Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN
RECORDER.
VOL. 1IL
MILLEDGEVILLE, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 1822.
No. 3G.
PUBLISHED WEEKLY,
BY S. GRA.YTLil.Vntr R.M. ORME,
On Hancock Street, oppoiite the Auction Store,
A T T11 It E K DOLLARS, IN ADVANCE, OR FOUR
DOLLARS AT THE EXPIRATION Of THE
T E A R.
0 f' Advertisements conspicuously inserted
at the customary rntns. T.ntters oil business,
in oil cases, most be post paid.
PROM TI1K P II11. A II 1.1. I'll I , ll'Hijn V .
LEI’ us LOOK Al’ HOME.
Youth ttnil Inexperience are somo-
limes excusable for the errors iuto which
(hey mny be seduced by the passions ;
but societies, or nations, cannot proper-
lv claim tins like indulgence. Yet, our
otvncountr ■ has perhaps inqre th in .any
other nii'O'ii in existence. overlooked its
means of prosperity, nnd disregarded
experience. We spo ik alike of the Go
vernment and of the People-for if the
Government had acted wisely, they
might have saved the Nation from the
evils which it (ins had to suffer, aud un
der which it still sudors, and must yet
suffer, more ; or, had tlie People been
a 0 truly virtuous, as wise, as they pre
tended to, and as their flatterers tell them
they art; ;—had they lieen ns much de
voted to the liberty U prosperity of their
country, Sidiily impressed with knowledge
of their own rights. & regard for them, as
thev pretend they are, the governments of
the Union or of the States could not have
pursued the fatal course which involves
the whole country in its presrnt evils.
The cause is in the People themselves—
as the corrective is iu them; but, it is
to be feared, that, with all the vain glo
ry that is indulged in our 4th of July o-
rations and toasts, upon a close examina
tion vve shall find, that the blessings w hich
have possessed, were not so much
the fruit of our national wisdom, nor of
any intellectual superiority over other
nations, nor of any circumstance depen
dant on our own virtues or sagacity, vvis
Join, or intelligence ; though it is the
vain glorious practice of every day to
boast of our superiority over other na-
Btance of its abundance and excellence *
would seem to require some of that su
perabundant wisdom, which places us --o
much above all other people in our owr ,
estimation, to render the distribution o I
the soil and the access to it, somcwlis i
more like a state of civilization, if ou ■
land policy was not rather irreconcilaV ,o
with those nations which in our lector es
and studies at school, and the profess ed
doctrines of morals and wisdom, to wlf ,cli
we hear much m speeches, sermons,: and
official reports, it would be well, f *er-
haps in our lar.d legislation we have not
very much which we. ought not t » he
ashamed of, and unquestionably if our
couutry and its legislation were 1 o he
ested by that branch of our public poli
cy, that part of our boasting had 1 wetter
be consigned to a chapter in our t dstory
among the things not entitled tu much
praise.
As to our constitution, this is a fruitful
theme, and yet if “ the tree he k« own by
its fruit,” or like men he judged by their
works, we shall probably upon a dispas
sionate inquiry, be not able In discover
tins fruit, nor those works. No prac
tice, no error is more general, than that
which attributes to an object , qualities
which belong to another. No man
would consider a man ofgroart muscular
power, trnnscendantly wise, for llie great
moving cause of the happi ness of bis
neighborhood, because he d id not beat
or abuse lii3 neighbors, ber ause he did
not burn their houses, plund or their pro-
perty or abuse their wives t md daughters
merely because, he wasstju mg enough to
commit any o’utrage with impunity.—
Yet this is one of the I; tnds of merit
which is so much extolhj 1. IV c praise
our government as men pi vise a picture,
ora landscape, that is for the skill of the
artist, not for its pracb' ical use ; it is
sometimes praised as T rinculo praised
Calih.il, because the sa ect monster did
not devour him.
That would he .nde.ee I a curious revo
lution, which having sb iken off the des-
of our greater independence ; of potisro ot kings, should claim to be me
tons;
our most perfect constitution ; our sur
est of laws ; our profoimdest policy ;—
short, that more thnn any Emperor or
King, we are “ more great, more wise
mor- learned, more every thing.”
The Athenians were reproached of
inordinate vanity : but it would be difli-
cult la find nuy ntilioa. more than any
man. vvithont it ; and, certainly our own
nation is net to be excluded from the
list of the vain-glorious.
It has become a sort of trade to teed
* his inordinate appetite ; and the Asia
tic Satrap never swallowed flattery with
more Gullibility. The adulation bestow
ed by Persian Satraps on their Sultans,
and by the courtiers of imperial and t oy- j h,u
cl mouarchs ori their idols, has always I
been a theme of derision, contempt, or j
of execration Yet, it is only iu the I arm ,
sr terms of the hyperbole, and not in
the measure or degree of the deceit or ]
the folly, that our rational sovereign
people are Insidiously cajoled by the
fraud of flattery, and the delusions by
which aien are made miserable or ridi
culous.
This National Egotism has become so
extravagant, that no praise excites suspi
cion ; but it is received with much the
same complacency of delusion, that the
•consumptive female hears the flattering j
compliment on the. hectic which suffuses
her lace, as an attribute of health and
beauty, while it i* but the certain evi
dence of a too deadly decline.
The very convh tion of this state of
social disease ought perhaps to deter a
public w riter from the hopeless service
of admonition or animadversion—
Tralli, would you teach, to save a sinking land,
All tear—few aid—and Icwer understand.
The very desperation ol the case re
laxes the zeal that would, with better
auspices, encounter the greatest sacri
fices ; and leaves but the cold and retir
ed sense of duty and love of truth, to
compensate the heart alone for the cf-
Ijrt,
Among the great errors, by which our
country stifle tv, is that of a w ant of due
legat'd to the true nature ot those cir
cumstances which distinguish the United
Males from other countries ; nnd the
tv ant ofa due discrimination, between
what is due to nature—or to position—
to the absence of the artificial causes
which so much afflict other nations, and
what may he fairly claimed on the ecore
of intellectual or moral merit.
There is a certain quantity of arti
fice compounded with ignorance evert
where., and there is some in our national
nations. Thus we hear that we have the
finist climate in the whole world—we
have the richest country—the most per-
lect constitution—the greatest statesmen
—soldiers—preachers—lawyers—legis
lators—orators—and, in short, every
thing greater than any where else. 1 he
sbu-e of foreign travellers is uot more
extravagant than our national self com
placency. As our climate was not ol
out own fabrication ; we may leave it to
form one of (lie items in the chapter ol
torious because that w hich was shaken
off'was not continued ; as in Mexico, the
yoke of Spain lias bee n broken, only to
fix upon the necks o f this independent
people a yoke, which t hough for the mo-
uii nt it may be mild , must in its very
incongruity with the laws of nature and
modern society, lermi in n.isoneg or
. nutl.va.-, <hr extent a ad effect* ert —
cannot be. calculated.
The distress that p en ados all parts of
I tl ese states at this mi invent, would seem
| to call fur a little inxoderation in our
! pride, a liltie reflect! oa or suspension ot
' Hie vantiv by which we have been made
| drunk. ■ lie whole concerns of nations
hanged with the revolutions that
iiavo ayitiitei-j the nivilized world with
little interruption fUr nearly half a cen-
turv. it' the people of the United Slates
have not lost sight of those feelings f
posterity—if love of country be not a
mere hyperbole—if those sentiments ot
generosity which have distinguished this
nation in war, be not extinguishud ; it
is time to cast off the apathy under which
this nation has been sinking for seven
years past, pre-eminently, and iuripienl-
iy for some years before : the condition
of the western states is now similar to that
of the eastern a few years ago ; the mid
dle states haJ their vertigo and paralysis;
the disease has travelled from east to
wast ; and has recommenced easterly
and approaches the centre, a
second time. There must be some
cause for all this—but it bis been the
fashion to—cry let ns ulone—we are
told, that government is not under any
obligation to interfere in the dearest in
terests of society ; to act for its preser
vation, for its prosperity ; this business
of letting alone, is rather too much.
Governments are not instituted among
men, to let them alone ; it is wisdom
not to govern too much—hut not to go
vern at all is rather a paradox ; because
at least it wits formerly believed when
the rational ideas of government were
maintained, that the. only end of govern
ments, was so far from letting the affair
of society alone, the very end of rational
government wms to put society in mo-
tion to keep the circulation of the
blood in wholesome action—and to guard
against the mo.rtal disease, of idleness
and the influence of misguided and mis
taken passions ; to keep a constant le
gislalive remedy far the constantly re
curring mistakes of inexperience, whicl
l’rox uience has or dered, shall he in con
slant progress and in as constant decay
there is no letting time atone, it will
art, and it it be not seized by the fore
lock it is lost.
The whole system of the national and
state policy of these stales, mu»t undergo
a total change, adapted to the present
state of the world—whether this change
be to take place by h'ttong it alone, or by
a wise resort to me ans hv which the
wealth of the country may be resorted,
and its happiness eti ablisbed, we shall
pretend to auticipate hut this is certain
that if let alone, therve will
af'*r a servitude ofa quarter of a centu
ry, we shall soon cease to mingle in the
discussions ; tho’ we shall never cease
but with life, to feel the deepest inte
rests in the events. The nature of free
government always presents the means
of retrieving disaster of correcting im
policy ; it is (he peculiar perfection of
the representatives system that the cur
ative power is always within the com
mand of those who are the objects of all
governments, and who feel all the afflic
tions winch arc generated in a mistaken
or a vicious policy. In despotisms the
will of the chief is the fountain and the
boundary of active power ; there men
have nu will, and even wishes are crimi
nal ; for governments which are in the
hands ofa few, the evil is more invete
rate because every aristocracy, is a plu
rality of tyrants, where they are su
preme ; and where united with a chief,
are an organized conspiracy against
the laws ol God and the happiness of
man.
In such governments there is no hope
hut in insurrection, and no argument hut
bloodshed ; for these reason and discus
sion are criminal faculties, which say
kill or be killed.
Every human government has this
tendency ; and under the name ofa re
presentative government, it is possible
to realize in practice all that dare be
done in tne system of despotism, or (hat
may be done with a less potent and ap
palling external. The Athenian repub
lic has been stigmatized for the crimes of
a body of Conspiring oligarchs.
Aristides was banished for his virtues.
Miltiadcs was incarcerated for his vic
tories— Socrates was murdered for being
(be most virtuous and disinterested of
men : the republic has been reproached
for those actions in the same spirit that
Alexander has been reproached for mur
dering Ins Iriond ; but the murder of
C'lytus was (lie act of Alexander ; the
murder ot Aristides, Miltiadcs, and Soc
rates was not by the republic, but by
inen who were hostile, disregardful, or
indiffereut to the principles of the repub
lic ; wheu men cast the reproach upon
Athens for those crimes, it is an injustice;
unless it be that the people merit the re
proach for suffering their worst enemies
to murder their best friends. Their
murder was the outrage of the laws ; &.
to condemn the laws —rw
no uime just than to justify
the murdered men because they were
murdered.
Soon about to retire from all concern
in political affairs, the emotion under
which these ideas are committed to pa
per, is like that of an approaching de
parture from animal life. The recol
lections of the past, mid the views of the
present, produce the most serious re
flection* ; such as under different cir
cumstances might not appear so vividly
to the mind. T his nation is rapidly on
the decline—a moral disease infects it,
and the most astonishing circumstance
that is apparent, is the cold indifference
and apathy that pervades the. whole
country. Every day the country pre
sents a worse condition—each year is
worse than the preceding, and men ap
pear to think—no they do not think—
they appear to wait for a political raille-
nium, which is to arrive—by letting every
thing alone.
We did not mean to say so much, and
what might be said, would fill a volume:
but it is not improbable that in speaking
even the. truths that are here stated, and
which express more than they say ; the
very same studied egotism, which is part
of the disease of the day, will feel more
offended, than a disposition to regard
truth or reform error.
It is in the power of the American
people to restore their country to pros
perity and plenty—it is in their power to
do it.
But, first of all they must understand
their disease, and must cure it—for,
whenever they resolve to understand it,
they can apply the remedy—it is in their
hand*, and if vain glory misleads thopi—
or if they suffer themselves to lie mis
led—then they must hear the affliction,
and the reproach which Inis been so fre
quently cast upon the people—that they
arc THEIR OWN WORST ENEMIES.
globe, Rlmust as rapidly as the sun him -
self. But if he he a poet or an antiqua
ry, he must not be too sanguine in his
expectations ; for these places have no
archetypes in the old world. There is
no pantheon at the modern Rome, and
no pagoda in the new Hindoslan. He
will find no splendid ruins at Palmyra,
nor hallowed sepulchres at Palestine.—
In Goshen he will see Yankees from
“ the land of steady habits,” instead of
captive Israelites ; and where lie might
except an extensive manufactory of
bricks, he will find a land abounding iu
cheese and timberblocks. lie may
freeze to death in the very centre of
our Vesuvius, and perspire at every pore
at the new Moscow.
I coufess 1 urn not pleased with the
dearth of invention indicated by the a
doption of these exotic appellations ; and
am the less so when 1 observe the adtn i-
rable taste displayed in those which are
of domestic manufacture. These are
fraught w ith meaning, and generally al
lude to some historical fact, or local pe
culiarly. If any of the early navigators
of these rivers saw an otter, a fox, or a
of the tails, thn learned gentleman did
not state ; but the name of Vundalia was
adopted. This story has probably more
wit than truth in it. It is also said that
this place was culled after a Frenchman,
one of the first whites who pretended
these forests ; who resided for many
years near this spot, nnd was famous as
an expert hunter, and a daring foe to his
Indian neighbors.
There ig a branch of the Little Wa
bash river, in Illinois, called the Skil
let Pork, which took its name from the
following circumstance. During the late
war, companies of Rangers (a kind of
mounted militia,) were ordered out to
protect the western frontiers from the
India ns. A detachment of these troops,
under the command of Col. Willis i fur-
grave, now a .Major General of Militia in
this state, having fallen upon the trace of
some Indians, pursued them to the hank
of this stream, where they lost the track
—the Indians having taken to the water.
It was necessary to cross over to contin
ue the chace ; but the stream swelled
"ith rains, roared like a torrent, ami
the shores were so abrupt that it wa*
bear on the shore they were sure to impossible to plunge (be horses in with
name the. nearest creek or island after
that animal. If an individual of the par
ty sickened or died, the catastrophe whs
perpetuated iu the same manner. The
appellations thus casually given are rc-
their riders; and if they could even
have reached the opposite bank it would
have been impossible to ascend it. The
men were therefore employed in pre-
pitting rafts to carry them over. One
tained, when the perquod upon which ! heed-strong fellow, however, name
they were founded has failed, or is for- ] Smith, dashed forward—reached the
gotten. Thus, we now find a Pigeon j edge of the bank, plunged in—and horse
creek where there are no pigeons ; and i and rider disappeared. In a moment
a Crow island where there is no carrion. [ Smith was 6cen swimming in one direc-
As to the taste displayed in them, you tion, and his horse in another—both
have only to imagine them ranged in ] dashing the waves aside “ with hearts of
the lines of some future poet, who may controversy.” Both reached the land
fancy to waft his heroine down this I in safety, hut with the loss of the bag-
beautiful stream. How delightfully | gage. The parly soon crossed, but a
LETTERS FROM THE WEST.
rnuM rin tort folio.
In passing down the river, and indeed
in every part of America, the traveller
is amused with the variety of tastes dis
played in the names of places. It would
seem that our worthy countrymen had
hut little regard for the tender sensibi
lities of future generations, whose in
heritance they have patched and spang
led with the shreds and remnants ofe-
very age and country.. e have been
supplied—
By saint, by savage, and by sage.
Europe, A-ia, and Africa, have been
ransacked anil we have culled all the
fields of literature, sacred, classics, and
! profane. The tourist passes in a twink-
arise out of ling from Troy to Siberia, from Rome
accidents, whidi belong iu U^plT-D. a regenerative spin, that to Calcutta from '---,0 Carthage or
history—and we mi-ht leave the re la-1 may when loo late, pro vc in sadness and from Herculafteum to Petcrburgh . and,
fives of our soil, to the same chapter, if anguish the criminality of the passive in short, if he choose to continue Li
lt did not happen that the very circum-l misanthropy Si seUiohaussol let*} alone, I jaunt, he may visit cxciy 4 art of the
would such names ns Horsetail ripple,
Hog island, Dead man’s island. Big Se-
weekly, Lnggs town, Crows island, Big
Beaver, Raccoon creek, Custard island,
Big yellow. Mingo bottom island, White
woman, and OppoRsum creek, jingle in
verse 1 How admirably they would set
off the peculiar style of Sir Walter
Scott !
St. L.onis, says Mr. Breckenridge,
“ was formerly called Pain Court, from
(he privations of the first settlers.”—
The French have left some curious
names in Missouri, where we find La
ASitere Misery pj Creve arur. (timhcn
heart ;) Puide poclie, (empty pocket ;)
Bon Homme, (good iniin ;) La riviere a
vase, (tho river of mud ;) Bois brute
bottom, (burnt wood ;) Cole sans dessein.
which you may translate for yourself—
I should call it accidetal hill : which is
justified by the appearance of the place.
It is an eminence oti a plain, without a
valley, and which looks as it it did not
belong (here, but had been dropped by
accident. Some of these names are
now discarded, and the people would be
quite scandalized at their revival—like
the gooJ citizens in a certain flourishing
town in Pennsyrmiia, which was for
merly ended Cat fish camp, hut w hore a
man would now be almost tarred and
feathered for mentioning a cat fish.
Many of the French names in this
country have been corrupted. The up
per part of the river Kaskarkia i* called
by the name which is spelt so variously
that I can hardly undertake to write it.
The litleral pronunciation is O Kuw—
hut i, is written by travellers and others
Occo, Oka. Ocra, &c. As this stream is
in fact the Knskaskia, ami was probably
taken by the first French explorist fur a
branch of that river it is probable that,
contracting the name of the latter, they
called it Au-Kas. This reading accords
with the practice of that people, who in
this country frequently use abbreviations.
Thus, Kaskaskiu is often called Kas-kie,
and Cahokia Caho. So, il you ask a
Frenchman where he is going, lie will
answer Au-Post ; to the post; meaning
the po«t of Vincennes. This being t
many years the principal fortress in Ibis
country, was for n long while called the
Post, and afterwards the olJ Post, by
which name it is still known.
There is a small stream in lllinoi
called Bonpas. An author of a book ol
11 Geographical Sketches,” writes this
Bump,aw, anil Ids orthography is adopted
by many persons. The original name
must have been Bonne passe, (a good
channel.)
The people of Illinois have called the
metropolis of their state Vamlalia. As
this designation was given by the com
missioners who selected this spot for the
seat of government, not a little surprise
was excited that they should have chosen
so barbarous an appellation. It is said
that while, they were in sob mu delibera
tion on this point, and in great perplexi
ty to find a name for their infant city, a
facetious gentleman who happened to
be present informed him that there had
been a tribe of Indians, who existed ma
ny centuries ago, among the forests and
prairies, which now form the fairest por
tions of this state, who were called Van
dals. There was also a contemporary
tribe, called.Goths. Whether these ri
val nations had fought like the two Kil
kenny cats, who devoured each other
till nothing was left of either but the tipi
sad discovery awaited them. They
were divided into messes, and one man
was appointed each day in every mess,
to cook the victuals, and carry the culi
nary utensils. This duty had that day
been assigned to Smith ; and when they
encamped in the evening, they were not
only without provisions, but they had
iost what was of infinitely more impor
tance, a skillet, which composed the
whole apparatus of their kitchen. The
” envious wave” had robbed them of
skillet, bread, boaf meat, mid all. Here
was a dilemma ! a woeful dilempia whirl'
Bm.,,1 could not be procured in tbe woods,
and game they dared not shoot, for fear
of alarming tho foe, whose footsteps
they were silently tracing. But if Pro
vidence had showered manna in their
path, or their own cunning ensnared the
“ dappled denizen of the forest,” ot
what avail would it have been '! 1 hey
had no skillet wherein to cook it ! The
vexation of this mess, and the jests ol
liieir comrades, kept the aflair alive in
their memories for a long time, and the
stream which caused this dire mishap is
still called the Skillet Fork.
Another creek in this state was named
by tbe same party. They were lying
on its banks, round a fire, at night, when
some of the company undertook to prac
tice n joke upon Smith. A suppling was
bent to the ground, to which they tied
his heels, as he slept ; and on letting it
go he was swung aloft. His cries rous
ed the whole party, who imagining the
udians were at hand, flew to their posts ;
nor was the alarm dispelled until the
nlucky cause of it was discovered dang
ling in the air. The stream was called
Smith's Fork, and still retains the name.
Many of the old names in this country
have been Anglicised, though very sel
dom, l think, to advantage. A-stream
which the French called la rivers a vese,
(of mud) is transformed into Aluddy—
but as there happens to be two of the
same name, they are called Big and Lit
tle Muddy. The practice of giving the
same name to two streams, nnd distin
guishing one of them by the classic word
big, is very common. We have Big and
Little Wabash, Big and Lillie Hnckhock-
ing. Big and Little Miami, Big and
Little Beaver, aud I suppose a hundred
others.
We have another cognomen peculiai
to this country, which is conveyed in
the beautiful word lick. We ha mb Salt
Licks, Blue Licks, Sulphur lacks and
licks of all sorts and sizes. The word
is uncouth enough, but it is very des'
criptive, and designates those spoti
which had been frequented by wild graz
ini' animals, for the purpose of licking
the saline particles with which the earth
was impregnated. Some of these pla
ces have been licked for centuries, until
vast cavities have been formed in the
surface of the ground. By these means
the early settlers were directed to many
valuable minerals. But surely this bar-
burouse appellation might be dropped
now, when tbe aboriginal tickers have
beeu expelled, and these (daces convert
ed inter valuable manufactories, and polite
watering places.
The name of the town in which, for
the present, 1 have fixed my “ local ha
hitation,” lias suffered a very disadvan
tageous change. The Indian word Sha
wa-noe, was not inharmonious ; but it
lus been corrupted into Shawneetowo.
An extensive genus of names is deriv
od from our patriotic ancestors. The
western people have displayed an hon
orable feeling iu thus perpetuating
the memories of distinguished men.—
In Ohio, out of 50 counties, (in Id 19,)
there are about 30 called after individu
als, 10 have Indian uhihcs, and one ia
called Licking. In Kentucky, of 55
counties (in 1»19) all are called after
eminent men but live. In Illinois and
Indiana, all the counties are named in
the same manner, except two in each
state. A large number of the towns are
also named after patriots nod heroes.
From this laudable custom, a serious in
convenience arises in the frenquent re
petition of the sume name ; an evfl
which is aggravated hv a foolish propen*
sity which emigrants from other states
have, of naming the spot at which they
settle after the one they have left. We
now have in the IJ. Stales about twenty
Salems. We have Fuirfields, Clcartields,
and Middletown*, without number. Tbe
Washingtons, Waynes, and Jeffersous,
baffle all calculation.
The seat of government of Missouri is
to be removed to Cote satis Dessein,
which is to assume the name of Alissou-
nopolis. Indiana has called her capital
Indianaopolis ; and it is to be hoped that
Arkansas will adopt Arkopolis—for such
is tbe passion for imitation in this par
ticular, that a name no sooner gets into
getitee.l use, than it becomes the fashiou,
and goes the rounds.
Thus, I have written you a long let
ter, on a very scientific subject, and
which, if our country was a thousand
years older, might make me a fellow of
a philosophical society. But alas ! we
know our origin so well, that there is no
bance of passing for an antiquary now-
;i-days, unless tve delve into Indiun lore.
Fbe subject, however, is not without
interest. Older nations know nothing
of the origin or meaning of half the
names that occur ou their maps, aud ma
ny a solitary mid-night lump has in vain
lent its rays to develop the obscurity.—
A mysterious appellation, supposed to
be fraught with meaning, has often heea
chased with unavailing assiduity k through
labyrinths of parchment and black-letter,
and finally lost among the mists of tradi
tion—which, if discovered, might be
found to be as frivolous in its application
as some nt'l!,™.. 1 L -OIf
which we enjoy of forming iU own geo
graphical vocabulary. They have beeu
indebted to accident or to the rude con
ceptions of nations who have preceded
them, for that, which among us, is to be
the fruit of our own taste. Nations are
continually rising into power, or declin
ing to imbecility, aud their rise and fall
is a perpetual lesson, fraught with in
struction. In these changes every in
stitution hears a part, £: therefore should
the progress of every institution, how
ever trilling, which forms an integral
part of national character or wealth, be
observed. One of the Latin poets has
said “ stultus labor est ir.cptiarum," and
1 am not disposed to controvert tbe max
im ; for 1 do not consiJer that a trifle
which may add a mite to the literature of
my country, or the amusement of my
friends. For them 1 shall always be
proud to toil, though sober-sided gravity
may shake its head, aud the critic pro
nounce my exertions labor ineptiarum.
EDUCATION.
“ Q<io sfcinel est iiiibufa reeens,
Servabit odorem te»ta diu.”
The analogy between tbe natural and
noral world is evident to the most str»
erficial observer. Hence the moralist
adduces natural causes Ai effects as argu
ments in support of morality. No simile]
perhaps, has ever been used, more apt
than our motto, to illustrate the impor
tance of early education. This needs
ttle illustration. It is equally obvious
to the unenlightened and the civilized ;
to the savage and the. philosopher.—
Both ancients and moderns concur ia
this grand truth,
“ That Education forms tho tender mind—
Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclin'd.”
Among the former, the education of
youth was thought worthy of the public
concern ; and parents were often depriv
ed of the government of their children,
le-t, by their indulgence, they might
render them effeminate and useless to
he state. This was a subject recom
mended by Solon md Lvcurgus, as cal
culated to produce the most important
■ffects. Indeed, if vve survey human
nature, vve shall find nothing productive
f so sensible effects as Education.—*
VVeie not the savage inured to scenes of
mirror in his \ outb, we would not behold
him, when old, exceeding the tyger ia
rocity. It is the mode of Education
that teaches a civilized person to avoid
the commission of crimes, which, in liia
outh, he was taught to abhor ; and to
erfortn himself what in others be had
been instructed to reverence. This,
subverting the usual order of things, ren*
leis woman audacious, and man effemi
nate. This, in a word, has power to
humanize brutes, and to brutalize man.
The objects of instruction have been
various among different nations. In the
early ages of antiquity, when every tiling
was subject to the passions; when the
