University of South Carolina Libraries
' ' - 1 ?"-- 1 -1- ?? ' --1" - -? 1 D- X, _ 1.. ... . i.__ . ?LiLJ.l.JJLJM. ?> ?V D. Wf SIMS, STATE PRINTER. COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA, JUL* 8, 1S29. * VOLUME XV...NUMDER IT* i ii?? ' PUBLISHED KVKftY FRIDAY MOHNINU. TERMS?Tfirte Delta*! ptr annum, payable in er Fur D*u*rs pmymUimtllufdif ADVERTISEMENTS interledaitki mmtatrmln. variety. F ??>? ?!??? MaflivUlf H^iMihltrnn Ma, Editor?Your correspondent, Ilamden, think* "there should some where exist a power ooaapetont to puniah or pre vent blsaphemy, sabbath breakinc, and profane a wearing." Do we really stand in need of law* to punish or prevent blasphe my! Has there over been an instance of this crime in Tenneeseel Why should we have laws to puniah crimes that do notex istl If it was constitutional to have ?<teh a law, and a court established for Uiat pur pose} who should be our Judcel A few days ago, I picked upasmall voiumeof sermons written by a /twin and (earned Presbyte rian mtnittcri pious, I suppose he must have been, for he was a strict observer of tbe Sabbath, and learned because he waa on eminent professor in one of our univer sities! In one of those sermons the /ifjus and learned gentleman says, "He, who is God blessed forever became a curse. He, -j/hoUthe ancient of day*, brea ne a >i infant of a tft a 11 long.'* Now, most of tlio. Chris tian Churches, both reformed and Catholic havo pronounced upon the sacred mystery of tho incarnation, that Christ is one with God?"one, not by conversion of the God head into flesh, but by taking of the man hood into God." Ana which faith, except *'every one do koep whole and undeAled, without doubt he Khali perish everlasting ly." Consequently, accordingly to thu orthodox standard,, thcfitout and / -trnrd Pretbufrieit minktrr would be hold guilty of blasphemy, and subjected to all the pains nnd penalties that bigotedenthusiasts, when in nowcr have thought proper by law to inflict. Many have been burned at the Mtako for as alight a deviation from the or thodox standard as this! John Calvin had the ad<lre?K and overbearing influence to cause Michael Servetus to be condemned and burnt am a heretick for much about such an error!! But wo thank God and the enlightened wisdom and patriotism of our ancestors of Uio glorious revolution, those persecuting day* are past, as we hope for ever ; or one part of the communit y might have lamented the death ofa martyr, while the other exulted over the fall of a here tick!! Mankind are too enlightened at this day to suffer the operations of the human mind to become the subjects of legal investiga tion! If a Trinitarian or a Unitarian forci bly, or clandeatincly takes another man's property, let the civil authorities punish nim agreeably to law for his transgression, but not for his belief. If a Catholic breaks the peace, or lulls a man, punish him for the crime as the law directs, hut not be cause he believes in the infallibility oftlie Pope. For the operations of the mind gov erning our religious duties which tho mind can only approve, we are accountable to God alone; tnceo matters we never submit ted to the influence of the legislature, nor the control of tho judieiary or executive power.?But for those actions which injure our fellow citizens, we are accountable to society, and amenable to public justice: and this we liave submitted to the control of government. Now the pious and learn ed Presbyterian minister, not having the tanH notions of the incarnation which sunt Athanasius had. or which those calling themselves orthodox now have, by no means injure* any man, no more than his keeping, or not keeping the Sabbath would do; therefore, government has no business with it. Yet such instances make nine tonths of the cases of blasphemy and heresy by which persecuting bigots when they had the power, set mankind to butchering and destroying one another under pretence of vindicating tho honour and glory of God!! A court sitting for the triafof blas phemy, heresy or Sabbath breaking would be a novelty in our freo republican country! It could be viowed in no other light than as an introduction to the inquisition! In fact it would be the very thing itself; and tho legislature have just as much right to es tablish such a eoort as thoy have to estab lish tho old English court of star chamhcr or high commission! Whether the Presbyterians acknowl edge the Congrngationalists of tho eastern state* as brethren of the same church, or not. they h <ve generally been considered as deriving their principles from Calvin and tho church of Geneva. Thoy seem very generally to agree in their doctrines, dif fering principally in church government. They both seem to possess the seme narrow prejudices with respect to other churches. "Tno Presbyterians," says the edinhurgh Review," "abhor the Episcopalian church as bad as they do the Catholic, and consider them both as abominable; and inflicted death for attending ma*s"(No. 44, p. 322, No, AS, 171.) In New Kngland, whether Presbyterians or (Jongregationalist* "they were an exclusive and persecuting church from the flrst, their congregation was the chosen people of God, and those who differ ed from them were us the seven nations of the Canaanites and to be driven out of the land the Lord their God had given them. These were Catholic, Episcopalians or Prelatists, Anabaptists Antinomisns. See kers, Gnrtonitfts snd Kami lists" (Beivd. Hist. vol. I, p. 441.V~Thoy considered themselves a kind of Theocracy in which the clergy had a principle shsre in the af fairs of government and as might have been expected they persecuted such as differed from them with imprisonment, stripes and death; they hung the friends, or quakers with very Kttle ceremony, and being as su perstitious as they were bigoted a number of innocent people were hung for the pre tended crime of witchcraft! All this time they wets strict observers of the Sabbath; which would naturally induce a belief that this institution has no great tendency to en lighten the mind or humanise the ferocity of fanaticism! While the British provinces which now form the U. State* were vet in s Made of col ooisatkm, they were an asylum to the per secuttd in every part of Korea*. Generally all sects were tolerated In die middle snd southern eeetWma of three colonies, each en joying the forms of thdr vwn rtllgiou with out much interruption. And it may be vdd with truth that thousands grew up without being acquainted with the forms of any re ligion! The pressure of government eith er eociesfaatical or secular, wu hardly felt by the dutant and detached aettlements ol emigranta who, rejoicing in the freedomthey had attained, railed up their children in the loveof liberty which they weretaoght to be lieve was theirjast and equal right! The pa nts made known to their children the na ture of thoee tyrannical oppraashma which scourged and impoverished the middle and lower olaaee* of the nations from whence they fled. They also pointed out the na ture of that ghostly avarice and vindictive tyranny exercised by the bigotry of prieata and ministera combined with the powera of government. la fine it benut to be clearly perceived at the epoch or the revolution that the clergy were wholly unfit and dis qualified for civil rulers, and that religion should not be submitted to the control of human authority. Every attempt which had been made at establishments in the provinces had only tended to confirm this general sentiment, and it was held ar. im periously necessary to sever the connection between religion and government, aa it was to expel the secular tyrant. None had Reater opportunity of perceiving the bale I and oppressive effects of tills ghostly tyranny combined with civil government man the good people of New York. They could view the scenes of spiritual oppres sion as they took placo in tneir immediate vicinity, without being otherwise affected by them, than at cautionary Deacons to ^iiard them against similar errors; and so impressed were they with the absolute ne tshity of doing so that they commence the thirty-eighth article of their constitution with these remarkable words, "and where as we are required by the benevolcntprinci pies of rational liberty, not only to expel ? ivil tyranny, but also to guard against that spiritual oppression and intolerance where with the blgott y and ambition qf tuea/c and wicked /met!$ and princes have acourged mankind." It is experience that makes men truly wise, and therefore those who lived in the vicinity or under the pressure of religious establishments were tne more cautious to ^uard against them. At the commence ment of the revolution, the different lendir.g MM ts were so nearly equnl, that nn establish ment of any one to the exclusion of the others would have caused a bloody civil war instead of a glorious revolution. Ne cessity pressed into immediate establish ment the just state of things which icason would have dictated, ind with almost unan iimus consent they proclaim M That no hu man authority can in any cate whatever control or interfere with the right* of con tcientr " Every church was left to the tree enjoyment of their own religious exer ?- iM-t, fesi ivals and forms of worship, while n"thinx was required of them but an mual ? haiity mo?I tolcrance towards each other. It wa?. clearly understood that all power of ?'Ki*lating on the subject of religion, or re ligious rites wm, with many other of the unalienable right* of the people exceptrd|out ot the powers of the legislative body and so rxpressly declared bv several of the states. Indeed the nature of a bill of rights shew* tlir articles contained, to belong exclusive ly to the people for the most part in their individual capacity, and not to be acted up on, or in any wise abridged by either legis I at ion or executive authority. The repre sentatives of the people in Congress, declar ed it a self evident principle, a first and evi dent truth: That all men are created equal. That their creator had endowed them with unalienable rights. That among these are life, liberty and the fiurkuU of hof>/tinrtt. These were considered by the people, and their representatives in the state conventions as grand and leading truths, fully adopted and clearly expressed and extended not only to enjoying but de fending life and liberty, and acquiring, pos sessing, and protecting property and re putation, a* well as pursuing their own hap piness. Such a state of things had never been presented to mankind before! The estab lished clergy acquiesced in a kind of sullen silcnce, but the Episcopalian church of Vir ginia and Maryland, on bring secured in their glebes and other possessions came hrartily into the measures of the people In North and South Carolina laws had betti enacted for sn establishment but their ves tries had always refused to induct the es tablished clergy. The leading states of New York and Pennsylvania set a great and noble example of free and liberal prin ciples. The presbvterlans in the middle and Southern states being emancipated from the yoke of an established Episcopalian church united firmly in the principles of thn revolution. The Baptists, who never Aimed at an establishment, were more unanimous in sentiment than any of the other sects, and their ministers frequently attended with such parts of their congregations as were drawn into service. The Eastern states were as liberal in their declarations of free dom of conscience and the rights of church es or individuals to worship CJod in time And manner as should be most agreeable to themt but secured totheir clergy, as being of the most numerous party, a kind of se curity in a competent provision to be made for ifi*m by the town, or parishes, and as the war pressed more Immediately severe upon them It was also acquiesced in at the time by their clergy?Such b the outline of those principles and proceedings which ?t the revolution emancipated the people fr?>m the yoke of bigotry and superstition which was in part fixed on their nceksi and forevet secured as I confidently hope, the permanent separation of church and state in these United States. Rut notwithstanding the happy result 'f 'hose exertions of the patriots of the revo lution In procuring and confirming to all sects md denominations the most unbound ed lihert) off conscience and right off control over their own ecleslMtlcal rights, opinions and practices}such I* the melancholy state off the human mind when under the control ing influence of religious prejudice that it seeks the wwi off oppvoeetew, and ardent ly grasps after the power* of government that It may abridge or control the rlghta of others In matter* wtklch H wishes to deny itself The clergy and leader* off some denomination* ffeellnp the lot* off tecnlM power to enforce conformity to their dog mas and the worship of their symbols, of religious devotion; are endeavouring to in fluence the government into an assumption ot power denied them by the constitution, and thereby set at risk the blessing of civil liberty to gratify a superstitious or nigotted .nejudtec ! ! Thc thousands who have grown up under the benign influence of ? well guarded constitutional government, in the full enjoyment of well protected civil and religious rights, siuce the revolution; know nothing of religious oppression and intolerance when armed with regal nower*. They have not been in the habit ot seeing magistrates on the road keeping their men in readiness to run down travellers on Sun day, and force them to pay a fine for break ing the Sabbath, or rcnuin confined in a kind of inquisition until the next day, to the great injury and expence of poor men whose necessities lead them from home on business ot importance to their families. The pre sent generation hnve only seen the meek and humble ministerso| the gospel without power, and dependent on the free will offer ings of their congregations?and apparent-1 ly without the desire of persecuting or op Stressing any one; but. it is a well known act which history fully justifies the belief of, that it is the situation which governs the apparent temper and disposition! In the early part of the seventeenth century the puritans or presbyterians were oppres sed and persecuted in a most cruel manner. None at that time inore ably contended foi the liberty of conscience, and the rights of private judgement and opinion on religious principles and practices , and yet to the as tonishment of mankind in the year 1648 when they came into power they had the influence tn the British parliament to puss an act to sunnress blasphemy and heresy containing eigntarticlesof the most abstruse dogmas containrd in their creed, and inflic ting death for the denial or refusing to be lieve cach and every one of them! Who can placc confidence in the professions of men acting under the influence of religious f Or who can safely power in the hand of bigotry* If the act of May 1648 was now of force (n the U. States, and strictly carricd into effect, it is more than probable it would hung two thirds of | the whole population of the nation including puritr.ns, presbytcrians and all other de nominations! Vain and irrogant mortals thus to legislate foi Heaven and prescribe the designations under which th?- Deity may be permitted to receive the adoration of his creatures; and to exclude from the enjoy ments of life and the hope 01 future happi ness all who conform not t<> their creed ! ! Wretched, imperious bigotry to assume the right oi prescribing the time and plact when and wiicrc the universal fathei of all may be permitted to accept the worship of his creature man! The artful and insinuating address of su pcrstltlon ana DiRotry when in pursuit of power, ever begins with professions of ten der conscience and humble piety. It is but a small thing (hey want, and that such as almost all agree in, or think they nearlv ; agicc about. It is no more than other* have done, all pious nations of christians have done the same or ought to have done | so. The sabbath i? fully established by , law in England, the mail is stopped, the pott offices shut in the pious city of London; and the bulwark of religion is offered as an example to the American government! Geneva too, the original fountain sanctifies the sabbath with exemplary piety! In fact, keeping the sabbath is asserted to Itc the criterion of the soundness ot religion in nil countries of the known world, " ac cording to the degree of true godliness, in the same degree has the sabbath been sanc tified or kept holy." Such assertions have their effect at a distance of either time or place, and surve to mislead the ignorant and unwary, but have little ttuth in them! An American traveller who lately spent some time at Geneva, writes thus, " while reposing in the alcoves of this retreat, we over-heard a rehearsal in a neighbouring theatre, and were not a little surprised to learn in this protestant and calvinistic city, that the play was in preparation for the Sunday evening following (letters from Eu rope v. 2. p. 553.) Ana who would not be surprised to read the notice published con cerning the Atlas, one of the largest news I papers in the world, which runs in these I words: "The Atlas is published in two j editions; the first on Saturday evening in time for post and is received on Sunday at [ the distance of neariy two hundred mile* from London; the second on Sunday morn ing, containing, specially reported the whole news of Saturday up to mid-night." (New Monthly Mag. Jan. 1, 1829.) Thu? not only the mail, hut the press seems to have chosen Sunday for their peculiar labor*! These things require no comment; supersti tion and bigotry in pursuit of power have ever had recourse to misrepresentation, and deception. The genius of American liberty speaks a different language. " We follow no precedent that leads to slavery? no human authority can in any case what ever control or interfere with the rights of conscience?religion is placed on itspropt-r basis, without the unwarranted interference of civil power.?It is supported b> its own evidence, illustrated bv the lives of its pro fessors, and sustained by the almighty care of its divine author. Every church has the power of preserving its own purity by ex cluding from its cominnnion its own blas phemers hereticks, sabbath breakers and profane swearers. Ami that church which claims the power of dictating to the faith, or controling the practice of others who do no*, belong to it, must have viewiol ultimately seising on power, inconsistent with the principles ol the revolution and destructive of that freedom of conscience, and exercise of that civil and religious lib erty purchased with the blood of <iur an LOCKE. MR EVERBTT'8 APBECII -At m Pub Ik Oinnrr given to him bu the Cithen* of MiihvWe, ( tVnnemee.) Mfn. Cmmomt anii Gkntlmmk* The mntiment which ha* juat been an mninrwl, mitt the kind attention of which I And myself, on, thin occasion, the object, demand my particular acknowUtgflnient*. Coming among you from a remote district of the country 1 pemonatly acquainted, on my arrival, with but a nngle individual, betides your distinguished Representative in Congress: possessing none of those pub lic and political claims on your notice, which are usually acknowledged by cour tesies of this kind, 1 find myself the honor ed guest of this day ; cordially greeted by so largo a company, where I could have ox peeled only to 1'orra n Tow acquaintan ces, and made to feel myself at home in the land of strangers. I should feel that sense of oppression which unmerited honor ought always to produce, did 1 look within my self (or the reason of this flattering distinc tion. It in not here, gentlemen, that I look for it I know that it flows from a much higher source; from your ready hospitali ty: from your libenil fouling, which is aoto to take in thoso parts of tho Republic which are tho most remoto from you, and which disponfryou, oven toward tho per son of an individual stranger, toMrcnuthon tho bonds of good will between nil the brethren of the groat American family. It is in this view of the subject alone, that 1 could reconcile my accepting this kind profler of your public attention*, with thr inoffensive privacy which it is my study to preservo in my uresent journey; for "tho sake of which I liavo been led, on more than one occasion since I left home, to ex press a wUh to l)o excused from similar at tentions on tho part of political friends; attentions which would have implied a public standing which 1 do not posses*; and would have caused my excursion to bo ascribed to anotlior than its real motive. That motive, gentlemen, is tho long cher ished wish to behold, with my own eyes, this western world, not of promise merely, but of most astonishing and glorious fulfil ment. The wonders, a* they ma^ justly bo called, of the West; the prodigious ex tent of the territory ; the magnitude of the streams, that unite into one great system tho remotest part* of this l>ouudlcs* region ; the fertility of it* soil, of which the ac counts, till they are vended by actual ab Hervation, seem rather like tho (aides of ro mance than sot>er narrative, were among the earliest objects that attracted my youth ful curiosity. Whilst visiting some of tho most ancient altodcs of civilization iu the elder world, I had frequently occaKin to observe (and I have no doubt, Mr. Presi dont, that your observation confirmed Ute tho fact) that tho < uriosity ot the intelligent men of Kurope wan more awake on tho sub jeet of this, Uiuu any other portion of our country. Of the Atlantic coast tlioy have some general knowledge, arising from the length of time since it was settled, and the political events of which it ha* been the theatre : Hut the valley of the Mississippi Seemed to have presented itself, as it were, suddenly to their imaginations, as a most peculiar, important and hitherto compara tively unknown region. Hut from the time that I have been led more particularly to reflect on the \Ve*tern country, iu itssoci at relations to the r?st of (ho Union, I have , felt an irresistible desire to understand,! from personal observation, the stupendous i work of human advancement which is hen; going on, and of which the history of mankind certainly afibrd* no other exam ple. I cannot hut Ihink it the m??t inte resting subject of contemplation which the world at present affonls. Apart from the grand natural feature* of the Kcene, the as pect of populous towns springing like an exhalation from the soil???f a vacant or savage wilderness transmuted, in one gen eration, into a thickly inhabited territory ?must certainly appeal as strongly to the inquisitive mind, as the sight of crumbling towers, of prostrate columns, ofcitiew once renowned and powerful rcduccd to misera ble ruins, and crowded provinc es turned in to deserts. While these latter objects are thought sufficient to reward the traveller for a distant pilgrimage to foreign countries, i he may well l>o pardoned for feeling him isclf attracted hy the opposite spectacle I whichis presented to himut home?a scene j not of decay, but of teeming life; of im I provement almost too rapid to seem the re sult of human means. It is a remark auoted of a celebrated for eign statesman, (Talleyrand,) that Ameri ca presents, as you travel westward, in |M>int of space, the samo succession of ap pearances, which may be traced in Europe, as you go lack in point of time ; that a* you move from the coast towards the inte rior on this continent, you oas* through those stages of civilization which arc found in Europe as you follow its history back to the primitive ages. If we take thn aborig inal tribes of our continent into the survey, there is some foundation for the remark, but applied to our own population, it is rather igenious than solid. The scene presented by our western country, is not that of a barbarous race, growing up like the primitive tribes of Europe, into civiliz ed nations, but is the far more interesting because the more rapid and intelligent pro cress of a civilized people, extending itself tlirough a rude wilderness, and transplant ing tin* mature arts of life into the hidden recesses of the forest. The traveller, who penetrate* a thousand or two thousand miles from the coast to the interior, may find, it is true, the log hut of the first set ters as he may find within the limits of Philadelphia and New-York, aye, of Paris, or l?ondon, many a wretched hovel far less commodious; but he will also find here substantial dwellings; spacious, even mag nificent mansions?the abodes of compe tence and abundance?surrounded by all the indications of the improved arts of life. ?1 have learned, to my astonishment, that within twenty vears the city ??f Nashville has grown up, from not exceeding four or five brick houses, to it* present condition, as a large, populous, and thriving capital, tho mart of a great and increasing com merce, exhibiting, tor the nnmber of it* inhabitants, as many costly edifices as any lot * city in tho Union. The log houses have disappeared, not in the lapse of two thous and, or even two hundred years, hat in the laps** of twenty year*?the primitive fort* 01the old hunters *ra gone, not hy the de cay of*ge,butintheprogre**of society fora single generation. Far as we are from the coast , we walk abroad and find ourselves not in the infancy of society, hut in the midst of its art*?its refinements and it* el egancies- the pronutt not of centuries, but ofthe life of nten.?We are told that, " \ tli< ???ad jesn ?esr*?* ??> form "> Mate. " An bow oisy Ut it In tb* 4?ft." The roverae seem* almo<t true. While wo con template in Eurupu the fat? of king dom* that nave been tottering for age* on tho brink of decay, slowly dying for a thousand yearn, wo behold our own repub lic* mine into maturity within the oxpo rience 01 a generation. Were Uicy not our countrymen, our fathers; did not tho grey hair* of a few surviving veteran* car ry conviction to our minds, wo could scarce credit tho narrative of the pioneers of the western settlements. It was not till 1701, Uiat even Daniel Boone, whose flight from wilderness to wilderness forms a sort of Herira in tho west, made his ap|>enrancc in East Tennessee. The first cession of land obtained by treaty of the Indians in Uiis state is of no older date Uian April, 1775, a momentous month, as if tho gr.it order of events in tho country's progress required, that simultaneously as the blow was struck, which gave independence to America, tho portals of the western moun tains should no thrown open to her sons, who had hitherto bocu forbidden, by author ity from the crown, to extend their settle ments beyond the Ohio. All those high spir ited adventurers cannot have passcdofTtho stage, who moved forward at Uio head of tho culuiun of tho first emigrants. It itf related that in the year 1706, not a white man was found settled on tho Tennessee or the Cumberland, by a parly who, in thut year descended tln.se river*. The popula tion of the State at the present period, can not be less than 000,(MX). Rut it is not i:iercly tho rapid growth of tho western settlements into |>npulouH States, that surprises tho travcllcrfrom the sea coast. For this growth he must l>e prepared, bccauiw he finds it set down in the statistical tables of the country, and 1h>- j cause, as a mere matter of figure's, he can not but comprehend it. That which strikes! him with astonishment is the advanced ?late of the community?the social iutprov mei)t which he witnesses. Ho finds this great region abounding not merely with fertile lands, but with highly cultivated farms filled not with wild hunters but with substantial vcoinanry. The forests are in , terspcrsed, like the regions he has left, with ; villages active with all the arts of life. He ( descends the mighty rivers in one of those i flouting castles, halt' warehouse and half | palace, which the genius of Fulton has launched on all our waters; built here in | greater numl?ers than in the east, and with at least equal magnificence; and on these ' rivers lie finds, from Pittsburgh down to New Orleans, a succession of large towns j surpassed only by a few of the Atlantic ci | ties; growing fast into a rivalry with some I of them ; hut in all the refinements of life, j and in all the institutions that adorn the ? nature of social intellectual, moral and re ligious man. Kucha spectacle can not bo contemplated without mingled feelings of astonishment anil gratification. 1 am sure* you will par . don me for adding, that it enhance* tiic j pleasure with which a son of New Kngland contemplates it, to find that anionic those ! who Imvc swelled the numbers of tliin great family who have come not merely to share your prosperity, but in former da vs to par take the morn doubtful fortunes ofthe enrly settlements, are not a few of tne children of that distant region, lie rcjoices that he is able in addition to the ties of common language, government and laws to trace those of origin and kindred blood. Nor does he rrjoiee nlotir. The feeling 1 am sure, is mutual. This festive occasion, gentlemen, is a pledge that you too are not less willing to sei/.o an opportunity how ever slight, of promoting that good will which in more important for the |terpetuity of the I'nion than all the forms of the con stitution. The beloved land of my birth, gentlemen, compared with yours, is generally *pcak j iug, a barren region. Our rocks and lands ! yield not those rich harvests which clothe ! your morofertile soil with plenty ; nor are i wn connected with our sister states by no j ble streams like yours, which penetrate the country for thousands of miles and bind the deepest interior to the maris of the coast. Hut 1 may venture toassuro you, i on behalf of my fellow citizens at home, 1 that we behold not with envy but with J pride, your natural advantagcx and won ! derful progress. When we arc visited by ! strangers from Kurope, after wo have shown them what is most worthy notice among ourselves, we habitually add, that this is littlo compared with the astonishing advancement of the west. We l>oast of your improvements rather than our own. w e are in the habit of contrasting our com paratively tardy progress under a foreign colonial system with your moro rapid growth, beneath the cheering inlhu-nce of American Independence. We look to yon to complete the grand undertaking which I was but begun by the fathers of the Amer ican people, who settled the Atlantic coavt. Reflecting inen in that region never re gard tho great work to 1m> performed in America, as confined to the settlement of the strip along the shore. It was to open the whole western world as an al?ode of civ ilized freemen, and wish you Ood speed in accomplishing the noble work Two cen turies have imssed away since the first set tlers of the Atlantic coast were struggling with those hardships, which tho genera tion immediately preceding you was here called to encounter, and we cordially re joice that a period of thirty years has pur chased for you that security and prosperity, which were with us the growth ef a cen tury and a hall. We feel happy in the be lief; that in your further advancement you will not forget the cradles of the Amer ican race, and that you w ill bear in kindly remembrance the men and the deeds which are among the dearest titles of our glory. In casting the eye over the map of your state, we behold among the names of your counties, those of our Lincoln, tJreen, Knox, Wimn and Perry. We feel that uor hearts arc thus linked together by the tie of common devotjpn to the prccious memory of our great and good men; and we confidently resl in the assurance, that when the present generation, with us at with yon, shall have passed awav, our children will nnlte with yours in ibe tri bute of gratitude to those who whether at the North, or the South, the Kast, or the West, have triumphed or bled, have ftood or flUlea in their country'* caus* Gentlemen, it has been justly stated tha* when the next census shall be taken, the valley of tho Mississippi will probably ?w found to contain a population larger than that with which the old thirteenetMce plun (T?d into the rovokit ionary ?W| after a pe riod oi' leu yew* more, yd another enu umomiion shall bo mndo, you will then probably out vote us in the cuuneils of the tuition. The ?i<*eptre will then deport from Judith, never to return. We look forward to that i*vent without alarm, a* in the or-* d?r <?f the natural growth or thie great re puldie. Wo have a firm faith that ourln teroxtN are inutuaUy consistent; that If you prosper we Mliall prosper, if you suffer we shall Miller, that our (strength will gruW with tho closeness of our Union, thai our children's welfare, honor, and prosperity!, will not suffer in the preponderance with the next generation in tho west must pea-' kcsh in the balance of the country. One word moru Gentlemen, and I will relieve your patience. In thn course of hu man events, it is certain that wo, who are now assembled shall never all be assembled together again. It is probable, that when we, shall part this evening, the most of ua will ,ln it to ineet no more on earth. Allow inn, with the seriousness inseparable from that feeliug; to assure you, that tills unex pected and Muttering mark of your kindness w ill never be forgotten by me or mine, but at whatever distance of tiino or place, and in whatever vicissitude of fortune, will be ro niemliered, as one of the most gratefUl in cident* of my life.?Permit mo in taking my seat to reciprocate the sentiment last an nounced, by prupcs'.ng- - The Inhabitants of Nashville?May their prosperity, like their city, befounded on u rock. J-'rotn the Old Dominion* MY UNCLE SAM'S FARM. There it so much truth and humor in thti following skctch from the Winchester Vir ginian, that we have determined to give it a conspicuous insertion, and have there fore mndc it n lending article for this day'* j):i|>cr: " My unclc Sam, at the period when till# description commenced, wai a lieartv ro bust, generous, independent and wealth/ republican farmer, and had he lived con temporary with the patriarch*, would havo j>;?Hved for si ver\ gay chivalrous youth, be i?K onh in his Jifry-atcoixl year. He was remarkable through bin whole life for hi? ;ieacrable disposition, though whenever a fit opportunity occurred, he exhibited adc termiiicd spirit that disdained submission ami permitted no insult to go unpunished. In lus hoyhooi!, he had been under the tu telage of a domineering old pedagogue, who thinking himself superior to all the wot Id, would n?'t suffer my uncle to enter tain an opinion of his own, but endeavored by every menus in his power to keep him in utter subjection;taking every opportuni ty to thwart his wishes, and denying every ' petition or request, however reasonable ami just. My uncle submitted to this treat ment ns long ns it was possible, but finding that the more he yielded, the tnore severe was his tutor's treatment, he determined on resistance; and one morning, when the old pedant attempted to forcc bin- to take a cup of tea against his will, he threw the whole of it in his lace, cup and all, and bouncing up in a rage, swore that he was a free man, nud would no longer lie governed by such a tyrant; this produced u* might bo cxpicicd, a terrible battle; and sometimes one and sometimes the other had the better 1 of it. The old fellow drew his sword ami , laid about him with all his skill and forcc, but my uncle having been taught the art of dcfcnceby this very muster,anu understand ing nil his home thrusta, knew how to tiar ry most of them successfully, though hc'wus often wounded so severely that it wan doubt ful whether he would ever reooverjdndecd the blood streamed at every pore; but ho was true spunk nud rave at good a& he re ceived: at last the old fellow began to puff and blow, and started to run, but my unelc kept clove at his heels, and with the auit* tance of a French gentleman, (who had been looking on, hurraing for my uncle, and who had often felt the pedagogue'* lash and therefore had no peculiar fienchant toward* him) so completely hemmed him m a comer that he was necessitated to surtender at di? crction,to acknowledge that ray uncle washis own man, nnd that he waa at liberty to mitnagc hi* own affairs as lie thought beat. As soon as this quarrel waa adhnted, my uncle commenced setting every thing in or der about his plantation, and improving hia land by judicious cultivation) Init aa hi* farm was very extensive, he could not attend to the whole himself, and was therefore com pelled to employ overseers, who were held responsible to himself. It was a rule with my uncle, never to engage an overseer for more than tour years at a time; and lest they should he disposed to claim ownership over his estate, he was never to retain the name person In his place more than two term*. My unc.lc established certain written direc tions for the management of hia farm, which e.?ch overseer took an oath to follow, and fiorn which th? y were in no case to de part. 1 lis first o?'trseer was a first raej manager, enriching and improving the farm so highly, that my uncle wa? delighted with him, arid I believe was disposed "to keep him as lonp, as he would serve hnt he re signed his steward??i;p; and my uncle waa obliged to look out for another. My unele'a farm was now a very curious one, and hujj liad some peculiar rotlons about the man ner it was to be worked. It was at firat laid ofT into thirteen different fields, all un der different fence#, and each field being worked by different hands; but na he grew richer ami all hi* hands increased, one field waa added to another until the number amounted to twenty-lour; and though eaoH field had its own fence, yet my uncle built a fence around the whole farm, ami made it the oreraeerV business to keep the outside fence alwavs in the condition in which he found it, while the hand* had the right r>{ Hatching and mending the fence around th?* tldsthcv cultivated, when and In what manner they thought pi oner. My unci* did not succeed so well in the choice of hh aecond overseer; for he proved a cruel and severe manager; he broke down the fences in three or tour plate*, and would never follow my uncle'* direction*; and when thu hanJ* would complain of hU meqagsrvirt,