Newspaper Page Text
2
. TH E COU RIER,
By i, G. M’Whor te r. .
TERMS.
This Paper is published every MONDAY, WEDNES
DAY aud FRIDAY aftcruoou, al $6 per annum, payable
iu advance. I
COVKTRY, PJBKR—Published every FRIDAY af:er
noau atFdper udpiuui, iu advance, or $4 at the expiration
of the year. •
" No Subsrtriptifns received for less tiiwo than six months.
ADVERTISEMENTS, not exceeding a square will be
inserted the orut time at ~scts.pcr square aud 371 for
each conti>r®anc<».
Advertisements of one square, published Jf«fcZy, at 75
cents fbr the first ituettion. and 5J cents, to. each contin
uance.
Persona advertising by the year will be charged 30 dol
lars including subscription mid will be entitled to one
square in each paper.
When p trsons have standing adve tnemeuts of several
squares, special contracts may be msulx
No deduction will bo made in future from these charges.
All ndvortisetnents must have the number of insertions
■turksd ou them.-otherwise they will bo inserted till for
bid, aud charged accordingly.
SHERIFFS, CLERKS, and other public officers, wil
have 25 per cent deducted in their favor.
28th November, 1834.
To A. J. D ,Esr.
You haveasked my opinion, dear Sir;
upon the present state of thing’s, audit
shall be given as frankly as it has been
required. Unwarped by party feeling,
unawed by power, and, like yourself,
dwelling in privacy and obscurity, ask
ing nothing, nor expecting any thing,
from the people, or the Government, I
view the passing scene as a looker on in
a Theatre. These are the best guar
anties for impartiality and the free ever
vise of the mind.
Yes, I do fear, trom the temper of our
Legislature, that resolntions may be pass
ed, instructing our Senators in the course
they are hereafter to pursue; What ef
fect such resolutions may hare upon the
tninds of the gentlemen, or how far gov
ern their conduct, I presume act even to
conjecture; for, like yourself, I have lit
tle acquaintance with them.
You ask, Has the Assembly The right
to instruct a Senator in’Congress? I an
swer decidedly, no The rights and
powers of a North Carolina General As
sembly are Legislative and Elective.
There they stop, they have no others.
But the Journals, the Statute Book! I am
well aware of all this. I know thdt the
first contain many fervid declarations, in
the form of Resolutions, &c. &c. and the
latter many grave enactments, stretch
ing far within the circle of other powers
But what then? These are assumptions,
not rigAAs; and had the. instances been
multiplied a hundred fold, they would
only prove the truth of a maxim taken
from the great book of Nature, “that ev
ery body, whether single or congregate,
has a constant yearning, ai. uncreasing
stretching forward towards the accumula
tion of more power.” Had it not been for
this well-known propensity, there had
been fewer eulogies pronounced on that
part of the Constitution which creates a
separate sphere for each department of the
Government, and bids them there abide.
Believe me, therecan be nothing more
dangerous in the Government of a coun
try than the acting of its functionaries
upon implied powers; and where this is
brought to bear upon its Constitution,
always ends in ruin. Ingenious men are
never wanting in plausibility, and if you
once grant them this privilege of implica
tion, the Constitution, that sacred charter
of rights, instead ofbeing the stern, daunt
less, inflexible champion of freedom, will
shrink into the supple cringing instru
ment of every ambitious aspirant in his
turn.
My maxim would be, never to depart
from its obvious, palpable meaning. By
this you will understand the interpreta
tion which men of plain sound sense
would give it. JJut constitutions are writ
ten by men; and the best of them are not
always happy in expressing themselves
There may be. an honest doubt, '[’rue;
and the remedy is plain. Let the compe
tent authority remove the doubt, as soon
as it is certain thatthere is one. This is
the plain, easy, honest, straight-forward
way.
As to the doubt, which has so often
been expressed by public or party men,
relative to what is involved in yoar ques
tion, I .never thought it an honest one.
How can I believe so .when, after exam
ining the subject for my own information,
J cannoteven perceive a pretext for it!
Turning particularly to our own State
Whence do the Genera! Assembly derive
authority to instruct a. Senator of the U
nited states? It must be from the gen
eral compact—the great con venant" be
tween the States—called “theCohstilu
tion of the United States,'’ or no where.
For it is plain that the States individually
could give no such power to their Le
gislatures, even though the power were
asserted in every State Constitution,
with out abrogating one of the most im
portant features and purposes of the great
bond of Union. Now, let us lookthat in
strument over, sentence by sentence; and.
there not only is no such power granted ;
the Legislatures of the States, when th,e
parties concerned were mutually conce
ding and reserving rights; but there is
pothingthat resembles it. Indeed, there
could not be, without involving a palpa
ble contradiction, and a sort of felo de se
of one the wisest and most effective prin- i
ciples of mutual safety and protection, con
tained in the instrument itself, as 1 have
before observed.
Why are the Senators iu Congress
chosen for six years’ The object is no se
eret. Every body knows it; and none but
those whose hearts are further from their
tongues, than from Washington to Japan,
ever denied its expediency.
Lpok into history. Sit down and com
mune with yourself. Ask this question .-
What has been the bane of Republics?
The struggle for power among ambitious
men. What does this lead to? Faction,
deadly part}’ tends, and revolution. True;
and now the reason for the constitutional
provision we have been sp.-akiiig of, will
make its appearance
Men who act upon principle are honest
and will remaip fixed and firm. These
cannot aberrate, for they are guided by
virtuous motives, and their understan
dings. But those who acton party feel
ings, (an immense majority,) act from the
passians, and these we all know areephe- |
meral. A People, like a single individ- |
ual, when acting on the impulse of the '
passions, always act wrong; and, like him, I
| must pay the bitter penalty of error. As
the said friend is needed by the individual
! in the stormy hour of excited feeling, so is
ihe bp a Peopld; snd such a friend is pro
j vided for them by the Constitution, in the
long term of Senatorial service. Short
: en this term, and you throw him into the
jvortec—the whirlwind of party and pass-
I ion. Thera is no safety, no shield for us
i from the fangs of .he. unprincipled intru
j ger. Let ns not attempt to hide thetruh,
[from onrselves; man is a selfish being.
; That which we value we are unwilling
I to risk.
1 The best recipe ever yet discovered for
virtce, is to keep us out of the temptation |
!to be vicious. The Senator secure in his i
j seat, turns a deaf ear to the howl of par- i
ty, however loud, and calmly does his J
duty; when under reversed circumstances,
he would look to his tottering chair, and
act otherwise. In any event,, there is this
eminent advantage in a long-term of ser
vice; consistency, and regular systematic ■
j action; there is time, precious time, al
lowed him to listen, look about, and dis
criminate between the roar of a party, and
the true voice ofthe nation.
Tne great mass ofthe People have nei
ther time, inclination, nor the necessary
information of constitutional studies, and
must therefore take their construction
from that portion of their brethren who
have. It is well for us, that this latter
class combines every grade of intellect,
character, and information. I should lis
ten most attentively to those who stood a
' bout midway in the class of interpreters;
for, as in civilization, so is it in the pro
cess of human intellect. In bestowing a
smile on the former, when it has risen to
fastidiousness, we reserve a wild stare for
the. latter, when shooting its meteor beam
to the faraway horizon’s skirt, in search
of what is lying at its feet. The distin
guished gentleman who furnished a to
pic of conversation for us some days ago,
is a striking illustration of this—a migh
ty mind, with the highest attainments; and,
like a lens, concentrating every power in
constitutional study. Now, what is the
result? Why, this: he that can follow
the hairstroke of genius, so fine drawn as
scarcely to be discernible even when he
holds the lamp, and points you through
his favorite path, is delighted, his admira
tion is unbounded, he feels his own na
ture elevated, and is disposed to yield un
conditionally; but when reflection comes,
the scene shifts at once; he sees that how
ever sublime the genius, and bright the
mental vision of Mr. , yet if the Con-
stitutions of the States and of the U.
States be such complicated pieces of me
chanism—if all those, wheels and springs,
some of them not equalling a split hair and
other queer things which he saw, or
thought he saw, when the honorable gen
tleman kindly held up the lamp to him,
be really and soothly there—why, then,
this must be the res Jt: That the first
clumsy hand that touched it, would send
one part running one way, and another
another. In a word, that it was deeply
to be lamented, either that our fathers
gave ns such constitutions, or, that hav
ing given them, it had not pleased God
to make every man in the nation, and ;
that ever was to be in it, such men as
Mr. , and then perhaps it might be
practically useful. But, with such mate
rial as the nation is, and ever must be
composed of, destruction was inevitable.
Returning to “the right of instruction,”
permit me to remark, that as we poor hu
man beings are not too fond of that labor
of the yniurf, at least, which sits quietly
down before a subject, until it is fully un
derstood, it may be possible, that not a
few of those who adhere to the doctrine of
'‘‘‘the. right of instruction f have failed to
discriminate between the right ofthe peo
ple of North Carolina to instruct their
Representatives in the General Assembly
and to instruct a member ofthe Senate oj ,
the United Slates.
As to the right of the people of North
Carolina to instruct their Representatives
in the General Assembly, 1 consider it be
yond all doubt, and for this plain reason.
It is a part ofthe State Constitution; a pow
er which the people of this State have ex
pressly stipulated in their domestic govern
ment, and had a clear right for doing so,
because it concerned none other than them
selves. If you turn to the Sth section of
the Declaration of Rights, you will there
find, “That the people have a right to as
semble together, to consult fertile common
good, to instruct their Representatives, ;
and apply to the Legislature for redress
of grievances.” There is no room for dis- j
pute after this quotation. While your '
eye is on Magna Charlaf it will not es- 1
cape your observation, that there is no dis
tinction to be taken tvhen the word Rep- ;
rescntn'ii'c is used, between a member of
the Senate, and a member ofthe House of
Commons, in the Legislature of North •
Carolina; for the term is used synony
mously. Hence it is said in our State Con
stitution, that the counties composing the
btate shall be entitled to be represented
by one Senator, and two members of the
House of Commons, each, &c. Annual
ly elected, their tenure, is precisely the
same; and except that they sit in different i
rooms, and, a perhaps silly difference, or
(speaking more reverently) an unneces
sary difference; as to the quantum of real
estate to be owned, they are precisely sim
ilarly situated, • ’ j
Now, were we to apply Rand’s solar
microscope, (which I believe they say
magnifies a million of times.) an honest
e y c > !A uu .gh it can see a flea gwC-b>d up
to a ma.*tordon, wotfld etill foil iu all this
to perceive the right ofthe Stall Legisla
ture to instruct a member of the Senate of
the United States.
The characteristic differences between
the Constitution of North Carolina and
that of the United States, sre well worth
' observation. The very first words of
■ North Carolina are, that all poliical pow
, er is vested in, and derived iron, the peo
l pie. [See “Dec. of Rights,” art. Ist.] And
this attitude is fully sustained throughout,
for the first section ofthe Consttution de
clares the Legislature dependeit on the
people, the second makes the Sen
ators Representatives, and thejthird, e
qually express, makes the Home of Com
mons so.
Now, when the people have thus em
phatically retained all political power in
their own hands, by what authority does
the Legislature undertake to etercise it?
Their duties have been assigned them in
express terms. The Legislative, the Ju-
I dicial, and Executive departments of the j
j Government, have all been caiefully and
' wisely separated, one from the other, and
: duties assigned, and powers e]ual to the
; discharge of those duties give! them, and
I no more. The people have positively, ex
pressly declared, that all political poicer
belongs to them. It should seem, then,
plain enough, that unless it be shewn
that, since the ratificiftiomof the State
Consiitution by the people, they have con
vened, and, by an instrument as solemn
and authentic as the Constitution itself,
have surrendered their political power,
and vested it in the General Assembly, the
General Assembly could not, by possibil
ity, have any right to exercise it; and con
sequently, could not instrict either a Sen
ator in Congress as to his political course,
or any body else.
“But thepeopZc of North Carolina, hav
ing held political power in a deadly grasp
they, surely; have the rightto instruct their
own Senators? What Semtors? I mean
her Senators in the Congress of the Uni
ted States. This is my reply. How
came North Carolina to hive Senators in
the Congress of the United States? Was
it not because she became a member of
the Confederation? Wha|is a Confoder
tion? It is e league between individual
and individual, or State anl State, on cer
tain conditions, agreed upoi between them.
Whatever, therefore, maijhave been, the
natural or acquired rightior powers of
those individuals, or thost States, before
they entered into the confederation or
league with each other, re must look for
their presen? rights or pwers, as they
have been settled and agned upon in their
mutual engagements will each other.
For there could never besuch a thing as
banding together, either ly individuals or
nations, but through the eciprocal yield
ing of existing rights or pwers, and the
acknowledgment or acqusition of others,
on mutual guaranty.
This will cause us to look into the
Constitution ofthe United (States; the great
covenant and articles of igreement be
tween the States.
This is an instrument oia very differ
ent character from the Consjtution of the
State of.North Carolina.
It commences with a pramble stating,
that the people of the Unitel States, for
the purpose of establishing wrfcct union,
justice, domestic tranquility, common de
fence, general welfare, and b secure the
blessings of liberty, ordain aid establish
this Constitution, 4-c. 4-c. xfter this pre
amble, the articles of agreement, or, as
we call it, the Constitution, allows. As
you are possessed of this inf rument, in
in common with almost even body else 1
1 need not re-write it. But he. eye of a
Lynx, examining it letter by vtter, would
not discover a right reserved ly the People
ofthe separate States'. far leshheir Legis
lature, to give instructions olany sort, to
the members of either Houseof Congress
Members of Congress are members of the
National Legislature underbe common
compact: and though each Stae has a cer
tain number, aud each Elecferial district
in a State chooses a member, jet the State
has its number, and the district chooses
its member,for the purposes Mentioned in
the preamble of the Constitutpa of the U
nited Stales; and when elcctd, they be
long to general, not particuUr purposes.
They are members of the Union, “to con-
■ suit for the common good.” And what
’ ever others may think, 1 conidcr a mem
ber of Congress from Missoiii or Maine,
as constitutionally representiig me as any
member from North Caroling
Whoever shall carefully efamine the
Constitution of the United Stses, will be 1
sure to find one thing; it is thii: The tram-|
mels of sectional representation have been '
studiously avoided. The term in fact is
never used, except to distinguish one
House from the other, and tie members
ofthe one House from the member ofthe j
other. Hence we see, “House of Repre
sented ves,” and ‘ Representatives,” as in i
contradistinction from Senate, and Sena
tors. In any other sense, and for any oth.
er purpose, the term is never itscd; it wbol
ly disappears
How could the purposes ofthe Gener
al Confederation be fairly and satisfactori
ly met, if one of the contracting parties
had the right to apply any portion ofthe
common Stock exclusively to his own par
ticular benefit? Once aefopt this princi
ple, and you make the members of Con
gress, of either Elouse, the in
struments of all the petty intrigues xnd
jealousies, proposely raised by juggling
aspirants at home, for their own private
benefit; instead of the dignified, faithful,
sage, and useful councellors, assembled
together in the true spirit and intention
ofthe Constitution, to preserve that “per
fect union” and “general good,” which
was the cause and purpose of a Congress
ofthe United States. How can union
and good exist, when everybody is strug
gling for himself, regardless of all be
sides?
It was for this cogent reason, that the
use ofthe word “Representative,” has
been so carefully avoided in the Constiru
tion of the United States, except as a term
of contradistinction. Indeed it could not
with any sort of propriety have been used
in any other way; for in establishing the
three grand departments ofthe Govern
ment, Legislative, Judicial, and Execu
tive, and assigning them their duties and
powers, there is not a crumb left. Every
atom of power, particularly political pow
er, in the management and direction of
the General Government, is completely
absorbed.
The people of the. individual States
may instruct their own domestic Legisla
tors as they please; they may even dispense
with them altogether if the see fit. But
when they turn their eyes to the govern
ment ofthe United States, they must hold
in mind that they are members, not mas
ters; and therefore cannot wield that for
midable weapon of absolute power, “In
struction,” If dissatisfied with a member
of either House of Congress, the power,
that put him in can put him out, and sub
stitute another at the next election. This
is the only remedy, and is abundantly ef
ficient,
Why was the General Government
established ? The answer is ready.—
Split into thirteen parts, ample material
for a great nation, we stood powerless,
worse than powerless. For, now that
the common enemy was subdued, we had
only to turn our eyes inward upon our
selves. A prey to intrigues abroad ; to
jealousies, quarrels, faction, the grasping
hand of ambition, and all the bad pas
sions of men at home ; — with the example
of the Grecian States before us as a warn
ing, all felt there was something wanting;
something that would unite, and, uniting,
protect us. It was at this moment, that
wisdom and virtue combined in one migh
ty, one happy effort; and the General
Government, like Minerva from the brain
of Jupiter, sprung gloriously forth, and
stretched the .rEgis over a troubled, a
divided land.
Once allow the right of instruction, and
all is lost. The Senators, the life-guard
ofthe Union, will be. prostrated in the
dust, will become the slaves, the minions
of the wretched intrigues of the States.
Were I a Senator, I should believe that I
had betrayed my country, my especial,
sacred trust, and was both perjured and a
coward, if I yielded to instructions, or
looked to any guides in the discharge of
my duty, but the Constitution of the Uni
ted States, ’and my conscience. Those
who would be making new discoveries,
and refining upon the Federal Constitu
tion, would do well to remember the tale
of the sculptor, who being possessed of
an exquisite piece of statuary, where every
swell of a muscle and course of a vein or
sinew was beautifully developed, still
would polish and polish, and rub and rub,
till the whole work wore down into a
heap of dust at his feet.
AV hen the General Assembly of North
Carolina assumes ths province of instruct
ing Senators in Congress, their only claim
to exercise that power is, that they repre
sent the and speak their voice.
Now how is that voice to be ascertained ?
By a vote of the Legislature on joint bal
lot ? No such thing; so under our
Consiitution, we are represented in lhe
State Legislature by cou»?ies, and it is the
people, you will observe, not counties, that
are to speak; for that representation by
counties, you know, has been complained
of almost from the beginning, and a repre
sentation of number* demanded. Sup
pose, then, byway of illustration, that up
on a motion to instruct there should be,
on joint ballot, 105 eyes and 87 nays.
Does this decide the poist? By no means:
for you must look to the census, and see
how many persons are represented by the
ayes, and how many by die nays. And
what it the 87 negative vcies should re
present a greater number of the people,
ay, by perhaps 10,000 than the 105 ayes!
Which side speaks the voice of the peo
ple? Sure! v not those who represent the
smallest number!!
Again. If our Members of Assembly
claim the rightto instruct our Senators in
Congress, because they form the consti
tutional electoral college forth? selection
of Senators, what would these stme mem
bers of Assembly say, if the Electors of
President and Vice-President, vho, past
all question, form the Electoral College
for the choice of President ani Vice-
President of the United States, should
claim the right to direct the President in
his political course ?!!! They hare the
same right, for founded on exaciy the
same principle.* ijul why multiply rea
sons ? Enough have been offered a’rea
dy : and, were they “ as plenty as bhek
berries,” you know, Sir, Hudibras says—
He that’s convinced against his will,
Is of the same opinion still.
No man can feel more painfully then
myself the miserable situation to which
we are reduced ; and would to God th;t '
the Nullifiers (or any body else) could!
make good their promise, of saving the!
Constitution in the hour of peril. That
hour of peril has arrived, and the shadow
has iallen in thick darkness upon us.—
Poor Nullifiers! Grave as the subject is,
I can scarcely repress a smile, when 1 i
think of the situation they have brought
themselves to. How completely their own
weapons have been turned against them I
Little did they think, when they promul
gated the doctrine that one. State had the
right to nullify the acts of twenty-three
other States, in Congress assembled, that
they were furnishing the hands of their
enemies with scourges for their own !
backs—with a precedent, fraught with
tne most ruinous consequences to the
whole nation. The President, though
not sharp-witted himself, has those at his
elbow who are eminently so. They saw
the whole field at a glauce; and while
they caused the old man ostensibly to op
pose Nullification, they made him seize
the principle for their use, and apply it to !
the destruction of all power but their own. I
What has escaped? The rights of the ,
domestic circle, the decencies of life, the '
law of contracts, the currency ofthe coun
try, the Supreme Court, the Senate—all,
all,, were nullified, all overthrown, and
tumbled together in one promiscuojus
heap of rubbish, under that ill got up
that unlucky, fatal term. Never has
there been such a slashing, right and left,
since Don Quixotte, shirtless, in the dead
of night, fell, sword in hand, on the inn
keepar's wine skins.
Adieu, and believe me, &c.
—e— bbibmmmmm—iejj
AUGUSTA,
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3 1.
“Again upon his weary pilgrimage
Time through another rolling year hath sped—
Hath chilled the pulse of alow consuming age,
And blanched with silver gray the aged headt
How swift the eagle pinioued hours have fled
Thro’ Spring's fair birth aud Summer's plaeid shien.
And wav’d their wings above the Autumn's bod,
Where ruin’s mantle overspreads the scone,
That was so gay, so beautiful and green !
Man! come and look upon the faded leaf,
Impressive emblem of thine own decay—
How like the sad and palid cheek of grief
It falls tn earth, and pinas, and lades away!
Where breathes the man to whom it doth not say,
That such is his inevitable doom.
When lhe warm light of life shall cease toplay,
Aud the fair flow’rsof life shall ecasc to bloom
For him whose only mansion is the tomb.
There is a moral in this dead repose
Os b ighted nature—such is man's career—
His spring hath all the freshness ofthe rose,
Fair laughs the morn of his awakening year,
Gemmed by tne happy smile, lhe joyous tear i
And wouldst thou know how fares his wintry hour?
Oh, look arouud I behold ths earth appear,
Divested es each shrub aud scented flower
That once adorued her blooming summer bow's.
So hath it been r— again, sn shall it be ,
With the foud schemes of this uncertain sphere,
Til! time shall end in vast eternity,
And cease to roll around the varied year;
The morning dreams of hope—the pensive tear—
The smile of joy—and valor's waving plume—
The wreathof love, to yo_>th and beauty dear,
J-hall still the destiny of man illume,
Until l.e makes his home within the Tomb I ”
But the Tomb is not the Home of Man. Like
Nature, he shall wake from his temporary re
pose, and spring again into life and beauty. In
his bosom is a buoyant spirit, which hopes to live
beyond the gloom of the Grave—an expansive
principle, which only feeds, like an infant, on
the elementary nutriment of this life, and ex
pects to enjoy the immortal vigor of its maturity,
in a world more suited to its illimitable desires.
It will not be considered too serious for our place,
if we remind our readers, of what wc ourselves
had nearly forgotten, and which all of us, old
and young, are too prone to forget— another re
volution of the icheel of Time has brought us near
er the destiny that awaits our good and evil ac
tions—we arc all so much nearer that state of
existence, for which a benevolent Providence is
endeavoring to prepare us, by its goodness in
lengthening out our days, and multiplying to us
the various means of intellectual, moral and reli
gious improvement. Let it be a matter of serious
inquiry, How have we improved them!
Some eight or nine years since, our readers
will remember, at the commencement of the
Temperance excitement, we recorded the act
of a worthy individual, then of this community,
who carried his hogsheads and barrels of ardent
spirits to the town commons and poured their
contents into the ditches—as the fittest place for
such poisonous stuff. An act so singular, and
calculated so strongly to evince the actor’s sin
cerity in his resolves, made some noise in the
world, and had not a little influence here in fix
ingpublic attention on thecause whose success
it was intended to promote. That individual is
singular and odd in his manner of doing almost
every thing; but his intentions are most praise
worthy, and his actions are generally as devoid
of selfish motives as they are strikingly benevo
lent and useful. He has, we understand, retired
from active business, and in the suburbs of a
small town in Connecticut, lives on the earnings
of early industry and economy, on a small farm,
which he cultivates with his own hands. Tho*
possessed of not less than 50,000 dollars, his life
is unostentatious and his manners perfectly sim
ple. Having but a small family, lie keeps only
a cow and pony, and by personal activity and
labor, not only preserves both his bodily and
mental vigor, but maintains his capital stock
at its original height without diminution. En
gaged in various charities, his hand is liberally
open to the deserving; but to the sturdy beggar,
able to work, he is as stern as winter. The best
lecture that he could read to the lazy and idle,
is his own life. Al) the operations of his little
farm are performed by himself, and in the win
ter, when farming, and nearly all other opera
tions, there cease, this good man takes his axe,
and may be found cutting up wood at‘other
doors, for the ordinary fee of the common labor
er. This is for no selfish purpose—not the re
sult of avaricious, or sordid meanness—by no
means—no soul is farther from such a stain.
All these earnings he gives in charity to some
worthy object—the afflicted on the bed of sick
ness—the [widow with her dozen children—the
orphan, whose tears are suppressed by his kind
ness—the sons and daughters of misfortune,
whose age or other infirmities, render them
unable to buffet the angry waves of this tempest
tost world, with the strong arm and manly vigor
with which Heaven has blessed him. He sets
that good example of vigorous industry, and
charitable liberality, which, thus combined,
must bless every community that embraces the
iving pattern.
Late and important from F'rancc.— The pack
etihip Normandie, at N. Y. from Havre, brings
Pa'is and Havre papers to the evening ofthe 15th
November. The Journal of Commerce acknowl
edges the receipt of Galignant’s Messenger of
the evening of the 15th, —the only paper of
that cate on board. The editors say:—lt con
tains tie news of of the breaking up of the new
Ministy, after a very brief existence, but pre
cisely fom what cause, we are unable to ascer
tain, IJie event appears to have been connec
ted with he determination ofthe King to cause
the bill poviding for the fulfilment ofthe Trea
ty with tfis country to be presented to the new
Chambers n the same form in which it was re
jected at tht last session.
The Ductess of Berry is beginning again to
move in noitical affairs. She lately passed
through Savty, on her way to Genoa, to join i
Don Miguel. 3he was attended by a number of j
the adherents cf her house. Miguel is surround- ■
cd with partizais, who urge him to join Carlos,
for the purpose if seconding his efforts.
M is hard for a man, who has said so
i.’uch as we have, on almost every topic,
to say any thing further, without actual
or apparent inconsistency. The world is
always changing, and the circumstances
in it, and what is said should be bottomed
on existing information. But knowledge
is constantly extending —day after day,
adds to the stock, and what is dimly dis
cerned to-day, may to-morrow stand in
broad daylight and fix the attention of
the world. Os course, we may have been
occasionally wrong, that is, incorrect.
Now, gentle reader, dont imagine we
are about to change our politics, confess
our errors, and wheel about. By no
means ; we were only trying to find
some subject that was new to the columns
ofthe Courie.r, on which we could speak,
without exciting the remark; Ah ! the
! Courier changing ; will come right!
| It will soon be a Clay paper ! Now, wo
think we have found that subject and ons
precisely suited to the perfe.uion of our
taste. We are sure, we are uncommit
ted on it, and, therefore, proceed to in
struct our fair readers in the matters of
the
TOILET.
As we take it for granted, their good
has clothed them sufficiently warm,
we will only speak of the ornamental
portion of their task, and illustrate the
principles, which should govern Taste m
this respect.
“Although the toilet should never be
suffered to engross so much of the atten
tion as to interfere with the higher duties'
of life, yet as a young lady’s dress, how
ever simple, is considered a criterion of
her taste, it is, certainly, worthy of her
attention. Her chief object in this res
pect, should be to acquire sufficient skill
and good taste to do all that is needful,
with regard to the attire, in the least pos
sible period of time—to abbreviate the la
bours of the toilet, so as not to entrench
upon hours which should be devoted to
useful avocations of life, or the embel
lishments of the mind. It will be a lau
dable ambition in her, to curb those ex
cesses of “ each revolving mode” with
which she is in some measure obliged to
comply ; to aim at grace and delicacy ra
ther than richness of dress; to sacrifice
exuberance of ornament (which is never
becoming to the young) whenever it is
possible, to an admirable neatness, equal
ly distant from the prim and the negligent;
to learn the valuable art of imparting a
charm to the most simple article of dress,
by its harmonious blending, or agreea
bly contrasting with the other portions of
the attire. It is a truth, which should
ever be borne in mind, that a higher or
der of taste is often displayed, and a bet
ter effect produced, by a paucity or total
absence of ornament, than the most pro
fuse and splendid decorations.
Fashion demands a discreet, but not a
servile observance: much judgment may
be shown in the time, as well as the mode,,
chosen for complying with her caprices.
It is injudicious to adopt every ne-w stylo
immediately it appears ; for many novel
ties in dress prove unsuccessful, —being*,
abandoned even before the first faint im
pression they produce is worn off; and
a lady can scarcely look much more ab
surd than in a departed fashion, which •
even during its brief existence, never at
tained a moderate share of popularity.
The wearer must, therefore, at once re
linquish the dress, or submit to the un*-
pleasant result we have mentioned: so,
that, on the score of economy, as well as
good taste, it is advisable not to be too
eager in following the modes which whim
or ingenuity create in such constant sue.
cession. On the other hand, it is unwise
to linger so long as to suffer “ Fashion’s
ever-varying flower” to bud, blossom, and
nearly “ waste its sweetness” before we
gather and wear it: many persons are
guilty of this error; they cautiously ab
stain front a too early adoption of novelty,,
and fall into the opposite fault of becom
ing its proselytes at the eleventh hour:
they actually disburse as much in dresa
as those who keep pace with the march
of mode, and are always some months be
hind those who ape about them;-—afford-
ing, in autumn, u post-obit reminiscence
to their acquaintance; o£ the fashions
which were popular in the preceding;
spring.
General fashions should certainly be
conformed to, when, as Goldsmith ob
serves, they happen not to be repugnant
to private beauty. They may often be
so modified as to suit the persons of all;
and occasionally be so managed as to
seem to have been created expressly for
the most advantageous display of many
individuals’ graces of form or delicacy
of complexion. But alterations in mode*
must be made with considerable judg
ment, otherwise there is a risk of falling
into absurdities: sometimes they are al
together intractable; it is impossible so
to change a fashion, which has been es
pecially invented for some tall and slen
der arbitress of taste, that it may at once
retain much of its original character, and
