X. INTRODUCTION^ 



ly asked, What it availed them to hare raised wheatj 

 affr»rJing the finest flour, if they must live on bran^^- 

 Thrice and four times happy American cultivators ;—- 

 yes, too happy, did you but know your happiness !— * 

 Lords of the soil you cultivate, and sharing in all the lux- 

 uries of nature. Be assured, there is no occupation pur- 

 sued on this globe, superior to yours. ^Venerate, then, 

 the plough, the hoe, the sickle, and all the implements 

 of husbandry : And, should the soil prove hard, yet joxt 

 may say ; 



" Tho^ rucle, thon art still dear to me. 

 Land of my fathers i Tkou art free !^ 

 And bless the bard that strikes to thee 

 The eiinobling harp of liberty .'*' 

 * The condition of the boors is, in general depIora~ 

 bly wretched. The only property which their lords al- 

 low them to possess, is the food whish they themselves 

 cannot, or will not eat, the bark of trees, chaff and oth- 

 er refuse ; grass, water,, and fish oil. If by any means 

 they acquire any portion of wealthy it becomes a very 

 dangerous possession, and when discovered, is invariably 

 seized by their tyrannical lords. — " It is thus," says Dr. 

 Clarke, " we behold the subjects of a vast empire strip- 

 ped of all they possess, existing in the most abject ser- 

 vitude ; victims of tyranny and torture, of sorrow and 

 poverty, of sickness and famine." Traversing the pro- 

 vinces of Muscovy," he continue?, " the land appears as 

 the garden of Eden, a fine soil, covered with corn, and 

 apparen.ly smiling in plenty. Enter the cottage of the 

 poor labourer, surrounded by all these riches, and yon 

 find him dying of hunger, or pining from bad food, ancl 

 in want of the common necessaries of life. Extensive 

 pastures, covered with cattle, afford no milk to him.— 

 >n autumn, the harvest-field yields no bread for his 

 thiidren. The lord claims all the produce. Can there 



