352 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. g 



gregations, and reputably supported by the volun- 

 tary contrihuiions ot" their hearer?. Bui these are 

 not ecclesiastical iiioues—fniges consumere nati: 

 they do, themselvei, the duties required of them ! 

 they act not in the affair.-; of heaven by deputies, 

 whose poverty is trul}' a[)osto!ical ; the penurious 

 stipends allowed them by their <i,Taspiiio; superiors, 

 compelliair them to be conversant only in ihe/«,s/s, 

 while their principals revel in the yeasis, of the 

 church. In a word, he will not see a sable host 

 of superfluous and pampered priests (maintained by 

 numbers who do not liear, or believe in their doc- 

 trines,) who fatten on the property of the people ; 

 and, while they letter and lerrily men's conscien- 

 ces, to mould them to their purposes, eat out their 

 substances, under the sanction of law. These de- 

 Bcriptions of characters, in othef countries, create 

 and increase taxes-, while they render their subor- 

 dinates less liable to pay them, by enormous rents, 

 made necessary by their dissipation and extrava- 

 gance, and by their capricious terms of I'^asing 

 lands, ot which they are the principal enfrrossers. 

 England has perha|)S, less reason to complain, on 

 these accounts, than some other European coun- 

 tries : but, if we had no other statements to rely 

 on than those given by Mr. Young himself, we 

 should know enough to be convinced, that, even 

 there, some of these causes produce misfortunes in 

 sufficient plenty. Not having the least inclination, 

 if it were in my power, to disturb the systems of 

 other nations, and wishing the happiness of man- 

 kind in their own way, 1 do not mention either our 

 positive or negative prosperity, with a view to 

 draw odious or disagreeable comparisons. The 

 world will never aoree about forms of government. 

 Let those who thiidt well of grades in society, be 

 happy in the possession of such arrangements. 

 We consiiler it furtunate, and leelit beneficial, that 

 we have them not. 



Taxes, it is said by some, stimulate to industry; 

 and, therefore, the higher the tax, the greater the 

 exertion, and the more employment. But, if this 

 were a more tenable doctrme than it is, I see not 

 that man should labor not for liimsell^— or for him- 

 self too hardly: nor should he be compelled, by 

 artificial necessity, like a criminal immerged to the 

 chin in water constantly flowing in upon him, in- 

 cessantly to pump, or perish. Taxes we have, but 

 the greater part are imperceptible, and all of them 

 hght. The moderate expenses ofour irovernment, 

 and the mediocrity of our public debt, do not re- 

 quire heavy and ruinous taxation. The backs to 

 bear it, increase faster than the burthen ; and we 

 are too far removed from the scenes of ruinous and 

 unnecessary wars, to dread any sudden or fatal in- 

 crease of it. Wars are generally produced by the 

 pride, vanity, interest, or ambition of hereditary 

 rulers. 



The great body of an industrious people are in- 

 clined to peace; and from these, our government 

 will always take its tone. As to our wars with the 

 savages, they are, for the time, embarrassing, lo- 

 cally distressinfT, and, generally expensive; but 

 are not nationally lijrmidable, or dangerous. Dis- 

 putes with them must gradually diminish, and, at 

 no distant period, end. Though the reflection be 

 painful to humanity, it is justified, in point of fact, 

 by experience, that the nations in contact with the 

 whites, always have been, and ever will be, exter- 

 minated. The approaches oi" our settlements, al- 

 ways banish the Indians. 



Our laws are generally liberal in their jiolicyi 

 We have no narrow arraniremetils, which, under 

 false notions of national convenience, or shadowy 

 and miscalculaled political restrictions, palsy agri- 

 culture and commerce, by preventing those who 

 possess the products of the country, from disposin<; 

 of what their labor has created, when, where and 

 hniv they please.. Free from such restramts, and 

 from tlie pressure of heavy rents, c/mrc/t-dues, and 

 taxes, our farmeis are the proprietors of the soil 

 they cultivate : they gather the honey, shear the 

 fleece, and guide the plough, for themselves alone, 

 It is not the "s/c dos non vobis^'' of Europe. They 

 increase the value of their capital, while they la- 

 bor for their sustenance. They do not, indeed, re- 

 ceive an annual interest, or revenue, on their capi- 

 tal ; but they pay none : yet. by their exertions fbr 

 their own support and accommodation, and the 

 growing population and improvement of the coun- 

 tr}", to which every one, stranger as well as native, 

 contributes, more than an European percentajje ia 

 added to their principal ; in so much, that farms 

 will increase, in very many parts of the country,- 

 tenfold in their value, in less than 20 years. Im- 

 mense tracts of new lands have been recently sold 

 by the state of Pennsylvania, at less than an En- 

 glish shilling per acre. Great and extensive bo- 

 dies of these lands can be now procured, at second 

 hand, at less than half Mr. Y.'s calculation for 

 mountain-lands. I know valuable tracts, of great 

 extent, within a few days' ride of Philadelphia, 

 which may be had at from 3 to 9s. sterling per 

 acre. These are not "mountain-lands," though, 

 like all the face of our country, they are cut in 

 some places, by ridsies. They are, lor the most 

 part, level, and so luxuriant in |)asturage, that, 

 maugre our winters, cattle now pass that season in 

 prime order, without cover, or artificial forage. 

 They command both the New- York and Philadel- 

 phia markets, and are situated in a safi?. country, 

 which will, erelong, be as great for grazing as any 

 in America. Other states have similar tidvanta- 

 ges. Mr. Y.'s farm, or even his 60 acres, and the 

 sheep he summered on it, will buy him a little ter- 

 ritory ; and his capital, in 10 years, will be increas- 

 ed 500 per cent. This is not a bad per centage, 

 nor is it a visionary calculation. I wish not to 

 throw out I'allacious temptations, but to relate facts, 

 merely to show why our fanners need not make 

 nice calculations about per centage. They have 

 now, and always have had, asure resource for the 

 wear of their sea-board farms, &c. in the growth 

 of their families. Children, in Europe, are often 

 burden and expense. The wealth of a great part 

 of the American farmers, grows with the additions 

 to their families. The children assist in the labor 

 of the old farm, or in the establishment of the new 

 one. This supersedes the necessity of calculating 

 on hired laborers, the work being chiefly done with- 

 in themselves : they are paid by the increased val- 

 ue of the common stock .Our laws, contrary to the 

 leodal injustice of Europe, encourage and direct 

 equality of distribution among the children of in- 

 testate descendants; so that many parents pur- 

 posely omit making wills, contented with the dis- 

 tribution made by law. And though every man 

 has the riijht, at his pleasure, to dispose of his es- 

 tate by will or deed, yet the habits of thinking on 

 such occasions, take their bias tiom the spirit of 

 our laws. Many, who have large families, and 

 want room, or are tired of their old farms, think it 



