186 



An English Emigrant. 



Vol. V. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 An English Emigrant. 



Sir, — I came to this country, two years 

 and a half ago, with very strong prejudices, 

 as many others of my countrymen have done, 

 but mine were all in favour of the land of 

 my adoption — my English predilections I left 

 behind me — and as my history may be some- 

 what amusing to your readers, if not in- 

 structive, perhaps you will favour me with a 

 portion of your pages, in which to indulge a 

 few recollections of the past, and to record 

 some of the circumstances by which I now 

 find myself surrounded. 



In the first place, then, I was a farmer for 

 many years in the old country, but could not 

 bear up against misfortune, because my land 

 was too cheap! so you see I did not come 

 here for cheap land. Many of my neigh- 

 bours, with land at three times the rent and 

 six times the advantages of situation and cir- 

 cumstances, did well by remaining, while I 

 could only do by quitting: the truth is, I 

 found myself too far from market, and on an 

 unproductive soil, and I therefore determined 

 to cut — but I did not run, for, on leaving my 

 country, not an individual was the loser of a 

 cent by my emigration, and that's a fact. 

 On coming to this determination, I began to 

 cast about to see what I could take with me, 

 to a land which I supposed, as most of my 

 countrymen do, would afford but few of the 

 conveniences of life, to say nothing of com- 

 forts and luxuries; and I regretted that I 

 could not bring away my household furniture, 

 tables, chairs, &c., as these things must, I 

 thought, be scarce, and of course very dear; 

 but that I found to be impracticable, so I left 

 all, except my double-barrelled gun and two 

 powder-flasks and shot-belts, well filled, as I 

 had no doubt these would be in pretty con- 

 stant requisition, in a country where game 

 was so plentiful, and no game laws ; and yet, 

 I must say, I had often observed, that al- 

 though every one, on emigration, is particu- 

 larly mindful to take his double-barrel, yet I 

 never heard of their prowess in the use of it 

 in any of their letters home — this I could not 

 account for then, but I can now. 



Well then, I landed at New York, with 

 the vow that nothing should interfere with 

 my determination to follow my own profes- 

 sion — the culture of the soil — and many a 

 beautiful castle did I build in the air, to my 

 heart's content — a hundred acres of good land 

 of my own, in a lovely spot, surrounded with 

 every comfort, happy as a lord, and with my 

 double-barrel, my constant companion, always 

 in requisition ; but, alas, how strangely me- 

 tamorphosed are all my views ! I find my- 

 self at the present settled down in a small 

 store, within a few miles of the Schuylkill, 



with my double-barrel and stock of ammuni- 

 tion still unpacked, never having had time or 

 inclination to use, or even to look at them ; 

 with a spot of ground sufficient only for the 

 spade, and my mind in a considerable degree 

 alienated from an employment, which I once 

 considered interwoven with my very exist- 

 ence ! 



But, amidst all this disappointment, I have 

 a great share of real enjoyment too ; for, in 

 the first place, the country itself, with its po- 

 litical, moral and intellectual advantages, far 

 exceeds my most sanguine expectations, while 

 its natural beauty and unbounded extent and 

 capacity, transcend all my calculations, and 

 render quite impossible even the attempt at 

 description or delineation. My situation, too, 

 is not by any means so unfriendly to my for- 

 mer views, for, in the way of business, I am 

 often visited by the farmers in the neighbour- 

 hood, and many are the long yarns that we 

 spin together, while sitting on a mackerel 

 barrel or a keg of nails in the store, all about 

 cows and hogs, ploughs and carts, butter and 

 cheese, and the fine weather and climate, of 

 which we never seem to tire ; and one ad- 

 vantage which I enjoy is, as I have now no- 

 thing of the working part to do myself, I can 

 see so much clearer how others ought to 

 manage their affairs — a very pleasant employ- 

 ment, we all know — fulfilling, too, the apos- 

 tolic injunction, " Let every one look on the 

 things of his neighbour." I would observe, 

 however, these conversations never degene- 

 rate into controversies; we give ourselves 

 the license to think what we will, and say 

 what we think, and as our talk is generally 

 about fat oxen, good sheep, beautiful horses, 

 and fine butter, we find much more pleasure 

 in agreeing than in differing; at the same 

 time, my friends give me permission to speak 

 my mind, and have sometimes shown them- 

 selves not averse to turn my theory into prac- 

 tice, expressing satisfaction when a sugges- 

 tion has proved itself worthy of adoption; 

 while I, in my turn, have been benefited in a 

 tenfold degree by such an unreserved inter- 

 change of ideas and opinions, and can see 

 very clearly, that to be able to turn short cor- 

 ners, a man must come to America. 



One of these friends has lately brought 

 with him to the store " The Farmers' Cabi- 

 net," and has read to us the different articles 

 contained in its pages ; I assure you a degree 

 of interest is springing up around us in con- 

 sequence, that augurs well for the science of 

 agriculture, as also for the spread of a work, 

 which seems peculiarly adapted to the wants 

 and wishes of that class of individuals in this 

 part of the country ; and I have proposed, 

 that we form a little society amongst our- 

 selves, to meet at my store on the alternate 

 Tuesday evenings, for the purpose of reading 



