•208 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan, 18, 18S8. 



M18CELLA]^IES. 



COMMENTATOHS. 

 j!o-,t Commeiitalors each <lark passage sbun, 

 Bui hold a i'arlhing candle lo Ihe Sun. 



Hilliard & Brown of Cambridge have just pub- Through the interceesioii oi tiie Kudsidii minister 

 llished, "The life of John Ledyard, the American a^"' Baron Grimm, peimission was framed by the 



traveller ; comprising selections from his journals 

 and correspondents. By J.^red Sparks." 



I A few particulars in the singular life of Led- 



llls of ie:nt,rancc. — Nine tenths of the evils that] yard are well known, and have been often cited 

 afflict ihc^ mass of society, have their source in; as examples of extraordinary energy and decision 

 JCTnorMm-e ; and when it has been shown, that the j of mind, and as evidences of uncommon love of 

 intelli!|erice of any class of people has increased, ; adventure and ardor of pursuit. But no g.^neral 

 it is next to certain that their condition in other account of his life has been written, nor indeed 

 respects must at the same time have improved. any thing more than a very brief and imperfect 



sketch, which was drawn up in England by the 



A fine. ff'oman.— \t is very pleasant to observe secretary of ihe African Association. This was 

 how (;iffer('ntly modern writ.;r.s and the inspired done a short time after his death, in the year 

 author of the book of Proverbs, describe a fine ]79(), as a tribute to I. is memory for having sac 

 woman. The former confine their praise chiefly tificed his life in promoting the interests of that 

 to p( r.sonal charms and ornamental occomplish- society. But Ihe writer had scanty materials, and 

 ments, the latter celebrates only the virtues of a hnew hardly anythintr of Ledyard's history, ex- 

 va uable mislicss of a family, of a useful member cept during the three last years of his life. The 

 of society: the one is perfectly ucquainted with notices contained in Biographical Dictionaries, 

 all thv= fa.-hion :l)!e languages of Europe ; the oth both in this country and England, are copied from 

 er opens her uoiilh with wisdom, and is perfect- this memoir, and are equally imperfect, 

 ly acquainted wild all the uses of the needle, the It is understood that Mr Sparlis has obtained 

 distaff, and the '.ooni ; the business of one is pleas- from different branches of Lrdyard's family, and 

 ure ; the pleMsure of the olhor is business; the from other sources, his manuscript journals, and 

 one i.-^ admired abroad, the other at home. Her ^^^^y of his original letters, which atford matcri- 

 ch iilren rise up and call her blessed, and her als for a more full and authentic biography. — 

 h-.ishand also pruiseth her. There is no name in Prom these papers the volume now offered to 



the world equal to this, nor is there a note in mu- 

 sic half so delightful as the Respectful language , 

 with -vhich tiie grateful son or daughter perpetu- 

 ates the memory of a sensible and affectionate 

 irjothcr. 



papers 



the public has been prepared. The incidents of 

 his life are extremely various, and many of them 

 excite a strong interest by the enthusiasm, per- 

 severance, and uncommon vigor of mind, which 



empress of Russia for hiu. to pass through her 

 domirious. In London he was patronii.ed by Sir 

 Joseph ]5aiiks and other gentlemen of eminence. 

 He went oi er to Hamburg, thence to Copenha- 

 gen, Stockholm, and around the Gulf of Bothnia 

 in the mi !hI of winter to St Petersburg. He ar- 

 rived ther: vhen the empress v\as on her famous 

 tour lo thr Crimea, but by the aid of Count Se- 

 gur and Professor Pallas, he obtained a passport 

 from the proper minister and set off for Siberia. 

 It was -so )nte in the season before he reached the 

 borders of Kfiint.schatka, that the governor of Ya- 

 kutsk would not suffer him to proceed further till 

 thelopeninsr of spring. Meantime tlie empress be- 

 canie suspicious of his designs, and sent two Rus- 

 sian soldiers after him, who brouifht him hack in 

 the'winter to the confines of Poland, a distance of 

 more than six thousand miles, where they left him 

 in poverty and wreti hedne.ss. He found his way 

 to London, and was a<iaiii kindly received by Sir 

 Joseph Banks and his other Inenils. The Associ- 

 ation for Promoting Tr vels in Africa was just at 

 that time instit'ited Being defeated in all his at- 

 tempts to explore his own comitiy, Ledyard ea- 

 1 gPily grasped at the proposal to engage under 

 . the auspices of this society. He spent a few days 

 in Paris, and then proceeded to Marseilles, whence 

 he sailed for Alcxandri.i in Egypt. At Grind 

 Cairo he had passed several weeks in gyning ac- 

 quaintance with the lanL'jinge and habits of the 



The double rieahr. — He may not always directly 

 assert what \s false, but be perpetually suppresses 

 wliat is true, where he ha 



.,•,■.„ 1 /-. ,• . , ppop e, who travelled in ihe caravans, and had 



thev indicate. He was born in Connecticut, aud , *^ \ ' r .u . 



made an agreement to accoiii|>r.ny one ot these to 



educated first at Hartford, and then at Dartmouth 

 College, with a view of becoming qualified as a 

 He travelled into 



...... .., ...... ....... ... ..... not the boldness to '"issionary among the Indians 



make a charge he can imply a suspicion-where '''<= country ot the Six N_ tions, and afterward 

 _■ ■ , ,„ ,, „..» , • ' „.. I,- ' ,.,. .)„,.,„ i,„ constructed ji canoe with his own liands on the 



the interior, when he was suddenly taken ill, and 

 died in January, 1790, being the first victim in 

 tWo-Gouse of African discovery, to which so many 

 have since become martyrs 



His Siberian Journal iias been preserved entire, 

 and several letters written from Russia to Mr Jef- 

 ferson and other perso'ns. His celebrated eulogy 

 on women, so often repeated, an so beautifully 



,. ., ., ... , .1 ,,, .versified by I\Irs Barbauld, was written at Ya- 



n AJiirmner (n .1 romnanv of cavalrv ortrnu- on a voyage to the .Mediterranean and the West , . , . X-. • rrn ■ ■ . , . • ' 



ji Misi.o.nei . — in d comp.uiy ui wavai.y uii,,iu- ' ^ . • ■. , r kiitsk in Siberia. Tills journal, a so, containa 



a plain tale would put him or his party down, he 

 can be as ambiguous as an oracle, prepared with 

 one sense to mislead his reader, or auditor, and 

 with another to save himself. 



banks of the Connecucut river, at Hanover in' 

 which he descended alone to Hartford. The pur- 

 suits of a missionary, and the study of theology, 

 not proving congenial to his temper, he embarked 



jzcd in Chatatique county, we find the .lame of Im'ies. After returning home, ho visited Eng- 

 licuteuant H'alkun. ' land, joined the British navy, obtained h post in 

 Cook's last expedition, with which he continued 



"Jlessrs. Ctirey, Lea & Carey have received," more than four years, till it arrived again in Eng- 

 says the United States Gazette, "a Map of the land. He was in the, skirmish in which ^ook lost 

 U. States, published in London, in IfQO, which his life, *'. the Sandwich islands, and was near 

 exhibits a curious specimen of the accuracy of the great navigator when he fell. A.l the close 

 llio English, in their notions of American geogra- of the American war he came back to tliis coun- 

 phy. A list of the States is given on the sheet ; try, having been absent eight years, and was the 

 the old thirteen are epecifiod — but then wo have first to propose a voyage to the Northv/eat coast, 

 the following : — 



^'Jillicd tHate, 



In concert with Robert Morris, he planned such a 



Vermont. I voyage, but after a year spent in an unsuccessful 



^ liiiine, I attempt to procure a vesnul and fit it out, the pin- 



I Indiana, ■j'-''-t failed. With letters from Mr Morris and 



, , j Kentucky, , ether gentlemen he hastened to Europe, intend- 



'"■■ ■' ' ] Franlitiiiia, ling there to nnke an effort to accomplisli his 



I 7'enness'i, ' ' .wish. For this purpose he visited Spain and 



( Western Torritory. (Franco, and more than tv/o years passed away in 



Prorwct, Louisiana. j negotiations with mercantile companies and indi-. 



Spanish Doniii! ion, Florida." jviduals, but without success. He was intin.cto 



Indiana occupies pari of Maryland and Vir- j with Jo.'Terson (at that time our ministsr in Paris.) 



fiuia ; and Frankliniu one half of Tennessee. — j witli Lafayette, anil with Paul Jones, who encour- 



I.ouisiana is liioiled by tiie Rocky Mountains, and aged and aided him. 



all west theieof, is included within the Britisli | After encountering numerous difficulties, and 



posse-.-. ons. 



We took up a French Geography a short time 

 since, prepared for the use of schools, in which 

 "Herringtown" was given as the capital of Penn- 

 sylvania, and the author had located the imagin- 

 ary place upon tho river Jmnuia, 



not succeeding in his project of n voyage to tho 

 Northwest coast, he formed the design of going 

 by land from Paris to Bering's Straits, thence 

 crossing to the American continent, and proceed 

 ing homeward over tho Rocky Mountains, with a 

 determination to explore those unknown regions. 



many curious remarks on the character and cus- 

 toms of the Tartars, as compared with Ihe Ameri- 

 can Indi.-ins and Ihe South Sc.i Islanders, whom 

 he had before seen in various par'-- of the globe. 

 H!« journals and letteis while he >i as in France 

 and Spain are hardly les.s curiou.s, containing ob- 

 servations on men and things often original and 

 always striking. His letters from I gypt to Mr 

 Jefferson and the Secretary of the African Asso- 

 ciation are equally characteristic. His journal of 

 Cook's voyage, though not a complete narrative, 

 abounds in lively desi-ripti'.na and pertinent re- 

 marks, and his account of Cook's death is drawn 

 up with more vivacity and apparent truth, than 

 any other that has been published It is believed 

 (hat the papers, taken togciher, are worthy of the 

 effort that has been made to rescue them from ob- 

 livion, and that the delineation they will afford of 

 the character of their nutfior will not be unaccep- 

 table to such readers, as love to contemplate the 

 workings of an ardent mind, engageil in noble 

 pursuits, and encountering with fortitude the ob- 

 stacles incident to great and hazardous enterpris- 



Lucerne Sued. 

 A few iiundred pounds of fresh Luoer 

 cr hnndrerl weiehl, for sail 



seed, by lh» pound 

 (he N. E. Fanner otiico. 



tl'liilf MunlarU Seed. 

 For sale al the nflire of the New Eiiflaad Farmer, llif !•( 

 Knglish White ijluslard seed, fcy the pound or bushel 



