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THE REFLECTOR.
MlLLEDGEVllLLE, G. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1818.
NO.
MISCELLANY.
om a letter of advice, written from a
lis only daughter, immediately after
ige.
is handed to us. < from the
of the best,' and our corrrspon-
iu his < onsi ienre, • one of the
thai Virginia has produced.'
in an adinirahle manner upon a
sting subject—and it is worthy of
mtation which the author hears,
excellent supplement to the cele-
i of Dr. Gregory to his daughter.
—You have just entered into the
is replete with happiness or tnis-
issue depends upon that prudent,
liform conduct, which wisdom
strongly recommend on the one
li that imprudence, which a want
passion, may prompt, on
IBut as there is no wish nearer
than that you may ensure all
«, which the union of virtuous
capable of bestowing; and as
times err for want of previous
on the line of conduct which
to he pursued, how can I ren-
ther service, than by presenting
advice, which the warmest af-
its.
laxim, which you should im-
?ply upon your mind, is, never
bnntroul your husband, by op-
ispleasure, or any other mark
[man of sense, of prudence, of
enunot, and .will not bear an
any kind, which is attended
ry look, or expression. The
affections is suddenly stopper!;
it is weakened ; he begins to
iration the most pungent; he is
in his own eyes ; and he assur-
who once excites those senti-
breastof her husband, willnc-
lo high ground which she might
have retained.—When he mar
ie he. a good man, he expects
niles, not frowns ; he experts to
who is not to controul him,
>m him the freedom of acting as
;nt shall direct ; hut one w ho
sell confidence in him, as to bc-
own prudence is his best guide.
which, in reality, are mere
elves, often produce bickerings
rrels. Never permit them to be
[dispute. Yield them with plea-
smile of affection.—Be assured
Terence outweighs them all, a
thousand times. A differ-
lity, with your husband, ought
hredthe greatest calamity, as one
[most studiously guarded against;
i, which must never be permit-
habitation, where all should be
laired confidence and heartfelt
[esides, what can a woman gain
[ition, or her differences ?—No-
tshe loses her husband's respect
she loses his love, and with
?ct of future happiness. She
m misery, and then utters idl
llaints ; but utters them in vain,
husband can be retained only
pinion which lie entertains of
Iness of heart, of her amiable
the sweetness of her temper
^e, and of her devotion to him
ton any occasion, even lessen
)n the contraryit should aug
lie should have much more
her for those excellent qaa
a lustre over a virtuous wo-
lersonal attractions are no
liatid staid out longer than
When lie returns receive
St of your heart, lias he
i in something you expected,
aent, of furniture, or of any
i ? nover evince discontent;
ijy with cheerfulness. Does
i a housekeeper, invite coni-
forming you of it, or bring
|i'riend; whatever may be
uver impossible it may be;
s them with a pleasing
i your table with checr-
lour husband and to your
welcome; it will more than
every other deficiency : it
br your husband, good sense
^Imt politeness of manners,
most powerful charm ; it
laincst fare a zest superior
’ can boast. Never be dis
hy occasion of this nature,
idly people often think, be
■husband will make them ;
ife will, with good humor,
fd for giving his friends so
It.
, as your husband’s suc-
i will depend upon his po-
manners of a wife have
extending or lessening
tm of others for her hus-
jike care to be affable and
as well as the rich. A
i is the sure indication of
I unfeeling heart.
^our servants, teach them
lyou, whilst you expect
iablcdlschargc of their re
spective duties. Never toazo yourself bud
them by scolding ; it lias no other effect than
to render them discontented and impertinent.
Admonish them With a calm firmness, and if
that will not produce the desired effect, let
them be moderately punished.
Cultivate your mind by the perusal of those
hooks, \Vhirli instruct whilst they amuse. Do
not devote too much of your time to novels.
There are few which may bo useful in im
proving and giving a higher tone to our mo
ral sensibility ; bul, in general they tend to
vitiate the taste, and to produce a disrelish
for substantial intellectual food. Most plays
are of the same, class ; they are not friendly
to that delicacy, which is one of the orna
ments of the female character. History, ge
ography, poetry, moral essays, biography,
travels, and well written religions produc
tions, will not fail to enlarge your under
standing, to render you a more agreeable
companion, ami to exalt your virtue. A wo
man devoid of rational ideas of religion, has
no security for her virtue ; it is sacrificed
to her passions, whoso voice, and not that of
ier God, is her only governing principle.
Besides, i:i those horn s of calamity, to whirl
families must he exposed, where will sin
find a support, if it be not in her just reflec
tions upon that all ruling Providence, which
governs the universe, whether animated
inaniinated ?
Mutual politeness between the most inti
mate friends, is essential to that harmony
which should never he once broken, or inter-
upted ; how important, then, that between
man anti wife ? The more warm the attach
ment, the less will either party bear to be
slighted, or treated with the smallest degre
of rudeness, or inattention. This politeness,
then, if it he not itself a virtue, is at least
the means of giving to real goodness a new
lustre; itistlie means of preventing discon
tents, and even quarrels ; it is the oil of in
tercourse; it removes asperities, and gives
to every thing a smooth, an even, and a pleas
ing movement.
1 will only add, that matrimonial happiness
does not depend upon wealth ; hut in minds
properly tempered and suited to our respec
tive situations. Competency is necessary ;
all beyond that point is ideal. Do not sup
pose, however, that 1 would not advise and
stimulate, if requisite, your husband to
augment his property by all honest and com
mendable means, i would wish to see him
engaged in such an active pursuit; because,
.'ngagement, a sedulous employment in ob
taining some laudable end, is essential to
happiness.
In the management of your domestic con
cerns, let prudence and wise economy al
ways prevail. Let neatness, order, judg
ment, be seen in all your different depart
ments. Unite liberality with a just frugali
ty ; always reserve something for tiio hand
of charity, and never let your door be clos
ed to the voice of suffering humanity .—Your
servants in particular, will have the strong
est claim upon your charity—let them be well
led, well clothed, nursed in sickness, and ne
ver unjustly treated.—Richmond Enquirer.
CHARACTERS.
MRS. ABIGAIL ADAMS.
The late wife of the ex-president Adams
was a woman, whose talents and virtues will
place her on the list of those, who have ben
efited their generation and honored their
country. She was the daughter of a New-
England clergyman, settled within a few
miles of Boston—a man respectable in bis
holy office, and who educated his children in
the best manner of the times ; an unquestion
able proof of his good sense. The personal
and mental accomplishments of his daugh
ter attracted the attention and secured the
respect and affections of Mr. Adams, then a
young man of distinction and promise at tli
bar in Massachusetts. They were married
in the year, 1764, and resided in Boston.
The revolutionary difficulties were then fast
increasing, and Mr. Adams was conspicu
ously engaged. When a continental con
gress was formed he. was sent a delegate from
Massachusetts to this body. It was a peril
ous moment. The wise were battled, the.
courageous hesitated, and the great mass o!'
the people were inflamed, but confused ; thej
bad no fixed and settled purpose, but all
left to the dcvclopcment of time. Mr. Ad
ams was one of the boldest in the march of
honest resistance to tyranny. He looked
farther than the business of the day, and ven
tured, at that early period, to suggest plans
of self-government and independence. To
Mrs. Adams he communicated his thoughts
freely on all these high matters of state, for
lie had the fullest confidence in her spirit,
prudence, secrecy, and good sense, without
the test, which the Roman Portia gave her
lord for his confidence, in matters of policy
“ when the state was out of joint.”
When Mr. Adams was appointed to repre
sent his country at the court of St. James,
his wife went with him, and such was her ex
quisite sense of propriety, her republican
simplicity, her delicate anti refined manners,
her firmness and dignity, that sho charmed
the proud circles in which she moved, and
they speak of her, to this day. as one of the
finest women that ever graced ari embassy
to that country.
When *.ir. Adams was chosen vice presi
dent, she was the same unaffected, intelii-
gent and elegant woman. No little manage
ments, no private views, no sly interference
with public affairs was ever for a moment
charged to her. When her husband came
to the chair of chief magistrate, then the
widest field opened for the exercise of all
the talents and acquirements of Mrs. Adams ;
anil such was her whole course, that her fond
est admirers were not disappointed. She
graced the table by her courtesy, anil ele
gance of manners, and delighted her guests
by the powers of her conversation. Through
the drawing room she diffused case and ur
banity, and gave the charm of modesty and
sincerity to the interchanges of civility.—
But this was not all; her acquaintance witli
public affairs, her discrimination of charac
ter, her discernment of the signs of the
times, and her pure patriotism made Iter an
excellent cabinet minister; and, to the ever
lasting honor of her husband, he never for
got or undervalued her worth; and in the
pride of place and power, he never dispised
the Ncw-England simplicity of manners, in
which it is a rule to take count'd from a wife.
The politicians of that period speak with en
thusiasm of her foresight, her prudence and
the wisdom of her observations. Tracy re
spected, Bayard admired, and Ames eulo
gised her. All parties had the fullest belief
in the purity of tier motives and iu the eleva
tion of her understanding.
It was a stormy period and the world went
wrong. Fatigue and anguish often over
whelmed the president from the weight anil
multiplicity of his labors and cares ; but her
sensibility, affection and cheerfulness chased
the frown from his brow, and plucked the
root of bitterness from his heart. To those
who see the matters of state at a distance,
or only through the medium of letters, ali
things seem to go on fairly and smoothly ;
hut, those practically acquainted with the
difficulties m administering the best of gov
ernments, will easily understand Imw much
necessity there is for the wisdom of the ser
pent united with the gentleness of the dove ;
and they too ran comprehend how much the
delicate interference of a sagacious woman
can effect. Bride, vanity, and selfishness
arc full of claims and exactions, all hustling
and importunate for office and distinction.
Peremptory denial produces enmity and con
fusion, but gentle evasion and cautious re
plies soften ihc heart of the restless and tem
per the passions of the sanguine. An intel
ligent woman of address can control these
repinings and hush these mitrmurings with
much less sacrifice or effort than men. A
woman knows when to apply the unction of
soft words without forgetting her dignity or
infringing on a single principle which the
most scrupulous would wish to maintain.—
Mrs, Adams calmed these agitations of dis
appointment, healed the rankling wounds of
offended pride, and left them in admiration
if her talents and in love with her sincerity
Notwithstanding these numerous duties
and great exertions as the wife of a states
man, Mrs. Adams did not forget that she
was a parent. She had several children and
felt iu them the pride and interest, if she did
not make the boast of the mother of the
Gracchi.
Many Women fill important stations with
the most splendid display of virtues ; hut few
are equally great in retirement; there they
want the animating influence of a thousand
eyes and the inspiration of homage and flatte
ry. This is human nature in its common
form, and the exception is honorable and
rare. Mrs. Adams, in rural seclusion at
Quincy, was the same dignified,’sensible,
and happy woman, as when surrounded by
fashion, wit and intellect. No hectic of re
sentment, no pangs of regret were ever dis
covered by her, while indulging in the re
trospection of an eventful life in these shades
of retirement. Her conversation showed
flic same lively interest in the passing occur
rences as though she. had retired for a day
only, and was to have returned on the mor
row to take her share in tire business and plea
sures of a political existence. There was
no trick, no disguise in this. It arose from
a settled and perfectly philosophical and
Christian contentment, which great and pi
ous minds only can feel. Serenity, purity
and elevation of thought preserve the facul
ties of the mind from premature decay, and
indeed, keep them vigorous in old age. To
such the lapse of time is only the change of
the shadow on tho dial of life. The hours
which arc numbered and gone arc noticed
but their flight does not “ chill the genial cur
rent of the soul.” Religious thankfulness
for the past, and faith in assurances for the
future—that mortal shall put on immortality
—make the last drop in the cup of existence
clear, sweet and sparkling.
When the biographer of a future age, shall
do justice to tho characters of the illi - rious
women of our country, Mrs. Adams will lie
found conspicuous on his page, as a dutiful
daughter, an excellent wife, a kind, affec
tionate and careful mother ; ono who lived
longanddidmuch, who discharged the du
ties of common life with faithfulness and ala
crity, and filled the highest stations with suc
cess and honor; one, who though a politi
cian, “ could be defended from the cradle to
the grave,” and who, though a philosopher,
had no doubts of the Christian religion.
Mr. Adams is now far advanced in the
vale of years, and must feci his ioss as irre
parable ; but lie is ton wise to repine and has
no much to he grateful for to be cast down.
The wife of his youth lived with him for more
than half a century. With her in his heart
and in his hand he “ sounded all the depths
and shoals of honor.” While he mourns her
loss, her virtues will rrowd on his soul, clo
thed in colors made brighter by death. This
patriarch is now turned of eighty and pos
sesses his intellectual faculties in an extraor
dinary degree. May they long continue to
be fresh and vigorous, that he may give to
the world the mental portraits of his contem
poraries, and illustrations of our history. In
him the lamp of life seems to burn mure vi
vidly as he gathers the. gents which oblivion
was about to receive. The genius of the sage
isevery where respected, and his long and im
portant services to his country every where
acknowledged ; but our last gaze shall he on
his domestic virtues; for they were the bright
est in the constellation of his merits. Moral
and religious principles, and pure and virtu
ous affections are indistructible; God has put
on them the value of his promise, and the
seal of eternity.—JV. E. Galaxy.
AGRICULTURAL.
Address of Governor Clinton to the Agricultu
ral Society of Jefferson County.
Mr. president, and gentlemen. —Indepen
dently of the flattering references winch
have been made in the. very able address just
delivered, and which demand my arkuowl-
dgments, it would be difficult for inc to re
frain from expressing the high gratification
wliii h 1 have derived from the first exhibi
tion of this respectable association.
When we recollect that scarcely twenty
years have passed away since the first inhub-
taut erected bis hut in this county ; and
when we see that it contains flourishing vil
lages and a considerable population, charac
terized, as the proceedings of this day evince,
by intelligent views and well dim ted exer
tions ; that its soil is uncommonly fertile,
and its climate eminently salubrious ; anil
when we consider, that, with the natural ad
vantages which flow from its extensive con
nection with our interior seas, and toe arti
ficial facilities which it will derive from tho
mprovementof our mutual navigation, tne
markets of the north and the south will be
open to productions, we must be persuaded,
that the attainment of population and exu
berance of wealth, depends entirely upon
yourselves.
You 'have, gentlemen wisely chosen the
true road which leads to prosperity. Agri
culture is the source of subsistence ; subsist
ence is tlie basis of population ; and popula
tion is the foundation of prosperity and pow-
Agriculture is also the parent of indi
vidual and national opulence. It compre
hends in its operations, all the sources of
wealth. It employs land, labor, and capi
tal. It comprises the cultivation of all tlio
fruits of the earth, embraces almost every
method of obtaining food by labour, and in
cludes the raising of domestic animals, be
cause. that employment is necessarily identi
fied with the cultivation of vegetable food.
And as tire prosperity of a country essential
ly depends upon the quantity of surplus pro
duce derived from the soil, and as the amount
of the materials of subsistence will ulwujs
be regulated by the exertions of agriculture,
it is evident that its benefits in thes' respects
cannot be too highly appreciated. Jjut
when we further reflect, that it is lavorable
to exercise, the guardian of health-^to con
templation, the parent of wisdom—to aetivi-
ty, the friend of virtue ; and (to adopt tho
emphatic language of a sublime poet) to
that
“ Sweet peace, which goodness bosoms ever,”
we must all admit, that as it was the first it
is also the best pursuit of mankind.
Among the various measures adopted for
the promotion of this pursuit, and its invari
able companion, domestic manufactures, the
most effectual is the establishment of socie
ties for the collection and diffusion of infor
mation, and, for the excitement of industry
and emulation. This plan has been adopl"d
in this county, and a wise legislature w 1
cherish such institutions with extraordinary
patronage. It is pleasing to sec at the head
of this establishment distinguished men, ap
plying with so much public spirit 1 the gifts of
nature, the endowments of education, and
the bounties of fortune, to the improvement
of this favoured region. It is gratifying to
perceive men Who have encircled themselves
with high renown, and elevated the character
of their country, planting the olive by tho
laurel, and cultivating the acts of peace with
the same zeal and ability with which thoy
directed the storm of war. And it is a su»
jeet of high felicitation to witness this con
federacy of scientific and practical nun,
to behold flic experienced agriculturist and
enlightened professional man combining their
powers in favor of agriculture and domes
tic manufactures, and devising ways and
means to promote the public prosperity.
There was a period of danger when tho
eyes of the people of this state wire direct-
"d with peculiar anxiety to this region ;
when you passed with honor, throogu tlio
difficulties with which you were environed,
and vindicated the character of America at
the pointof the sword. On tins day the pub.
lie eye is fixed on you with equal attention,
to view the prosperity of your agriculture,