96 



FARMERS' REGISTER— GREAT EXPLOIT. 



character, and at all seasons except in autumn, arc 

 rare in this part of the country; and many situa- 

 tions, and thousands ol" individuals through their 

 lives, are as free even from these most prevailing 

 diseases, as is usual above the lidls of the rivers. 



Many causes have concurred to jiroduce and in- 

 ci-fease the degraded condition of the lower coun- 

 try. But I am disposed to believe that the main 

 cause, (and one a!i sufRcientr lor the effects,) is 

 that which is our great boast and pride at home, 

 and the continued theme of our praise abroad — 

 "the hospitality of Old Yirginia." To this. virtue 

 (carried to the excess wliich converts a \drtue to ft- 

 vice) I ascribe tlie decline ol" the finest part of 

 Virginia, and the ini])overislniient and niin of 

 thousands of the kindest and warmest hearted 

 peoj)le in the world. Such eiiects arc certainly 

 not produced merely by the meat and liquor con- 

 sumed by friends and visiters: but it is our custom 

 to give up to all visiters not only the best, enter- 

 tainment, but also the tmie, the employments, and 

 the habits of the host— and this not only for friends", 

 and visiters whose company is pleasmg and de- 

 sirable, but for every individual of the despicable 

 race of loungers and spongers v.diich our custom 

 of universar hospitality has created — gentlemen 

 (for they are dll so styled,) who spend their Uves 

 in feasting at the expciise of other people, and 

 who are content to live despised,, provided they 

 can live without labor. These spongers are a 

 class peculiar to 6ur region, and who could not 

 exist elsewhere. If any of them were carried by 

 compulsion among the frugal .people of the east- 

 ern states, or thelaborious and enterprising 'set- 

 tlers of the West, they Avould soon starve — or 

 suffer almost. as paiiilld an alternative in being 

 compelled to work to earn food and clothing. 

 Would to heaven they could meet the same fate 

 here — for they are the devourers of our fuir coun- 

 try, and destroyers of its inhabitants.'' One hun- 

 dred of such honorable and gentlemanly vagrants 

 are more fii.tal to the district they prey u])on, than 

 would be periodical visitations of clouds of Asiatic 

 locusts; accompanied by the Asiatic cholera. , 



The farmer who may be the most, disposed to 

 enrich hLs .land, and to make the. greatest possible 

 profit. from his capital and means, must either 

 come into the general habits of the country, or be 

 considered a niggardly churl: and for this reason, 

 many who would find no pleasure in such a course 

 of life, even if free of cokt,submit to travel with their 

 neighbors this broad road to ruin. No retrench- 

 ment of expense, no lessening of hosj^itality, can 

 be endured— poverty and exile are ])referable: and 

 when a man's property is nearly ex])endcd, he sells 

 his land for less than the dwelling house on it alone 

 is worth, and moves with the scanty remnant of 

 his wealth to a western wilderness. There, other 

 .habits prevail, and he can. assume them without 

 shrinking. . He Avorks and lives for himself and 

 his. family, and not to supply the wants, and suit 

 .his habits to the opinions of the most worthless 

 part of the world. He perhaps dwells in a log 

 house, sits on a wooden stool, eats plain food on a 

 table of rough plank, and sleeps soundly on a corn- 

 shuck or moss mattress. If friend- or stranger 

 comes, he is welcomed (with true hospitality,) to 

 a share of the customary plain fare: but both host 

 and visiter have work 1o perform, and both get 

 away to it witiiout sacrificing either time or busi- 

 ness to the alxii^ ot' hospitaUty. By such a course 



of labor and frugality, the ruined farmer may Ise- 

 come richbelbre he dies — and if fiilse shame .had 

 not pi-eventcd his pursuing any thing like the same 

 course-, he might have remained, and prospered as 

 much, in the land of his birth. . 



But it is not only the impoverishment of our 

 farmers that acts so injuriously upon the land and 

 the condition of the country generally': the emigra- 

 tion which this impoverishment induces, is itself a 

 tax ihat would serve to di'ainfrom Lower Virginia, 

 all its average profit, and confer as much on the 

 new and 'thriving \vestern stati»s. If a million of 

 dollars v.'ortlt-of property • annually, is carried fi'om 

 Virginia to Alabama by emigrants, no Cipiivalent 

 is left, and the general effect is precisely the same 

 as if that amount of tribute was annually drawn 

 from the labor of the one country, and given to 

 aid the im])rovement of the other. To do justice 

 to this subject would require a much widi.^r range 

 than this letter permits, or than. I have ability to 

 fill — and I heartiby' wish that the subject coidd be 

 fully and truly exhibited. But tliis is certain, that 

 the tribute which Virginia and other old states 

 annually pay by e.migralion to the new, is enough 

 to produce avery great diiierence in tlieir respec- 

 tive conditions, independent of all diflerences of 

 fertility. . The loss to our country by emigration is 

 not only in the property of the enugrants: their 

 persons constitute perhaps a loss equally great. 

 They are generally enterprising and industrious, 

 often well educated — ^and fitted in a high degree to 

 increase the wealth' and p};omote the prosperity of 

 whatever land they inhabit. If such men left this 

 state without one dollar of property, gtill it v.-ould 

 be the loser by all that had been consumed in their 

 maintenance aiid education.. '-.'***** * 



GREAT EXPLOIT. 



OiY Saturday, a pair of horses before a light 

 wagon, trotted orer the Centreville course on Long 

 Island, 100 miles in two minwtes less tlian 10 hours, 

 and, of course, won the bet of 1000 dolltirs- Is 

 this. not unprecedented? — New York Gazette. 



This "great exploit" did not command universal ap- 

 plause — ^as witness the following remarliS of the New 

 York Commercial Advertisej, whicli are not more 

 severe tlian well deserved. 



It. was a match against time by two horses be- 

 longing to Mr. R BrThiell, of this city, for ^ 1500, 

 to trot in a light four wheel carriage, one hundred 

 miles in ten successive hours; and was won, having 

 two minutes thirty-five seconds to spare. If wli'at 

 we have heard be correct, the latter part of tlie 

 match was a scene revolting to humanity. . The 

 horses performed wonders tlie first eighty miles, 

 but evidently flagged the ninth hour, and on the 

 tenth, became so completely worried, that, during 

 a portion of that time, they were whipped with a 

 degree of ciiieliy unhea,rd of on any course in this 

 country or in Europe. One of the pa])ers states 

 that men Vvdth whips had to drive them around the 

 last mile, tmd that there is little hope of the recov- 

 ery of one of these fine animals — should he even 

 survive, he will never be fit for the road again. 

 We shtdl be glad to give contradiction to this state- 

 ment, if it be untrue-. If it be true— and we had 

 the stoiy from tfie hps of a gentleman who was ou 

 the course — the authors deserve strong public cen- 

 sure, and it is the duty of the grand jury to indict 

 lliein. 



