Part III.] Morris Birkbeck, Esq. 301 



ceive and decoy, You do indeed describe difficulties 

 and hardships : but, then, you overcome thera all with 

 so much ease and 2;aiety, that you make them disre- 

 garded by your English readers, who, sitting by their 

 fire-side, and leehng nothing but the gripe of the Bo- 

 roughmongers and the tax-gatherer, merely cast a 

 glance at your hardships and fully participate in all 

 your enthusiasm. You do indeed fairly describe the 

 rugged roads, the dirty hovels, the fire in the woods to 

 sleep by, the pathless ways througli the wildernesses, 

 the dangerous crossings of the rivers ; but, there are 

 the beautiful meadows and rich lands at last ; there is 

 the Jine freehold domain at ike end! There are the 

 giants and the enchanters to encounter ; the slashings 

 and the rib-roastings to undergo ; but then, there is, 

 at last, the lovely languishing damsel to repay the 

 adventurer. 



572. The whole of your writings relative to your 

 undertaking, address theniselves directly to English 

 Farmei's, who have property to the amount of two or 

 throe thousand pounds, or upAvards. Persons of this 

 description are, not by your express words, but by the 

 natural tendency of your writings, invited, nay, strongly 

 invited, to emigrate with their property to the Illinois 

 Territory. Many have already acted upon the invita- 

 tion. Many others are about to follow them. I am 

 convinced, that their doing this is unwise, and greatly 

 injurious, not only to them, but to the character of 

 America as a country to emigrate to, and, as I have, 

 in the first Part of this Avork, promised to give, as far 

 as 1 am able, a true account of America, it is my duty 

 to state the jvosoms on which this conviction is founded ; 

 and, I address the statement to you, in order, that, if 

 you find it erroneous, you may, in the like public man- 

 ner, show wherein I have committed error. 



573. We are speaking, my dear Sir, of English 

 Farmers possessing each two or tln-ee thousand pounds 

 sterling. And, before we proceed to enquire, whether 

 such persons ought to emigrate to tlic West or to the 

 East, it may not be amiss to enquire a little, whether 

 they ought to emir/rate at all! Do not start, now! For 

 while I am very certain that the emigration of suc/t 



