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THE REFLECTOR. MILLEDGEVILLE, G. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1818. NO. 50. MISCELLANY. A great nation without literature, or whose literature is bad, is like a great man, who cannot converse, or who converses idly.— Strangers will form but a mean opinion of his merits. Literary men, and not an here ditary aristocracy, are the ‘ Corinthian ca pital of polished society.' Rut such men are wanted by us more for use than ornament. We want men formed among us, formed to love and value their country, formed under the influence of our institutions, our manners, and bur religious, and inoral habits, whose writings may perpetuate, and give eH'r acy to those feelings and principles, from which our present blessings are derived, and w it 1>- out which they cannot subsist. We want men among us, who may counteract the lib t- tinism, irreligion and looseness of principle which appear in one class of European wri ters, and the bigotry to established prejudi ces, which is found in another. We owe too, something to the world, as well as to our selves. If we have really attained to a de gree of political happiness and intellectual freedom, without example, we are placed in a situation to become the instructors of othei nations. We have lessons of more impor tance to communicate than to receive—This subject of our literature is' one, on which it is not irreverent to apply the language of scripture, and to say that we ought to he m stunt in season, and out of season. No man at the present day, can give better proof of his patriotism, or serve his country more ef fectually, than by promoting its literature [ the prospect of opening the way There is no secret about the manner in which "istant, unappreciated good. To this is to be done. There is but one thing wanting—encouragement. DU. FRANKLIN, nm a Review of the Life ami Writings franklin, in the last number of tlie Bterican Review.] iuiklin was distinguished by great rood sense respecting the common [he world ; and by a freedom from pit and visionary calculations. Rut }lrncies were accompanied, though lot necessarily accompanied, by lling defects. 'There arc some men, bjeets clearly as they are in tticrn- who observe likewise their near est obvious relations ; but who pay rd to their relations to higher ub- invisible and the remote: men Rights are never conversant in the Jhc immaginution, and busy with leal perfection. They regard man jy as a being of this life, with cor al wants and desires, and enjoying a certain quantity of good or evil, proportioned to his external cir- i; but they think Tittle of those which in the greater part are but ' developed, and scarcely conceive 1 infinite in reason, noble in facul- l apprehension like a God.’ They beets of pursuit, the value of which fcd by all; and in their endeavors Jem, keep the open road which is the multitude. They are never Sture into untried and hazardous I utility which is obvious to all, con- bauty. They are desirous to do good; ire equally or more desirous to have ation of doing good ; and therefore propose to effect, must be so mo le advantage of which may be tin- by the generality. Rut it is not natter of calculation, than the habit [own minds, to put but little value (movements, which cannot be weigh- jasured, and which make no show in peal table. The character of Frank- nbled, we conceive, in some of its bat which we have just been desrrib- lis mind was defective in the liighei ■conceptions and feelings. Ho w as In to distinguish himself by bold ef- Ithankless sacrifices, franklin's high reputation as a man pure and science is perfectly well es- As a man of science, lie was no LITERARY. CUAK.VCn-Ut OK I'UO.USUN, AS A \\ Kl 1 !0K. lie is entitled to one praise of the highest kind : bis mode of tiiiuKing, and of express ing bis thoughts, is original. iiis blank verse is no more the blank verse of Milton, or of any other poet than the rhymes of Pryor are the rhymes of Cowley, iiis numbers, ins pauses, his diction, are of bis own growth, without transcription, without imitation. Me thinks in arpeculiar train, and he thinks always as a mail of genius, lie looks round on nature and on life, with the eye winch nature bestows only on a poet ; the eye that distinguishes, in every thing presented to its view whatever there is on which imagina tion cun delight to be detained, and w ifi mind that at once comprehends the vast, and attends to tiie minute. The reader of the as some of his eulogists seem to I Seasons wonders that lie never saw befon bought, the rival of Newton ; but devoted but a small part of his life liic pursuits, he is entitled to a dis- rd place among philosophers of the lass. As a line writer though lie liniself without the benefit of a lite- feutiou, or the society of literary [may he compared with Addison or |li. He is their equal in wit and hu- nicc observation, and in ease and If language; and be possessed far Btcncss and force of mind than ci te had but little imagination as 1 though he occasionally discovers of fancy, both in the conception Ic, and in particular expressions; pc speaks of ‘ line promises being l like the forms of last year's clouds.' hot vouch however that the figure is for lie was not very conscii iitious nnitting such petty larcenies. In we meet occasionally, though hut bith some trifling blemishes, which apposed to be occasioned bv his want Education. But it is always admi- lits precision and perspicuity. It is' larcnt as the atmosphere: and his lie before us like objects seen in one barest days, when their very bright- listinctncss alone give us pleasure, i of his papers cn Electricity, he iis other works of various subjects ll philosophy, morals, politics, and economy; and he shows a mind blit have enabled him to attain the kputation as an author upon almost these subjects, if he had directed iter siiarc of attention. There are |nd discussions in some of his letters s, which an inferior writer would [ufacturcd into a volume, without r essential argument or illustration his writings, also, in which such a [is to be expected, have, generally decided moral tendency ; and fcd to form correct habits of think- [tioii. From this praise, however, iccept, as formerly mentioned, the b>f the memoirs of his own life; lever is a curious and valuable do- [ the study of human nature, ling of the fame of Franklin, as a bait nee and science, we cannot help {how few men of this elass our 61 boast of, as having distinguished ) by their writings. We are look- 3, indeed, to better things ; but Ich, very much, yet to be (lone, to the approach of what we hope for. power and office into those pursuits and stiw dies which they share in common with the poorest of their fellow citizens. What other people beholds its rulers after a long life of public service, in the calm of voluntary se clusion, shedding upon the humble pursuits of agriculture the last rays of those high fa culties which have been filmed in the coun- ils of nations ; and whfin an old age so em ployed after a long course of public service, is consecrated, if we may so speak, by lion- st poverty, as in the case of Mr. Pickering, the speetacie assumes a double interest, which every man must feci who loves what gia.fine and elevated in republicanism. Exeter Watchman. FROM TIIF. SFAV-Y011K EVENING POST. In the spring of the year 1813. I procur ed from Mr. Floyd’s nursery, at Greenwich, 18 young peach trees, of different kinds, which l planted in my garden, so as to ripen in succession, all of which are now in health, except one which was blown down and de stroyed. My neighbors have, since that time, not only lost their trees which were planted the same season, but many others subsequently planted. After examining all that had been written on the subject of peach trees, that came, in my way, and the malady affecting them ; mid comparing what I had read with my own observations, I considered the cause of their destruction arose from a worm at the root, which is generated twice in a year from an insect that lays its eggs in April and Septem ber, at the foot of the peach trees. 1 remembered several years before that I hud read, that a gentleman in Maryland or Virginia had preserved his peach trees by putting Tobacco round the trees just be low the surface of the earth. 1 therefore pursued the following system, and hitherto with success, having had from my trees these four years past, a good crop ol excellent peaches, and of various sorts, and the treiis are now in good health. Late in the autumn I procure from the woods the surface of the ground which is de cayed leaves, and put three or four shovels full rou." I each tree in the place of as much earth, which l remove. It is the best possible manure you ran apply to trees or plants of any discretion ; but as every person cannot procure it, I would re commend any other well rotted manure. Ashes is good, and some have applied round soplier may theorize on its chances of sue- other kind of trees with success the sweep, ess, and the proud man may be disgusted ings of their turf houses and of their wood i great subdivision of labor, before the arts of composition are brought to any great de gree of perfection. The great avenues to wealth must be filled, and many left idle i:i hereditary opulence or mediocrity, before there be leisure enough, among such a peo ple, to relish the beauties of poetry, or to reate an effectual demand for the produc tions of genius. Though these causes may for some time retain the genius of America iu a state of subordination to that of Europe. cannot persuade ourselves that its condi tion lias ever been so deplorable as to form a iroper object of contempt. There are a hundred authors in America who would be a- sbamed to write like their raluinuiators, an I ten thousand men who arc not authors, that are entitled to feel eompassioii {.»r their inso lence and their vanity. The truth is, that American genius bus displayed itself where ver inducements have been held out for its exertion. Their parly pamphlets are often written with keenness and spirit, and their orators frequently possess vehemence, cor rectness and animation, that would command Lite admiration of an European audience. Edmburg Review. Judge, Johnson (of the Supreme Court ol the United States) is engaged in writing th Life of general Nathaniel Greene. The work is to contain, besides a biographical memoir of the general, bis correspondence, hitherto unpublished, with the commander in chief, and with congress, besides the correspon dence of other officers and individuals. AGRICULTURAL. AtihiCl.LITUAL SOCIKTlKS. Should the history of the present age of our country ever he written, there will be lew e\ cuts on its pages upon which the phi lanthropist of other times will repose with more pleasure than tin the establishment of Agricultural Societies. The plan of these institutions is equally removed from Utopian romance which aims at more than can be ac ompushed and from a more common infirm ity which talks of every thing and attempts nothing. It lias for its object those benefits which are every where valued, and which come to our business and bosoms,” and it derives its life and activity from a principl which pervades every class of society—the spirit of emulation. The politician may smile upon its humble aspirations ; the pliilo what Thomson shews him, and that lie nev er yet nas felt what Thomson impresses. Iiis is one of the works iu winch blank verse seems prop* rly used : 'i'licmson's wide expansion of genera! views, and his enumer ation of circumstantial varieties, would have been obstructed and embarrassed by the frequent intersection of the sense, which arc the necessary effects of rhyme. His descriptions of extended scenes ami general effects, bring before us the whole magnificence of Nature, whether pleasing or dreadful. The gaiety of .Spring, the splendor of Summer, the tranquility of Au tumn, and the horror of \Y inter take, in tlieii turns, possession of the mind. The Poet leads us through the appearances of things as they are successively varied by the vicissi tudes of the year, ainl imparts to us so much of his own enthusiasm, that our thougiits pand with his imagery, and kindle with his sentiments. The great defect of the Seasons is want ol method ; but for this l know not that there was any remedy. Of many appearances subsisting all at once, no rule can be given why one should be mentioned before an other ; yet the memory w ants the nolp of or- cer, and the curiosity is not excited by sus pense or expectation. Iiis diction is in the highest degree florid and luxuriant, such as nmy be said to be to his images and thoughts both their lustre and their shade ; such as invest them with splendour, through which perhaps they are not always easily discerned. It is too exu berant, and sometimes may be charged with tilling the ear more than the mind. These l’oeius, w ith which I was aeqainted at their first appearance, l have since found altered and enlarged by subsequent revisals, as the author supposed his judgment to grow more exact, and as hooks or conversation ex tended his knowledge and opened his pros pects. They are, 1 think, improved in gen eral ; yet I know not whether they have not lost part of what Temple calls their race ; a word which applied to wines, in its primi tive sense, means the flavor of the soil. The highest praise which lie has received ought not to he supprest; it is said by Lord Lyttleton, in the prologue to his posthumous play, that his works contained “ No line, which, dying, lie could xvisli to blot.” Literature isoneof those fine manufactures which a new country will always find it ea sier to import than to raise ; there must be a great accumulation of stock in a nation, and with its details,—but let its patrons be stired that their exertions do not pass unno ticed, or unrew arded ; they have the bless ing of the patriot, who knows the fountains >f his country’s greatness, and of the Chris tian who would have these fountains remain pure ;ind unrorriipted. The visions of Utopia have almost been realized in the public spectacle which has been exhibited of assembling the fathers of the state, and all who are elevated by wis dom, and powerful by wealth, to celebrate— not those splendid events which dazzle tin imagination and effect not our our daily hap piness, nor any of those triumphs which are purchased at the double cost of the lives of others and the virtue of our own nation— hut the triumph of agriculture over public indifference and fashionable prejudice. If there be any thing which deserves to he associated with the attractions of fashion and popularity, it surely must be that pursuit than which no other affords so many sources of manly gratification, or is so intimately connected with public happiness. Public enterprise can be turned into no channel so important; individual rivalship can be pre sented with no objects so useful as those con nected with agriculture. There are few modes in which public or private wealth ran be distributed to such good purposes, as in the encouragement of competition, and the patronage of experiment among our intelli gent agriculturalists. And there is certain ly no field in which science and research can find objects so various in their nature or more important, in connexion with public improvement, than the theory of agri culture. Under such considerations we glad ly welcome the recent additions to the nuin her of the institutions wc are noticing, and remark with pleasure every promise of re spectability and usefulness which attends the agricultural societies ill this country, Did tlicso institutions need any thing to dignify or animate their exertions, they would find it in the spectacle of such men as James Madison and Timothy Pickering publicly devoting to their instruction the last efforts of those talents which have guided and controulod our national fortunes. The address of Mr. Madison to the agricultural society of Albemarle county, and that of Mr. Pickering to the society in Essex, are now before the public, and will hereafter be found in the library of the statesman and the pocket of the farmer. Wc can scarcely im agine any fact more interesting in connexion with our political situation than the retire ment of such men from such high walks of house. 1 have every season, about the beginning of May, applied the tobacco in the following manner—once or twice it lias been done in September :—The earth from two or three inches in depth from the surface round the, boily is removed, so as to enable several leaves of tobacco to be wound round the bo dy, and then the earth is brought close to it gain, which keeps the tobacco moist, aiul lie juice gradually finds its way to the ex- reiue ends of the roots. In no one instance have 1 discovered any worms ut the roots of my tree. I mention another experiment to preserve my trees from injury by early frost, which I made last winter, and which l intend to pur sue hereafter, namely—In January last, af ter very severe frosts, and tiie ground frozen deep, I directed a quantity of long stable manure to be thrown at the foot of each tree, which remained late in llic spring, tin:il the warmth of the sun had penetrated thruugii it, by which means the frost was not drawn from the ground until some time after the other frosts of the garden bad been thawed. The consequence was that the vegetation of the trees was kept Inn k, and the trees did not blossom until after the frost, which oc curred last spring pretty late, and destroyed most of the. fruit in my neighborhood. I have within a few days returned from a visit to the western part of this statr as far as On tario county : I found the pcaeh trees heal thy, but with little or no fruit. The causo assigned was the frost iu the spring, which destroy ed the fruit in the bud. I differ from your friend, from Carolina on subjects of raising pearlies from the stone. My information and observations on this sub ject are, that if you plant the stone, you will get the fruit of its parent stuck—not the in- noculated fruit; and that to have fine fruit, you must innoculate, and then you are sure to have fruit like the tree from whence you in- iioculated ; but which, however, may parti cipate in some degree, as to its ripening earli er or later, from that parent stock. As to the innoculatcd tree dying at the time the parent tree dies, within my observation it does not often happen. Peach trees have for a num ber of years lived so short a time, that I think the opinion has arisen from mistake. It does sometimes happen that you get fine fruit from the stone; but the chances are so much a- gainst it, that I would not rccomincfid it, when the other course is so universally suc cessful. A IfKW-JEKSEY FAUM