QLl)Z iTarmcr's iUouti)hj llisitor. 



23 



been incorporiited whatever Ims been left of sev- 

 eral oilier semi-weekly eslabll.slirnems. 



The Boston Palriot, siicceediii-; several other 

 semi-weekly anil weekly deinoeralie papers, snoli 

 as the liepubtkan Gitzdkn, the DemocrnI, Yankee, 

 Sec. was eslalilislied as a semi-weekly (in Wednes- 

 days and Saturdays, the laller part of 1808. Fur 

 two or three years it was under the able niana^e- 

 irient of David Everett, who as an essay and po- 

 litical writer of grtat pungency, has been exceed- 

 ed by few American eiliturs. Mr. Rverett, at first 

 u nieclianie or farmer, a native of New Ipswich, 

 N. H., where his widow, llie sister of SaiMiiel and 

 Nalluui Appleton who have since become j;ener- 

 ous millionaires in a lonjr atid steady course of 

 mercantile and manufactin'in^ success at.tlie cap- 

 ital of New England, yet sm-iives him, was a 

 self-made scholar, workiiisj his w.iy from the 

 academy tliroii;,'h Dartmonth (/ollejre after he 

 was twenty oni^ years of .■ijre. The lirst printer 

 of the Patriot and its alone editor after Mr. Ev- 

 erett retired, was Isaac Monroe, a native of that 

 part of Candtridge called first Jlenotomy and 

 since incorporated as the town of West Cani- 

 biidj,'e, who served his apprenticeship in the of- 

 fice of the Boston Gazette. By the applic.ition 

 of sentlemen of the JelTersoniah or rirpnlilii'an 

 party, in M.irylainl. and the offer of a liberal loan 

 of money, Mr. Monroe established the Daily Pat- 

 riot at Baltimore, which from near the close of 

 the war with Great Britain up to this time, has 

 Iieen continued by him. Ttie Boston Palriot was 

 boufiht out for the benefit of Davis C. Ballard, 

 n son of the wife of Abijah Adams of the Boston 

 Chronicle, by a former husband : the mother, af- 

 ter the death of her last husband wn? a joint pro- 

 prietor uitli the son in this esta!)lishment, in 

 which he continued several years. While be 

 lived the paper was democratic. On an allefred 

 cnnlejnpt of the U. S. District Court while siltinj; 

 at Portland, before Maine was separated from 

 Massachusetts, for some publication in the Palriot 

 of its proceedings, he was arrested uhderacap'as 

 from Mr. Justice Story of the S.ipreme Court of 

 the United Slates carried to Portland rnd there 

 compelled to apologize and ask [lardon of the 

 court. This degradation seemed to have broken 

 down ever afterwards the noble bearing of this 

 spirited and lalenjed y«ung man ; and, wiih no 

 moral obliquity, and no relaxation of a constant 

 industry, the brooding of melancholy ended in 

 the terininalion of life by his own hand — being 

 found sus[iended by the neck from the bed post 

 of his place of lodging. lie died without a fam- 

 ily. Since his death the Patriot with the other 

 semi-weeklies, has been merged in the Daily Ad- 

 vertiser. 



We will not now pursue our jintice farther, 

 either of the more recent successful Boston news 

 papers or of the olher |)apers in our own and 

 other State.s, whose management has been under 

 our notice the greater part of the time for forty- 

 five years. This we may hereafter do, we hope 

 in a shorter article than the present. 



For the F.irmei's Monthly Visitor 

 ImprovcBieut of Sheep. 



There are many of our «ool growers who 

 keep sheep, the average weight of whose fleeces 

 is iiol more ihau two .-ujd a half pounds, aiiri ihe 

 wool not worth more tlian twenty-three to twen- 

 ty-five cents a pound, the past season. Now 

 these sanie people would think it quite impossi- 

 ble, were they told that it would be uk re profi- 

 table to give ten dollars a head for a goo 1 flock 

 of sheep, than to take the gift of such sheep as 

 their own. Nevertheless, it is tiiie ; and evejy 

 one will see it who will take the trouble to think 

 of it. The extra weight of wool of those sheep 



whose fleeces will weigh from four to five 

 pounds, and the wool ol which would be worth 

 ihirly cents a pound, the past season, together 

 willi the extra piice per pound will pa/ the iii- 

 lerest on from leu lu liimlei'ii dollars, to sa\ 

 nothing of the evlra wiirili of iheir lambs. I 

 have bad some expiM-ience in the maiiagemeiM 

 of sheep, an<l have bociylit and weighed the 

 tleeces from some three huuditil different flocks 

 yearly. 



I keep a flock of Merino sheep, and have fifty 

 four ewes, Ihe fleeci^s of which taken fioni them 

 last June weighed iwo bundled sevenly pounds 

 and four ounces washed wool, or t\vtf pounds lo 

 each (lecce. The liglilest fleece l<)ur pounds six 

 ounces, the heaviest seven pounds l()ur ounces. 

 iMauy p(!iiple, who keep uuproliable sheep, sa\ 

 lliey cannot be al the expense of buying those 

 that are high priced. To such I would say, il 

 one half or one third of your whole number of 

 ewes are middling shi'ep, keep iheni for breed- 

 ers, and turn the remainder wiih ihe wt'lheis for 

 iiiutton. (Jet a first rate buck, and a fe .v prime 

 ewes; and ejicli year at shearing lime number 

 your sheep by puitiiu: figures on them with t.ir 

 and put the same numbers on paper, carrying 

 out the weight of each flirece, and ihose that are 

 objei'lionabh^ liirn otf ti> lilt wilhout raising any 

 stuck from iheni. 



JOHN BROWN. 



New London, N. M. 



For the Fnrmcr's Mnnlhly Visitor. 

 On Beading. 



BY F. S. WEST. 



If more care were taken in recard to the 

 books which are placed in the hands of yonlh, 

 many erroneous impressions which are observa- 

 ble in after lile, would be avoide<l. This is a 

 siiliject which is made of minor importance in 

 our newspapers, but should be discussed fre- 

 quently and with zeal. It is harilly worlh while 

 10 write of it when the public mind is filled with 

 political mailers, (] speak concerning New 

 Hampshire,) but the thoughts I may give utter- 

 ance to may possibly induce some more able 

 writer to express his views upon the subject. 



1 have a parti;iliiy for old books, tor the time 

 was, but a few years since, when books were not 

 easily altainable; and that very scarcity was 

 probably a means of causing them to be sought 

 alter with an eagerness which is scarcely known, 

 now that there is a surfeit. When ihere were 

 but few peo(ile who could boast a library of their 

 own, and the thirst for reading could only be re- 

 lieveil by circulating libraries, which were "few 

 and far between," many Ijimilies were accustom- 

 ed to send miles lor the books which were loan- 

 ed for a limited period at a certain price per 

 volume. However much this might have sub- 

 jected individuals to trouble and inconvenience, 

 i assert that ths literary tastes of the people 

 were much more refined, and the minds of youth 

 much less depraved, tbau at the present day, 

 when books are "as plenty as blackbeiries," and 

 every city in the land resounds wiih the clatter 

 of printing presses, which throw off impressions 

 wiih an expedilion almost surpassing belief. 

 Why is this? Does not the advance of science 

 keep pace wiih the insatiate desire for gain? 

 Are the numerous good books which are printeil 

 oulnnmbered by ihe bad? Perhaps not; — but 

 ihey are so ihrown togelhcr, in such promisciioiis 

 heaps, that it must take a discrimiuaiing mind lo 

 separate the wheat from the chaff Consequent- 

 ly, a person who is in the habit of reading all the 

 new works which are published, may read twenty 

 bad ones for one good one. My estimale may 

 be a slight exa^L'eratiou, but 1 dare say that. most 

 critics would bear me out in the assertion.. 



Of what benefit are the bushels of "yellow 

 litemlure'" which load the shelves of our book- 

 shops? Stories of love and romance, by some 

 aspiring genius, which make the unsuspecting 

 maidens roll iheir eyes in exiacy, or shed tears 

 of sympathy, ne:;lecting meanwhile iheir domes- 

 tic diilies, and when they have finished reading 

 ihey cannot tell the pur[n>rt or the moral — if in- 

 deed they have any; fi>r nrost of tliem are the 

 reverse. There are thousiinds of novels for sale 

 at twelve cents apiece, which find their way into 

 respectable families from the liict that they are 

 cheap, which would disgrace the lowest den of 

 vice. These are read by cliilJreu and youth, 



who soon acquire ti taste f(>r such work.s, and 

 they will then read nothing else. Years of ab- 

 slinence will not eradii-ate the evil inslilled into 

 iheir mimls by this fictitious trash, which has no 

 semblance of realiiy, moralily, or oiiginaliiy. I 

 ill) not say this to injure in any way my (i lends, 

 ihe booksellers— fur from it. Were the people 

 lo buy only such standard woiks as are well 

 known lo reflect honor upon the hea<ls anil 

 hearts of ihe wrilers, I doubt not il would be a 

 lii'iieficial change tin- the dealers, as well as being 

 a more ciediiable emfiloyment. 



For works of fiction — there are the Wavcrly 

 novels, which are not only deeply enterlaining, 

 but very inslrudive, as conlaining accurate rep- 

 resentations of men and manners, and much of 

 history and high concepliou. It is probable that 

 but c-omparatively few (^hildl■en at the present 

 day have read them, while they may have spent 

 many an hour in perusing the cheap novels of 

 some ignoiamus, who portrays the j'eelings of 

 his own mind for the gratificaliou of lliose who 

 may chance lobe as susceplible as himself Oh! 

 I hat Scott mi;,dit have lived a thousand years, lo 

 have charmed each successive geiieraliou wiih 

 such as an "Ivaulioe," "Guy Mannering," "Mar- 

 niinn," and the" Lady of the Lake." 



Then there are the works of Shakspeare, 

 whose powerful mind has never yet been equal- 

 led, and w hose sayings will be quoted in the pul- 

 pit as well as in play-house, till all shall have 

 gone to "that bom ne whence no traveller re- 

 turns." Milton, Young, Addison and Pope, and 

 nmnerons others, have furnished the world with 

 standing monunieuls of lileialure, the merits of 

 v\hich I can only praise, fori am not competent 

 lo review. But noiwiihstaiiding my expressed 

 pariialily lor books which age has .sanctified, I 

 would not in any measure detract from the nier- 

 ils of the excellent authors of the present day. 

 While it is believed by many that the age is pro- 

 gressing in light, knowledge and wisdom I would 

 not wish to prove that it is "advancing back- 

 wards." It is true, and 1 say it with triumph, 

 that the present age can boast of some authors 

 whose works will !)e imperishable as the rock — 

 but 1 do regret, sincerely, that li)r the last few 

 years, amon2 our own people, there has been 

 such a predileclion tiir cheap lileratnre. This 

 has been the unlbrtunate means of retarding ihe 

 progress of refinement, and I hope our booksel- 

 lers will bereafler have less cause lo complain 

 lliat the dust acciimulales upion and soils the 

 binding of standard works. 



1 commenced writing this article for the sake 

 of "trying my pen"; but having extended it to 

 some length, I send it lo the Visitor tor piiblica- 

 lion, and if it should chance lo be received with 

 favor, 1 may venture to try my pen again. 



"To learn to subdue our pa.ssions." 



About one year trgo we had the pleasure of lis- 

 teuiiig at the city of Washington to the rehearsal 

 of a poem by our old friend from New Hamp- 

 shire, B. B. Fr£n»;-h, Esq., Clerk of the House of 

 Kepreseiitatives of the United Stales, the duties 

 of which oflice he discharges, we will say wilh- 

 out doing injustice to any of his predecessors, in 

 a manner more acceptable than any other man ; 

 we say this, because it will be universally admit- 

 ted that no man in the long sittings of that body 

 has been able to perform of himself so much 

 person.d labor, and no other man can boast his 

 rare aptitude as a ready and distinct reader of dif- 

 ficult manuscripts or as a writer down at the mo- 

 ment of all its [iroceediugs. He was raised from 

 a. subordinate situation in the Clerk's office to 

 which be was ajipointed twelve years ago, to that 

 of the principal, by the unanimous voice of all 

 parties in the House. Mr. French, as a citizen of 

 ihe city of Washington, is no less a favorite than 

 in the more imp.orlant oflice in which his labors 

 are s» arduous : repeatedly has he lieen elected a 

 member of the city Legislature, and 1ms presided 

 over the deliberations of the branch lo which he 

 belonged. 



Recently the much misrepresented order, 

 " more ancient than the golden fleece or Roman 



