134 



Qi\)t JTaniur's iHontijltj lUsitor. 



For the raniler's JMnutliiy \'irii(or. 



Uncle Jacob's Views of (he Etrects ol'tlie A- 



mericaii Climate niinn I>ieu and Aniiaals. 



"1 tell vol! vvliiU, Hull," sm'hI my iipicli.', us lie 

 lij;lilf(l Ills jiijio Jil'ter \vi)iMii;r iiii (lay iiiiKPti;.' tlir 

 com, "if it were not for tlie lulior iind fXt'ilions 

 I make, lliecookiiii; of lliat wile of your." would 

 give iiie tlie eoiil : every iliiiipr is the very liesi; 

 and to look ut llie tnlile is iiiviliitiiiu eiioiii;li. i 

 relisli every ll.'iiii.' — liirtlie cloth is so wliite, the 

 idatrs liiifilit, tiiid every cookiiii.' uletisil in llie 

 ver> lle^t (•oiMlili<iii. flow is it, niy hoy — doe'S 

 she" never scold ? 1 mil tcdd that these neat wo- 

 men arc very apt to have the tongue hung in the 

 tiiiddlc." 



"Anioiig llie ^'ood thiniis she has learned,'' 

 saiil 1, "she has nt.-ver learned that." 



" Ah, Hull," he rpplied, iuterrnjuiujr me, '"every 

 time I look upon her, I put you dov.ii as a hicky 

 fellow. The Irulli is, I have heen to-day, as J 

 was vvcedinir out the corn, tiu'iiiiii; over in my 

 nund the suhjoct of the effects of our soil and 

 rliuiule npoi iticn and atdiuals, and I have come 

 to the conchision that, like onr Cnntiiient, our 

 motmlains, and our streams, every iliiuj; is on a 

 lar^ir, a more niilile scale, than in the old world. 

 Our women are handsomer, and have lar more 

 inlelliiicnce ; lliey are more moral, make hetter 

 wivesaiid mothers. The men, c(ursequently, sue 

 su[ierior. Where id found v. Washington, or a 

 Franklin? Where the skill and conia^'e that 

 marked us in the Revolution, and since? As 

 farmers, what s( rt of a (i;.'nre do the Ena;li.-h, or 

 other foreiiiiiers make amoMg ns ? They would 

 liecouie paupeis, if they did not ahandon their 

 modes of tillage and copy onrs. On their hoasted 

 element, have we not shown to llie world tliat we 

 call linild better ships, handle them with more 

 skill, out-maiiipnvre iheni, anil flog them before 

 they had time to get ready ? 



" Pull the cork out of ilia! bottle of cider. Boh. 

 Th.il's a girl, Petray ; the very tiimhlers become 

 clever in ihis house." 



"The English will set it presently," said my 

 wife, ns she tilled his tumbler. 



"Talk of their Champaigne, too," said my un- 

 cle; "1 never tasted any equal to farmer 't'hrif- 

 ty's cider; and the best that is sold in the conn- 

 try, I verily believe, is so (iom the circumstance, 

 that onr own apples, instead of French gra[)es, 

 furnish the material. 



" What, (said he, lesuminff the thread), have 

 we not taught them how to make steam engines ? 

 have they not copied our boat engines, our rail- 

 road engines? and from ns they have learned to 

 card the wool of their fjictories." 



" Why, uncle," said Peggy, " Dickens and their 

 other visitors do not think so." 



"And what care 1," said my nncle, " what is 

 said by Dickens or otiicrs ? Tliose people came 

 here as their writers formerly visited France, not 

 to upeak impartially of ns, but to administer to 

 the conceited pride and arrogance of their own 

 people; and their productions are hut the embo- 

 dying of their own vices and i!eji?cts. Their 

 books may teach us their own delt-cts, pinsical 

 and nienJal, hut never can impait to their own 

 pe'.ple a picture of .\niericans. Dickens is a 

 cringing dependant upon the aristocracy of his 

 own country. They buy and read his book, and 

 he finds it necessary to soothe their wounded 

 pride and conscious inferiority bv faisifvin"- us. 

 There has been no time, fiir these liundred vears, 

 (said my uncle) but we have had men superior 

 as farmers, as soldiers, sailors, statesmen, orators, 

 and mechanics. They have only surpassed us in 

 a hireling, depemleiit race of scurrilous writers 

 of falsehood and delamation. As to their supe- 

 riority in breeds of animals, in my ojiiiiion, (said 

 he,) onr stock as a whole is better than theirs. 

 Great attention has been paid to a few particular 

 kinds, by a few people; but this is verv limited; 

 and a larger number of snperioraninial's of every 

 kind can be found in this connlry than in Kn;;- 

 land. And what does this prove, bnt the benefi- 

 cial, the improving effects of onr .soil and climate 

 upon the original importation ? The Durhams 

 the Devoiis, and Teesewuters, when they have 

 coi7ie among us, have proved a sort of liot-honse 

 plants, that exjiosuie has soon blighted ; and this 

 superiority has only been preserved (or a short 

 time by great care and expense. Turn them up- 

 on the pastures that fatten oiu- cattle, and they 

 become lean and inferior. 



" All we hfive to do, is m take better care of 



the animals ih.it we already have, to still fiirlher 

 advance llieir superiority — liir we have in our 

 Indian corn, that cannot he piodncrd in an Eng- 

 lish climate, an article ofhiod that "ill enable ns 

 to mainiMtn the improvement alrPi.d\ so dei-i>ive. 

 "About half a glass more of yo.ir liither's 

 cider, my dear — my pipe is out — and now lor my 

 sli(ipers and the candle. Good nighi." R. 



Meeting of f fie Royal Asricnltural Poclety at 

 Derby, } nglaiid. 



By the kindness ol onr London friends, we 

 were put in early possession of various London 

 and other English pajicrs, containing ve.ry lull 

 accounts of the proceedings of the meeting, and 

 several of them filled with pictorial illnslratioiis 

 of the cattle yards, trial of implements, dinners, 

 &CC.. itc. It must have been a proud dav tiir the 

 I'liiglisI: agriculturalist, and a scene which no 

 fi'iend of liirming could look upon without feel- 

 ing his blood coursing more warndy Ihrongh his 

 veins. The United Stales were ably represented 

 at the meeting by Mr. Everbtt, mini.ster to 

 Great Britain, and by Mr. Colman, who, onr 

 readers are aware, is now on an agricultural tour 

 through that country. Both gentlemen were 

 I called out, .Mr Colman at the Coniicil dinner on 

 i Wednesday, and Mr. Everett at the great Pavilion 

 dinner on Thm-sday, and their speeches were ve- 

 ry effective, and leceiveif gretit applause. 



r.iR. f.verf.tt's speech. 

 Mr Everett, the American minister, was a guest 

 at the annual dinner of the Royal Airricnllural 

 Society, at Derby, England, on the llihofjuly 

 last, and his health bt/mg proposed by the I'liair- 

 man. Earl Spencer, made the folhuving speerh : 

 Mr Everett, upon rising to return thanks, 

 was received with loud and lung continued cheer- 

 ing. He said — ?.Iy lord and gentli-men, I assure 

 yon, without aH'ei'tation, that when 1 consider the 

 kind manner in which you, my lord, have spoken 

 of me and my coinilry, 1 am almost overpowered 

 by my (i'elings, and want words to express them. 

 Such a notice, from such a company, of myself 

 and my country, from this iiUolligcnt assembly of 

 English noblemen, and gentlemen, and yeoiueii 

 — Ilom you, my lord, who have borne the flag of 

 yonr cmmtry with honor on the sea — (cheers), 

 and who sustain a position of such importance 

 and respectability on shore — sii', I want words to 

 thank you as 1 ought. Von have done me no 

 more than justice, 1 assure you, in ascribing to 

 me the kindest fi^eliiiL's towani the land of my 

 liitbers— (cheers.) My lord, ! am a great believer 

 in the efficacy of race and of blood. ] do not 

 think it is couiined to a question of short-horns 

 and Ilerefords, and South Downs and Leicesters. 

 I believe in the nice of men as well as id" the in- 

 ferior animals— (cheers.) Alt.achcd, as I am, ar- 

 dently, passionately, to my own conntry, desiions 

 to strain every nerve in her service, aiid it" need 

 be, to shed every drop of blood in her deli^nce — 

 ((dieers), 1 yet rejoice that my ancestor.s were the 

 countrymen of your ancc^'lois. fliy lord, the 

 soMiid of my native language beyond the sea is 

 music to my ears — (cheers). 1 do rejoice that 

 when 1 speak my niolher toiisue I speak in the 

 mother tongue also of a kindred people like that 

 of yourselves— (cheers); and my lord, if there is 

 any occasion — if tliere is any inening that ought 

 to bring ns together as brethren, is it not at a 

 meeting of those devoted to t! e ereat |i.iieiit art, 

 the common interest of civilized nations ? — (Tre- 

 meiidons cheers.) Oh, my lord, I believe that if 

 one thousandih |iart of the energy, of the skill, 

 of the treasure that have been expended by rival 

 nations in the deadly struggle of what iscalled 

 "the field" had been employed in a generous 

 emtllation to see who should excel tlie other in 

 the arts of peace (cheers), I believe, my lord, il 

 I his had heeii done, you firmers wonhl have 

 driven us diplonvitist.'iont of tiie fiidd (cheers); 

 at any rate, you woiiM leave ns verv iitlle to do 

 in carrying on angry international di.seussions ; 

 yon have Ijeen pleased to allude to the important 

 commercieiT connection lietween our two conn- 

 tries ; it i.s important, .mil earnestly and heartily 

 do I wish that it nii^ht become more so (cheers). 

 Bnt there is n tlionirht on this siibjeet which has 

 struck me, siiii^e 1 listened to yonr lordslu|i's in- 

 slrnclive speech last evening, illustrating the in- 

 calculable importance of agricnltnr.il pursuits. 

 The coimnerce between our two countries is the 

 I.Ti-g^-st that is carried on Iwtwcen any two conn- 



tries on the fiice of the globe. 'I'he aniin.il eom- 

 niHrce between Gnat Britain and the United 

 States is nearly tvMi-fold that whirli you carry on 

 with any other people. The eniireannnal move- 

 ment of this eomuierce both ways — your e.\ports 

 to the United Slates — yonr imports Iroin the Uni- 

 ted Stales — either of them sini:ly being twice as 

 great as your eominerce with any other nation. 

 And yet, what think yon it amoimis to? Alioiit 

 as inncli as the value of the annual crop of oats 

 and beans in Great Britain (cheers). I take the 

 lad Iroin the instructive essay of yonr worthy 

 collaborateur, Mr. Pnsey. One more fad to show 

 the importance of your aericnhnre. The whole 

 foreign commerce of Great Britain, in pursuit of 

 which you overshadiiw the ocean «ith your fleets, 

 and plant your colonies in the farthest isl.ind.s, is 

 actually less in value than the annual grass croj) 

 of these islands (cheers). So Irnly was il said 

 that he was the greatest benelactor who could 

 make two blades of grass grow where only one 

 grew before (cheers). It does not become me, 

 my hud — I will not say as a stranger — by yonr 

 kindness yon will allow me to throw off that 

 name (cheers) — but as yonr guest, it does not he- 

 come me to enter into great details on this occa- 

 sion ; bnt it struck me, in aoing over yonr iinple- 

 meiit yard this morning, that however neglectful 

 and inactive you may have been heretofore in tho 

 improvement of ugriciillnre, there is nothing lo 

 complain ol' now. It does seem to me that there 

 is an amount of science, of mechanical skill, of 

 practical sagacity, of capiial.and of atleiition, on 

 the pari of the liiglier orders— of diligence and 

 perseviu-ance on the part of the inlei-inedialeaiid 

 laboring classes, combined tiir the prnmoiion id' 

 agricniiure, that has never been equalled in tho 

 history of the world. (Cheer.s.) And it is a most 

 remuikahle liict, if yon will pardon me for iii- 

 dnlging in a general reflection, that till lately all 

 great discoveries and improvements in agricul- 

 ture seem lo have been the product of the very 

 earliest infnicy of minkind. Who can tell, my 

 lord, when that instrnment that lies at the basis 

 of all civiliz.-iiiun, the plough, was invented? 

 Who can tell when man firstcalled in the limii- 

 ble partners of his lalmr, ihe horse, thi; o.\-, the 

 cow, the svvine, the sheep, and took them into 

 profitable alliance with himstlf? If von could 

 find out who was the shepherd tliet first caught 

 the svilil (log, and t.iu^ht him to help and lend 

 the flock, you ought to rear a monnnient of brass 

 or a marble cenotaph lo his memory — a higher 

 monument tlian was ever raised to a hero or 

 monarch. Who knows where the cereal grains 

 or the esculent roois were first cultivated ? I'I.ere 

 is bnt one of them, as you know, the pntaloe, of 

 which the history is known— all the rest reliie 

 back into the darke.--iautiqiiiiy. They were culti- 

 vated at a time when your ancestors were roam- 

 ing over the inoras.ses of the now beautiful (ree 

 and nierrjj England— (cheers) ; when our ances- 

 tors were roaming painted savages through the 

 land. Aye, when the Romans and Greeks were 

 living on beach imts and acorns — (hear, hear.) 

 It seems, in fad, tlitit in reft'ience lo the progress 

 of agriculture, mankind li.is followed that curious 

 law which Mr Owen alluded to at the council 

 dinner yesterd.iy — llie law that governs the ru- 

 minating animals in the tropics. He pointed out 

 to ns most beantilidly that the rnmiualing ani- 

 mals there have a lar'.;e fiit hump between the 

 shoulders. This is nourished and grows in the 

 first five months of the yi ar, when tliere is plen- 

 ty of teiod, and they get along with the hump as 

 well as they can through llie seven .'urceeding 

 months of scarcity. So it seems with maiikinil 

 w ith respect to a!.nicnltural discoveries. Jn tho 

 very infini-y of the r ice they got (his large liit 

 hump betwei n the shoulders, and liir 0000 years 

 Ihry lived upon little or iiothin? el.-e — (eiieers 

 and langlner.) Tlie very plongii lliat we read of 

 in Virgil we may now see in use in the South of 

 Europe. We sec it siill in the hands of the pea- 

 santry as we di.scover It in b is relief on the scul|)- 

 tmed remains of antiquity. Il is a most pleasinjj 

 fact that this revival of the great art of .■ijiricnl- 

 ture in these latter days of the world, is the woi'k 

 of the Anglo-Saxon race of which you have spo 

 ken. It has been left to you, and if you will per- 

 mit me lo .say to ns, living as we do in tliis un- 

 genial climate; beneaih these weeping skies; 

 (the rain was then desi-endiug in torrents, and 

 the observation wjis loudly cheered ;] it has been 

 left to ns to do that whlcji not Italv nor Greece 



