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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