to the
+government of the United States, and repels with an honest indignation
+the charges of disaffection and treason which were on various occasions
+made upon them, to justify the tyrannical violence of certain
+proceedings against them. He says, "although the population of
+New-Orleans was composed of individuals of different nations, it was as
+patriotic as that of any city in the Union." We believe him most
+sincerely; and who does not? Can any just and candid man doubt it after
+a sober perusal of his details, having a particular relation to this
+question? To suppose that they had any sympathies with the invading foe;
+any treasonable correspondence with them; any desire for their success;
+is to calumniate a people as deeply and dearly interested in our
+independence, as devotedly attached to our institutions, as any portion
+of the republic. We therefore not only excuse, but applaud, the feelings
+of resentment with which Judge Martin, himself one of the people of
+Louisiana, and honoured by her confidence, meets every assertion and
+insinuation of treachery or disaffection cast upon her. He assures us,
+that "Claiborne (the governor) was sincerely attached to the government
+of his country, and the legislature was prepared to call forth and place
+at Jackson's disposal, all the resources of the state." Again he says,
+"If some, in the beginning, doubted whether General Jackson's military
+experience had been of a kind to fit him for this service, his conduct
+very soon dispelled the doubt."
+
+     "The want of an able military chief was sensibly felt, and
+     notwithstanding any division of sentiment on any other subject,
+     the inclination was universal to support Jackson, and he had
+     been hailed on his arrival by all. There were some, indeed, who
+     conceived that the crisis demanded a general of some experience
+     in ordinary warfare; that one whose military career had begun
+     with the current year, and who had never met with any but an
+     Indian force, was ill calculated to meet the warlike enemy who
+     threatened; but all were willing to make a virtue of necessity,
+     and to take their wishes for their opinions, and manifested an
+     unbounded confidence in him. All united in demonstrations of
+     respect and reliance, and every one was ready to give him his
+     support. His immediate and incessant attention to the defence
+     of the country, the care he took to visit every vulnerable
+     point, his unremitted vigilance, and the strict discipline
+     enforced, soon convinced all that he was the man the occasion
+     demanded."
+
+The general had, however, imbibed strong prejudices against the
+inhabitants of the city, _infused into him by bad advisers who
+surrounded him_.
+
+     "Unfortunately he had been surrounded, from the moment of his
+     arrival, by persons from the ranks of the opposition to
+     Claiborne, Hall, and the state government, and it was soon
+     discovered that he had become impressed with the idea, that a
+     great part of the population of Louisiana was disaffected, and
+     the city full of traitors and spies. It appears such were his
+     sentiments as early as the 8th of September; for in a letter of
+     Claiborne, which he since published, the governor joins in the
+     opinion, and writes to him, 'I think with you, that our country
+     is full of spies and traitors.'"
+
+The interest we feel to vindicate the people of Louisiana from the
+suspicions that were long entertained of their loyalty, and may not be
+yet wholly eradicated, induces us to trouble our readers with further
+extracts on this subject.
+
+     "The legislature was in session, since the beginning of the
+     preceding month. We have seen that Claiborne, at the opening of
+     the session, had offered them his congratulations on the
+     alacrity with which the call of the United States for a body of
+     militia had been met, which, with the detail of the proceedings
+     of that body, is the best refutation of the charges which have
+     been urged against them. It will show, that in attachment to
+     the Union, in zeal for the defence of the country, in
+     liberality in furnishing the means of it, and in ministering to
+     the wants of their brave fellow-citizens who came down to
+     assist them in repelling the foe, the general assembly of
+     Louisiana does not suffer by a comparison of its conduct with
+     that of any legislative body in the United States. The
+     assertion, that any member of it entertained the silly opinion,
+     that a capitulation, if any became necessary, was to be brought
+     about or effected by the agency of the houses, any more than by
+     that of a court of justice, or the city council of New-Orleans,
+     is absolutely groundless."
+
+A proposition was made by the governor to the legislature, to suspend
+the writ of habeas corpus, in order that men might be pressed for the
+service, particularly naval, of the United States: the legislature knew
+it to be a dangerous measure, and thought it unnecessary.
+
+     "Coming from every part of the state, the representatives had
+     witnessed the universal alacrity with which Jackson's
+     requisitions for a quota of the militia of the state had been
+     complied with; they knew their constituents could be depended
+     on; they knew that Jackson, Claiborne, and many of the
+     military, were incessantly talking of sedition, disaffection,
+     and treason; but better acquainted with the people of
+     Louisiana, than those who were vociferating against it, they
+     were conscious, that no state was more free from sedition,
+     disaffection, and treason, than their own; they thought the
+     state should not outlaw her citizens, when they were rushing to
+     repel the enemy. They dreaded the return of those days, when
+     Wilkinson filled New-Orleans with terror and dismay, arresting
+     and transporting whom he pleased. They recollected that in 1806
+     Jefferson had made application to congress for a suspension of
+     the writ of _habeas corpus_, but that the recommendation of the
+     president was not deemed sufficient to induce the legislature
+     of the Union to suspend it: that of Claiborne, as far as it
+     concerned Jackson, was not therefore acted on. The members had
+     determined not to adjourn during the invasion, and thought they
+     would suspend the writ when they deemed the times required it,
+     but not till then."
+
+That the refusal to put an uncontrouled power over the persons of the
+citizens, to withdraw from them the protection of the law, did not
+proceed from an unwillingness to obtain for the service the force
+required, is made manifest by the substitute adopted. "A sum of five
+thousand dollars was placed at the disposal of the commodore, to be
+expended in bounties; and, to remove the opportunity of seamen being
+tempted to decline entering the service of the United States, by the
+hope of employment on board of merchant vessels, an embargo was passed."
+
+The general does not seem to have been satisfied with the reasons of the
+legislature for denying the power he desired, nor with their substitute
+for it.
+
+     "The suspension of the writ of _habeas corpus_, and adjournment
+     of the houses, were measures which Jackson anxiously desired.
+     There was a great inclination in the members of both houses to
+     gratify him, in every instance in which they could do it with
+     safety: in these two only, they were of opinion it would be
+     unsafe to adopt his views."
+
+General Carroll, with a brigade of Tennessee militia, arrived on the
+19th, and the legislature were indefatigable in preparing for the
+expected attack.
+
+     "At this period the forces at New-Orleans amounted to between
+     six and seven thousand men. Every individual exempted from
+     militia duty on account of age, had joined one of the
+     companies of veterans, which had been formed for the
+     preservation of order. Every class of society was animated with
+     the most ardent zeal; the young, the old, women, children, all
+     breathed defiance to the enemy, firmly disposed to oppose to
+     the utmost the threatened invasion. There were in the city a
+     very great number of French subjects, who from their national
+     character could not have been compelled to perform military
+     duty; these men, however, with hardly any exception,
+     volunteered their services. The Chevalier Tousard, the Consul
+     of France, who had distinguished himself, and had lost an arm
+     in the service of the United States, during the revolutionary
+     war, lamenting that the neutrality of his nation did not allow
+     him to lead his countrymen in New-Orleans to the field,
+     encouraged them to flock to Jackson's standard. The people were
+     preparing for battle as cheerfully as if for a party of
+     pleasure: the streets resounded with martial airs: the several
+     corps of militia were constantly exercising, from morning to
+     night: every bosom glowed with the feelings of national honour:
+     every thing showed nothing was to be apprehended from
+     disaffection, disloyalty, or treason."
+
+On the 21st, the enemy landed with a strong force, and a proud one,
+confident of an easy victory. They looked upon all the wealth and
+comforts of New-Orleans as already their own. The battle that shortly
+after ensued, _sought for and won_ by the Americans, can never be
+forgotten. The promptitude, decision, and skill, with which General
+Jackson took his measures; the bravery with which they were executed;
+and the glorious success which crowned the bold attack upon an enemy
+greatly superior in numbers, discipline, and experience, will be ranked
+among the most gallant achievements of military history. Our author
+assures us that the invading army "had a force of very near five
+thousand men; that which opposed him was not above two thousand."
+Preparations against the grand attack upon the city continued with
+unceasing vigilance and labour. The members of the legislature--_the
+suspected legislature_--old and young, joined some of the military
+corps; but lest their legislative aid might also be required, they
+continued their sessions; when a most extraordinary proceeding occurred.
+
+     "Every day, towards noon, three or four of the members of each
+     house, who served among the veterans or on the committees,
+     attended in their respective halls to effect an adjournment, in
+     order that, if any circumstance rendered the aid of the
+     legislature necessary, it might be instantly afforded. On going
+     for this purpose to the government house, Skipwith, the speaker
+     of the senate, and two of its members, found a sentinel on the
+     staircase, who, presenting his bayonet, forbade them to enter
+     the senate chamber. They quietly retired, and proceeded to the
+     hall of the sessions of the city council, where an adjournment
+     took place. The members of the other house, who attended for
+     the same purpose, were likewise prevented from entering its
+     hall, and acted like those of the senate."
+
+A committee was appointed to wait upon the general, and inquire into the
+reasons of these violent measures against the legislature. The general
+gave his reasons, which, in short, were, that he had received
+information "that the assembly were about to give up the country to the
+enemy." The author goes into a full examination of this charge; and the
+refutation of it is entirely satisfactory.
+
+The spirit of defence even entered the walls of the prisons.
+
+     "A number of debtors, who had taken the benefit of the acts
+     establishing the prison bounds, were anxious to join in the
+     defence of the city, but were apprehensive of exposing their
+     sureties. On this being represented to the legislature, an act
+     was passed, extending the prison bounds, until the first of May
+     following, so as to include Jackson's line."
+
+The last effort of the invader was made by the battle of the 8th of
+January, and is described in our book with much effect. Long may it be
+read and remembered with an unextinguishable glow of pride and
+patriotism! The contest was ended; the foe hastily abandoned our shores,
+on which they left nothing but memorials of their defeat and shame, in
+the melancholy monuments of their slaughtered companions. Our author
+concludes his narrative of these eventful days, with an eloquent tribute
+to the general, by whose indefatigable activity and fearless gallantry a
+rich and populous city was saved.
+
+     "If the vigilance, the activity, and the intrepidity of the
+     general had been conspicuous during the whole period of the
+     invasion, his prudence, moderation, and self-denial, on the
+     departure of the enemy, deserves no less commendation and
+     admiration. An opportunity was then presented to him of
+     acquiring laurels by a pursuit, which few, elated as he must
+     have been by success, could have resisted. But, he nobly
+     reflected that those who fled from him were mercenaries--those
+     who surrounded his standard, his fellow-citizens, almost
+     universally fathers of families;--sound policy, to use his own
+     expressions, neither required nor authorized him to expose the
+     lives of his companions in arms, in a useless conflict. He
+     thought the lives of ten British soldiers would not requite the
+     loss of one of his men. He had not saved New-Orleans to
+     sacrifice its inhabitants."
+
+On his return to the city, he was greeted with "tears of gratitude"--why
+were they not perpetual? His cruel suspicions; his unjust accusations of
+treason and disaffection, were forgotten or forgiven, and no sentiment
+remained in the hearts of the people of Louisiana, but admiration of his
+conduct in the day of trial, and gratitude for his services; why was not
+this perpetual? We shall see.
+
+"By a communication of the 13th of January, from Admiral Cochrane,
+Jackson was informed that the Admiral had just received a bulletin from
+Jamaica, (a copy of which was enclosed) proclaiming that a treaty of
+peace had been signed by the respective plenipotentiaries of Great
+Britain and the United States, at Ghent, on the 24th of December. The
+despatch did not arrive till the 21st, by way of Balize; but the
+intelligence had been brought to the city by one of Jackson's aids, who
+had returned from the British fleet with a flag of truce." As in
+canvassing the subsequent proceedings of the General at New-Orleans, his
+advocates have pretended that he had no information of the peace to
+which he ought to have trusted, that point must not be overlooked in our
+inquiries. What was the evidence at this period, that is, on the 21st of
+January? A communication directly addressed to him, by and under the
+name of the British Admiral, with every sanction that honour and good
+faith could give it. This communication, so vouched, was accompanied by
+a copy of a bulletin which the Admiral declared he had just received
+from Jamaica, too distant to have been fabricated there for the
+occasion; and all this was confirmed by the intelligence brought by one
+of the General's aids from the fleet. Is there any degree of military
+caution that would have doubted the truth of this information, _in the
+manner and for the purposes_ for which the doubts, real or pretended,
+were used by the General? We will not say that he should, on such
+intelligence, have exposed himself to an attack from the enemy; that he
+should have disbanded his army, or thrown by his guards and defence, as
+if the intelligence had been authentic from his own government; but,
+assuredly there was that in the information he received, on which a
+strong reliance might reasonably and safely have been placed; at least
+enough to have suspended military operations _against his own
+fellow-citizens_. He must have imputed fraud, falsehood, and forgery, to
+an officer, who, although an enemy, was entitled to a more just and
+respectful consideration. No usage of modern warfare would have
+justified such practices, and therefore they ought not to have been
+presumed. With no disposition to "set down aught in malice" against the
+General, we cannot refrain from saying, that, whatever he may have found
+it convenient to believe or disbelieve, to justify the extravagance of
+ungovernable passions inflamed by evil counsellors, in his moments of
+sober thoughts, if any such happened to him, he could not reject the
+testimony before him, of the termination of the war. He certainly, at
+least, thought it worthy to be announced to the people, although he
+"forewarned them from being thrown into security by hopes that might be
+delusive." This was a prudent caution, and sufficient. "On the 22d, the
+gladsome tidings were confirmed, and a _Gazette of Charleston_ was
+received, announcing the _ratification of the Treaty_ by the Prince
+Regent." We assume then, that on the 22d of January, such intelligence
+was received of the Peace at New-Orleans, as might, and should have
+satisfied the most sceptical military caution, of its truth, at least to
+the extent required for our examination into the General's subsequent
+conduct.
+
+It seems that a discontent had arisen, which led to serious
+consequences. The _French subjects_ resident at New-Orleans, "had
+flocked round Jackson's standard, determined to leave it with the
+necessity that called them to it, and not till then." They endured much
+privation, toil, and danger; their families also were in a state of
+suffering, to whose relief they were anxious to return _after the enemy
+had left the state_. A few solicited a discharge; but the General
+insisted on their being retained. Some then demanded of the French
+consul, certificates of their national character, which were presented
+to the General, who countersigned them, and the bearers were permitted
+to return home. So many, however, applied for this indulgence, that the
+General believed that the consul too easily granted his certificates,
+"and considering a compliance with his duty, as evidence of his adhesion
+to the enemy, ordered him out of the city."
+
+We now come to a false step, of more importance, made by the General, to
+which he was led by that which has overthrown many men placed in
+elevated stations. It has been the misfortune and ruin of great men who
+were high; and, more frequently so, of high men who were not great;
+_weak and evil counsellors_.
+
+     "Yielding to the advice of many around him, who were constantly
+     filling his ears with their clamours about the disloyalty,
+     disaffection, and treason of the people of Louisiana, and
+     particularly the state officers and the people of French
+     origin, Jackson, on the last day of February, issued a general
+     order, commanding all French subjects, possessed of a
+     certificate of their national character, subscribed by the
+     consul of France, and countersigned by the commanding general,
+     to retire into the interior, to a distance above Baton
+     Rouge:--a measure, which was stated to have been rendered
+     indispensable by the frequent applications for discharges. The
+     names were directed to be taken of all persons of this
+     description, remaining in the city, after the expiration of
+     three days.
+
+     "Time has shown this to have been a most unfortunate step; and
+     those by whose suggestions it was taken, soon found themselves
+     unable to avert from the general the consequences to which it
+     exposed him. The people against whom it was directed were
+     loyal--many of them had bled, all had toiled and suffered in
+     the defence of the state. Need, in many instances, improvidence
+     in several, had induced the families of these people to part
+     with the furniture of their houses to supply those immediate
+     wants, which the absence of the head of the family occasioned.
+     No exception, no distinction was made. The sympathetic feelings
+     of every class of inhabitants were enlisted in favour of these
+     men; they lacked the means of sustaining themselves on the way,
+     and must have been compelled, on their arrival at Baton Rouge,
+     then a very insignificant village, to throw themselves on the
+     charity of the inhabitants. Another consideration rendered the
+     departure of these men an evil to be dreaded. The apprehension
+     of the return of the enemy was represented, as having had much
+     weight with Jackson in issuing his order. Their past conduct
+     was a sure pledge that, in case of need, their services would
+     again be re-offered; there were among them a number of
+     experienced artillery-men; a description of soldiers, which was
+     not easily to be found among the brave who had come down from
+     Kentucky, or Tennessee, or even in the army of the United
+     States. These considerations induced several respectable
+     citizens to wait on Jackson, for the purpose of endeavouring to
+     induce him to reconsider a determination, which was viewed as
+     productive of flagrant injustice and injury to those against
+     whom it was directed, without any possible advantage, and
+     probably very detrimental, to those for whose benefit it was
+     intended."
+
+To quiet and console this distressed and injured people under this
+wanton decree of military power; this cruel exile; it was recommended to
+them to submit without resistance to the order.
+
+     "They were assured, that the laws of the country would protect
+     them, and punish, even in a successful general, a violation of
+     the rights of, or a wanton injury to, the meanest individual,
+     citizen or alien. They were referred to the case of Wilkinson,
+     against whom an independent jury of the Mississippi territory
+     had given a verdict in favour of Adair, who had been illegally
+     arrested and transported, during the winter of 1806."
+
+It must be recollected, that this order was issued and executed on the
+last day of February, six weeks after the Charleston Gazette had
+announced at New-Orleans, the ratification of the treaty of peace, as
+above stated. During all this period, there had not been an appearance
+of the enemy, or a movement by them, or the slightest occurrence or
+rumour, to raise a doubt of the truth of this intelligence. Not a doubt
+of it was expressed by any body or from any quarter. On the 14th of
+February, two weeks after the sentence of banishment upon the French
+subjects, "the mail brought northern Gazettes, announcing the arrival of
+the treaty at Washington." Was this also a British trick and delusion,
+not to be trusted even by a relaxation of the severest military
+discipline, or a mitigation of the dangerous predominance of martial
+law? Our author says, "the hope that had been entertained that Jackson
+would now allow these unfortunate people to stay with their families,
+was disappointed."
+
+_Louallier_, a member of the House of Representatives, had been
+conspicuous in bringing forth the energies of the state for its defence.
+His activity and usefulness were properly appreciated by his
+fellow-citizens. An opinion prevailed, that Jackson was unfriendly to
+the French citizens, and to the officers of the state government.
+
+     "A report, which now was afloat, that those who surrounded
+     Jackson were labouring to induce him to arrest some
+     individuals, alluded to in the general orders of the 28th of
+     February, roused his indignation, to which (perhaps more
+     honestly than prudently) he gave vent in a publication, of
+     which the following is a translation, in the _Courier de la
+     Louisiane_ of the 3d of March."
+
+The publication is of considerable length, and written with warmth and
+ability. Our author, after giving it at large, proceeds--
+
+     "Man bears nothing with more impatience, than the exposure of
+     his errors, and the contempt of his authority. Those who had
+     provoked Jackson's violent measure against the French subjects,
+     availed themselves of the paroxysms of the ire which the
+     publication excited: they threw fuel into the fire, and blew it
+     into a flame. They persuaded him Louallier had been guilty of
+     an offence, punishable with death, and he should have him tried
+     by a court martial, as a spy. Yielding to this suggestion, and
+     preparatory to such a trial, he ordered the publication of the
+     second section of the rules and articles of war, which
+     denounces the punishment of death against spies, and directed
+     Louallier to be arrested and confined. Eaton is mistaken when
+     he asserts that the section had been published _before_. The
+     adjutant's letter to Leclerc, the printer of the _Ami des
+     Lois_, requesting him to publish it, bears date of the _fourth_
+     of March, the day _after_ Louallier's publication made its
+     appearance. The section was followed by a notice that 'the city
+     of New-Orleans and its environs, being under martial law, and
+     several encampments and fortifications within its limits, it
+     was deemed necessary to give publicity to the section, _for the
+     information of all concerned_.'
+
+     "Great, indeed, must have been Jackson's excitement, when he
+     suffered himself to be persuaded, that Louallier could
+     successfully be prosecuted as a spy. Eaton informs us,
+     Louallier was prosecuted as one _owing allegiance to the United
+     States_. The very circumstance of his owing that allegiance,
+     prevented his being liable to a prosecution as a spy. He was a
+     citizen of the United States: his being a member of the
+     legislature, was evidence of this. If he, therefore, committed
+     any act, which would constitute an alien a _spy_, he was guilty
+     of high treason, and ought to have been delivered to the
+     legitimate magistrate, to be prosecuted as a traitor."
+
+Judge Martin goes into a short, but satisfactory argument, to prove that
+a citizen cannot be prosecuted as a spy under the articles of war.
+Whether, however, the General and his advisers considered Louallier as a
+spy, or a traitor, he "was arrested on Sunday the _5th of March_, at
+noon, near the Exchange Coffee-house." He applied to a gentleman of the
+bar for legal relief. An application for this purpose was made to Judge
+Martin, (our author) one of the members of the Supreme Court of the
+state. The judge thought he had no jurisdiction over the case, and could
+not interfere. _Hall_, the District Judge of the United States, was then
+called upon for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. The attorney
+was directed by the Judge to inform the General of his application for
+the writ and the order for issuing it.--This was in courtesy.
+
+     "On receiving Morel's communication, the ebullition of
+     Jackson's anger was such, that reason appeared to have lost its
+     control. Those who had suggested the harsh measure against the
+     French citizens, and the still more harsh one against
+     Louallier, imagined the moment was come, when their enmity
+     towards Hall might be gratified. We have seen that a number of
+     individuals, who had hitherto sustained a fair character, were
+     now known as accomplices of the Barrataria pirates.
+     Prosecutions had been commenced against some of them, and Hall
+     manifested that stern severity of character, which appals
+     guilt. The counsel of these men had conceived the idea that he
+     did not view their efforts to screen their clients, with the
+     liberality and indulgence they deserved. The opportunity now
+     offered of humbling this worthy magistrate, was not suffered to
+     remain unimproved; and Jackson was assured that Hall, like
+     Louallier, was guilty of an offence punishable with death.
+
+     "The general's attention was drawn to the seventh section of
+     the rules and articles of war, which denounces the last
+     punishment against persons aiding or abetting mutiny; and he
+     was pressed to prosecute the judge before a court martial. As a
+     preparatory step, with that promptitude of decision, which
+     Eaton says is a leading trait in his character, he signed an
+     instrument at once, the warrant for the arrest, and the
+     _mittimus_ for the imprisonment of Hall. He wrote to Colonel
+     Arbuckle, who commanded at the barracks, that having received
+     proof that Dominick A. Hall had been _aiding_, _abetting_, _and
+     exciting mutiny_ in his camp, he desired that a detachment
+     might be ordered forthwith, to arrest and _confine_ him; and
+     that a report might be made as soon as he was arrested. 'You
+     will,' as it is said in the conclusion of this paper, 'be
+     vigilant; as the agents of our enemy are more numerous than we
+     expected. You will be guarded against escapes.'
+
+     "The prosecution of the judge was intended to be grounded on
+     the seventh section of the articles of war, which is in these
+     words:--'Any _officer or soldier_, who shall begin, cause,
+     excite, or join in, any mutiny or sedition, in any troop or
+     company, in the service of the United States, or in any post,
+     detachment, or guard, shall suffer death, or any other
+     punishment, as by a court martial shall be inflicted.'
+
+     "Hall was not an officer, in the sense of the act of
+     Congress--he was not a soldier, in the ordinary meaning of that
+     word; but, according to the jurisprudence of head quarters, the
+     proclamation of martial law had transformed every inhabitant of
+     New-Orleans into a soldier, and rendered him punishable under
+     the articles of war.
+
+     "The judge was accordingly arrested in his own house, at nine
+     o'clock, and confined in the same apartment with Louallier, in
+     the barracks.
+
+     "As soon as this was reported at head quarters, Major Chotard
+     was despatched to demand from Claiborne, the clerk of the
+     district court of the United States, the surrender of
+     Louallier's petition, on the back of which Hall had written the
+     order for issuing the writ of _habeas corpus_. It has been seen
+     that there was not any officer of the state government, nor of
+     the United States, out of the army, who imagined that a
+     proclamation of martial law gave the general any right, nor
+     imposed on others any obligation, which did not exist before.
+     The clerk accordingly answered that there was a rule of court,
+     which forbade him to part with any original paper lodged in his
+     office; and he was ignorant of any right, in the commander of
+     the army, to interfere with the records of the court. He
+     however was, after much solicitation, prevailed on to take the
+     document in his pocket, and accompany Chotard to head quarters.
+
+     "In the meanwhile, an express from the department of war had
+     arrived, with the intelligence that the President of the United
+     States had ratified the treaty, and an exchange of the
+     ratifications had taken place at Washington, on the 17th of
+     February, the preceding month. By an accident, which was not
+     accounted for, a packet had been put into the hands of the
+     messenger, instead of the one containing the official
+     information of the exchange of the ratifications. But the man
+     was bearer of an open order of the postmaster, to all his
+     deputies on the road, to expedite him with the utmost celerity,
+     as he carried _information of the recent peace_. He declared he
+     had handed an official notice of this event to the governor of
+     the state of Tennessee.
+
+     "On the arrival of the clerk at head quarters, Jackson asked
+     him whether it was his intention to issue the writ: he replied
+     it was his bounden duty to do so, and he most assuredly would.
+     He was threatened with an arrest, but persisted in his
+     asseveration that he would obey the judge's order. He had
+     handed Louallier's petition to Jackson, and, before he retired,
+     demanded the return of it; this was peremptorily refused, and
+     the paper was withheld. It appears the date of the _fifth_ of
+     March had been originally on this document, and that being
+     Sunday, Hall changed it to that of the following day, the
+     _sixth_. The idea had been cherished, that this alteration
+     might support an additional article, in the charges against
+     Hall. It is not extraordinary, that those who imagined that, as
+     Louallier might be tried for a _libel_, in a court martial,
+     Hall might for _forgery_. Thus one inconsistency almost
+     universally leads to another.
+
+     "Duplessis, the marshal of the United States, had volunteered
+     his services, as an aid to Jackson; a little after midnight he
+     visited head quarters. The imprisonment of Hall, and the
+     accounts from Washington, had brought a great concourse of
+     people near the general; who, elated by the success of the
+     evening, met the marshal at the door, and announced to him, _he
+     had shopped the judge_. Perceiving that Duplessis did not show
+     his exultation, he inquired whether he would serve Hall's writ.
+     The marshal replied, he had ever done his duty, which obliged
+     him to execute all writs directed to him by the court, whose
+     ministerial officer he was; and, looking sternly at the person
+     who addressed him, added, he would execute the court's writ _on
+     any man_. A copy of the proclamation of martial law, that lay
+     on the table, was pointed to him, and Jackson said, he _also_
+     would do his duty.
+
+     "A large concourse of people had been drawn to the Exchange
+     coffee-house, during the night, by the passing events, which
+     were not there, as at head quarters, a subject of exultation
+     and gratulation. The circumstances were not unlike those of the
+     year 1806, which Livingston describes as 'so new in the history
+     of our country, that they will not easily gain belief, at a
+     distance, and can scarcely be realized by those who beheld
+     them. A dictatorial power, assumed by the commander of the
+     American army--the military arrest of citizens, charged with a
+     civil offence--the violation of the sanctuary of justice--an
+     attempt to overawe, by denunciations, those who dared,
+     professionally, to assert the authority of the laws--the
+     unblushing avowal of the employment of military force, to
+     punish a civil offence, and the hardy menace of persevering in
+     the same course, were circumstances that must command
+     attention, and excite the corresponding sentiments of grief,
+     indignation, and contempt.'"
+
+We have made our extract so copiously of this dangerous and extravagant
+proceeding, because we wish it to be represented in the language of the
+author, and not by any abridgment of ours. General Jackson having
+received intelligence of the treaty which he chose to agree that he
+relied upon, addressed a despatch to the British commander "to
+anticipate the happy return of peace." We again take up our author.
+
+     "Jackson now paused to deliberate, whether these circumstances
+     did not require him, by a cessation of all measures of
+     violence, to allow his fellow-citizens in New-Orleans, to
+     anticipate this happy return of peace, the account of which,
+     the first direct intelligence was to bring to him, in an
+     official form--the untoward arrival of an orderly sergeant,
+     with a message from Arbuckle, to whom the custody of Hall had
+     been committed, prevented Jackson coming to that conclusion,
+     which his unprejudiced judgment would have suggested. The
+     prisoner had requested, that a magistrate might be permitted to
+     have access to him, to receive an affidavit, which he wished to
+     make, in order to resort to legal measures, for his release.
+     Arbuckle desired to know the general's pleasure, on this
+     application. Naturally impatient of any thing like control or
+     restraint, the idea of a superior power to be employed against
+     his decisions, threw Jackson into emotions of rage. Before they
+     had sufficiently subsided to allow him to act on the message,
+     some of his ordinary advisers came in, to recommend the arrest
+     of Hollander, a merchant of some note. What was the offence of
+     this man, has never been known; but Jackson's temper of mind
+     was favourable to the views of his visiters. He ordered the
+     arrest of the merchant, and forbade the access of the
+     magistrate to Hall; the idea of allowing his fellow-citizens to
+     anticipate the happy return of peace was abandoned, and
+     measures were directed to be taken for the trial of Louallier."
+
+The boasted "promptitude and decision" of the General's character,
+admirable qualities in their proper places and under proper regulation,
+carried him on, deeper and deeper, into the violation of the most sacred
+rights of a free citizen, and of the immunities of the officers of the
+law in the administration of the laws.
+
+     "Dick, the attorney of the United States, made application to
+     Lewis, one of the district judges of the state, who was serving
+     as a subaltern officer, in the Orleans rifle company, and whose
+     conduct during the invasion, had received Jackson's particular
+     commendation. Believing that his duty as a military man, did
+     not diminish his obligation, as a judge, to protect his
+     fellow-citizens from illegal arrest, Lewis, without hesitation,
+     on the first call of Dick, laid down his rifle, and allowed the
+     writ.
+
+     "Information of this having been carried to head quarters,
+     Jackson immediately ordered the arrest of Lewis and Dick.
+
+     "Arbuckle, to whom Lewis's writ, in favour of Hall, was
+     directed, refused to surrender his prisoner, on the ground he
+     was committed by Jackson, under the authority of the United
+     States.
+
+     "The orders for the arrest of Lewis and Dick were
+     countermanded."
+
+The effect of such proceedings, without parallel in a free government,
+and without apology any where, may be well imagined.
+
+     "The irritation of the public mind manifested itself, in the
+     evening, by the destruction of a transparent painting, in
+     honour of Jackson, which the proprietor of the Exchange
+     coffee-house displayed, in the largest hall."
+
+This brought the military in support of their General.
+
+     "A number of officers had compelled the proprietor of the
+     Exchange coffee-house, to exhibit a new transparent painting,
+     and to illuminate the hall in a more than usual manner. They
+     attended in the evening, and stood near the painting, with the
+     apparent intention of indicating a determination, to resist the
+     attempt of taking down the painting. It was reported, a number
+     of soldiers were in the neighbourhood, ready to march to the
+     coffee-house, at the first call. This was not calculated to
+     allay the excitement of the public mind. The prostration of the
+     legitimate government; the imprisonment of the district judge
+     of the United States, the only magistrate, whose interference
+     could be successfully invoked, on an illegal arrest, under
+     colour of the authority of the United States, the ascendency
+     assumed by the military, appeared to have dissolved all the
+     bands of social order in New-Orleans."
+
+The good sense, we are told, of some of the most influential characters
+in the city, prevented the extremities to which these proceedings were
+fast approaching. The injured and the irritated were assured, "that
+Jackson's day of reckoning would arrive; that _Hall_, with the authority
+(though now without the power) of chastising the encroachments of the
+military, possessed the resolution, and would soon have the power to
+punish the violators of the law." The court martial, by whom Louallier
+was tried, acquitted him.
+
+     "Jackson was greatly disappointed at the conclusion to which
+     the court martial had arrived; he, however, did not release
+     either of his prisoners, and on the tenth issued the following
+     general order:--
+
+     "'The commanding general disapproves of the sentence of the
+     court martial, of which Major-general Gaines is president, on
+     the several charges and specifications exhibited against Mr.
+     Louallier; and is induced by the novelty and importance of the
+     matters submitted to the decision of that court, to assign the
+     reasons of this disapproval.'"
+
+He gave his reasons at length, which only show how hard it is for
+certain tempers to acknowledge a wrong, or return to the right.
+
+     "The court martial consoled themselves, by the reflection, that
+     their sentence, though disapproved by Jackson, was in perfect
+     conformity with decisions of the President of the United
+     States, and of the supreme court of the state of New-York, in
+     similar cases."
+
+There is something in the name and character of a _Court_, which assures
+us of its respect for justice and the law.
+
+     "The independent stand, taken by the court martial, had left no
+     glimpse of hope, at head quarters, that the prosecution of
+     Hall, on the charge of mutiny, on which he had been imprisoned,
+     could be attempted with any prospect of success--the futility
+     of any further proceedings against Louallier was
+     evident--Jackson, therefore, put an end to Hall's imprisonment
+     on Saturday, the 11th of March. The word _imprisonment_ is
+     used, because Eaton assures his readers, that '_Judge Hall was
+     not imprisoned_; it was merely an arrest.' Hall had been taken
+     from his bed chamber, on the preceding Sunday, at 9 o'clock in
+     the evening, by a detachment of about one hundred men, dragged
+     through the streets, and confined in the same apartment with
+     Louallier, in the barracks. Three days after, it had been
+     officially announced to the inhabitants of New-Orleans, that
+     Jackson was in possession of persuasive evidence, that a state
+     of peace existed, and the militia had been discharged, the door
+     of Hall's prison was thrown open, but not for his release. He
+     was put under a guard, who led him several miles beyond the
+     limits of the city, where they left him, with a prohibition to
+     return, 'till the ratification of the treaty was _regularly_
+     announced, or the British shall have left the southern coast.'
+
+     "This last, and useless display of usurped power, astonished
+     the inhabitants. They thought, that, if the general feared the
+     return of the British, the safety of New-Orleans would be
+     better insured, by his recall of the militia, than by the
+     banishment of the legitimate magistrate. It was the last
+     expansion of light, and momentary effulgence, that precedes the
+     extinguishment of a taper.
+
+     "At the dawn of light, on Monday, the 13th, an express reached
+     head quarters, with the despatch which had accidentally been
+     misplaced, in the office of the secretary of war, three weeks
+     before. The cannon soon announced the arrival of this important
+     document, and Louallier was indebted for his liberation, to the
+     precaution, which Eaton says, the President of the United
+     States had taken, to direct Jackson to issue a proclamation for
+     the pardon of all military offences."
+
+Judge Hall had suffered indignity without being disgraced; he had
+submitted to physical force without yielding his spirit to debasement;
+or surrendering one of his official or personal rights. His reward
+awaited him, and it is eloquently recorded by our historian.
+
+     "Hall's return to the city was greeted by the acclamations of
+     the inhabitants. He was the first judge of the United States
+     they had received, and they had admired in him the
+     distinguishing characteristics of an American magistrate--a
+     pure heart, clean hands, and a mind susceptible of no fear, but
+     that of God. His firmness had, eight years before, arrested
+     Wilkinson in his despotic measures. He was now looked upon to
+     show, that if he had been unable to stop Jackson's arbitrary
+     steps, he would prevent him from exulting, in the impunity of
+     his trespass."
+
+_Dick_, the District Attorney, has a fair claim to a participation in
+these honours.
+
+     "He was anxious to lose no time, in calling the attention of
+     the district court of the United States, to the violent
+     proceedings, during the week that had followed the arrival of
+     the first messenger of peace; but Hall insisted on a few days
+     being exclusively given to the manifestation of the joyous
+     feelings, which the termination of the war excited. He did not
+     yield to Dick's wishes till the 21st. The affidavits of the
+     clerk of the district court, of the marshal of the United
+     States, of the attorney of Louallier, and of the commander at
+     the barracks, were then laid before the court."
+
+The case presented to the court, was substantially such as appears in
+the foregoing narrative. Hall was as resolute in his court, as Jackson
+at the head of an army; the Judge was as fearless in maintaining the
+law, as the General had been in trampling upon it. "On motion of the
+Attorney of the United States, a rule to show cause, why process of
+attachment should not issue against Jackson, was granted."
+
+On the return day, the General, accompanied by one of his aids, appeared
+before the court, and presented his answer to the rule. Some legal
+questions were discussed and decided on the propriety of admitting the
+answer. Finally, the rule was made absolute, that is, the _attachment
+was ordered_. The General is still haunted by bad advisers.
+
+     "Jackson's advisers now found he could not be defended on the
+     merits, with the slightest hope of success, as the attorney of
+     the United States would probably draw from him by
+     interrogatories, the admission, that both Louallier and the
+     judge were kept in prison, long after persuasive evidence had
+     been received at head quarters, of the cessation of the state
+     of war. They therefore recommended to him not to answer the
+     interrogatories, which would authorize the insinuation that he
+     had been condemned unheard.
+
+     "It appears that some of his party, at this period, entertained
+     the hope that Hall could be intimidated, and prevented from
+     proceeding further. A report was accordingly circulated, that a
+     mob would assemble in and about the court-house--that the
+     pirates of Barataria, to whom the judge had rendered himself
+     obnoxious before the war, by his zeal and strictness, in the
+     prosecution that had been instituted against several of their
+     ringleaders, would improve this opportunity of humbling him.
+     Accordingly, groups of them took their stands, in different
+     parts of the hall, and gave a shout when Jackson entered it. It
+     is due to him to state, that it did not appear that he had the
+     least intimation that a disturbance was intended, and his
+     influence was honestly exercised to prevent disorder."
+
+When the General was called, "he addressed a few words to the court,
+expressive of his intention not to avail himself of the faculty to
+answer interrogatories." The District Attorney then addressed the court,
+with firmness, but good temper. In conclusion he said,--
+
+     "That credulity itself could not admit the proposition, that
+     persuasive evidence that the war had ceased, and belief that
+     necessity required that violent measures should be persisted in
+     to prevent the exercise of the judicial power of the legitimate
+     tribunal, could exist, at the same time, in the defendant's
+     mind."
+
+The defendant--General Jackson--resorted to a strange equivocation to
+extricate himself.
+
+     "The general made a last effort to avert the judgment of the
+     court against him, by an asseveration, he had imprisoned
+     Dominick A. Hall, and _not the judge:_ his attention was drawn
+     to the affidavit of the marshal, in which he swore Jackson had
+     told him, 'I have _shopped the judge_.'"
+
+We come, with unaffected gratification, to the final triumph of the law,
+in this contest with military power.
+
+     "The court, desirous of manifesting moderation, in the
+     punishment of the defendant for the want of it, said that, in
+     consideration of the services the general had rendered to his
+     country, imprisonment should make no part of the sentence, and
+     condemned him to pay a fine of one thousand dollars and costs,
+     only."
+
+We should indeed regret, if our history terminated these memorable
+transactions here. Every reader will be anxious to learn--How did the
+impetuous spirit of the General, inflamed by his recent triumphs and
+glories in the field, receive the condemnation of the law? What bursts
+of passionate violence did he exhibit? What terrible explosion followed
+the sentence of the court? Not a symptom or movement of the kind. He
+seemed to awaken, as from a tempestuous dream, "the helm of reason
+lost," and to fall into the character of a good citizen with dignity and
+grace.
+
+     "On Jackson's coming out of the court-house, his friends
+     procured a hack, in which he entered, and they dragged it to
+     the Exchange coffee-house, where he made a speech, in the
+     conclusion of which he observed, that, 'during the invasion, he
+     had exerted every faculty in support of the constitution and
+     laws--on that day, he had been called on to submit to their
+     operation, under circumstances, which many persons might have
+     deemed sufficient to justify resistance. Considering obedience
+     to the laws, even when we think them unjustly applied, as the
+     first duty of the citizen, he did not hesitate to comply with
+     the sentence they had heard pronounced;' and he entreated the
+     people, to remember the example he had given them, of
+     respectful submission to the administration of justice."
+
+We heartily wish that the scene had closed here, and the General had
+appeared no more on _that stage_. But there was that within him which
+forbade a quiet and unresisting resignation to his discomfiture and
+humiliation.
+
+     "A few days after, he published, in the _Ami des Lois_, the
+     answer he had offered to the district court, preceded by an
+     exordium, in which he complained, that the court had refused to
+     hear it. He added, that the judge 'had indulged himself, on his
+     route to Bayou Sarah, in manifesting apprehensions as to the
+     fate of the country, equally disgraceful to himself, and
+     injurious to the interest and safety of the state,' and
+     concluded--'should Judge Hall deny this statement, the general
+     is prepared to prove it, fully and satisfactorily.'
+
+     "The gauntlet did not long remain on the ground, and the
+     following piece appeared in the _Louisiana Courier_:
+
+     "'It is stated in the introductory remarks of General Jackson,'
+     that 'on the judge's route to Bayou Sarah, he manifested
+     apprehensions as to the safety of the country, disgraceful to
+     himself, and injurious to the state.' Judge Hall knows full
+     well, how easy it is for one, with the influence and patronage
+     of General Jackson, to procure certificates and affidavits. He
+     knows that men, usurping authority, have their delators and
+     spies: and that, in the sunshine of imperial or dictatorial
+     power, swarms of miserable creatures are easily generated, from
+     the surrounding corruption, and rapidly changed into the shape
+     of buzzing informers. Notwithstanding which, Judge Hall
+     declares, that on his route to Bayou Sarah, he uttered no
+     sentiment disgraceful to himself, or injurious to the state. He
+     calls upon General Jackson, to furnish that full and
+     satisfactory evidence of his assertion, which he says he is
+     enabled to do.' The pledge was never redeemed."
+
+Judge Martin's book is here brought to a conclusion, with some
+appropriate and forcible reflections upon the duties and uses of
+History, in affording lessons to men, high in authority, to bridle their
+passions; to select capable and honest advisers; with other wise and
+wholesome admonitions.
+
+We heartily unite with the Judge in his just and patriotic aspirations
+in behalf of the Judiciary.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+     NOTE.--In quoting from our history the anecdote respecting the
+     residence and imprisonment of _Fenelon_ in Canada, we do not
+     intend to express a belief in its authenticity. It is the first
+     time we have heard that the celebrated author of Telemachus had
+     ever been in this country; and, as Judge Martin does not inform
+     us of the authority on which the story is related, we know not
+     what credit it is entitled to.
+
+
+
+
+ART. IX.--_A Full and Accurate Method of Curing Dyspepsia, Discovered
+and Practised_ by O. HALSTED. New-York: 1830.
+
+
+Every era has possessed its false prophet in religion, from the days of
+Mahomet to those of Joanna Southcot and Fanny Wright; not that the race
+commenced with the former, or has terminated with the latter; the
+records of history supply us with examples of "lying augurs," in every
+period previously to the career of the Impostor of Mecca, and our daily
+experience furnishes us with proofs that the tribe is by no means
+extinct. As in religion, so has it been, and still continues, in
+philosophy, and the whole circle of science: pretenders to excellence
+have started up in every age, and although their efforts in the cause of
+imposition have not been so splendid as the exertions of those who have
+made religion their tool, they have yet been sufficiently remarkable to
+excite the eager attention of mankind, and sufficiently profitable to
+reward themselves. Medical science in particular may boast of a numerous
+host of these worthies: it would far exceed the limits of this
+publication to trace the progress of the charlatan, through the records
+of ancient history; for the sake of brevity, a retrospective glance must
+not be directed beyond the fifteenth century, when the arch priest of
+"modern quackery" made his appearance upon the medical stage. In the
+year 1493, Phillippus Aureolus Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombastus de
+Hohenheim, was ushered into existence, and at a very early age announced
+his discovery, that the recognised principles of medical science were
+erroneous, and that in him alone was vested "the art divine, to heal
+each lurking ill." Possessing a panacea capable, as he boasted, of
+curing all diseases, and even of prolonging life to an indefinite
+period, this empiric made war upon the health of mankind, and at last,
+after a life of the most infamous debauchery, he died, in the
+forty-eighth year of his age, with a bottle of the "Elixir Vitæ" in his
+pocket. The mantle of Paracelsus has been left behind, and a rich
+inheritance of ignorance, insolence, and vanity, bequeathed to a
+multitude of heirs; the value of the legacy, however, would have been
+trifling, but for the credulity of mankind, which renders these
+worthless possessions of inestimable importance: during the last
+century, in particular, these descendants have attained an eminence
+truly astonishing. Medicine is admitted to be one of the noblest
+sciences, as tending, in its practice, to relieve the most irksome
+restraints upon existence; it is acknowledged to be a science founded
+upon close observation, and so nearly allied to other sciences, that its
+pursuit is impracticable without them; that it requires years of
+patient toil to fathom its mysteries, and the undivided efforts of a
+mind to comprehend its purposes; and yet we are daily told of the most
+extraordinary cures, and of the discovery of sovereign remedies, in all
+cases and descriptions of disease, by individuals who have never
+
+    "Toil'd an hour in physic's cause,
+    Or giv'n one thought to Nature's laws:"
+
+By men, in short, who are incapable of forming one rational opinion upon
+the subject, and unprepared, by previous study or information, to detect
+or remove one symptom.
+
+It is an old and apt saying, that "the wilder the tale, the wider the
+ear;" and experience proves, that from the nursery to the tomb, no
+legend is too marvellous for the faith of the credulous, and that in
+many instances, the more incomprehensible the story, the more confirmed
+is the belief.
+
+In the numerous newspapers daily published in the United States, a list
+of cures are detailed with sufficient precision to satisfy the
+sceptical, and sufficient plausibility to convince the ignorant, while a
+string of medicines is set forth, of such unrivalled excellence, that no
+disease is protected from their action; the panacea of Paracelsus is
+rivalled, and every calamity that can afflict the body, from the crown
+of the head to the sole of the foot, is at once relieved. "Vegetable
+Powders," "Botanical Syrup," "Bilious Pills," "Jaundice Bitters," "Eye
+Waters," ointments, &c. &c. are proclaimed as veritable specifics by
+these veritable physic-mongers: no disease is too subtle, no train of
+symptoms too severe, for them to contend with; they only meet the foe to
+conquer, and confer an immortality on suffering humanity and themselves.
+Thus they flourish, the quacks of the day, the impostors of the
+multitude, and, perhaps, the dupes of themselves! But if Reason, that
+plain and simple attribute, in its uncontrouled state, unfettered either
+by prejudice or wilfulness, can be brought to bear on the question
+between them and mankind, how little will their claims appear! Reason,
+in the exertion of a capable authority, is taught to discriminate
+fairly, and test candidly, and must therefore refuse the evidence
+tendered by folly, or something worse, by which ignorance is bewitched.
+Will the man of reflecting mind, and of candid judgment, admit the
+claims of these pretenders, and match the speculations of avarice and
+ignorance with the conclusions of science? Impossible! Safety consorts
+with skill in every path of life; he would not trust himself on the wide
+ocean with a man ignorant of navigation; nay, he would not trust a bale
+of merchandise with him; and surely he will not abandon his bark of
+existence to the command of a charlatan, who knows nothing of the
+principles of the art he professes, and is altogether incompetent to
+steer clear of the numerous rocks and quicksands in the course of life;
+but a man of reflection and judgment is not a very common character; he
+is surrounded by hundreds who examine not for themselves; and are easily
+deluded, by the fairest promises, to surrender their opinions to
+another's guidance: these are the supporters of quackery, and the
+encouragers of those needy plunderers, who would render medicine a
+farce, that they might practice jugglery the better.
+
+If the system of man resembled a machine, which, once in motion,
+continued an unvaried power, and retained an equality of force, merely
+requiring, when deranged, the tightening of a screw, the readjustment of
+a strap, or the addition of a quantity of oil, little knowledge would be
+required in the regulation of its functions; but when we find the
+constitutions of men as varied as their countenances, the affections of
+the body, numerous and diversified, never preserving identically the
+same characters in two cases, or requiring the same exact treatment in
+diseases, apparently of the same nature, we discover that something more
+than the artifice of the quack is necessary in their government and
+repair.
+
+It would indeed be a Herculean task to administer the rod of correction
+to all the advertizing medical gentry of the day: it could be done, and
+with justice to the community; but it would be wearisome. A champion,
+however, has recently entered the medical arena, with whom we would fain
+contend, not only in the hope of conquest, but in the expectation that
+others may take warning by his defeat. With him we will now alone
+engage, and thus throw down our gauntlet.
+
+A work has very lately appeared, professing to be a "New Method of
+Curing Dyspepsia, discovered and practised by O. Halsted of New-York."
+This publication sails in the wake of a tolerably successful practice
+amongst the dyspeptics of the day, who have resorted to the temple of
+our author "with faith sufficient to promote a cure." So long as this
+continued, all interference was of course out of the question, as every
+individual possesses an undoubted right to tamper either with his
+judgment or his money; but when this aspirer after dyspeptic fame leaves
+his concealment, and issues his discoveries and practices to the world,
+he invites the battery of opinion, and renders himself at once amenable
+to remark and investigation. A few words, however, on the subject of
+dyspepsia, may not be amiss, before we take leave to reply to Mr.
+Halsted.
+
+This much abused term, is a compound of two Greek words, signifying "bad
+concoction," or bad digestion, _alias_ indigestion, and sufficiently
+expressive of a condition in which the aliments supplied to the stomach
+are not met by a vigorous and sufficient action for the purposes of
+health; but this definition, however just, is not comprehensive enough
+for the genius of mankind. That genius, which, in former times, has
+sanctioned the appellations of nervous disorders, and bilious
+complaints, as comprising nearly all others, has now selected the term
+of dyspepsia, as the covering for a multitude of real and imaginary
+woes; so that when an invalid approaches with a variety of symptoms, and
+a host of pains or whimsies, he is at once pronounced to be a Dyspeptic.
+
+The book before us, commences with a short account of the organs engaged
+in the process of digestion, copied from a periodical work of the day,
+very good as far as it goes, and leaving nothing to be desired on the
+score of brevity: our author then pursues his task, by a detail of the
+symptoms of what he calls dyspepsia; from what work he procured these,
+or from what unhappy wretch he could gain such a list of grievances, as
+he describes arising from indigestion, does not appear; if they be in
+existence now, the sooner the one is burnt and the other buried, the
+better. It is evident that Mr. Halsted is unaware that dyspepsia occurs,
+in one of two ways; either as a primary affection, or as a symptom of
+other diseases; that he is unacquainted with the share the liver, with
+its biliary apparatus, the pancreas, the spleen, the mesentery, the
+omentum, &c. take in digestion, and of the symptoms occasioned by an
+affection of these organs; it may therefore be adviseable to devote a
+few lines to the consideration of these points, as well for the
+satisfaction of the public, as for his instruction and the improvement
+of his second edition. Dyspepsia, or indigestion in its simple form,
+occurs either as a disease of debility, or as a consequence of excess:
+the first arises from numerous causes, and seldom exists alone: the
+secretion of the gastric juice is not only impaired, for the office of
+no organ continues in a state of activity, all alike feeling the result
+of that general depression affecting the system at large: the second may
+be referred to the stomach itself, as a natural effect from
+over-feeding, or indulgence in spirituous liquors. Dyspepsia, occurring
+as a symptom in other diseases, appears under numerous characters,
+either from the effects of sympathy, or from an extension of the malady
+to the stomach itself. It may be readily granted that all the symptoms
+described by Mr. Halsted, take place, in consequence of an affection of
+the stomach, either primarily or secondarily; but to assert that they
+are the results of a bad concoction of the viands we eat and drink, and
+to act accordingly, is to misunderstand the meaning of a term, as well
+as the treatment of a disorder.
+
+It is stated, in this work, that dyspepsia is Protean in its symptoms,
+but single and uniform in its nature; the very reverse is the fact; its
+symptoms are of a single character, and of an uniform attack, while its
+nature is variable and inconstant. A dyspeptic will complain of a want
+of appetite, a degree of squeamishness and irritability, eructations,
+heart-burn, pain in the head, stomach, and bowels, with costiveness; his
+tongue will be furred, and his pulse a little increased in strength and
+quickness. To use the language of Dr. Armstrong, "the most constant
+symptoms of dyspepsia, are a furred tongue, flatulence of the stomach,
+and fretfulness, or depression of spirits;" he goes on to say, "these
+may arise primarily from disorder or disease in the stomach itself, or
+they may depend upon an affection of the brain, liver, bowels, or some
+other remote or adjacent part." The nature of dyspepsia depends totally
+upon its cause, and where so many circumstances may occasion it, it is
+difficult to imagine one more variable. The important organs before
+alluded to, so necessary to the economy of life, are all liable to the
+most severe visitations of disease. Not to be too prolix, take, for the
+sake of example, the first on the list, the liver: both in the acute and
+chronic forms of inflammation of this viscus, how important a change is
+wrought in the digestive functions, how enfeebled does the system become
+during its continuance, and how futile would be the attempt to relieve
+the malady by merely attacking one of its symptoms! And so, of the other
+viscera, all marked when in a morbid state by peculiar characteristics,
+not only affecting their own action, but all the parts in their
+neighbourhood, the stomach as one of the great centres of the system in
+particular; and yet, with all these facts in review, are we presented
+with a list of ailments as dependant upon an impropriety in digestion,
+which may in all probability (at least the greater part of them) be
+traced to a source totally different. A careful discrimination of the
+origin of disease is as necessary as any after treatment, which can
+never, indeed, be applied with a reasonable chance of success without
+it.
+
+Mr. Halsted recommends a change to a more temperate climate, travelling,
+regular exercise, particularly on horseback, and above all, moderation
+in eating and drinking; asserting, that if these means of recovery be
+neglected, things will inevitably go on from bad to worse. Astonishing!
+These new precepts, from the pen of such a distinguished practitioner,
+cannot be too highly extolled, and should be classed with the
+recommendation of old Parr; "keep your head cool by temperance, your
+feet warm by exercise; never eat but when you are hungry, nor drink but
+when nature requires it." Had the author stopped here, there would have
+been no occasion for a rejoinder to his work; for directions so
+admirable could only have obtained a ready compliance. In addition,
+however, to these usual modes of recovering health and appetite, we are
+put in possession of a few others, as purely original as can be
+imagined--but of these anon.
+
+Mr. Halsted arranges dyspepsia in three stages; he has the incipient,
+the confirmed, and the complicated; in other words, dyspepsia in its
+commencement, in its continuance, and in its union with other
+affections. The two first may undoubtedly belong to dyspepsia, but the
+last, or complicated stage, is the one to which we must object; it is
+said, that this occurs when other organs are deranged, and a double set
+of symptoms produced; "when the patient will be said to die of liver
+complaint, an affection of the lungs, marasmus, dysentery, diarrhoea,
+or some anomalous complication of all these affections, conveniently
+classed by the Doctor when he renders his account to the sexton, under
+the sweeping term, consumption." The medical profession will doubtless
+appreciate the value of the connexion which Mr. Halsted is anxious to
+establish between the physician and the respectable officer who acts as
+the last gentleman-usher to mankind, and duly estimate the candid and
+gentlemanly mode of introduction of both parties to the public.
+
+Dyspepsia, Mr. H. continues, is the original fountain from whence all
+this mischief, described in his third stage, proceeds; thus, according
+to him, a catarrh, pneumonia, and the numerous diseases attacking the
+respiratory organs, as "affections of the lungs," are occasioned by
+dyspepsia; the liver cannot be affected but by dyspepsia; marasmus
+proceeds from dyspepsia; dysentery depends on dyspepsia; and even
+diarrhoea must own dyspepsia as its parent. The effects of cold and
+damp, of obstructed perspiration, of scrofulous tendencies, and a
+thousand other causes, pass for nought; dyspepsia rears its head as the
+sole parent of ill, and little doubt can be entertained, that in the
+event of a man, a little weakened by sickness, falling and breaking his
+leg, this dyspeptic monitor would call the case dyspeptic fracture. Well
+may the poor patient who peruses the pages of his work be called "an
+unhappy dyspeptic;" and if he be not so already, he cannot read long, if
+his attention and conviction go hand in hand, before the discovery of
+such an accumulation of horrors, and all referred to his own person,
+will render him a fit subject for the author's experiments. Some of
+these symptoms are of too extraordinary a character to be passed over
+without notice: coldness in the head, ears, and eyes, difficulty of
+speech, and a jarring through the chest, numbness and coldness at the
+stomach, and sometimes a weight as if a lump of lead were there: if this
+be the case--
+
+    "Who breathes, must suffer; and who thinks, must mourn,
+    And he alone is bless'd, who ne'er was born."
+
+Then again, our author has been told by a sufferer, that he felt as if a
+number of wires passed up from the stomach to the brain, and there
+ramifying into small branches, communicated a sort of jarring or
+vibrating sensation to each particular nerve. This is a perfect musical
+case of a dyspeptic, who has a sort of piano-forte stomach; we might
+fancy him exclaiming in the language of Shakspeare,--
+
+    "This music mads me; let it sound no more;
+    For though it have help'd madmen to their wits,
+    In me, it seems, it will make wise men mad."
+
+Then come "pains between the shoulders and in the small of the back,
+cramps, stitches, pains in joints, with universal soreness and
+weariness." This is as bad as the plague, a very wilderness of agonies.
+Heaven guard us from them! To crown all, the sufferings of Caliban under
+the magical touches of Prospero are applied to the wretched dyspeptic,
+who has "cramps by night, and side-stitches to pen his breath up; old
+cramps (one attack is not sufficient) shall rack him and fill his bones
+with aches, making him roar so loud, that beasts shall tremble at his
+din;" this is the very climax of bodily suffering--long may we all be
+preserved from the Halsted Dyspepsia!
+
+Error in diet, and want of proper exercise, are correctly assigned as
+two great causes of this disease; the former as respects the quantity,
+quality, time and manner of taking food, and the latter as it affects
+persons of a sedentary habit. These causes lead to actual dyspepsia, or
+a bad concoction of the food in the stomach, from whence the evils
+described arise; and which are sufficient of themselves, without adding
+to the list those affections, dependant upon diseases of other organs,
+although occupying the stomach as their seat, and all of which our
+author has indiscriminately classed under _his sweeping term_,
+dyspepsia. A very common error of diet, as respects the time and manner
+of taking food, is not treated of with sufficient force, when its
+baneful tendency is considered:--the custom that prevails, of dining
+within a very short period, sometimes only a few minutes, and returning
+immediately to the avocations of the day; the food is sent to the
+stomach only half masticated, and the system directly subjected to
+exertion, during which, the process of digestion cannot take place. If
+we make a hearty meal, and at once proceed to labour of any kind, the
+food remains for hours in an unaltered state; whereas, if we give a
+short repose to our bodies, by assuming an easy posture, and partially
+dismissing the remembrance of past, and the prospect of future cares,
+allowing, in fact, the whole business of life a short rest, as far as
+may be, the stomach will perform its office with ease and certainty. Mr.
+Halsted devotes one section to the consideration "of the particular
+condition of the stomach in dyspepsia;" and as he confesses that doctors
+differ on this subject, he kindly lends his assistance to relieve their
+indecision, by roundly asserting "that it consists mainly, in a debility
+or loss of power of action, in the muscular coat of the stomach." That a
+feebleness of the system may affect the muscular coat of the stomach,
+is far from a novel doctrine; but the idea that dyspepsia _mainly_
+depends upon this cause, is certainly as new as it is startling: the
+very meaning of the word would dispose us to consider that any want of
+action in the stomach, preventing the due concoction, or the breaking
+down of aliment for the purposes of nourishment to the frame, would
+apply to it, and, strictly speaking, it would; not that the muscular
+coat is alone, or the most powerful agent, in reducing the food to pulp
+or chyme; it is one of the many forces in the service of nature. It must
+be remembered that digestion, however well commenced in the stomach, is
+not perfected there; that, in the words of Dr. Mason Good, "it ranges
+through a wide spread of organs closely sympathizing with each other,
+and each, when disordered, giving rise to dyspepsia." After the
+formation of chyme, and the food has passed the pyloric orifice of the
+stomach, it undergoes a new process in the duodenum, when it is
+converted into chyle, probably by the action of the bile, although this
+is a point not absolutely determined by physiological experiment; even
+now, digestion is only half finished, the lacteals (a class of absorbing
+vessels particularly numerous in the duodenum, and also existing in the
+larger intestines) take up this fluid, for the purpose of conveying it
+into the thoracic duct, which terminates in the left subclavian vein,
+nor is the total process of digestion completed, until, in the language
+of the author above quoted, "it has been exposed to the action of the
+atmosphere, travelling, for this purpose, through the lungs, when it
+becomes completely assimilated with the vital fluids." Hence, although
+the meaning of dyspepsia must be restricted, as its derivations demand;
+the term, digestion, bears a much more extensive signification than it
+generally receives, and any error in its process may be properly
+denominated indigestion; however, Mr. Halsted regards the term dyspepsia
+as equivalent to indigestion, and we may, for once, adopt the same
+phraseology. Now, as digestion is of so complicated a nature, how will
+Mr. H. explain his reference to the muscular coat of the stomach as a
+chief cause of its derangement? Is he so admirable a pathologist as to
+discriminate, when called to a case of dyspepsia, whether, to use his
+own words, "it consists in a diminished quantity or vitiated state of
+the gastric fluid, in a morbid secretion from the inner coats of the
+stomach, or from a peculiar acid generated there; whether chronic
+inflammation of the mucous membrane of that organ, or a torpid state of
+the liver and a deficient secretion of the bile occasion it: it would
+appear that such conditions _may_ exist, and then produce their
+different symptoms, requiring a _modified_ treatment;" but it frequently
+happens that these cases, slight in themselves, determine principally to
+the stomach, and are not apparent to the keenest eye in any other organ
+upon the first attack. Besides, it is the practice of Mr. Halsted, when
+he discovers that the digestive apparatus is not originally in fault,
+but that a chronic inflammation of the stomach, or a torpor of the
+liver, prevails, to _modify_ his treatment; this, at all events, is new
+doctrine, to treat inflammation and torpor upon _modified_ principles.
+If, however, diagnosis is so slight an affair in his hands, let him,
+without delay, inform his countrymen at what college he studied, and
+what were his plans of improvement.--Pathology is a difficult science,
+and needs mentors to point out the best paths for its attainment.
+
+The muscular coat of the stomach has undoubtedly its proper office to
+perform, and, failing in its functions, it may, in conjunction with
+other causes, lead to dyspepsia; but to fix upon this, in particular, is
+to negative the effects of other organs, and to deceive both your
+patient and yourself.
+
+One of the most important discoveries in this work appears under the
+title of "the state of the abdominal muscles during dyspepsia;" which is
+pronounced to be a very characteristic feature of the disease, never yet
+noticed by writers on the subject, or particularly attended to by
+physicians. It would certainly have been somewhat strange for medical
+writers to enlarge upon a symptom of one disease, which absolutely
+belongs to another; or for physicians to attend to what they could not
+detect; and it is equally singular, that this very characteristic
+feature should only have favoured Mr. Halsted and his patients with a
+visitation. Whenever the muscles of the abdomen are in a state of
+constriction, as described by him, the usual cause is spasm of some part
+of the intestinal canal, produced by _colic_, either of an accidental
+nature, arising from some acrid ingesta, which irritate the bowels
+without producing diarrhoea, attended with griping pains and
+distention, and _spasmodic contraction of the abdominal muscles_, with
+costiveness; or of a bilious form, closely allied to bilious diarrhoea
+and cholera (Gregory.) These are the varieties of colic which have been
+confounded with dyspepsia, particularly the first described; the symptom
+alluded to has little or nothing to do with the office of the stomach,
+but depends chiefly upon acrid substances, which have passed from that
+organ, to exercise their pernicious qualities upon the intestines; the
+sufferings of Mr. Halsted, so pathetically described, may at once be
+referred to a fit of the colic, which a due want of care rendered very
+frequent.
+
+Pass we now to the treatment, premising that a ride in a stage-coach led
+to the discovery of its advantages, and taking care, at the same time,
+of our abdominal muscles, lest the exertion of laughter should occasion
+one of the muscular spasms so much dreaded by our author. The plan is
+divided into four compartments; tickling, pickling, ironing, and
+throwing up the bowels. The tickling is performed by gentle taps and
+slight pushes in the pit of the stomach. (Who could bear it? It would
+throw nine patients out of ten into convulsions!) The pickling, by
+wrapping up the patient from the chest to the hips with flannel cloths,
+wrung out in a mixture of equal parts of hot vinegar and water. (This at
+all events tends to _keep_ him.) The ironing, by spreading a coarse dry
+towel on the bowels, and passing over them "a bottle filled with boiling
+water, or, what is better, a common flat-iron, such as is used in
+smoothing linen, _heated as warm as can well be borne_, for fifteen or
+twenty minutes." Make an ironing-board of a patient's bowels! This is
+worse than all: a man might consent to be tickled and pickled--but to
+iron him for twenty minutes--mercy on us! the very thought is sudorific.
+
+The throwing up of the bowels comes the last: fancy Mr. Halsted seated
+on the right side of his patient, and facing him; then placing his right
+hand upon the lower part of the abdomen, in such a manner, as to effect
+a lodgment (we quote his words) as it were, under the bowels, suffering
+them to rest directly upon the edge of the extended palm, and then, by a
+quick but not violent motion of the hand, in an upward direction, the
+bowels are thrown up much in the same manner as in riding on horseback,
+a sensation being communicated like that produced by a slight blow. (It
+is difficult to imagine who is entitled to the greatest admiration, the
+practitioner or the patient.) This treatment, it is said, will generally
+effect an increase in the strength of the pulse, a warmth in the
+extremities, and a gentle perspiration. So we should imagine: if such a
+mode of riding, with one's bowels in another man's hands, will not
+produce perspiration, what will? The position of the sufferer, during
+the last most remarkable process, may be occasionally altered, the
+practitioner taking his station behind him; or he may be placed with his
+back against the wall, whilst all these freedoms are taken with his
+bowels. Nay, more,--he may be instructed to perform the operation on his
+own person.
+
+    "Wer't not for laughing, I should pity him."
+
+This, then, is the Halstedian treatment!
+
+The former rules of quackery, reduced to the administration of sundry
+pills or elixirs, must be abandoned in favour of the manipulating and
+scouring process of the great medical wizard of the day, who relieves by
+a tap, and cures by a flat-iron; and although it may be difficult to
+conceive the chain of ideas by which the imagination can connect the
+bumpings of a stage-coach with the operations we have described, we may
+exclaim,--
+
+                         "Your art
+    As well may teach an ass to scour the plain,
+    And bend obedient to the forming rein,"
+
+as cure dyspepsia; still, we must yield our admiration to the novelty of
+invention, and to the ingenuity of application of these stomach and
+bowel working wonders.
+
+It unfortunately happens sometimes, that the dyspepsia is connected with
+inflamed stomach, in which case the _punching_ practice is death. We
+have heard from eminent physicians, that several lives have, within
+their knowledge, been endangered by it. Moreover, the real indecency of
+the Halstedian process, particularly in the case of women, has greatly
+shocked even the medical observers.
+
+Before we dismiss this book from actual review, we will devote a short
+space to its probable effect upon the public, and upon the best means of
+counteracting its tendency.
+
+Man, like a child, is amused by a novelty, and "tickled by a straw." His
+"reason too often stoops not" to inquiry before a ready surrender, and
+what is least comprehensible will occasionally receive the readiest
+credence: bare assertion is admitted without proof, the rhodomontade of
+enthusiasts passes for gospel, and the "leather and prunella" of
+impostors are regarded as commodities of sterling value. No wonder,
+then, that success attends a certain race, who are willing to prey upon
+the infirmity of reason; that the mountebanks of former days are
+emulated by the quacks of the present time; that Mr. Halsted has met
+with abundance of patients, and a ready sale for his work: a hope of
+relief from disease acts as a stimulant to faith, but "Hope is a
+cur-tail dog in some affairs."
+
+It is said of Dr. Cameron, one of the most remarkable charlatans of his
+day, that when reproached by a physician concerning his deception on the
+public, he replied, "Out of twenty persons who pass this house in an
+hour, nineteen are fools who come to me, whilst the one wise man applies
+to you--which has the better practice? Believe me, doctor, that although
+the wise seek the wise in your person, the fools will find me out." How
+exactly is this assertion fulfilled in the present day! The wise man,
+who values his health as his greatest earthly blessing, scorns to resign
+it to the care of one who knows not the value of the trust; who cannot
+comprehend the principles upon which it depends, the cause which
+deranges it; or discover the particular organ requiring assistance:
+common sense interposes a bar to any communication between a wise man
+and a charlatan; while the multitude will flock to the snare, or swallow
+the bait; first the gulls, and then the victims; the nostrums, injurious
+or poisonous as they may be, find ready mouths for their reception; the
+dogmas, willing ears; and the system of Mr. Halsted, ready sufferers. Is
+it not to be lamented, that a man who claims a caste above this
+multitude, will sometimes forget himself so far as to follow their
+route, heedless of the lines of Horace?--
+
+    "When in a wood we leave the certain way
+    One error fools us, though we various stray."
+
+He madly leaves the track of reason to tread in the steps of folly; but
+_he_ may perhaps retrace them, and if an injured, yet a wiser man. Not
+so the generality,--they pursue an _ignis fatuus,_ which, dazzling their
+perceptions as it lures them on, at last leaves them in the mire (from
+which no skill perhaps can extricate them) to curse themselves and their
+deceiver.
+
+The exertion of medical science is sufficient for the removal of
+diseases capable of cure, and is unaccompanied by the risk of leaving
+others in their place: quackery, on the contrary, attempts what it
+cannot, from ignorance, perform, and frequently establishes a malady of
+more serious character than the one it professed to relieve. The medical
+man, aware of the structure of the human form, of the disposition and
+arrangement of its several parts in a state of health, is gradually led
+to a consideration of their condition in disease: that grand master,
+experience, enables him to discriminate between the cause and effect of
+morbid action; a long attention to the detail of practice gives him
+power over a list of remedies whose properties he has ascertained by
+observation; and in addition to all this, his daily thoughts are engaged
+in the investigation of sickness in its many forms, and, frequently, his
+midnight oil expended, while he peruses the observations, and profits by
+the researches of others. Again, the advertising quack is frequently an
+unlettered, never a well-informed man, at least on medical topics: his
+education, his habits, his purposes, are all foreign to science; the
+first has not been devoted to the accomplishment of a particular duty;
+the second have not received that polish, or acquired that delicacy so
+necessary in the hour of sickness and distress; and the third are
+directed solely to the purposes of gain, rather than to the noble aim of
+assisting his fellow-creatures; and yet such a character finds support.
+To the individual who can depend upon his abilities we may exclaim,
+"tibi seris, tibi metis," and so dismiss him to his fate.
+
+After all that has been said of the exertions of the charlatan to abuse
+the confidence of mankind, particularly as far as dyspepsia is
+concerned, it is due to the medical profession, to state what claims
+they may fairly advance, to entitle them to the good opinion of the
+public, in the cure of this much talked of affection.
+
+A physician, who understands what he is about, knows very well, when a
+case of this nature comes before him, that it may proceed from a variety
+of causes; that it may arise in the stomach from a want of digestive
+power, from the small intestines by a partial failure in the process of
+chymification; that it may depend upon the morbid action of the large
+intestines, or exist merely as a symptom of an affection in other
+organs. Sedentary habits, or irregularities of diet, are causes which
+may be supposed to act locally on the digestive organs themselves; but
+the history of a case will generally show that the derangement of the
+digestive organs is secondary. When it arises from local irritation, it
+can only be produced through the medium of the sensorium; when it is
+idiopathic, it frequently originates in causes which affect the nervous
+system primarily; such as anxiety, too great exertion of body and mind,
+and impure air; in many instances, the nervous irritation which has
+induced the disease, being trivial, is only kept up by the reaction of
+its effects. Thus says Abernethy, one of the luminaries of modern
+medical science.
+
+The first duty of a physician, therefore, is to ascertain from what
+source indigestion proceeds, and to frame his treatment accordingly. To
+act upon one system of cure, like our friend Mr. Halsted, in a disease
+arising from such a variety of circumstances, would be as reasonable as
+applying splints to an arm, when the thigh happens to be fractured; but
+enough, we would hope, has been said to disabuse the mind of the public
+of a predilection for these pretenders. Dyspepsia is a disease that has
+existed for ages, and through ages has it readily been cured. In its
+simple form there is no mystery about it, and when it becomes
+complicated, it requires more than the knowledge of a quack to master
+it. Confidence in a medical attendant, and an adherence to his
+directions, will surely suffice now, as in former times; and if the
+public will restrain a longing after novelty, and abandon those "who
+rather talk than act, and rather kill than cure," in short, who work
+upon their prejudices by artifice, we shall hear less of dyspepsia,
+simply because it exists too frequently but in their own fancies. True,
+there is a certain class, with such mental, as well as bodily
+infirmities, who, worn down by depraved habits, or suffering under
+weakened intellects, will permit the wildest chimeras to haunt them;
+hypochondriacs may be met with every day, and these may be fit patients
+for the charlatan, or legally subjected to the tickling, pickling, and
+ironing of Mr. Halsted: extraordinary maladies may justify extraordinary
+experiments.
+
+The absurd and improper treatment proposed in the work we have noticed,
+can afford but little hope to any but the hypochondriacal dyspeptic; he
+may fly to any measures, however desperate or ludicrous; for "a mind
+diseased no medicine can cure." Let others, however, who cannot plead a
+malady of the mind as an excuse for resorting to such practice, be
+informed, that in most of the affections arising from, or confounded
+with dyspepsia, it is unavailing, and may prove injurious. There are
+many diseases which it is impossible that Mr. Halsted can distinguish
+from dyspepsia, and to which he would apply his irons and bottles,
+towels and vinegar, at the risk of his patient's safety.
+
+His views may be sound if adapted to the animal economy of a horse, but
+are certainly unsuitable to the constitution of a man.
+
+We would say, then, to the public, in conclusion; be cautious how you
+trust your health and lives with those who neither comprehend the nature
+of the one, nor the value of the other--and who would exclaim behind
+your backs, with Shakspeare's Autolycus, merely altering the description
+of his wares:--
+
+     "Ha! ha! what a fool Honesty is! and Trust, his sworn brother,
+     a very simple gentleman! I have sold all my trumpery; not a
+     counterfeit stone, not a riband, glass, pomander, brooch,
+     table-book, ballad, knife, tape, glove, shoe-tie, bracelet,
+     horn-ring, to keep my pack from fasting: they throng who should
+     buy first, as if my trinkets had been hallowed, and brought a
+     benediction to the buyer; by which means, I saw whose purse was
+     best in picture, and, what I saw, to my good use I remembered."
+
+To the gentle pretenders themselves, we have but a few words to say at
+parting:--
+
+                        "Out you impostors,
+    Quack-salving cheating mountebanks--your skill
+    Is to make sound men sick, and sick men, kill."
+
+
+
+
+ART. X.--BANK OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+1.--_Report of the Committee of Ways and Means of the House of
+Representatives of the United States, to which was referred so much of
+the President's Message as relates to the Bank of the United States._
+April 13th, 1830: pp. 31. 8vo.
+
+2.--_Message of the President of the United States to both Houses of
+Congress._ December 8th, 1830.
+
+
+When the President first presented the question of re-chartering the
+Bank of the United States to the national legislature, at the opening of
+the session of 1829-30, the measure was viewed very differently by
+different men. We do not speak of the vulgar herd of politicians, great
+and small, who approve or condemn indiscriminately all measures of the
+government, but of that more elevated and independent class, who ask
+nothing of any administration than that it shall do its duty; and who
+judge of its acts as they seem to be legal, useful, and wise. To some
+the president's course appeared to be highly objectionable. The bank
+charter had then six years to run, and, consequently, they said, neither
+this congress nor the next had any control over the subject. Nor could
+it furnish matter of legislation, they added, whilst president Jackson
+remained in office, unless he should, by being elected for a second
+term, give his sanction to a principle which he had pronounced impolitic
+and dangerous. To have brought forward the subject, under these
+circumstances, with no very doubtful intimation of his own wishes, was
+as unnecessary as it was unusual, and implied a want of confidence in
+those who were ultimately to decide the question.
+
+To others, however, this early notice of the subject seemed to be
+justified by its importance, and they thought that the public could not
+be too soon engaged in discussing the merits of a question which in so
+many ways concerned the general welfare. Of this opinion seemed to be
+the committee of the house of representatives, to which this part of the
+message was referred, and which, after giving the subject a full
+consideration, reported in favour of renewing the charter of the present
+bank, and against the substitute for it which the president had ventured
+to suggest.
+
+The subject being thus fairly before the people, and in fact undergoing
+a very thorough investigation in the public journals, it was expected
+that the president would be contented with having done his duty on the
+occasion, and, if not silenced by the gentle dissuasive of the senate,
+or the bold and uncompromising logic of the house, he would merely
+regret that truth should be so hoodwinked by prejudice, or that error
+should have found so many apologists and supporters in those august
+bodies, and that he would leave the question where it properly belonged,
+and where he himself had placed it--with "the legislature and the
+people." It was, then, with no little surprise, perceived, that the
+succeeding annual message, which is at the head of this article, had
+brought the same subject to the notice of the legislature, consisting
+precisely of the same individuals as before, when nothing was pretended
+to have occurred to induce them to change their former opinion, and when
+the only reason which had been given, at the preceding session, for
+inviting the consideration of what neither required nor admitted
+immediate legislation, no longer existed. Public attention had been
+fully drawn to the subject. The stockholders of the bank, who are
+profiting by the good management of the institution, and who naturally
+wish the charter renewed, had taken the alarm, and, trusting to the
+omnipotence of truth, had every where invited investigation and
+discussion--and all those who hoped to profit by the new national bank,
+or who felt themselves bound to second the wishes of the administration,
+had opposed the renewal of the charter, through the prints devoted to
+the same cause.
+
+When the avowed purpose of the president had been thus completely
+answered, by his first communication to congress, it is natural to ask
+what could have prompted the second? Were the majorities in both houses
+of congress personally hostile to the president, or unfriendly to his
+administration; and was it necessary for him to defend himself from
+party prejudice by an appeal to the people? That could not be; for it is
+notorious that the president's friends, personal or political, are most
+numerous in both houses, and this advantage is a daily theme of party
+boast and congratulation. Were the chairmen of the respective committees
+his political opponents, and did they insidiously endeavour to bring his
+party into discredit for the purpose of advancing their own? But they
+were among his most zealous adherents--nay, it may be questioned whether
+there was a single individual in the United States to whom the president
+was more indebted for the vindication of his character before the
+people, than to Mr. M'Duffie, who wrote one of the reports;--unless it
+might be to Mr. Adams, when secretary of state. Was it then expected,
+that the house of representatives, which had disregarded his
+recommendation, would now approve his project? It is impossible that the
+president or his advisers could have believed they would carry their
+complaisance so far. They must have known that the subject would be
+referred to the same committee, composed of the same persons, as that of
+the preceding year, and who would be likely, if they reported at all,
+not only to support their first opinions by further arguments, but to
+express their disapprobation of a course so wanting in respect to the
+legislature, and so little calculated to promote harmony between the
+different branches of the government. As, then, we are compelled to give
+the negative to all these suppositions, we must infer that the object of
+this extraordinary course has been to influence public opinion. It seems
+essential to the views of the present executive of the United States, to
+put down the present national bank, and to erect another on its ruins;
+and this favourite purpose it hopes to attain by bringing the
+president's personal and official influence to bear on the question;
+and, under the forms of the constitution, to appeal from his party in
+congress, to his party in the nation.
+
+On the dignity or good faith of this course we will not make any
+comment; but since the question is thus brought before the people, we
+will cheerfully meet it, and inquire how far the measure recommended by
+the president, against the opinions of the immediate representatives of
+the people, seems calculated to advance the public interest, or to
+promote a distinct and peculiar interest. We shall fearlessly, though
+temperately, examine the president's propositions, both as to the
+existing national bank and its proposed substitute; and we shall look at
+the subject with a single eye to the public good, for we have no other
+interest in the question than what is common to every citizen of the
+United States. We know that there is much good sense in this nation,
+and although there is a full share of prejudice too, yet no one need
+despair, that the former, if properly addressed, will eventually
+prevail.
+
+That part of the Message which relates to the bank is in these words,--
+
+     "The importance of the principles involved in the inquiry,
+     whether it will be proper to re-charter the Bank of the United
+     States, requires that I should again call the attention of
+     congress to the subject. Nothing has occurred to lessen, in any
+     degree, the dangers which many of our citizens apprehended from
+     that institution, as at present organized. In the spirit of
+     improvement and compromise which distinguishes our country and
+     its institutions, it becomes us to inquire whether it be not
+     possible to secure the advantages afforded by the present bank
+     through the agency of a bank of the United States, so modified
+     in its principles and structure as to obviate constitutional
+     and other objections.
+
+     "It is thought practicable to organize such a bank, with the
+     necessary officers, as a branch of the treasury department,
+     based on the public and individual deposits, without power to
+     make loans or purchase property, which shall remit the funds of
+     the government, and the expenses of which may be paid, if
+     thought advisable, by allowing its officers to sell bills of
+     exchange to private individuals at a moderate premium. Not
+     being a corporate body, having no stockholders, debtors, or
+     property, and but few officers, it would not be obnoxious to
+     the constitutional objections which are urged against the
+     present bank; and having no means to operate on the hopes,
+     fears, or interests, of large masses of the community, it would
+     be shorn of the influence which makes that bank formidable. The
+     states would be strengthened by having in their hands the means
+     of furnishing the local paper currency through their own banks;
+     while the bank of the United States, though issuing no paper,
+     would check the issues of the state banks, by taking their
+     notes in deposit, and for exchange, only so long as they
+     continue to be redeemed with specie. In times of public
+     emergency, the capacities of such an institution might be
+     enlarged by legislative provisions.
+
+     "These suggestions are made, not so much as a recommendation,
+     as with a view of calling the attention of congress to the
+     possible modifications of a system, which cannot continue to
+     exist in its present form without occasional collisions with
+     the local authorities, and perpetual apprehensions and
+     discontent on the part of the states and the people."
+
+When the president's views, as here disclosed, are analyzed, they seem
+to involve the following propositions, to each of which we will give a
+separate consideration.
+
+1. That the present Bank of the United States is unconstitutional.
+
+2. That it exercises a dangerous influence.
+
+3. That it creates discontent with the people, and collisions with the
+states.
+
+4. That such a bank as is proposed in its place, is free from all these
+objections.
+
+1. On the constitutionality of the bank, we have little to add to the
+remarks made on the subject in our last number. The arguments then urged
+having received no answer, and being, as we conceive, unanswerable, we
+must consider that the more the question is investigated, the more it
+will be found that a power which has been recognised by every branch of
+the government, and at some time or other, by every party that has
+administered the affairs of the nation, will be found to be correct. We
+cannot, however, forbear to add one other, because of its peculiar
+fitness to the present occasion.
+
+It is known, that the power of the general government to establish a
+national bank, mainly turns on that clause of the Constitution of the
+United States, which gives congress the power "to make all laws which
+shall be _necessary and proper_ for carrying into execution" the powers
+specifically granted--one party deducing the constitutionality of the
+bank from a liberal interpretation of the word "necessary," and the
+other drawing the opposite inference from their interpreting the same
+word in a narrower sense; both reasoning justly from their respective
+premises, and both agreeing, that on the true meaning of that term, rest
+the merits of the controversy.
+
+Whenever a doubt occurs about the meaning of a phrase in a written
+instrument, it has always been considered a good rule of interpretation,
+to refer to the use of the same phrase in other parts of the same
+instrument, for the purpose of discovering the sense attached to it by
+those who used it. Applying this rule, we find in the article concerning
+the duties and powers of the president, (3d section) that "he shall,
+from time to time, give to the congress information of the state of the
+Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall
+judge _necessary and_ expedient." It is by virtue of this power thus
+granted, and of this alone, that the president has recommended the
+creation of a new bank to the legislature. Now, it will not be pretended
+that he could have judged this recommendation to be _necessary_, in the
+strictest sense of the term, but at most, that it was highly useful and
+important. It must then be admitted, either that the narrow
+interpretation of the word "necessary," relied on by those who deny the
+constitutionality of the bank, is erroneous, or that the president
+himself has violated the constitution in the recommendation he has made.
+If it be insisted, that he had the constitutional right to recommend a
+measure, which both houses of congress had pronounced highly
+inexpedient, because he believed it prudent, and politic, and
+salutary--the ground on which he himself places it--then the same
+liberal interpretation of the term "necessary," which we admit to be the
+true one, will make the bank constitutional. We have resorted to this
+rule, not so much because it furnishes an argument _ad hominem_ which is
+irresistible, as for the higher purpose of throwing light on one of the
+most controverted parts of the constitution.
+
+But admitting, for the sake of argument, the constitutionality of the
+bank to be one of those difficult and complicated questions about which
+men's minds may always be divided, and that there are reasons on either
+side, sufficient, if not to convince, to perplex and bewilder, and to
+afford pretexts for those who seek some sinister or selfish ends--and of
+such character are most constitutional questions--we would ask, if this
+is never to have a termination? Are questions of this kind to be always
+unsettled, so that no length of time, however sufficient to quiet
+private controversies, shall put an end to those which most nearly
+concern the tranquillity and permanence of the Union?
+
+On this subject of constitutional questions generally, we would trespass
+awhile on the patience of our readers. It involves far higher
+considerations than whether this or that individual shall be
+president--this party or that shall exert a transient sway over the
+destinies of the country. Our remarks are independent of men, or times,
+or circumstances; and they are addressed to men of no party--to the
+intelligent and patriotic of all parties--to that fund of good sense
+which has ever characterized this nation.
+
+As every officer of the government takes an oath to support the
+constitution, his conscience is appealed to, and that which he honestly
+and truly believes to be the meaning of the obligation he has incurred,
+must influence his votes and acts under the constitution. It is
+seriously and earnestly maintained by many of our citizens, that every
+man's own interpretation of the constitution must be his guide; and no
+matter what the public tribunals have determined--no matter for what
+length of time, or by what degree of unanimity a particular
+interpretation may have prevailed, it is to weigh as nothing with him,
+so far as it seems contrary to the conviction of his own mind. But is
+this a true understanding of the character of a written constitution,
+and of the oath which it enjoins? If so, would not the means devised to
+secure its more faithful observance be the most likely to defeat its
+provisions; and would it not make such a constitution the most
+impracticable and absurd form of government that human folly ever
+devised? Let us consider the consequences of this doctrine.
+
+In the first place, let us call to mind the great number of
+constitutional questions which have arisen during the short period of
+little more than forty years, since the Federal government went into
+operation. In General Washington's administration, the most prominent of
+those questions were suggested by the establishment of a national
+bank--by the carriage tax--the proclamation of neutrality--and the
+appropriations to carry the British treaty into effect: in that of Mr.
+Adams, the elder, the alien and sedition laws: in Mr. Jefferson's, the
+repeal of the Judiciary law--the embargo for an indefinite period--the
+purchase of Louisiana: in Mr. Madison's, the United States Bank again,
+the power of the federal government over the militia of a state--the
+right of that government to construct roads: in Mr. Monroe's, the right
+in congress to pass the bankrupt law--to lay a duty on imports for the
+encouragement of manufactures--to appropriate money for the relief of
+the poor of the district of Columbia: and in Mr. John Quincy Adams's,
+the Cherokee treaty--the nullification doctrine--the power of appointing
+public officers, together with several of the others previously
+mentioned.
+
+To these questions we might add many of minor importance or interest,
+and that multitude which have arisen and been decided in the Supreme
+Court of the United States. But if the number is already so great, what
+will it be a century or two hence? Let it be remembered, too, that each
+of these legislative questions may give rise to many others connected
+with them, and that each one may be multiplied to infinity in the courts
+of justice. Thus, if protecting duties for the encouragement of
+manufactures are unconstitutional, the duty claimed on every bale of
+imported goods may be called in question.
+
+Whenever, then, any of these constitutional questions can be made, it
+would be competent for the party interested, by the doctrines of these
+political puritans, to make them. So that in every controversy, public
+or private, every conflict of right or interest, as the question of
+constitutionality would be completely open to the judge, and in criminal
+cases, to the jury, either party may take his chance of success by
+urging that interpretation of the constitution which best suits him, and
+the same question would, of course, be decided one way in one place, and
+another way in another. One man would be convicted for an offence for
+which another would go unpunished; and one citizen, or one state, be
+subjected to taxes under the constitution, from which others would be
+shielded by the same instrument.
+
+Does any one doubt, that if a constitution is left to the unrestricted
+interpretation of every one who swears to support it, there would be
+this diversity? Let him look at the various commentaries on the same
+text in the New Testament. Let him look at the various interpretations
+of the same decrees of the Senate by the Edicts of the Pretors in Roman
+jurisprudence--to say nothing of those countless decisions of the civil
+law, by which, before the time of Justinian, it was buried beneath its
+own rubbish. Let him look at the voluminous reports in our own language
+on the written, as well as common law--on the infinite number of
+questions that have arisen, and are yet arising on a single statute, or
+even one of its sections,--let him consider these apposite examples, and
+ask whether our constitution is likely to share a different fate? Such,
+indeed, is the indefinite nature of language, the ever-varying character
+of human concerns, and the subtlety of the human intellect, that it is
+utterly impossible to pen a constitution on which numerous questions
+would not arise, which no sagacity of man could foresee, and which his
+language is too vague to provide for.
+
+Constitutional questions then must arise, and the true point of inquiry
+is, whether our constitution meant that they should be finally settled,
+or whether they are to remain suspended between heaven and earth, until
+they are compelled to make their appearance by the necromancy of legal
+subtlety, or occasionally laid in the Red Sea.
+
+But the evil would not stop with the federal government. We know that
+each state has also its own constitution, and that if their legislatures
+or executives transcend their powers, their acts, by the doctrines we
+are considering, are utterly void. They cannot exceed the limits of
+their charter, and those limits they have no exclusive right to define.
+Who that has attended the deliberations of a state legislature, and
+remarked the frequent recurrence of constitutional questions about their
+powers, but must see that there is scarcely any law concerning property,
+or office, or crime, on which ingenuity may not raise a doubt respecting
+either the letter or spirit of the constitution? And the same
+uncertainty and want of uniformity which would arise in the federal
+government, would arise in a much greater ratio in that of a state; so
+that no man could say certainly what were his duties or his rights. If
+such a state of things may now ensue, how would it be when the
+population of a single state should amount to several millions, and when
+the spirit of litigation, united with the extension of legal science,
+would give more than Norman acuteness to our constitutional lawyers?
+When that era shall arrive, if this quibbling spirit that is now so
+rife, shall not receive a timely check, where is the law, whose
+authority may not be questioned? Now is the time to arrest it, before
+our habits become indurated, and while our national character has that
+ductility which the changes our country is ever undergoing, naturally
+produces. Whoever is capable of taking a wide survey of human affairs,
+and of comparing ages and nations, must perceive that every generation
+of the civilized world is becoming more and more metaphysical--that the
+understanding is more appealed to, and has greater sway than formerly,
+and the imagination less. The age of magic, and witches, and ghosts, has
+passed away. That of poetry is on the wane. Speculation has taken the
+place of taste. What once passed unheeded, or was perceived only as it
+was felt, must now be analyzed, and sifted, and decompounded, until we
+have reached its elements, and a reason is required for every thing.
+Such is the spirit of the age, and it is eminently favourable to
+constitutional doubts and scruples.
+
+We may already perceive the progress of this captious, inquisitive,
+hair-splitting spirit, in the brief chronicle of the federal
+government. When congress met, immediately after the formation of the
+constitution, in laying an impost, they endeavoured so to lay it, as to
+give encouragement to those species of industry for which the country
+seemed best suited, and their successors continued the same policy for
+about thirty years, when it was discovered, (we think by a member from
+Maine) that the policy was contrary to the constitution. The discovery
+was soon welcomed by many of the politicians of the South, and it has
+since been so cordially embraced by them, that the opposite opinion is
+now looked upon as downright political heresy.
+
+A bankrupt law was passed during the first Mr. Adams's administration,
+by virtue of the express power given to congress on that subject. When
+Mr. Jefferson came into power, the law was repealed as inexpedient,
+because it was believed to produce as much fraud and mischief in some
+ways as it prevented in others. But nobody had then discovered that the
+law was unconstitutional. Yet in 1822, that doctrine was broached and
+zealously maintained by three or four members from the South, so as to
+induce Mr. Lowndes, who was himself opposed to a bankrupt law, to
+disavow the doctrines of his associates. That exemplary man, the
+character of whose mind was sufficiently inclined to refined
+speculation, if it had not been so tempered by candour and sound
+practical sense, never lost sight of the end of government, in his view
+of the means; and he believed that in interpreting the constitution, we
+ought not to look at it through a microscope, for this plain reason, if
+for no other, because those who are finally to decide on it look at it
+with their ordinary eyes. Accordingly, in the first half of his speech,
+he aimed to show that congress had the power to pass the law, and in the
+last, that they ought not to exercise it.
+
+Again: Mr. Jefferson gave his sanction to the Cumberland road, to be
+made at the national expense, provided the states through which it would
+pass gave their express assent to it. The states of Virginia, Maryland,
+and Pennsylvania, did pass laws giving such consent. It was not then
+considered that congress had not the power of appropriating the money in
+the treasury to all purposes of general utility, provided they did not
+assume any other power, in the exercise of this; and it is clear that
+Mr. Jefferson did not think that the construction of a road, _with the
+consent_ of the states through which it passed, was such an exercise of
+power. Yet after the road was made, by this growing disposition to
+strict construction, it was discovered that congress had no power to
+make such appropriations, under the constitution, and if the power could
+not be derived from that instrument, the consent of the states
+interested could not give it. It is here worthy of remark, that many of
+those who maintained that the general government possessed the power of
+making roads, independently of the states, concurred in the preceding
+position; and thus a majority was obtained who agreed that congress
+could use the public money for no purpose, which they had not the
+independent power of executing. Each party hoped to derive strength by
+this decision. The one, because it advanced a step forward in strict
+construction; and the other, looking to the influence of the practical
+benefits to be derived from the exercise of the power of making roads
+and canals, flattered themselves that many, when they found themselves
+not able to attain their object by mere appropriations, would, rather
+than forego the promised benefits altogether, support a still more
+enlarged construction of the constitution; and the issue seems so far to
+have justified their expectations.
+
+We will give one more example. It had been supposed that the
+vice-president, as presiding officer of the senate, had, by the force of
+the term itself, the power of keeping order and regulating the debate;
+yet three or four years ago, it was discovered by that officer, or some
+of his friends, that he did not possess that power, in certain cases,
+and he accordingly forbore to exercise it.
+
+These remarks are made in no invidious spirit. We do not mean to give
+any opinions on these questions. In some of them, indeed, we scarcely
+know whether, in this age of nice discrimination, our impressions
+deserve to be called opinions. But we merely meant to refer to facts
+which are a part of the history of the country. They go to show, that
+constitutional doubts and difficulties are continually increasing, not
+only from the new positions and aspects of things in the endless
+vicissitudes of human affairs, but also by the progress of refinement in
+reasoning; because much is now considered unconstitutional that was not
+deemed so formerly.
+
+If this doubting, disputatious spirit--this habit of questioning every
+thing whenever a quibble can be raised--should continue to advance,
+where is the law, which, after fighting its way through both houses of
+the legislature, and, perhaps, escaping the veto, may not be eventually
+contested and defeated? We know that in many of the states there are
+_Bills of Rights_, which are considered to have equal authority with
+their constitutions. Some, indeed, regard them as settling the
+principles of primordial law, which the constitution itself cannot
+countervail. These, then, may also be appealed to for the purpose of
+proving the unconstitutionality of a state law; and in the inferences
+which ingenuity, or even stupidity, may draw from such broad and
+indefinite principles, the clearest right may be disputed, and the most
+atrocious crime defended. The right of a community to take the life of
+any one of its citizens has been gravely denied, and the argument rests
+for its support on the imprescriptible and immutable rights of man. If
+the net-work of the laws shall be thus chafed and frittered away, little
+fish, as well as big ones, may break through it when and where they
+please.
+
+We are aware, that, in the ordinary concerns of life, nature and reason
+will often assert their empire. They cannot be altogether cheated out of
+their rights by sophisms and quibbling. But the latter will but too
+often prevail. They have prevailed, are yet prevailing; and, if a
+barrier is to be presented to their further progress, it must be by the
+common sense of the nation, frowning into contempt this constitutional
+casuistry, which would degrade our legislative halls into schools of
+sophists--would employ the best powers of the human mind, not in
+clearing up doubts, but in creating them--which considers that the most
+obvious and direct meaning of the constitution is always the wrong one,
+and that what the convention made the people say by that instrument, can
+be understood but by one man in ten thousand, who cannot show he is
+right, but by a commentary a hundred times as large as the text. It must
+be by going further, and saying that after a question has been fully
+discussed and solemnly decided--after it has been recognised by every
+department of the government--and acquiesced in by the people, it should
+be considered as the best exposition the constitution is capable of, and
+as no longer open to controversy: and if the decision was wrong,
+according to a maxim of the common law, and which became common law only
+because it was common sense, the universality of the error makes it
+right.
+
+Let it not be supposed, that if a false or inconvenient construction is
+put on the constitution, or its meaning is considered doubtful and
+uncertain, the evil may be corrected by an amendment. Supposing it to
+take place, may we not, like bad tinkers, in stopping one hole, make
+two? We can judge of the probable success of this course, by the various
+laws passed to alter, or amend, or repeal, previous emendatory acts. But
+if the remedy were effectual when attained, is it attainable? What
+probability is there that three-fourths of the states will concur in any
+amendment, or that motives of interest--of party sympathy--of delusive
+argument--or the mere _nonchalance_ of men about evils which are not
+immediately pressing, would not unite more than one-fourth of the
+states? Besides, if the constitution were always to be changed whenever
+a serious question of its construction arose, and amendments were as
+practicable as they are difficult, the time required for the operation
+would leave us nothing else to do. A century would scarcely suffice to
+settle the questions which may occur in a single year.
+
+There is another mischief, of no insignificant character, which results
+from these excessive refinements in interpreting the constitution, and
+from the doctrine that no length of time can settle its meaning. They
+afford ready pretexts to cunning and timid politicians for screening
+their real motives from the people. When they wish to evade
+responsibility for their votes, they have nothing more to do than to
+plead scruples of conscience, and the sacred obligation of an oath.
+Where is the measure which a moderate degree of ingenuity may not
+show--we may almost say--has not shown to be against the words, or the
+meaning and spirit of the constitution? It is true, if the people
+distrust the sincerity of this plea of conscience, or disapprove it,
+they may remove their representative. But that remedy may come too late,
+and may not always be applied. The people have always shown great
+indulgence and forbearance towards this plea: besides, before the time
+of re-election comes about, these inconvenient scruples may, in the din
+of new contests, be forgotten, or remembered only to be forgiven, and,
+by the hocus pocus of party, even metamorphosed into a recommendation.
+When, then, it is so easy to take shelter behind the ark of the
+constitution, ought we to enlarge the limits of this place of refuge for
+cunning and cowardice?
+
+One more argument in favour of a fair, liberal, manly construction of
+the constitution. There would be a certain degree of inconvenience
+incident to every written constitution, if there were no difficulties in
+its interpretation, and its language was always understood in the same
+sense by all men. In making that distribution of its various powers
+which is deemed most likely to secure a safe and healthy action, the
+hands of its functionaries must often be tied up from doing that which
+particular circumstances may make highly expedient. Some imperative
+claim of humanity, some yet more pressing emergency of state, may call
+for powers which the constitution has withheld. Mr. Jefferson considered
+the acquisition of Louisiana to be a case of that character. He
+questioned the power of acquiring foreign territory under the
+constitution. But when he reflected that France could not retain
+possession of Louisiana, and that hither the constitution must be
+stretched, (his letter to W. C. Nicholas might almost justify a stronger
+expression,) or we must submit to having the greatest commercial nation
+in Europe--our most active rival in peace, our most powerful enemy in
+war--posted on our right and left flank, and, by and by, in our
+rear,--he sacrificed his opinions to the safety of the republic. The
+present president was no doubt actuated by similar considerations, when
+he pursued the Seminoles into the Spanish territory, and made war on the
+country in which they had taken refuge--the occasion not appearing to
+him to admit of the delay of a formal declaration by congress. Commodore
+Porter may be presumed to have acted on the same principle in Cuba. No
+one regards these as fit cases for precedents. All agree, that if we
+have a constitution, its mandates should be obeyed, and that we must be
+content to put up with its partial inconvenience, for the sake of its
+general benefits. But surely we ought not to go to the other extreme,
+and so fetter the constituted authorities of the nation, by a spirit of
+interpretation which will deprive them of all salutary power, except by
+usurping it. Let us not lose sight of "the expedient," in discussing
+"the right;" but rather, as the common sense of mankind dictates in
+ordinary cases of conscience or morality, be liberal in construing the
+constitution, when its power is to be used for the good of the people,
+and captious and astute only when its exercise may be pernicious.
+
+On these grounds, we earnestly beseech those who are friendly to our
+political institutions--who believe that no other than the complex
+government we have adopted can unite the adaptation of laws to local
+circumstances with the strength and security of a great empire, to
+discountenance the pestilent and absurd doctrine that the constitution
+is to be on all points forever unsettled. We beseech them to save this
+monument of our country's wisdom--this instrument of its safety, its
+liberty, and its future greatness, from the peril and reproach to which
+it is thus exposed. It is in their power to protect it from an evil
+which would convert a government intended to secure domestic peace, into
+one of perpetual civil strife, and which would confide the destinies of
+the country to sophists, and quibblers, and casuists--or rather to those
+political managers who would use them as tools to persuade the people
+that a good measure was unconstitutional, that they might pursue a bad
+one with impunity.
+
+2. The next objection is, that the bank possesses a "formidable"
+influence on the community. It must be admitted, that this complaint of
+bank influence is not now brought forward for the first time. It was a
+favourite theme of the demagogue, from the time the first Bank of the
+United States was established, until its charter expired, when it
+appeared that its influence was not equal to its own preservation.
+
+If, indeed, no other corporation had the right to issue notes of
+circulation, then the power of enlarging or contracting the common
+currency at pleasure would be a very great one--greater than ought to be
+put into the hands of any others than persons chosen by the people, or
+their representatives, and responsible to them. But as the bank and its
+offices are every where surrounded by competitors, some of which have a
+yet larger capital than themselves, they have no such exclusive control
+over the amount of money in circulation, and their influence, whatever
+it may be, can be exerted only as to its quality. It is precisely on
+this last influence that the friends of the bank mainly rely for the
+public favour.
+
+Let us inquire a little further into the extent of the bank's influence.
+The principal functions of this institution, except the services it
+renders the government, consist in discounting promissory notes, selling
+or buying bills of exchange, and receiving deposits of coin, or of its
+own notes, for safe keeping. It has no exclusive privilege of doing
+either of these acts, as every state bank may do, and actually does the
+same. But by means of its superior capital, and consequently its
+superior credit and resources, it can, in some of its operations, either
+undersell the other banks, or command a preference in the market;--aye,
+there's the rub. The banks in some of the large cities have persuaded
+themselves that if this "formidable" rival was out of the way, they
+would be able to buy and sell more bills, and upon better terms than at
+present. But if this consideration should make them an object of dread
+and dislike to the state banks, it should also recommend them to the
+favour of the public. Their notes, too, are generally preferred by
+travellers, and for distant remittances. But neither does this fact
+furnish any ground of dread to the community, whatever it may to their
+rivals.
+
+It thus appears that they have the same advantage over other banks,
+which one tradesman or mechanic occasionally has over others of the same
+calling. He who does his work best, and sells it cheapest, will always
+get the most and best custom; and it would be just as reasonable for his
+rivals in business to complain of his making better wares, of being more
+accommodating, and of underselling them, as for the other banks to
+complain of the Bank of the United States. It is clear, that if the
+rival banks are losers, the public is a gainer, unless they can succeed
+in persuading the people, that competition, which is so salutary and
+beneficial to the public in every other business, should be mischievous
+only in this. The argument thus used against the Bank of the United
+States, is precisely that which might have been used, and, we presume,
+was used, by the owners of the Albany sloops against steam-boats; and
+which might be used against canals and rail-roads, by those who would
+find employment for their wagons in the former more expensive modes of
+conveyance.
+
+But by an influence which is supposed to be so "formidable," is meant,
+perhaps, a political and corrupt influence. If there be such a one, it
+must be seen and felt; and we would ask in what way does it exert
+itself? Does the bank use its money in the elections? If so, its
+accounts must show it; and as there are men of all parties who own, or
+may own, shares in the stock, let those who suspect this abuse
+scrutinize those accounts for the purpose of detecting it. But those who
+manage the banks, know very well, and so do those who accuse them, that
+nine-tenths, or rather ninety-nine hundredths of the stockholders, would
+not have given a five dollar note to get the president elected, or to
+get him turned out. Your office-seekers, indeed, might pay pretty
+liberally for such service, but they are seldom stockholders. These are,
+for the most part, thrifty, cautious men, who choose to vest their money
+in some fund which gives them regular returns; and they are content that
+they shall be small, provided they be certain. The rest are widows,
+guardians of orphan children, trustees of public institutions, and
+merchants who have more capital than they can safely and profitably
+employ. Now, who of these would allow a president and directors to
+squander their money in a matter in which they felt little interest, and
+that probably a divided one. No body believes this, and yet it is not
+easy to say in what other mode they could exercise a corrupt influence.
+
+But if the stockholders were disposed to spend their money in
+electioneering, can they be prevented from acting so foolishly by
+putting down the bank? If the charter is not renewed, their money will
+be returned to them, and they would then have both the power and the
+inducement to use it for political purposes, which they cannot have
+while it is supplying a currency to the country, and invigorating its
+industry and commerce. But, in truth, it is well known, that those
+persons do not make ducks and drakes of their money now, and are not
+likely to do it then.
+
+It is true, that in case of an extraordinary demand for money, beyond
+the means of supply by the state banks, the Bank of the United States
+may sometimes prefer discounting the note of one man to that of
+another--the paper of A to that of B; and that some of the directors
+might have given the preference to A, because he was a neighbour--others
+by his being a friend or relative, and others again by mere party
+sympathies. But we believe that none of these things go very far at
+bank. The object of its directors being to make money, they prefer the
+paper of a rich man they hate, to that of a poor friend. Nor do they
+widely differ from the rest of the world in this particular. But
+granting that moral and political considerations do influence the bank
+in its loans, who does not see that they could have no effect, except
+when the supply of money for loan was not equal to the demand, and that
+the mischief would be increased by putting down the richest and most
+substantial bank in the country?
+
+Upon the whole, this cry against the influence of the bank, resolves
+itself into that of wealth and property. These do exert a certain
+influence in the community on some occasions, and it is more than
+counteracted on others, by the jealousy and ill will it engenders.
+Whatever influence wealth may have, it is inseparable from our present
+condition, as we presume the United States are not yet prepared for the
+Agrarian system, and every man will be permitted to enjoy the fruits of
+his own industry, or that of his ancestors; but be it little or much, we
+cannot reasonably expect to see it exerted more harmlessly or more
+beneficially than in a solid, well managed bank. If, however, in spite
+of all these considerations, the power of these institutions be thought
+too great, and too liable to abuse, then there is no more effectual way
+of weakening it than by diffusion. As most of the state banks are more
+or less under the control of the state authorities, who may use the
+influence of these banks for political purposes, it must be desirable to
+all those who wish the public mind as free and unbiassed as possible, to
+see this influence weakened, if not neutralized; and there seems no more
+effectual mode of doing this than establishing a rival bank, over which
+the state politicians could exercise no sort of authority. Let us, for
+example, suppose that a system of banking was adopted for a state, by
+which, under the colour of guarding the public against their insolvency,
+those institutions were subjected to a _surveillance_ and control which
+were calculated to make them feel their dependence on the state
+government, and when the plan was matured, to make them obsequious to
+its will. Would not every friend to the political purity of the state,
+and the independent spirit of its citizens, wish to see a scheme of this
+character frustrated? and what means so conducive to this end as the
+Bank of the United States, which, in the first place, by bringing so
+much capital into the market for loans, lessens the influence of all
+banks, and, in the next, may perform its several functions without
+regard to the smiles or frowns of any politicians whatever.
+
+This is probably the influence which is really objected to in the Bank
+of the United States, that of disenthralling the people from an utter
+dependence on the state banks for the various accommodations those
+institutions afford--an influence which it appears to us no true friend
+to his country should wish to see diminished, however inconvenient it
+may be to those who would make banks and every thing else subservient to
+their purposes.
+
+3. But the Bank of the United States, it seems, must be brought into
+collision with the local authorities, and occasion perpetual
+apprehensions and discontent on the part of the states and the people.
+We know not upon what facts the president or his advisers have made this
+statement. It is in direct contradiction to that made by the committee
+of ways and means, who say--
+
+     "It is due to the persons, who for the last ten years, have
+     been concerned in the administration of the bank, to state,
+     that they have performed the delicate and difficult trust
+     committed to them, in such a manner as, at the same time, to
+     accomplish the great national ends for which it was
+     established, and promote the permanent interest of the
+     stockholders, with the least practicable pressure upon the
+     local banks. As far as the committee are enabled to form an
+     opinion, from careful inquiry, the bank has been liberal and
+     indulgent in its dealings with these institutions, and, with
+     scarcely an exception, now stands in the most amicable relation
+     to them. Some of those institutions have borne the most
+     disinterested and unequivocal testimony in favour of the bank.
+
+     "It is but strict justice also to remark, that the direction of
+     the mother bank appears to have abstained, with scrupulous
+     care, from bringing the power and influence of the bank to bear
+     upon political questions, and to have selected, for the
+     direction of the various branches, business men in no way
+     connected with party politics. The Committee advert to this
+     part of the conduct of the directors, not only with a view to
+     its commendation, but for the purpose of expressing their
+     strong and decided conviction that the usefulness and stability
+     of such an institution will materially depend upon a steady and
+     undeviating adherence to the policy of excluding party politics
+     and political partisans from all participation in its
+     management. It is gratifying to conclude this branch of the
+     subject by stating, that the affairs of the present bank, under
+     the able, efficient, and faithful guidance of its two last
+     presidents and their associates, have been brought from a state
+     of great embarrassment into a condition of the highest
+     prosperity. Having succeeded in restoring the paper of the
+     local banks to a sound state, its resources are now such as to
+     justify the directors in extending the issue and circulation of
+     this paper so as to satisfy the wants of the community, both as
+     it regards bank accommodations and a circulating medium."
+
+The committee, coming immediately from the people, are somewhat more
+likely to have accurate information on this subject than the president.
+We have heard of no recent collisions between any state and the bank;
+and those which formerly took place with the states of Ohio and
+Maryland, respectively, have been long since settled in the Supreme
+Court. The people of Tennessee, too, once objected, through their
+representatives, to the location of a branch bank in that state; but a
+subsequent legislature, believing that they better understood the
+interests or wishes of their constituents, withdrew their opposition,
+and the branch bank which was therefore established, is now in
+successful operation. The legislature of Mississippi, in like manner,
+has, within a few months, repealed a hostile act passed two years ago,
+and invited the establishment of a branch. The executive council of
+Florida, has recently requested a branch, and we understand that there
+are numerous applications for branches from all parts of the Western and
+Southern states. Surely the people of these and the neighbouring states
+cannot seriously object, that a portion of the moneyed capital which has
+been accumulated in the Atlantic states should be brought among them, to
+encourage their industry and facilitate their trade--to enable their own
+merchants to give them ready money, and a somewhat higher price for
+their cotton--to furnish one man with the means of building a
+mill--another a manufactory--and a third a steam-boat. We cannot believe
+that they are such novices in political economy. If their citizens do
+not want the money, they need not borrow it; and if they do, it is
+better to find it at home, than to be dependant on New-York,
+Philadelphia, or Boston, for it. In the state of Alabama, if we are to
+believe the public prints, the United States Bank there has afforded
+great and most seasonable aid to the state bank. Nor do we know of a
+single state, in which there are any manifestations of popular
+discontent with the bank, notwithstanding the pains taken by some of the
+friends of the president to excite them.
+
+Perhaps the apprehensions mentioned in the message may refer to the
+state banks rather than the people; and the president has presumed,
+that, as some of the states are interested in the stock of these
+institutions, and as their interests may conflict with those of the Bank
+of the United States, the people would be likely to side with their own
+institutions. The presumption is far from being unfounded. The
+sympathies of the people will always be with the states, rather than the
+general government, when the two are in conflict--a fact of which
+politicians are sufficiently apt to avail themselves. Thus, when the
+present Bank of the United States first went into operation, fears were
+entertained by the state banks and their friends, that the United States
+Bank and its branches would prove troublesome and dangerous neighbours.
+Their strength to oppress, and even crush, a rival, was supposed to be
+in proportion to their capital; and, comparing them with things with
+which they had no sort of analogy, it was argued, that a state bank, in
+the neighbourhood of a branch of the national bank, would be not more
+likely to thrive, than a delicate shrub under the shade of a spreading
+oak, or to find safety, than a light armed brig under the battery of a
+seventy-four. These arguments prevailed for a season in some of the
+states; but at length the experiment was made, in spite of these gloomy
+predictions, and it was found, as well it might be, that a small
+capital, _if prudently managed_, is as independent of the attacks of a
+rival, in banking, as in any other business. And why should there be a
+difference? A tailor or shoemaker who employs but two or three
+journeymen, may do as safe, though not so profitable a business, as he
+who employs twenty or thirty--in the same way as a small vessel may
+navigate the ocean as safely as a large one, and may be even less likely
+to overset in a storm, if it carry less sail in proportion to its
+ballast.
+
+We do not mean to deny, that a bank with a superior capital, if it were
+disposed to injure a rival at all hazards, might prove an inconvenient
+neighbour, and greatly curtail its business. If it were to put itself to
+the trouble of procuring the paper of the other, as soon as it was
+issued, and convert it immediately into specie, the loans of that other
+might be restricted to the amount of its specie capital. But this could
+not be effected without a degree of trouble and expense which would make
+it impracticable. What means does such a bank possess of drawing in the
+paper of the other bank, except so far as the debtors of the one
+institution chance to be the debtors of the other, or it choose to give
+a premium for the notes of its rival? It is not likely, that the same
+individuals would be the debtors to both banks, to a great extent; and
+as to a premium, such sacrifices seldom take place in individual
+competition, much less in that of banks. Besides, as soon as the bank
+which was thus assailed found that a premium was given for its paper, it
+would issue notes for the purpose of obtaining it, and the faster its
+notes were bought up and returned for specie, the more would be found in
+the market--a new swarm being attracted by the premium as soon as the
+first disappeared--until in a few months its hostile rival would share
+the fate of those who attempt to break another sort of banks--its own
+coffers would be exhausted.
+
+The means then which a bank possesses of narrowing the sphere of
+circulation of a rival's paper, are much more limited than is commonly
+imagined; and such as they are, it will be cautious of exerting, lest
+the same game should be played on itself. A combination of the state
+banks, or even a single one of respectable capital, may practise the
+same means of annoyance against a Bank of the United States, as that
+could put in operation against them. But if both parties were wise, or
+rather not utterly foolish, they would each pursue their own business;
+and one not otherwise interfere with the other, than by occasionally
+exchanging notes, and receiving the difference in specie. This course
+might indeed prove a check to extravagant issues by either, but it is
+precisely that check which the public is interested in maintaining.
+
+There is a further security against the wanton and bootless mischief
+which fear or design has imputed to the Bank of the United States.
+Public opinion would cry out against its illiberal course, and would
+fully avenge the wrong. Some of their best customers would desert them.
+They would lose most of their deposits. Their notes would be
+industriously collected and prematurely returned to them, and they would
+thus not only lessen their present profits, but furnish their enemies
+with arguments against the renewal of their charter. The supposition of
+such a course presumes the bank to be utterly regardless of
+their own interests, as well as of all sense of fairness and
+liberality--considerations which still have some weight with some
+men--and it is at variance with all that we have ever heard of the
+officers of that institution. As a proof that no fears or jealousies
+against the Bank of the United States are entertained by safe and
+substantial banks, we may remind our readers, that Mr. Girard, the
+greatest banker we have, was one of the most efficient supporters of the
+present national bank. No other individual in the United States would be
+so much affected as he, if its competition and neighbourhood were
+pernicious, and yet no one subscribed so largely to its stock, and no
+one, we have reason to believe, deplores more strongly the confusion in
+the moneyed concerns of the country, which he thinks would be inevitable
+on the destruction of the bank.
+
+It is probable enough, that although these alleged causes of jealousy
+and alarm are known to be groundless by the state banks, the proposition
+against re-chartering the bank addresses itself to those institutions in
+another way. They have been led to believe that the benefits of the
+business now done by the bank, and of the government deposits, would be
+apportioned among them. But let them not flatter themselves with
+profiting by a division of this spoil. That great void in the
+circulation which the withdrawal of the capital of the bank would
+occasion, would immediately and imperatively call for new banks, which
+the states would be sure to establish; and when once they began to meet
+the demand, it would not be strange if the supply sometimes exceeded it,
+according to the common occurrence of a scarcity being followed by a
+glut. In that event, the present state banks might find too late that
+they had exchanged one old and liberal rival for two or more new ones,
+of a different character, who would be their competitors not only for
+the profits of banking, but also for the favour or forbearance of the
+state politicians. What the community at large is likely to regret or to
+wish after the change, it is not difficult to conjecture.
+
+One of the complaints against the Bank of the United States has been,
+that the notes issued by any one of its offices were not payable at
+every other indiscriminately; and to this the president must have
+referred, when, in his first message, he said that the bank "had failed
+in the great end of establishing a uniform and sound currency." As the
+same objection is not repeated in the last message, we are left at a
+loss to decide whether he has been convinced, by the very lucid and
+satisfactory views of Mr. Lowndes and Mr. M'Duffie, that the complaint
+was unfounded, or whether he means to comprehend this among the causes
+of discontent on the part of the states and the people.
+
+As this subject has received so thorough an investigation in the report
+of the committee, and in our last number, it cannot be necessary to say
+more on it. It is there shown, as we think conclusively, that the Bank
+of the United States has done in this matter all that a bank can
+do--more, indeed, than could have been reasonably expected of
+it--towards furnishing the community with a sound and uniform currency:
+that its notes, at the places where they are issued, are, for all
+purposes, worth as much as gold and silver, and for distant payments
+something more: that if its notes are sometimes worth, in one place, a
+trifle less than specie, it is because they have been worth, at another
+place, more than specie, since no one would transfer them to a great
+distance from the place of emission, unless he found them more
+convenient than specie: that as every bank has a direct interest in
+giving its notes as great a credit and as wide a circulation as it can,
+this institution will, for its own sake, redeem its notes at par,
+wherever issued, when it can safely do so; and that in most cases, it
+has actually done this; but that to make this obligatory would not only
+be unjust to the bank, but would be highly impolitic, by counteracting
+the natural and most efficient corrective of the over issues of banks,
+and the overtrading of individuals; and would be moreover impracticable.
+
+To these irrefragable positions we may add, that the public has quite as
+much interest as the bank in keeping this matter on its present footing.
+One of the greatest benefits which a community derives from banking
+institutions, is the substitution for a part of its currency of the
+cheap article of paper for the costly one of specie, by which the
+capital that would otherwise have been used as money, may be employed
+for other useful purposes. But if the Bank of the United States, and
+each of its offices, were obliged, as a matter of right, to redeem the
+notes of every other, it would require an increase of specie which would
+deprive the country of the benefits of this substitution, as well as the
+bank of its profits. The same remark applies to their demanding a small
+premium for their drafts on each other. For each of the offices to be
+prepared not only to redeem its own paper, but to meet the drafts which
+others may draw on it, it is obliged to keep on hand an extra supply of
+specie; but if the check of the premium were removed, and it was no
+longer a matter of discretion, a much larger amount would be necessary,
+and nothing but experience could determine whether any thing short of
+the whole capital of the bank, or even that, would be sufficient for the
+purpose, under extraordinary circumstances, and great fluctuations of
+trade. So that upon the whole this complaint against the bank seems to
+be pretty much of the same character as these--that rivers do not run
+upwards as well as downwards--or that the same season which gives us ice
+does not also give us melons and peaches--or that a rail-road or a
+canal, which reduces the expense of carriage to one-tenth, does not
+reduce it to nothing.
+
+4. Having thus noticed all the objections which the president has made
+to the bank, let us now turn our attention to the substitute that he has
+proposed. This is a national bank, at the seat of government, which is
+to be a branch of the treasury department, and which is, we presume, to
+have subordinate offices distributed among the several states. Its
+business will be to receive the public revenue from the collectors of
+the customs, receivers of the land offices, and postmasters, together
+with such deposits as individuals choose to make, and to give drafts,
+from time to time, on distant offices, for a premium.
+
+According to this project, the funds of the treasury, instead of being,
+as now, deposited in the several banks convenient to the receiving
+offices, are to be in the immediate keeping of the new corps of the
+treasury to be levied for the purpose, by which means the public is to
+lose one of its present checks on the malversation of its agents. It is
+known that there are in most banks various officers, each with his
+appropriate duty--as--one or more to keep accounts--another to receive
+money--another to pay it away--another to be its general depositary--and
+that they are all placed under the superintendence of a president, whose
+character and station in society give assurance for the faithful
+discharge of his duty. That there is, moreover, a board of directors,
+who hold their offices only for a year, and who, once a month or
+oftener, appoint a committee to examine the affairs of the bank, and
+especially to ascertain whether the amount of notes, securities, and
+specie, correspond with the accounts of the institution. Yet, with all
+these safeguards, it is found, now and then, that men who had previously
+been above all suspicion, have not been able to withstand the temptation
+to use the money thus placed in their charge, and that, occasionally,
+these frauds and peculations are practised a long time without
+detection. If this is the case, when there is such strict
+accountability, and unremitted vigilance, how would it be when there was
+neither, and when those who received the public money, instead of being
+compelled to deposit it in a bank, as soon as they received it, and to
+check for it when they paid it over, might use it as they pleased,
+provided they were always ready to meet the drafts of the government. At
+many places they might do this, and yet, in consequence of the large sum
+which is always lying idle, or rather unappropriated in the treasury,
+they might have the use of the excess, to a considerable amount, as long
+as they remained in office. For several years the amount in the treasury
+has never been less than five millions, and sometimes considerably more;
+and of this, according to the ordinary current of business, one-third or
+upwards would commonly be in the city of New-York, if it were not
+transferred to Washington; and this money, which is now invigorating
+industry and trade, it is proposed to consign either to utter idleness,
+or to the exclusive use of the officers of the treasury. In addition to
+that aversion to change which is felt by all office-holders, this plan
+might furnish them with no ordinary means of effecting their object.
+
+But if for the sake of guarding against such strong temptation to
+speculate with the public funds, and against such an encouragement to
+corruption, by affording materials for it, the public money were
+required, as now, to be deposited in the banks; though that plan would
+be free from the objection we have just made, it would be liable to
+another quite as great--the very one of influence which the president
+has made to the bank of the United States--with this difference,
+however, that the influence derived from the government funds is now
+exercised by the Bank of the United States, and is a salutary check upon
+that exercised by the state banks, but _then_, it would be added to that
+patronage which is already thought sufficiently great for every
+desirable purpose, and sometimes for purposes not desirable. The large
+receipts of public money in our chief importing cities, would be
+distributed among those banks which were most in favour with the
+government, by which is always meant those that were its most zealous
+and efficient supporters; and thus the revenue of the nation, that is,
+the use of it, would be set up at auction, to be purchased by the
+obsequious devotion of the state banks to the existing administration.
+In a division of parties, not more equal than that we often witness in
+our country, the vote of a single state may decide that of the Union,
+and the vote of its principal city may decide that of the state. All
+this is perfectly well known to some of the friends of the scheme, but
+it is not so to those who are to pay for it, and who are less familiar
+with the workings of the political wires.
+
+There is another part of this notable scheme, (we mean no pun,) which
+merits our attention. This new bank and its offices are to sell drafts
+on each other for a premium, and as the bank itself is to issue no
+paper, the drafts may be paid for in the notes of the state banks, "only
+so long as they continue to be redeemed in specie,"--such are the
+President's words. But suppose the very common case of a bank paying
+specie to-day, and not paying it, and not being able to pay it,
+to-morrow, what becomes of the public revenue then? To be placed no
+doubt first to the account of "unavailable funds," and then, to the
+credit of the treasury. When these new bureaux of finance are
+distributed over the Union, and having no paper of their own, must carry
+on their operations altogether in gold and silver, and the paper of the
+banks in their vicinity, it is impossible that, with the highest degree
+of vigilance, prudence, impartiality, and firmness, united, they would
+always avoid loss. But does any one believe that this delicate and
+important trust would always be exercised with impartiality and
+firmness? To believe it, would be to disregard all experience, and to
+shut our eyes to what is passing before them every day. When the
+officers of the government--themselves dependant more or less directly
+on popular favour--were to have the power of discriminating between what
+paper they would take and what refuse, how many motives would be for
+ever presenting themselves for exercising it improperly? To reject the
+paper of a substantial bank, that was hostile to the administration, if
+there were any such, and to take that of a tottering one, which was
+friendly. Let us suppose, by way of illustration, that some orator, or
+political manager, no matter which, being about to set out for congress,
+should apply to one of the treasury banks for a draft on Washington for
+a few thousand dollars, and should offer in payment of it the paper, not
+of a substantial bank, but of one which though poorer, was more
+patriotic,--this being the best he could get--is it probable that his
+application would be rejected? or that the officer would do more than
+inquire whether the bank then paid specie, without troubling his head to
+ascertain whether it merely made a show of paying it, and whether it
+would not be insolvent in a month. Let it not be said, that if doubts
+were entertained of the solidity of the bank, its paper might be
+immediately converted into specie; for, in the first place, the bank may
+be some hundreds of miles distant; and though it were in the immediate
+vicinity, payment of specie would not always be demanded before it was
+too late. Besides, the very demand of specie may, like a new weight
+breaking down an overloaded packhorse, make it stop payment at once. The
+bill now before congress, for allowing the treasury credit for certain
+"unavailable funds," received some years since, would form an excellent
+precedent for such occurrences, and it is one to which there would be
+frequent occasions of appealing. And this mode of managing the public
+revenue is proposed to take the place of that which now exists through
+the Bank of the United States, by which the government has not lost a
+dollar; and it is next to impossible can lose one. Verily, if the nation
+were to suffer itself to be gulled by such a scheme as this, they would
+deserve to suffer the loss they would be sure to incur.
+
+But pecuniary loss may be but a small part of the price which the nation
+would pay for this new treasury bank. It may be made to pay, in
+addition, the richest jewel it possesses--its political purity. The
+influence which the national executive exercises over the present Bank
+of the United States, is moderate, and not more than is salutary. It
+annually appoints a part of its directors, and, at stated periods, may,
+moreover, exercise its right, of having the government funds transferred
+from one part of the Union to the other, in a more or less accommodating
+way. But here its influence stops. The law, in pursuance of the charter,
+directs that the public money shall be deposited in the Bank of the
+United States or its branches, and in these it must be deposited,
+whether the president or his secretaries have good will or ill will to
+the bank, or whether the bank is willing to give any thing in return for
+their favour or not. These public deposits are valuable to the bank;
+and, for the benefit, they have paid, and we presume are yet willing to
+pay, a fair price. But the compensation is not paid to any officer of
+the government; it goes into the national treasury, and it consists of
+gold and silver, and not in the base metal of political influence.
+
+We are well aware that many of the state banks are under the management
+of high-minded and honourable men, who would not be bidders at this
+auction, and who would scorn to purchase a share of the public deposits,
+at the price of their independence. But such might not prove to be the
+character of the greater number. Besides, in some of these cases, a
+majority of the stockholders might not sit idly by, and see the bank
+deprived of its share of government favour by the squeamishness of its
+officers, and might therefore either coerce them into compliance, or
+remove them.
+
+If so much has been said about the influence attached to the office of
+the secretary of state, arising from the paltry patronage of printing
+the laws of the United States, what should be thought of that privilege
+of giving the permanent and uncompensated use of many millions of
+dollars to such powerful corporations as the state banks--embracing some
+thousands of directors, and some tens, nay, hundreds of thousands of
+stockholders and borrowers? We would appeal to that intelligent class of
+our citizens, who are quietly pursuing their occupations or professions
+at home, by which they secure to themselves independence and
+respectability, and who see, in the purity of our political
+institutions, their country's present happiness and future greatness, to
+take these things into consideration, and say whether they are willing
+to give to any administration such powerful means of exercising an
+influence of the worst sort over the minds of the people--whether they
+will take the money now gained or saved to the nation by means of the
+Bank of the United States, to enable a president and his cabinet to buy
+golden opinions of that numerous class who have them to sell.
+
+The president lays some stress on the circumstance that his proposed
+treasury bank would not be a corporation, as is the Bank of the United
+States. But the lawyers tell us that there are two kinds of
+corporations--aggregate and sole--and the question is, whether influence
+is likely to be less extensive, or less dangerous, when it is
+transferred from the corporation aggregate, (the bank) to the
+corporation sole, (the executive). In the first case, the influence of
+the bank has checks from its charter--from its stockholders--from its
+directors--from public opinion--and, lastly, from the legislature. In
+the last, the influence would be added to that which is already deemed
+by many too great for the public tranquillity or safety. Whatever means
+the Bank of the United States possesses, of operating "on the hopes,
+fears, or interests of large masses of the community," the state banks
+possess, to a far greater extent; and it would always be in the power
+of the government to act on these corporations, either by the treasury
+bank "checking their issues," as the president proposes; or, in case
+that monstrous scheme should be rejected, by means of the public
+deposits; so that, in any event, if the charter of the present bank is
+not renewed, the influence of the executive will receive a most
+formidable increase.
+
+Nor could the proposed national bank answer the same useful purposes to
+the commercial world, as the present Bank of the United States. And,
+first, as to transmitting values from one part of the Union to another,
+by means of bills of exchange. The president informs us the new bank
+might sell these at a moderate premium. But its means of doing so would
+be evidently far more limited than those of the present bank, since the
+latter, in addition to all the means possessed by the treasury bank, has
+its own large capital and credit. In the year 1829, the amount of drafts
+on each other which the bank and its offices sold, was upwards of
+twenty-four millions, and the amount of its transfers of public money,
+by means of treasury drafts, amounted to upwards of nine millions;
+making, in all, more than thirty-three millions. Now, although the
+annual public revenue is about twenty-four millions, yet as the
+expenditures of the nation are going on at the same time as its
+receipts, the money on hand, at any one time, seldom exceeds six or
+seven millions. According to the monthly statement of the bank, for the
+1st of January of the present year, the amount of deposits on account of
+the treasury of the United States, was, after deducting over drafts,
+6,940,628 dollars. But as this sum would be distributed very unequally
+over the United States, there would be in some places more money than
+the government had occasion for, and in others less, so that it would be
+compelled to draw on the former, to meet the public exigencies, without
+regard to the state of the exchange market, by reason of which, it would
+not only not be able to afford the public that general accommodation
+which the Bank of the United States now does, but be sometimes obliged
+to sell its drafts for a _discount_, instead of a premium. Thus, suppose
+the government has a large sum lying in New-York, (it sometimes has more
+than two millions there,) and it has occasion for 200,000 dollars in
+Maine, as much in Missouri, &c. Although it might have found a ready
+sale in these places for its drafts, for a small amount, at par, or even
+at a premium, yet the amount offered exceeding the demands of the
+market, the government must either sell its drafts at a discount, or be
+at the expense of transmitting the specie. In the mean while, the drafts
+which are thus sold at one place at a loss, might be in demand at
+another, but that demand the government cannot meet, because it must
+give its money another direction. We therefore think that this part of
+the scheme cannot be of much utility to the public, or of profit to the
+treasury.
+
+It must be recollected, too, that the Bank of the United States is a
+buyer as well as a seller of bills of exchange, to the great advantage
+of the commercial community. Its purchases, during the same year, 1829,
+amounted to upwards of twenty-nine millions of dollars; and that in this
+business, the treasury bank, according to the president's programme,
+could not engage.
+
+But besides the want of the accommodation now afforded by the purchase
+or sale of inland bills to all parts of the Union, there is a large
+further arrear of utility which the treasury bank would owe to the
+public. In what way would it make amends for the immense amount of
+currency withdrawn from circulation? The notes of the United States Bank
+in actual circulation, commonly amount to fourteen or fifteen millions,
+exclusive of its drafts, which, to a certain extent, perform the office
+of currency. As the new bank is to issue no paper, the chasm must be
+filled, either with the paper of the state banks, or not filled at all.
+If with the former, whence are they to derive their increased means of
+circulation, seeing that nearly all of them have carried their issues to
+the extreme verge of safety, and some of them, perhaps, beyond it? It
+will, however, be said, that there will be new banks established--the
+capital that is vested in the Bank of the United States will not be
+annihilated by the termination of that establishment, but will seek
+employment in new banks. Let it be so. In that case what becomes of the
+increased profits of which many of the state banks have been dreaming,
+and the hope of obtaining which has been so artfully appealed to?
+
+But an addition to the state banks would fall far short of filling the
+void. Much of the capital of the present bank was obtained from Europe.
+We are told in the report of the committee, that foreigners own stock to
+the amount of seven millions. Is it probable that these capitalists will
+be as ready to venture their money in the state banks, as in one
+chartered by the general government? Would they even venture it again in
+a national bank, after we had shown so vacillating a policy? We
+establish a bank of that description in 1791--we put it down in 1811, as
+unconstitutional--we charter another, five years afterwards, 1816, and
+discontinue that in 1836. Assuredly, after this experience, they would
+prefer a somewhat smaller interest nearer home, rather than risk their
+money in a country exhibiting so little stability, and where what had
+been long determined to be legal by the highest authorities of the
+country, is liable to be revoked on the first revolution of parties.
+
+There are persons who will consider the withdrawal of seven millions
+from our circulation, as no source of regret; and who think the money
+paid for the use of foreign capital, is so much lost to the country;
+for the truths of political economy are not obvious to all. But no one
+who is acquainted with the elements of that science, will doubt, that a
+nation, not having as much capital as it can advantageously employ, may
+be improved and enriched by foreign capital as well as its own; and the
+benefit of these seven millions in stimulating the productive industry
+of the country--in building ships, and wharves, and mills, and
+manufactories, and steam-boats, is precisely the same as if they were
+domestic capital, with the single difference of the interest. Ask the
+owner of a thriving manufactory of woollens in Cincinnati, or of iron in
+Pittsburg, if he had been assisted in his enterprise by a loan of
+10,000, or 20,000 dollars from the Bank of the United States--and he
+might answer, that, by the use of the money, in a few years, he had,
+besides paying the interest, realized the sum borrowed. Ask him further
+whether he would gain more by keeping the money longer, or returning it
+to the European stockholder, and he would laugh at you, thinking your
+question conveyed its own answer, as he had not chosen to return the
+money.
+
+The president's project then of a treasury bank, seems to be liable to
+all the objections he makes to the present Bank of the United States, in
+a tenfold degree, as to influence, by adding so enormously to the
+executive patronage. It offers a far inferior substitute for the safety,
+and the easy transmission of the revenue; and no substitute at all for
+much of the accommodation now afforded to commerce, and the large amount
+of active capital it would throw out of circulation.
+
+In making this comparison, we have had no reference to the former
+services of the Bank of the United States in restoring the currency of
+the country to a sound state, or to its power of so preserving it, if
+the country should be again involved in war. We have contented ourselves
+with refuting the objections which have been brought forward against
+that institution, under the sanction of the chief magistrate of the
+country, and with pointing out to the unprejudiced mind the
+inconveniences and serious mischiefs attendant on the scheme which has
+been proposed in its stead. In our last number, we asserted that the
+resumption of specie payments by the state banks, in 1817, was to be
+probably attributed to the establishment of the Bank of the United
+States, and we stated the facts upon which that opinion was founded. It
+was, then, with some surprise, that we saw the position roundly denied
+in a quarter (the North American Review) where we have been accustomed
+to look for just views on all commercial affairs; and the resumption of
+cash payments imputed to the resolution of congress, forbidding the
+officers of the government from receiving the notes of any banks which
+were not redeemable in specie. The question is not one of primary
+importance, yet as it may affect our future policy, and concerns our
+present justice, we will add a few remarks on the subject. When we see
+that the measure of the government alluded to was not immediately
+followed by the desired effect, but that as soon as the Bank of the
+United States was about to go into operation, an arrangement was
+voluntarily entered into with it by the banks of New-York, Philadelphia,
+Baltimore, and Virginia, by which they all agreed to resume cash
+payments at the same time, it seems to afford _prima facie_ evidence,
+that it is to the Bank of the United States, and not to the legislature,
+that the resumption is directly attributable. Whether the state banks
+might not, at some subsequent time, have paid specie, and at what time,
+must now remain a matter of conjecture; but we think it quite as likely,
+that the banks, making extraordinary profits as they were, so long as
+they were not compelled to redeem their notes in specie, would have
+procured a repeal of the resolution of congress, as that that measure
+would have operated coercively on them. In some of the states, the
+resumption of specie payments was discountenanced by the state
+legislatures; and in Virginia, if we mistake not, after the measure had
+been enjoined on the banks by the legislature, it afterwards retraced
+its steps, on the ground, that if they ventured to pay specie, the Bank
+of the United States, then about to go into operation, would immediately
+draw every dollar from their vaults. The banks of that state thus had
+the express sanction of its legislature for continuing the suspension;
+nor was it until after the meeting of the convention, mentioned in our
+last number, that they paid specie.
+
+But in what way, it may be asked, could the Bank of the United States
+have compelled the state banks to resume specie payments, if they had
+not been so disposed? We answer, by giving the public the option of a
+better currency than theirs, and presenting an easy and ready standard
+in every part of the Union, by which the depreciation of their notes
+would have been manifest. As soon as the paper of the national bank had
+been put into circulation, it would command, by its convertibility into
+specie, a preference in the market over the paper of the state banks,
+and the difference would have been shown by the reduced rate at which
+the latter would have passed. The public then having such a standard of
+comparison, could no longer be deceived, and every one would have seen
+the depreciation, and known the extent of it. What would have been the
+natural consequence? The paper of the state banks, thus depreciated in
+the market, would have been bought up by their more prudent and
+substantial borrowers, and returned to them in discharge of their debts;
+and thus they would have had no notes in circulation except what was
+represented by the paper of their most straitened and doubtful
+customers, nor would any others have continued to borrow of them. Thus,
+with a business decreased in amount and impaired in character, they
+would have found it impossible to make a profit equal to defraying their
+expenses and yielding a dividend to the stockholders.
+
+All this the state banks distinctly foresaw, and not wishing to be
+compelled to resume specie payments, by which their profits would be
+diminished, they generally opposed the establishment of a national bank.
+But when they found that all opposition had been ineffectual, and that
+the bank was about to go into operation, and to pay specie, they
+immediately saw that they must follow the example, or that their gains
+were at an end--that the public, which took their paper, during the war
+and immediately after the peace, when there was no other currency, would
+not continue to take it, when they had the choice of a better--and thus
+the compact which has been mentioned was formed.
+
+It is said, however, that the depreciated paper of the Baltimore banks
+would have circulated so long as the government received it at the
+custom-house, and that it was only after the government decided to
+receive it no longer, that those banks found themselves compelled to pay
+specie. But would this measure have been effectual without a national
+bank? We have already intimated that we thought not. It would have been
+vehemently attacked in congress and out, and all the states, except
+perhaps Massachusetts, might have instructed their representatives that
+the measure was premature, oppressive, and detrimental to the public
+interests. But after the Bank of the United States went into operation,
+the question was at an end. The government, whether the resolution of
+congress had been passed or not, could not with decency have taken, or
+been asked to take, any more than an individual, depreciated paper for
+its dues, when there was good paper and specie in circulation; and the
+Baltimore banks, as well as all others, must have followed suit, or
+given up the game.
+
+For these reasons we must continue to think, that the claim urged by the
+friends of the Bank of the United States, that it operated, by its
+example, a salutary coercion on the state banks in their return to
+specie payments, is as well established as a question of its character
+can be, and that the same means by which it proved that remedy for the
+mischiefs of an unsound currency--its solid capital--unquestionable
+credit--and practical skill in business--would operate, on future
+occasions, as a preventive of similar mischiefs.
+
+The same distinguished critic differs from the chairman of the committee
+of ways and means, as to the effect of an increase of money in producing
+depreciation. The proposition controverted is thus stated by Mr.
+M'Duffie in the Report.
+
+     "No proposition is better established than that the value of
+     money, whether it consists of specie or paper, is depreciated
+     in exact proportion to the increase of its quantity, in any
+     given state of the demand for it. If, for example, the banks,
+     in 1816, doubled the quantity of the circulating medium by
+     their excessive issues, they produced a general degradation of
+     the entire mass of the currency, including gold and silver,
+     proportioned to the redundancy of the issues, and wholly
+     independent of the relative depreciation of bank paper at
+     different places as compared with specie. The nominal money
+     price of every article was of course one hundred per cent.
+     higher than it would have been, but for the duplication of the
+     quantity of the circulating medium. Money is nothing more nor
+     less than the measure by which the relative value of all
+     articles of merchandise is ascertained. If, when the
+     circulating medium is fifty millions, an article should cost
+     one dollar, it would certainly cost two, if, without any
+     increase of the uses of a circulating medium, its quantity
+     should be increased to one hundred millions. This rise in the
+     price of commodities, or depreciation in the value of money, as
+     compared with them, would not be owing to the want of credit in
+     the bank bills, of which the currency happened to be composed.
+     It would exist, though these bills were of undoubted credit,
+     and convertible into specie at the pleasure of the holder, and
+     would result simply from the redundancy of their quantity. It
+     is important to a just understanding of the subject, that the
+     relative depreciation of bank paper at different places, as
+     compared with specie, should not be confounded with this
+     general depreciation of the entire mass of the circulating
+     medium, including specie."
+
+Although the principle appears to us to be laid down somewhat too
+broadly by Mr. M'Duffie, as we shall presently state, yet he is
+supported in his position, to the letter, by Hume, by Mr. Jefferson, and
+virtually by Adam Smith, if we suppose that from any cause the excess of
+gold and silver, which causes the depreciation, cannot be exported. They
+all agree in this, that the amount of money which can circulate, and
+which does in fact circulate in any country, depends upon the number and
+value of its exchanges, and that, as its quantity increases, its value
+diminishes. But Hume and Smith, concurring in this general principle,
+drew very different inferences from it as to the paper currency of
+banks. Hume thought that the equilibrium between the money required for
+the country and that in circulation, was effected by depreciation; while
+Smith considered, that it was maintained by an exportation of the
+precious metals in proportion to the increase of paper. And the general
+principle thus ably supported by authority, was all, no doubt, that Mr.
+M'Duffie meant to assert. There is then probably no real difference
+between him and his reviewer in the North American.
+
+We conceive that Mr. M'Duffie, in his application of the principle to
+our own situation, twelve or fifteen years since, has not greatly
+overrated the depreciation, if we regard the effect of the increase of
+money on every species of exchangeable value; but that it was very
+different with the different kinds. This difference requires
+explanation; but first, of the general principle itself, which, it seems
+to us, must be received with some qualification.
+
+The effect of an increase of money is certainly to diminish its value;
+but the extent of the diminution is one of those nice problems in
+political economy which has never been accurately settled. It has not
+yet been adjusted to a formula which will explain all the facts
+attending such increase. Although the quantity of money required in a
+country mainly depends upon the number and value of its purchases in a
+given time, yet with the same amount of these, much less money may be in
+circulation at one time than another. There are various expedients and
+substitutes for supplying a temporary deficiency of currency, which make
+the quantity of money in a commercial country a variable one, capable of
+considerable contraction or expansion. The actual money can be more or
+less aided by credit. A farmer, a horse-dealer, a shopkeeper, a
+mechanic--will all wait with a substantial purchaser for their money,
+rather than lose the sale of their commodities; and a sudden rise in the
+price of the staples of the country, such as our own often experience,
+while it increases the demand for money, proportionally improves the
+credit of individuals, and fits it as a substitute for cash. Money too
+may be much more active at one time than another; and when there has
+been a considerable increase of it, the greater comparative idleness of
+a part of it, in the strong boxes or pocket-books of individuals, may
+prevent or lessen its depreciation. These circumstances, and others
+which might be added, all inappreciable except by approximations,
+prevent the value of money from either rising or falling, in exact
+proportion to its increase or decrease in quantity.
+
+To this qualification of the general principle, we would add another.
+When the money of a country has been considerably increased, and the
+excess cannot be exported, as was the case with our paper currency
+during the suspension of cash payments, the depreciation is much greater
+upon some articles than others. Its effect is least upon those
+commodities which find a market abroad, because the price there
+regulates the price here. It is by reason of this irregularity that
+depreciation is often so disguised as not to be perceptible to all, and
+that sometimes it is a matter of dispute whether it exists or not; as
+was the case in England in the controversy between the bullionists and
+their opponents, concerning the fact of the depreciation of their bank
+paper during the suspension of cash payments.
+
+But if the increase of the currency has little effect on the prices of
+some articles, it has the greater on those for the estimation of which
+there is no such definite standard--as lands, town lots, and houses--and
+those domestic products which look exclusively to domestic consumption
+for a market, as butchers' meat, game, &c. All these took a prodigious
+rise in all parts of the Union, and most men mistaking the effect of a
+redundancy of money for a real rise of price consequent on our
+increased population and capital, believed that real estate was the
+best investment they could make of their money, and purchased it
+accordingly--looking for remuneration, not to the rent or immediate
+profit, but to that future rise in value which was inferred from the
+past. This erroneous opinion brought capitalists into the market for
+real estate, and the competition created by their money, and that which
+others borrowed from the banks, raised the price extravagantly high. A
+natural though singular result of this state of things was, that those
+who had sold lands or lots at these factitious prices, could have made
+no use of their money that would have been so profitable as not using it
+at all; and the policy of hoarding, usually as unwise as it is odious,
+would have been, on this occasion, the most rational and gainful that
+could have been pursued.
+
+If, then, we take the prices of every species of merchandise among us,
+together with that of real estate, we believe it will be found that such
+average of prices then, is very near double of what it is now; and
+consequently that Mr. M'Duffie's estimate of the late depreciation of
+our currency was not extravagant. But granting that it was exaggerated,
+he appears to us to have taken juster views than his critic, of its
+pernicious effects, as well as of the agency of the bank in arresting
+them; and we must think that he is the safer physician, who merely
+overrates the danger of a disease, than he, who, though he rightly
+judges it not mortal, mistakes both its cause and its remedy.
+
+We think, too, that the report of the committee was correct in
+supposing, that the depreciation would not have taken place, if the Bank
+of the United States had then been in existence. At any rate it would
+have been postponed, and if not prevented altogether, under the
+disadvantages of having neither a navy to protect our commerce, nor
+manufactures to supply its place, it would have been greatly mitigated.
+It is probable that the suspension of cash payments would not have taken
+place at all, if the bank had followed the prudent course of the banks
+of Boston, and not lent its money to the government; but though it had,
+its paper would have been more nearly at par and more uniform than that
+of the state banks, which varied in value according to the public
+opinion of their prudence and solidity, as well as of the varying
+quantity of notes thrown into circulation in different places. It is
+possible that the national bank, being conducted with greater skill and
+knowledge of banking, would have seen that they could not safely
+accommodate the government with any large loan, and that when they were
+reduced to the dilemma of either suspending cash payments and having a
+depreciated currency, or of maintaining the currency sound, by
+withholding assistance to the government, they would have preferred the
+latter; and that the government would have been thereby induced to
+resort sooner than they did to a system of taxation to support the war.
+It is indeed impossible to say, at this time, what would have been the
+precise result if we had possessed a national bank, but we think that
+this much may be affirmed with confidence, that the depreciation of its
+notes would have been far less, would have been uniform, and would have
+taken the place of much paper which had no solid foundation for the
+short-lived credit it obtained.
+
+It remains for us now to see what will be the extent of the immediate
+pecuniary cost to the nation for pulling down the Bank of the United
+States, and building up the Treasury Bank on its ruins. This view is
+intelligible to all, and there are minds who will give more weight to
+this objection than that of increasing executive influence.
+
+We know that it is an important function of every government to regulate
+its money, weights, and measures, not from any mystical notions of
+sovereignty, but because uniformity in these several standards is of the
+greatest utility in saving time and trouble, and in preventing frauds
+and disputes, and there is no effectual way of attaining uniformity
+except by the legislative power. It is, therefore, that these subjects
+were placed under the control of the general government, by the
+constitution, and it is in the exercise of the powers thus granted that
+it coins money of gold and silver, and determines their relative value.
+
+But as among the inventions of commerce, it is found that such metallic
+money can be, to a considerable extent, substituted by paper, and thus a
+measure of value which costs nothing, can be made and is made to answer
+the same, and even a better purpose, than that which would cost a great
+deal, the same reasons which made the regulation of the coin by the
+government, necessary and proper, apply to the regulation of its
+substitute. The government thus having control over the subject, is
+furnished with the ready means of making a great profit by the
+substitution; and this it may do in two ways. It may either become a
+banker itself, and issue notes of circulation, having currency as money,
+in return for the notes of individuals bearing interest, or it may
+transfer the right of doing this to such a set of men as it deems worthy
+of the trust, and make them pay a fair price for the valuable privilege
+thus conferred.
+
+Of these two modes of profiting by the substitution of paper for specie,
+the last is by far the best, for the same reason that it is best for the
+government to sell its public lands, rather than to cultivate them. It
+is incapable of commanding agents who will practise the same economy,
+industry, and skill, in the management of the public concerns, as their
+own. It must always pay higher than individuals for the same work, and
+the various peculations to which it is exposed, besides the costly
+apparatus of superintendents, would make banking, carried on by itself,
+a bad measure of economy, to say nothing of the objections arising from
+its disturbing the distribution of political power, by affording the
+means of influence, patronage, and corruption.
+
+But the scheme which the president has been persuaded to recommend,
+proposes, that the government should give up the advantages of both
+plans: that it should forego both the profit of issuing paper itself,
+and that of disposing of it to a corporate body, in which the community
+had entire confidence, and which has proved, by its previous unexampled
+success, its fitness for the duty--and in lieu of these plans, to let
+the valuable privilege evaporate into a sort of electioneering material,
+for whomsoever may hold the office of president, or may rule his
+cabinet. And what is it which the people of the United States are thus
+asked to surrender? Let us estimate it.
+
+According to the bank charter, the government takes stock to the amount
+of seven millions of dollars, on which it pays to the bank an interest
+of 5 per cent., and it now receives on this stock an interest of 7 per
+cent, making a clear profit of 140,000 dollars a year, equal to a gross
+capital of 2,800,000 dollars, all of which must be lost on the proposed
+plan. But this is not all. The bank keeps the money of the
+government--keeps its accounts--keeps its officers out of
+temptation--and transfers the money from one part of the Union to
+another with promptitude and certainty, without the loss of a single
+dollar. We have seen that for some of these operations the treasury bank
+would be obliged to pay.
+
+We do not mean to say that these various services of the bank are
+gratuitous. On the contrary, it is fairly remunerated for them by the
+privileges it enjoys, and by the public deposits; but still they are
+valuable services, and in this way the government obtains a fair
+equivalent for what it surrenders. Nor let it be supposed that as good a
+bargain could be made with the state banks. The general government could
+not be interested in their stock, nor could they afford to give as much
+for the privileges, because they would be more local. Being connected
+only by voluntary compacts, they could not do the business of the
+government to the same advantage as a single corporation. They could not
+circulate as much paper with the same safety, nor could they sell or buy
+bills at as small a profit. The superior advantages which the Bank of
+the United States enjoys in capital, in banking skill, and in the
+greater credit and wider circulation of its notes, enables it to give a
+liberal price for its charter, and the government would be false to the
+people to surrender this benefit.
+
+But it would not become the government to attempt to extort, or to be
+illiberal, but to act on the principle of justice to the public and the
+bank. The legislature should not furnish the bank with either the
+temptation or excuse of an Irish middle man, who grinds his sub-tenants
+in proportion as his landlord has pressed him. Upon these principles, we
+think the government should, by way of bonus, charge the bank a moderate
+interest on its deposits, and pay a small commission for the services of
+the bank. An adjustment of these several claims, by some general
+estimate, might leave to the nation the clear annual gain of perhaps
+200,000 dollars, or a gross capital of four millions, instead of giving
+it away for the improvement of the machinery of our political
+wire-workers.
+
+There is yet another mode by which the government might derive a profit
+from the bank, and which has this further recommendation, that it would
+not be at the expense of the stockholders, and it would be a value saved
+to the nation that would be otherwise lost. It is now a favourite object
+both with the people and the government to pay off the national debt;
+and from the novelty of the phenomenon it will give great eclat to the
+administration in which it takes place. It is known that upwards of
+thirteen millions of this debt bears an interest of but 3 per cent. This
+part of the public funds is held chiefly in Europe by large capitalists,
+it being preferred by them, because it could not be redeemed but at par,
+unless with the consent of the holders, and it was hardly expected that
+the government would choose to redeem it at par rather than pay so low
+an interest on it. They thus thought that the owners of the stock had
+the means of postponing its redemption in their own hands. For these
+reasons this stock has always been something higher in the market than
+any other, and it now sells at 93 dollars a share of 100 dollars, which
+is about 3-1/4 per cent. At the price at which the commissioners of the
+sinking fund are limited, they cannot buy this stock; but when all the
+rest of the debt is paid, this must come next, and as soon as the
+government offers to purchase, it will rise still higher, perhaps to
+par. In that event, the government will have to pay upwards of thirteen
+millions of dollars, drawn from the pockets of the poor as well as the
+rich, which they might keep for ever, by paying an annual interest of 3
+per cent, or 390,000 dollars.
+
+Now the use of this money, has been of immense advantage to this
+country, and may continue to be so, considering how inadequately many
+parts of it are supplied with real capital. It will build ships--erect
+mills and manufactories--salt works and iron works--and help to make
+rail roads and canals, by which our free and industrious population will
+be able to improve the condition of the country in bettering their own.
+This money, too, does not consist of paper which we can create at will,
+but of gold and silver, or their equivalents, which we must send out of
+the country. Had it not better remain here? Every good economist will
+say yes. It will be not difficult, we should presume, for the government
+to make an arrangement with the bank to pay this 390,000 dollars, and
+release us from our obligations, and to receive a less sum than the
+thirteen millions. Their capital may be enlarged, and the rapid growth
+of our country will soon require its enlargement. The holders of this
+stock will indeed have a right to look to the United States for their
+money, but that would make only a nominal difference, and they might be
+offered stock of the bank in exchange on advantageous terms. Thus the
+money which would be appropriated to the payment of this debt, might be
+kept in the country and be vested in banking capital, by which it would
+give vigour to commerce, manufactures, and navigation, and, through
+them, render benefit to the whole nation.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The American Quarterly Review, No. 17,
+March 1831, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMERICAN QUARTERLY ***
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