i)60 



FARMERS R E G 1 S T E R. 



[No. 



As rej^f-ards the epeculalion mania in our state, | 

 I can not even conjei'.ture wiiat could iiave lieen 

 eiiher the motives or the policj- oi" cor let^islalors; 

 for encouraiving' it; but it requires no g-reat pro- 

 phetic skill to foresee, that, should they continue 

 to do so, only a tew years more, at the rate of 37 

 enactments per session— not only will our agricul- 

 ture suiier in her very heart's core — but the ruin 

 of thousands must inevitably follow. Our suici- 

 dal policy, in regard to our own class, which has 

 been desolating Virginia, at a ratio constantly in- 

 creasing/, tor some years past, has been pursued 

 from the infancy of our government to the present 

 day; but has never been so deeply — so sorely felt 

 as in these times. Let me endeavor still further 

 to illustraie the causes. Mr. Jefferson's grand 

 test-question for choosing our public functionaries, 

 i^is he honest, is he fitV^ has remained nearly a 

 dead letter in his memorable inaugural address, 

 ,ever since it was uttered. In lieu of so admirable 

 ,a etandaid, we have adopted, at least virtually, if 

 not in so many vvords, the query "/s he loilling, is 

 he able and reaihf to do the political party-work 

 required of him? This 1 affirm to be more or less 

 true of all parlies, and if it were not so, why is it 

 that in every oral or newspaper notice of the can- 

 didates for our suffrages, we rarely ever see or 

 hear any other recommendation of them, than 

 (that they are Mr. A's, or Mr. B's, or Mr. some 

 .qther body's man, as if they were the actual per- 

 sonal property ot these individuals. What is this 

 but a most degrading proof that we who are to 

 vote for them, consider this very circumstance the 

 best possible evidence of their fitness tor our chief 

 purposes, which are not so much to legislate for 

 the great interests of the state, as to worship the 

 same political idol that we do, and to aid in pulling 

 down the idol of the party opposed to us? That 

 we should so often get men of talents, knowledge 

 and virtue, to re|)resent us, is truly v\^onderful, 

 considering how very few of the constituent body 

 make it an indespetisable object to secure such to 

 serve them. 



Some possibly may think T indulge in too great 

 freedom of speech; but the time has come, my 

 ffiends, when it would be treachery to our country 

 — nay, a base, dastardly dereliction of duty both 

 to her and to ourselves — were we to mince matters 

 m speaking of the various causes which impede 

 her prosperity, and are .«o rapidly accelerating her 

 decline in the relative scale of national importance; 

 causes which, althoush all must ultimately feel, 

 press most heavily, at first, upon the agricultural 

 interest. If we are to be constantly indebted to 

 other states and countries, not only for the most 

 common articles of necessity and comfort in house- 

 hold economyj but for most of our agricultural im- 

 plements, and tools of the handicraft callings — 

 nay, even for a large portion of our daily bread — 

 if most of us prefer political priKe-fighting to eat- 

 ing, we dissenters had better, (rather than be si- 

 lent,) abandon, at once, our dearly beloved state, 

 to become again the haunt of the wild beasts of 

 the forests, and an everlasting reproach to her re- 

 creant children, who prefer getting drunk with the 

 alcohol of party-spirit, to the political salvalion of 

 sixteen or seventeen millions of their fellow crea- 

 tures. No — let none of us forbear to denounce, at 

 every hazard, the causes of our present degrada- 

 tion, nor cea&e to summon to the rescue, every 

 friend to Virginia, who still clings to her, as their 



first — their best — their last hope of happiness, so 

 far as thai depends upon the homes of our inlan- 

 cy, and ujiona^/ihat renders the ties of country 

 and kindred so ine.xpresi=.iiiiy dear to our hearts. 



The time has come, and is now admonishing 

 us, owners and cultivators of the Virginia soil, 

 with a light as vivid as that of the noon-day sun, 

 ihat if sell-preservation be worth regarding, we 

 must — aye, indispensably, must make the promo- 

 tion of our own state-interests, (at the head of 

 which stands agriculture,) the great object of 

 our most strenuous, unceasing exertions. To do 

 this effectually, we must forever abandon party- 

 politics; lor it is morally as well as physically im- 

 possiole, that the two can work together. Where 

 any competion is permitted to exist at all, the as- 

 cendency and constantly augmenting influence of 

 the latter is just as certain as death itself; lor in 

 almost every recorded case, in the annals of the 

 world, of contests between cunning selfishness, 

 whose most powerful weapon is party-spirit, and 

 pure patriotism, the former has gained the victory. 

 Choose ye therefore, between them: continue but 

 a lew years more to cherish and hug to your bo- 

 soms this fatal, this most deadly ctirse, as you so 

 long have done, and you may bid adieu, forever, 

 to all hopes of restoring good old Virginia to her 

 former prosperity, or ot' saving our own class from 

 the ruin which threatens us. Without identity of 

 purpose, and union of effort, among its members, 

 no class of society ever yet prospered — more es- 

 pecially where legislative aid was essential to their 

 prosperity; for that can never be obtained but by 

 combined exertion on their part. 



It is now, I think, some two year.g ago, since I 

 ventured, earnestly, but respecifull}'; to suggest to 

 you, that for all the long neglect by our govern- 

 ment of our petitions, we agriculturists had a 

 plain, simple remedy in our own hands, which 

 nothing was easier than to apply. This was eith- 

 er unanimously to instruct oar representatives, or 

 to require pledges from them beforehand, to use 

 their utmost efforts in behalf of agriculture. Yet 

 not a single instance have I yet heard of any such 

 instruction — any such requirement. The only de- 

 mand made of any candidate, that has reached 

 my ears, was — "ore you a staunch administration 

 man, or a staunch antiV by which is meant, a 

 man who will always go with his party whether 

 he thinks it right or wrong — that being the grand 

 desideratum — the all comprehensive endowment 

 for wise and patriotic legislation! 



We may possibly go on somewhat longer in 

 our asinine conflicts for party victories, and when 

 we happen to gain them, may continue our idiotic 

 chuckling at our success; tor in spite of this mad 

 course, to which most of us seem willing to sacri- 

 fice every thing else, some men will get into each 

 legislature every way capable of rendering their 

 country all the service she needs. But they will 

 never constitute the majority of the body, as they 

 might, and ought to do; nor will they possess in- 

 fluence enough to counteract, or even materially 

 to check the ignorance and arbitrary demagogue- 

 spirit which so frequently and fatally predominate 

 in a party-legislature. jPoor old Virginia! deeply, 

 most deeply is she to be pitied by all who love her 

 in sincerity; for the day seems not very distant, 

 unless her sons come to their senses, when she 

 will scarcely have inhabitants enough left to tell 

 the passing stranger the tale of her sufferings, 



