1839] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



407 



A mower should not have a sneacl that is too 

 Blender, (or this ivill keep the scythe in a continual 

 tremor, and do much to hinder its cutting. He 

 must see that it keeps perlectly Hist on the snead; 

 ibr the least dpgree of looseness will ohlige hitn to 

 use more violence at every stroke. JVJ any worry 

 themselves needlessly by not attending to this cir- 

 cumstance. 



JVIovviiig with a company oii2hl to be avoided 

 by those who are not verysironjr, or who are 

 litde used to the business, or who have not their 

 tools in the best order. Yountr lails who are am- 

 bitious to be thought good mowers, olien find 

 themselves much hurt by mowing in compan}'. 



Mowers siiould not (bilow too closely alter each 

 Other, for this has been tiie occasion of fatal 

 wounds. And when the danirerous tool is car- 

 rie<! (rum place to place, it should be bouml up 

 with u rope of grass, or otherwise carefully secured. 



STEAM plough; 



Among the new inventions in France is one 

 which is much talked of among speculators and 

 nianuli^.cturers. It is a steam plough of very pe- 

 culiar construction, with which it is said four miles 

 of ground can be excavated with an engine of 

 only eiijht-horse power, to the depth of a loot and 

 the breadth of two leet, in a single hour. The 

 proji'cior of ilie canal from Orleans to Nantes, 

 which, under ordinary circumstancps, would re- 

 quire at least five years for its construction, pre- 

 tends that in one year the whole would he com- 

 pleted iiy the use. of this machine, and that the 

 eavinuf in mere interest of capital would amount 

 to fi)r\y thousand pounds sterling. A friend of 

 mine, who is one ofthe besr engineers in Europe, 

 tells me that he lias seen the instrument, and that 

 with some ameliorations he believes it would ac- 

 complish all that has been stated. The earth as 

 it is turned up is thrown into a sort of sail, which 

 throws it to a distance of sixty leet. — Letter Corr. 

 Gardener''s Gazette. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



Williamsburg, 1st July, 1839. 

 Dear Sir. — The two papers accompanying this, 

 were compiled (or my own gratification. If you 

 think them oC sufficient interest for publication 

 they are at your service. 



I offer you my friendly salutations, 



Richard RAJN'DOLrii. 



REMINISCENCES OF JAMES TOWN. ' 



Capt. Smith informs us that the first colony land- 

 ed at Jamestown /or the first time, on the 13th 

 of May, 1606. It is represented as a peninsula at 

 that time. Misfortune met them at the threshold; 

 for on the return ofthe first expedition up the river, 

 they found seventeen men wounded, and a boy 

 killed by the salvages. Encountering sedition, 

 pestilence and famine, they persevered until they 

 established a town ; and commanded respect from 

 the Indians. In January, 1640, it was ordained, 

 that "James Cittie be the chief town," and the go- 

 vernor is to reside there. In 1642 decent houses 



1 were built in the town. In 1655 Sir William 

 j Berkley, governor of Virginia, conveyed to Richard 

 I Bennet, esq., "the wesiernmof^t of three brick 

 ] houses," which he built there. A weekly market 

 was estalilished, to be held every Wednesday and 

 j Saturday. In 1662 an act ofthe assembly pro- 

 vides, first, that a town be built at James City; 

 that the town to be built shall consist of thirty-two 

 houses of brick, forty-two leet long, and twenty 

 leet wide, within the walls,eiglileen leetliiuh above 

 ground ; the walls to be two bricks thick to the 

 water table, and a brick and a hail" from thence 

 to the roof The roof to be fifieen loot pitch (a 

 Duicli roof) and covered with slate, or tile. 2ndly, 

 The houses shall be built regularly, one by the 

 other in a square, or such other (brm as the honor- 

 able Sir William Berkley shall appoint. Srdly, 

 That each county shall build one Iiouse. In the 

 same year an act past for buildinir a church ; and 

 we may presume that the venerable brick relic of 

 a church, wliich is now to be seen there, was built 

 in obedience to that act. 



The records show that the island extended much 

 fn-ther westward than it does now; and we have 

 good cause to believe that the land on which many 

 of these houses stood, is now under water. 



I have belbre me a manuscript account ol'Bacon's 

 rebellion, said to have been written by one ofthe 

 members li-om Staflbrd. in the assembly held at 

 James Town in June, 1676. This account may 

 be substantially true; but it certainly contains 

 many errors. It states that Bacon was unani- 

 mously chosen a member, and \vas taken prisoner 

 on his way to that assembly; that he saw him in 

 his seat as a councillor, when the assembly was 

 in session, of which he was a memfier. There is 

 no instance of a man's being both burgess and 

 councillor at the same time. It also states that 

 Sir William Berkley issued a proclamation against 

 Bacon and others, prior to the oili of June, 1676, 

 when Bacon went down to take his seai in the 

 assembly. That assembly passed "an act disa- 

 bling Edward Hill and John Siith to liear office." 

 This act charges them with being the greatest fo- 

 menters of the late disturbances ; the writer ol the 

 above article stales that Edward Hill was a mem- 

 ber of that assembly. It is not probable that Ba- 

 con would have been so unguar(led as to go to the 

 legislature when he was proclaimed an outlaw. 



The first overt act ^'against his sacred majeslia'^ 

 was in Jutic, 1676, when he caused James Town 

 to be burnt, 'i'he act passed in February, 1677, 

 states, that Lawrence and Drummond were among 

 the most notorious aiders of Bacon. Now Law- 

 rence and Drummond are charged with burning 

 James Town, and it does not apfiear that they 

 were concerned with Bacon, prior to June, 1676. 

 The strongest presumption is, that the proclama- 

 tion against Bacon was issued after his attack on 

 James Town. It is averred that he died in the au- 

 tumn of tlial year. 



BACOPk S REBELLION. 



An article under this head, published in the 

 Petersburg Intelligencer, stales, that Nathaniel 

 I Bacon (called the rebel,) was a member of the 

 I council. J doubt it. Where is the evidence? 

 I The first official notice of his name, appears in an 

 ; act of assembly passed on the 5ih June, 1676, 



