No. 12. 



Prospects in Eastern Virginia for new Settlers. 



363 



The agriculturists liave from the begin- 1 old habits. There is a great want of every 

 ning pursued a course which would inevit-'i thing like energy and good management in 

 ably impoverish any country upon the cartIi;!!our ])opulation at large. Now and then we 

 they have cropped the soil incessantly, with-'imect with a prosperous fiirmcr, but tliey con 

 out even permitting it to rest a single sea- ''* ' ' ' ' " 



son, with tobacco, wheat, and corn, as long 

 as it would produce enough to pay (he labour 

 of tillage, without returning to it the least 

 particle of manure of any kind. And when 

 by this murderous system they have got all 

 they could, they have abandoned their old 

 fields and cleared oft' the adjacent forests, 

 subjecting its soil to the same process, until 

 most of the surface of the eastern part of the 



stitute exceptions to a general rule. 



Another writer, who oti'ers a large tract 

 of land with a good mill seat upon it, in 

 Westmoreland, — the county wliich gave 

 birth to Washington — for S5 per acre, says, 

 "t^hould you C( me to Virginia, you must 

 expect to sec every thing in the Ihrnjing 

 way as far down the hill as it can be; but I 

 hope there is a belter day ahead. You will 

 find warm-hearted and kind-hearted people; 

 State has been robbed of its fertility; andlland people who obey the laws, and never 

 where the palaces of the statesmen of the [interfere with other people's business; and, 

 Revolution stood, surrounded by all the by the by, not much with their own. 



beauties of the most luxuriant vegetation,! 

 nothing but a wilderness now appears, and 

 the toild deer and icild turJdes have re- 

 turned in abundance, and enjoy a more un- 

 interrupted freedom than they can find in 

 the wilds of the " far West." 



One of my correspondents, a resident and 

 a native of the Southern part of the State, 

 says, " Nature has done every thing for it, 

 while it has been the work of man to muti- 

 late and destroy. Whenever it shall arise, 



as it were, from the dust, it will 



be one of the most delightful countries in 

 the world. Wherever the spirit of improve- 

 ment has been manifested, its salubrity has 

 been found to be equal to that of any other 

 portion of the State. Our large farmers do 

 not, in most instances, make one per cent, 

 profit on their estates ; indeed they become 

 involved deeper and deeper in debt every 

 year; and from time to time have to sell off 

 the increase of their slaves, — if not worse — 

 in order to keep up. But it is hard to change 



which in its very nature, is worse than lead upon her 

 pinions. We speak only of expediency — we have re- 

 ference only to dollars and cents, and to that widely 

 extended prosperity and influence which are built up 

 and sustained by their instrumentality. We leave the 

 subject in all its moral bearings toherself— all wemean 

 to ask at present is, that she would with a steady step 

 and an eye fixed upon the goal ahead, consult her true 

 and abiding interests, and take measures which in less 

 than twenty years must double— aye treble the value 

 of her real estate, and give such an impetus to her 

 population, that when she shall cast her eye over the 

 census of I8G0, she will be ready to doubt the possi- 

 bility of its correctness. 



We have many subscribers in Virginia ; and modest 

 as we would fain appear in these matters, the editor 

 has reason to flatter himself in the belief, that his un- 

 assuming paper has not been without an influence 

 that shall be permanently beneficial to that portion 

 of our Union. It shall be his aim never to allow this 

 influence to be any other than promotive of Virginia's 

 truest interests.— E ■. 



I will make another short extract from a 

 very recent letter, which answers the ques- 

 tion thoroughly. "Nature has done every 

 thing to fit this country for the abode of 

 man, but man, by a course of conduct in op- 

 position to the Divine harmony, has marred 

 the works of his Maker. Our political em- 

 pirics have prescribed various remedies, but 

 few have been bold enough yet to prescribe 

 the only one that can prove etlectual. There 

 is one black spot which must be wiped 

 away, before our regeneration can take 

 place. When two of the tribes of Israel 

 wished to settle on the east bank of Jordan, 

 they were told that if their motives were 

 bad, their sin uwuld Jind them out. Thus 

 it must be in all ages of the world." 



Intelligent freemen, who are willing and 

 not ashamed to earn their bread by the 

 sweat of their own brows, could soon make 

 these desert places fruitful as a garden; and 

 I feel anxious that my northern brethren, 

 who think of changing their homes, should 

 look at the advantages of this favoured coun- 

 try, before they go to the far West, and fare 

 worse. 



In a future number I will describe some 

 fine estates in the upper country, which pos- 

 sess distinguished advantages, and are offered 

 at very low prices. 



Persons desirous of going to Virginia to 

 see the country, may obtain any information 

 in the possession of the writer, cither per- 

 sonally, or by letter, post paid, directed to 

 Moorestown, Burlington county, N. J. 



S. S. Griscom. 



Moorestown, N. J., Sixth mo , 1846. 



To take lamp-oil from carpets or wearing 

 apparel, make a paste of rye flour, of the 

 consistency of a rather stiff" batter, and ap- 

 ply it to the place; when dry, it will rub off, 

 and take the grease with it. A second ap- 

 plication may be necessary in some ca^cs, 

 but not often. 



