﻿134 
  AGRICULTURE. 
  

  

  quality 
  was 
  generally 
  such 
  that 
  for 
  that 
  cause 
  it 
  could 
  

   not 
  be 
  rejected. 
  Nevertheless, 
  it 
  sometimes 
  happened 
  

   that 
  an 
  unobjectionable 
  article 
  was 
  left 
  upon 
  the 
  planter's 
  

   hands, 
  if, 
  from 
  ignorance 
  of 
  estahlished 
  usage, 
  he 
  had 
  

   omitted 
  the 
  customary 
  douceur 
  to 
  the 
  inspector. 
  

  

  This, 
  however, 
  soon 
  came 
  to 
  be 
  better 
  understood. 
  

   The 
  capacious 
  pockets 
  of 
  the 
  inspector 
  were 
  not 
  worn 
  

   without 
  a 
  purjDose, 
  and 
  the 
  expected 
  purse 
  was 
  habitu- 
  

   ally 
  dropped 
  into 
  it 
  without 
  at 
  all 
  shocking 
  the 
  moral 
  

   sense 
  of 
  the 
  wearer. 
  

  

  It 
  was 
  not 
  necessary, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  altogether 
  proper, 
  

   to 
  couple 
  the 
  offering 
  with 
  expressed 
  conditions; 
  that, 
  if 
  

   not 
  indelicate, 
  would 
  have 
  been 
  quite 
  superfluous, 
  it 
  be- 
  

   ing 
  quite 
  safe 
  and 
  effectual 
  to 
  make 
  the 
  silent 
  contribu- 
  

   tion. 
  Nor 
  was 
  any 
  particular 
  secrecy 
  or 
  concealment 
  

   at 
  all 
  necessary. 
  This 
  was 
  not 
  considered 
  hrihery 
  ; 
  the 
  

   king 
  always 
  paid 
  his 
  servants 
  indifferently, 
  and 
  these 
  

   were 
  but 
  the 
  perq^dsites 
  of 
  office 
  which 
  indemnified 
  the 
  

   needy 
  oflicial 
  for 
  his 
  poorly 
  requited 
  services. 
  

  

  Whether 
  these 
  usages, 
  reacting 
  upon 
  the 
  producers, 
  

   had 
  any 
  effect 
  upon 
  the 
  quality 
  or 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  

   tobacco 
  in 
  the 
  end, 
  is 
  not, 
  perhaps, 
  altogether 
  clear; 
  but 
  

   it 
  is 
  certain 
  that, 
  from 
  some 
  cause, 
  either 
  from 
  fraud 
  in 
  

   packing, 
  the 
  falling 
  off 
  in 
  quality, 
  or 
  from 
  the 
  com- 
  

   petition 
  of 
  the 
  Kentucky 
  tobacco 
  introduced 
  into 
  New 
  

   Orleans, 
  under 
  General 
  Wilkinson's 
  contracts 
  with 
  the 
  

   Spanish 
  authorities, 
  or 
  by 
  their 
  connivance, 
  the 
  price 
  was 
  

   so 
  reduced, 
  that 
  the 
  further 
  cultivation 
  of 
  it 
  in 
  Missis- 
  

   sippi, 
  for 
  exportation, 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  wholly 
  aban- 
  

   doned, 
  greatly 
  to 
  the 
  injury 
  and 
  embarrassment 
  of 
  the 
  

   planters, 
  who 
  had, 
  for 
  the 
  purchase 
  of 
  slaves, 
  contracted 
  

   debts 
  which 
  they 
  now 
  found 
  it 
  difficult 
  to 
  discharge. 
  

  

  