Roland Trevor, or, The pilot of human life
page: (TitlePage) [View Page (TitlePage) ] ROLAND TREVOR: OR, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. BEING AN lutobIograpbyof t leutler. SHOWING HOW TO MAKE AND LOSE X FORTUNE, AND THEN TO MAKE ANOTHER.- PHLADELPHA: "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO, AND CO-. 1853 page: [View Page ] Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO, AND CO., in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United, States in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. PREFACE. THE following pages were written for the benefit of an only son who is now no more. It has pleased the Almighty Disposer of-human events to take him from me, whereby this work has lost its value unless given to the public. As it relates incidents of a life as varied as it has been eventful-and, if not thrillingly interesting, it-is because the- story has been badly told-I have yielded to the suggestions of. some partial friends, who, having read, have advised its publication. As it produced good fruit in him for whom it was intended, they think it may not have a less beneficial effect upon the sons of other men. The reader may perhaps imagine that, as I had a moral object in view, the story will partake of a dry lesson-like character. Not so. It isthe actual history of my own life from the age of fifteen to over fifty, with all the struggles. - and efforts in my progress: showing how I made and, lost a fortune, and how I made another, with the causes thereof; and with a sufficient sprinkling of love adventures to reason- ably season the dish. A portion of the narrative has been witten since the death of my son, which will be relished by te -more mature and ripened mind, and yet which, I think, will interest as well as improve the young. - Having condensed, for the benefit of a young friend, rule - for self-government which I found of great advantage in my own case, and they having produced a beneficial effect with page: iv-v[View Page iv-v] PREFACE. him, I have ventured to give them for the benefit of the reader in advance of the main work. : A mode by which one may become his own master, and force himself to accomplish whatever he has the resolution to attempt. To make this matter the more plain, I will simply tran- scribe the instructions given in the case named. 1st day. Make a blank book out of a quire of paper, with a view to record therein any resolution which you may form; and consider yourself sacredly bound to adhere to such reso- lution so recorded.- Rather suffer a protest at bank, or dis- credit yourself in any other way, than, by violating such pledge, destroy the value of what will serve as a friend and guardian to you through life, so long as the charm of sanc- tity is preserved. In order the more certainly to run no hazard of violating it, make no resolution to bind you beyond one week. And if you have the least doubt about your being able to hold out a week, try it but for a day. If then you think you can hold out longer, try it for two, and then for a week; and renew from week to week. But never resolve beyond a week, because, however irksome any resolution might be, you would hold it, probably, for a week. Other- wise you might violate it, and lose the benefit of a guardian over your actions, which, so long as it is preserved sacred, you will find invaluable. Now commence your week's trial by rising with the sun, or earlier. Then write an essay upon the value to you of a manly self-control. This will teach you to think, improve you, in composition, and strengthen your resolution. After breakfast, attend to yout accustomed avocations, walk at least a mile for recreation; but read not less than thirty pages of solid matter before you go to bed. Finally, before retiring, record herein how you have spent the day, Land what- portion of it you consider time wasted. 2d. Write an -essay on the value of time and method in the use of it. Balance as above. v 8d. On the value of the habit of executing-immnediately . whatever you determine on. The evil of pondering. 4th. 0n the importance of punctuality in time engage- ments, as well as moneyed- - 5th. On the evil of being in debt. 6th. Review the work of the past week, and estimate, if you continue it, what it will amount to in one year. Con trast it with the mode in which you have spent the previous week, and note the difference. Then before you rise from the table enter your pledge in this book for the next week. Now you will find stuch gratification in this review that it will be apt to determine you to hold out for another week: but this determination will be strongest immediately after you have finished the review, and then is the time to enter your pledge. Each succeeding week you will be more and more pleased with the plan, and gratified that you have gained so much by being your own taskmaster, and you will become more and more resolved not to fall back. At the beginning of the second week, write an essay upon any useful subject. Let it be, if possible, upon some habit which you wish to correct. Do this every morning until the sixth, then review as before, and note how far you have con. formed to your own admonitions. If a young man be resolute in his determination to improve himself, and will begin with those rules, he will find in two weeks that, so far from considering them irksome, he will be delighted with their operation; for he will see a weekly measurement of his advance, and that his character is under- going a charming renovation. Some young men there are of fine -talents, but with a natural want of energy. Of such I ask, would you put your. self under the constraint necessary to conform to those rules one week for one thousand dollars? If yes-then try it, and I venture to say that, at the end of the week, you will page: vi-vii[View Page vi-vii] find out a secret which you would not take a thousand dol- lars for. Annexed, I give a letter from one who is now progressing with the experiment. His name is erased, but the letter is left with the publisher. ROLAND TREVOR. PHLADELPHA, January 1, 1853. MR. T----. DEAR FRIEND: As a New Year's gift, permit me to tender you my thanks for the success of your mental system. As you predicted, I acknowledge this is one of your most valuable inventions. Having. been allowed by your kindness to reaa your me- moirs in manuscript, I was inspired with an anxiety to im- prove myself: but, being assured of my immethodical and thriftless habits, I despaired of ever acquiring sufficient self- control to accomplish any valuable reform. Your kindness prompted you to a better hope of-me. You told -me you thought that you could accomplish a total revolution in my character. You offered to try. Pleased with your kindness and good opinion of my capacity, though highly sceptical of any permanent good accruing, I gave myself up to your dis- posal, with a promise to follow your directions implicitly for a single week. I followed your directions,as I promised to do. You immedi- ately laid open to me a practical philosophy in a new and beau- tiful aspect, and demonstrated to me that, as all great works in physics are done little by little, as houses are built bymlay- ing brick upon brick, so are-all great moral undertakings completed little by little. One week was all that you asked. At the end of that week, I found I had profited, so much that I ventured to try a second, a third, and to the sixth, which was Christmas week. . I determined to enjoy life and leisure, thrift- lessly and waywardly as fun or fancy might dictate. At the end of the holidays, I was so chagrined at my waste of time and opportunities, Hmade up my mind to commence the i PREFACE. vii New Year after your directions, and deem the whole tenor of my life well and wisely changed. Now let me assure you what your plan has enabled me to accomplish: first, to stop chewing tobacco; second, to stop smoking; third, to get up by six o'clock in the morning; and fourthly, to stop, in a considerable measure, idling away my time. Had drunkenness or gambling been among my weak- nesses, I am fully persuaded I could easily have mastered those propensities. The most singular feature in your plan is, you make me teach myself, by making me note my experience and learn from it. 'Tis a self-supporting, self-teaching ma- chine, So fully impressed am I with the value of your plan, that I do believe any man, with a moderate degree of common sense, fortitude, and ambition, could, by its directions, force himself from any bad habit which might obstruct his pros- perity. If so, would it not be*well to give it a place in your memoirs? It would be a good way of giving it to the world, and there are many doubtless who would reform if they only knew how to do so. I think your plan would teach them. Appreciating the beautiful ingenuity and great wisdom of your plan, and happily assured of the great profit derived to myself from it- With high respect and pleasant remembrance, I am Your friend. page: viii-ix (Table of Contents) [View Page viii-ix (Table of Contents) ] CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE General views for the government of the young mind . . 13 CHAPTER II. My outset in life . . . . . . . . 18 CHAPTER III. My plan for improvement-My position in society-The mor- tifications I encountered . . . . . . .24 CHAPTER IV. My first speculation . . 29 March to meet the British . . . - . .- . . 32 CHAPTER VI. Voyage to the West Indies-Value of civility . . . 36 CHAPTER VII. I return to Richmond, and undertake the management of my father's coal-mines . . . . . . 45 CHAPTER VIII. My success injexpelling foul air from the coal-mines-A dan- gerous adventure into one of them . . . . . 46 page: x (Table of Contents) -xi (Table of Contents) [View Page x (Table of Contents) -xi (Table of Contents) ] CONTEJNTS g CHAPTER IX. PAGE ngagement to go to Kentucky to settle an estate . 52 CHAPTER X. irst horse-trade-Various other adventures . . .67 CHAPTER XI. - Dus adventures, and some reflections in regard to the st settlement of Kentucky . . * . . 63 CHAPTER XII. )ry of a suicide and other -matters 70 CHAPTER XIII. L irrival in Frankfort--Meeting with a namesake-Ad- nces to him and rebuff . . . . . . . 76 CHAPTER XIV. Dpinion of duels, and the mode of avoiding them-With X rious other matters . . . . . . . 81 CHAPTER XV. mode of gaining the information I wanted-A- little dry first, but read on, and the object will be -developed with ore interest . . . . . . . . 86 CHAPTER XVI. forlorn feelings upon first being domiciliated among rangers . . . . . . . . 90 CHAPTER XVII. society of Frankfort-The legislature-Association with \e members . . . . . . 94 CHAPTER XVIII. th of my sister Ann and of my father--My return to Vir- CONTENTS. i xi giniaSettlement with Judge B. and agreement to return P to Kentluclky . . . 97 CHAPTER XIX. Return to Kentucky-Pleasant adventure . . . 102 CHAPTER XX. Second return to Frankfort-Approach of a moneyed crisis in Kentucky-Character of the Kentuckians-History of the independent banks-Relief system and NewCourt . 104 CHAPTER XXI. he perils and difficulties attending the investigation of land- titles in Kentucky . ' ' '* ' . . . . * . 122 CHAPTER XXII. count of two robbers-First steam navigation on the Ohio-Loss of one hundred and fifty dollars 129 CHAPTER XXIII. . r first law argument-Arrival of Judge B.-Trip to the X Fellow Banks-Discussion about Jack Randolph 133 CHAPTER XXIV. )wth of Cineinnati, and its cause . . 16 CHAPT ER XXV. t to Washington, Richmond-Change of terms for doing usiness-Return to Kentucky-Accidental meeting with y brother-Auction sale of land at the Yellow Banlks . 19 CHAPTER XXVI. mbling adventure-The philosophy of gaming . 143 CHAPTER XXVII. dotes of Tha Talbot andHenryClay Cla . 146 lt6 - l '-I page: xii (Table of Contents) -xiii (Table of Contents) [View Page xii (Table of Contents) -xiii (Table of Contents) ] Xii gCONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. PAGE Effects of an unconciliatory spirit, and the contrary . . 148 CHAPTER XXIX. How to cure a scolding wife-The value of money . . 151 CHAPTER XXX. Pretty. girls-Resolute young law student-Young lawyers of Frankfort . . . . ' CHAPTER XXXI. A speculation-Another-Trip to Richmond-'Amusing seenes there . * *. ' 59 CHAPTER XXXII. 169 Return to Kentucky-Story of B. T-- .169 CHAPTER XXXIII. The impropriety of abusing witnesses-A bad policyin law- yers * * * . - CHAPTER XXXIV. My appointment by the State of Virginia as military agent . 179 CHAPTER XXXV. The Kentucky land-laws-Its difficulties-An adventure . 181 CHAPTER XXXVI. Mr. Clay becomes prominent-Mr. Monroe notifies the allied powers not to touch American soil--Its good effect, and the wisdom of his doing so . 186 CHAPTER XXXVII. Trip to the Iron Banks . . 188 C ONTENTS. xiii CHAPTER XXXVIII. PAGE A bear story-Meet a counterfeiter-Lodge at a convict's house-History of the counterfeiters . . . 194 *, . - CHAPTEtR XXXIX. Plan for a new settlement-Trip to the Yellow Banks . . 202 CHAPTER XL. Story of Miss Rhody Shermahorn . . . . 205 CHAPTER XLI. The A-- settlement .. 207 CHAPTER XLII. Purchase of Mason-Second sale of land at the Yellow Banks -Trip to Virginia . . . . . . . . 210 CHAPTER XLIII. Meet with Miss P-- . . . . . . 212 CHAPTER XLIV. Visit to Judge Brook-First interview with Mr. Clay-His national policy--The error of- Virginia in opposing it .216 CHAPTER XLV. Necessity for charitable feelings--Further remarks upon Mr. Clay's character . v . . . . 224 CHAPTER XLVI. My operations in Kentucky . . . . . . 226 CHAPTER XLVII. Love-affairs . . . . . . .23 CHAPTER XLVIII. T. G---'s visit to Kentucky-Discovery of a coal-mine . 239 1 page: xiv (Table of Contents) -xv (Table of Contents) [View Page xiv (Table of Contents) -xv (Table of Contents) ] xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER XLIX. PAGE A speculation missed-Progress of our business-Love-story continued--Marriage . . , . . . . 240 CHAPTER L. Departure with my wife for Kentucky . . . . . 257 CHAPTER LI. Arrival at Kenawha-The salt business-Beautiful country in Kentucky-Character of Kentuckians . . . . 260 CHAPTER LII. Arrival at Frankfort-Removal to Haphazard-Coal business 2" CHAPTER LIII. A duel .. ... . . . 275 CHAPTER LIV. Shipment of coal to New Orleans . . . 283 CHAPTER LV. Dine with Mr. Clay at Judge Porter's-A picture of real life 288 CHAPTER LVI. Qualities necessary to make a great man . '294 CHAPTER LVII. Corruption in our government and the remedy . . . 295 CHAPTER LVIII. "Climbing down"-!' a entures continued . . 317 CHAPTER LIX. Gloom hangs over us-Wreckers appear-Dissolution-of part- nership . . . . . . .320 CONTENTS." x CHAPTER LX. An offer to engage in business in Washington City . . 325 CHAPTER LXI. Purchase of D. R-- 's estate . . 26 826 CHAPTER LXII. Offer for Congross-Bargain with T. G-- for a Texas ad- venture-A horrid bear story-Mexican records; best mode extant-Contrast with the English . . .30 CHAPTER LXIII. Texan loan-Adventures in Texas 335 CHAPTER LXIV. Appointed general agent for Texas-Empowered to procure a war locomotive . . .44 344 CHAPTER LXV. An awkward quandary--Battle of San Jacinto--Interview with Santa Anna and Almonte-Meet two men who escaped from Fanning's massacre . . 348 CHAPTER LXVI. I now undertake my duties as general agent for Texas . 355 CHAPTER LXVII. The beginning of trouble again . . 358 CHAPTER LXVIII. Death of my children-Effect upon my wife . 361 page: xvi (Table of Contents) -13[View Page xvi (Table of Contents) -13] Pxi CONTENTS. PABIS REVIEW. . . . 374 CHAPTER LXI-X. Change of subject-A respite recommended . . 8 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD . 88 PILOT OF HU I[TAN LIFE. CHAPTER I. GENERAL VIEWS FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE YOUNG MND. THE life of every man contains a lesson to his successor, which may be of value, if properly written out. It is a chart, showing where the shoals and breakers lie which pro- duce failures in his enterprises, as well as where the deep and smooth waters are found in the sea of prosperity. There are few who have arrived at the age of fifty, and 'have been prosperous, who could not be more so if they had their lives to pass over again; and quite as few who, having been unfortunate, cannot look back -and see the causes to which they owe their misfortunes. A father, then, who has the time, should furnish his son with this chart, while his mind is yet in that pliant con- dition which adapts it to receive the lessons of experience; before a dogmatic self-will has impressed him with an idea of his own smartness, which makes him deaf to the instruction of others. The most important lesson which my experience has taught me is the conviction that the human mind is pro- gressive in all its stages, and that upon no subject has it 2 page: 14-15[View Page 14-15] " THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. ever filled the measure of knowledge to be obtained therein. The conceited, therefore, who turn from instruction, under a belief that they have nothing more to learn on any subject, only show the shallowness of their understandings. The mind very quickly determines from hearing a lecturer whether there is a probability of adding anything to the store of knowledge already possessed on any given sub- ject, and if not, it would be waste of time to listen to him; but one should not, therefore, cease to make inquiries through more intelligent sources. In politics religion, medicine, and many other sciences, certain sects have formed their opinions, and will- hear nothing to shake them. How is it possible that the mind can learn, if the book of knowledge is closed! When I observe a man listen with respect to opinions not in accord- ance with his own, as if he gives due weight to them, and wishes to ascertain what merit they are entitled to, and what he can gather from them to improve his own stock of knowledge, I consider that he has a well-balanced mind- one possessed of natural strength, and capable of gathering strength as it goes. There are, indeed, very few minds of this character that are not of the first order. If, after having heard all that is to be said, although dissenting in opinion, a man gives full weight to all the arguments that deserve it, setting them forth in their strongest light, and even adding others in support of the views which have been given, as suggested by those of the speaker, but still, in a decorous and respectful manner, showing why they fail to convince him, I naturally lean to that man. I am satisfied there is no prejudice about him; that he is in search of light, of truth, of justice; in a word, a well-bred gentle- man--for, whether he come from the cottage or the palace, be is one of nature's noblemen. If schools and parental teaching have not made him a gentleman, nature has. The THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 15 opinions of such a man are always listened to with respect, they always have great weight, and the author'will find friends wherever he goes; such a man will make proselytes. But, on the contrary, if a man listen with ah apparent anxiety to detect you in a false position, in a slip of language, showing that his object is victory in argument, and not to elicit truth, refusing to admit self-evident facts or reasonable inferences-requiring proof of what a candid mind ought, to admit-indeed, leaving an impression on his adversary that he is not inclined to deal fairly-that man may exhibit his ingenuity, his tact, his skill in argument, but he leaves an impression on his adversary-of a very unenviable kind, that he is lacking in candor, frankness, honesty, nobleness. There are many grades of all these qualities; and if I had to select a man to transact my business, on account of his honesty, and one should be recommended as standing unex- ceptionably with the world, who suited me as to all other qualifications, if I were to hear him offer unfair arguments I would not employ him; because the honest heart can do nothing which is unfair. He who will make up an unfair account in argument will do it in dollars and cents when- ever a sufficient temptation offers. Once in conversation with a distinguished politician, one who aimed to be a leader, I admitted that on a certain point a political opponent was rigli (he and I agreed in politics). "t Oh, no, no," said he, " you are wrong." Eventually, how- ever, I satisfied him that I thought I was right, if I failed to convince him. Not being able to convince me, he took me by the hand, and said, "You are a young politician, and some hints may be of service to you. Allow me to suggest that we ought never to concede that our opponents are right where they differ from the received doctrines of our party." "t Why, sir," said I, " that would be a monstrous principle to admit. Each party then would maintain its ground from the mere love of opposition. Every member of each would page: 16-17[View Page 16-17] 16 THE PILOT OF HUMAN iIFE. have his opinions moulded for him by his leaders ; he would be a mere machine, and not an intelligent being. I shall never subscribe to such opinions, sir, and hope our party will not." From that moment I lost all respect for this man, and finally he forfeited all the respect of his party. There is a set of hardened political jockeys who laugh at the idea of political honesty, and view as an evidence of greenness and simplicity any man's pretensions to it. But, for my part, I cannot conceive that a man eat be morally honest and politically dishonest. If- a man is honest at all, the principle prevails with him throughout. It will not- travel with him through morality, and then leave him in politics or religion. Honesty consists in never acting unfairly, whether in trade, politics, or religion. Many an honest man has gone to jail for debt fairly contracted, but which unexpected events made it impossible to pay; many a politician has greatly injured his country by misguided opinions fairly entertained; and many an honest man has incurred public odium from professing religious opinions in which he sincerely believed. The mind of the young should be honest; that is, open to light, and willing to hear the truth and admit it. Every truth stored in the mind is future mental capital; and as it is said money begets money, growing and compounding in its growth in proportion to its aggregation, so do truths. Every addition to the mass of correct thinking strengthens the mind, and adds to its power of collecting new truths, which finally constitute a mind so strong and clear that it has no false view of anything. On the contrary, the man who aims only at controversial victory, and seeks only weapons fair or unfair to attain suc- cess, accepting the false and unfair arguments of others, wherever they can be found to answer his purpose, ceases from that time to strengthen his mind by accumulating truth; and such a man must always occupy a secondary stand. I THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIEE. 17 do not mean to say there are not smart and talented men who are dishonest. But such men would have occupied a much more exalted position as men of talent had- hey been honest; for they lose the greatest aid to the attainment of a high order of talent, in the lack of honesty-that aid which the heart gives to the head -which makes eloquence so powerful and irresistible when there is a consciousness of right. The young mind should learn to be charitable, and slow to-condemn an opponent for difference of opinion, or for crime where there is lack of proof. This world is awfully unchari- table, and prone to condemn, on the first accusation, without investigating the justice of the charges. Hence, mischief- makers in society so often succeed in estranging friends from each other, by starting reports in which there is no just foundation whatever. The young heart, while it should not be so credulous as to be imposed upon, should be predisposed to a good opinion of human nature; otherwise, its own good feelings will be cor- roded and hardened. While we allow that there is enough of baseness in the world to put us on our guard, an&d give us reasonable caution, we should also allow that there are merit and virtue enough to open and warm our hearts. Hap- piness depends much on the sympathy of virtuous hearts. To allow that there is but little virtue in the world would be to leave the virtuous heart desolate indeed. Such is not the fact; there is much to authorize us in giving our confidence and affection, observing a reasonable prudence in doing so. I do not mean, in carrying out this idea, to say that a man must lend his money or his name foolishy to others. No friend would ask it beyond your ability conveniently to spare it. To that extent a man may be -justifiable, but certainly not further. An acquaintance will sometimes present him- self with a note or bond, and say, '"I wish you to indorse this for me; it iis a mere nominal thing; you will never hear of it , page: 18-19[View Page 18-19] 18 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. again." The nature of trade renders mutual aid sometimes necessary, and all who need it should, if practicable, make arrangements for reciprocal accommodations, securing each other for doing so. There are, however, friends who, under certain circum- stances, are entitled to our aid, when it would be ungenerous to refuse it; and where we can see that, without dishonesty, we are not very likely to lose, we should give it. We are all, sometimes, so circumstanced as to render such aid neces- sary, and even at thee hazard of losing we ought to give it. But never carry this friendship so far that, if you have to pay all, it will injure you. Many men keep no account of their indorsements, and are finally ruined when they were not aware that they were liable as security but to a small amount. Let me now impress on you to open a security account the first time you put your name on paper for any man, and make this entry: "Security Account to Bills Payable," for this amount due on the day of , by A. B---, for whom Hhave indorsed $ I will here close this branch of my subject and proceed to the Fhief object in view: the chart of my life, as a guide to you, endeavoring to show, when I have been successful, why -and why, when I have not. CHAPTER II. MY OUTSET IN LIFE. MY father-was a man of great enterprise and indomitable energy, a merchant who had been prosperous and otherwise, having three times failed in, business, but never becoming disheartened, THE PIILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. 19 Before the commencement of the last war with England,. he owned coal-mines in Virginia, and a valuable plantation besides; all together ought to have made him independent; but his zeal was always ahead of his means, and he generally was in want of money. The coming on of the war and the blockading .of the Chesapeake finally made bankrupt every coal-miner, and himself among the rest. But before this event, for reasons I have named, though it was a part of his nature to live well and handsomely-he could 'not do other- wise while he could possibly afford it--he was liard run for money, and could not give me the education- he wished, and which was customary for the sons of Virginia gentlemen. I was pretty well versed in all the English branches, and knew as much French as was common, so that I could write it with tolerable ease, and with some difficulty speak it so as to be understood; but my education was not what was, at that time, considered thoroughly classical. My father preferred the solid studies, and thought that where time was limited it had better be devoted to mathematics, natural philosophy, and the kindred sciences. I had much cause to deplore the belief, on my part, that I was deficient in a collegiate educa- tion, because I was of the impression that a man could not study law without it with any chance of success, and on that account I was deterred from attempting it, though I have always been satisfied,' since I have been grown, that it would have been the sphere peculiarly suited to my turn of mind. Had I known as much as I now do as to its importance, I should have prosecuted the study with zeal, as I discover the ablest men our country has produced, Henry Clay among the number, have risen under similar difficulties. Sub- sequently, however, having a vast amount of law business to do, I had of necessity to make myself a pretty good land lawyer, land have pleaded some of my own. most important cases; and by many, who have known me for page: 20-21[View Page 20-21] 20 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. twenty years intimately, am considered a regular bred lawyer. Any well-informed man, with a strong mind, having a strong sense of justice, the principles of equity well established, is already more than half a lawyer; and, with a single year's study, would be an overmatch for half who practise. And if our laws were divested of the rubbish which encumbers them,* and which is perfectly needless but for the benefit of the school- ed, such men alone could be lawyers, for the easy admission of strong intellects acting on the basis of reason, untram- melled by special pleading, would soon cause the lighter in- tellects to sink. The man of tolerable understanding, whose fate it is to have much to do with law, will soon discover that it is enveloped in a mass of nonsensical trash, growing out of the circumstances under which the common law of Eng- land has been handed down to us, and which was the crea- tion of circumstances dissimilar entirely to our own; making it necessary to approach justice indirectly and by fiction, for which now no solid reasons exist. Reason being, in our country, untrammelled, there being no cause to do anything but in a direct manner, all the fiction of the law, and all the special pleading which, in half the suits that are brought, defeat the ends of justice, ought to be abolished, and will be whenever a master-spirit takes the subject in hand, who feels himself competent to the task. It is wonderful that, in the general march of improvement, this remnant of barbarism still remains 'among us. That it can remain long is, in the nature of things, impossible. I have, however, di- gressed more than I intended.-To return. My father's cir- cumstances making it necessary that I should leave school before my education was complete, caused me great concern and mortification.- I was put to live with a merchant in Richmond, who had but lately established himself, a whole- X .. This was written in 1848. In 1851, Kentucky remodelled her laws, and has very much simplified them. THE PILOT Of HUMAN LIFE. 21 sale importer. He had two clerks, who were then sufficient for his business; and I was admitted as a favor to my father, without wages, but merely to learn business. My father in- formed me of the circumstances which made this necessary; that he would dress me genteelly, but that I must be as eco- nomical as I could. Indeed, he seemed to foresee a gloomy future, and deemed it necessary to impress me with it. He told me that on my being able to make myself useful and necessary to my employer depended my promotion; and the most important thing, next to doing well all that I had to do, was to do it cheerfully, pleasantly, promptly; never to have a sulky look, even if overtasked, but to go at what I had to do as if I considered it a favor to be allowed to do it. And not only so as it regarded my employer, but to seek every opportunity to oblige his friends; "for," said he, "a man's friends always have great influence with him. If you are unpopular with them, you will soon become so with him. And, above all things, be not ashamed to do anything re- quired of you-to sweep out the store, dust the counter and the goods; be always busy at something. You are playing- for a high stake. Your future destiny depends, perhaps, on the manner you deport yourself at the start, and how your employer is pleased with you." With these lessons I set in, and with a full sense of the responsibility resting on my course. I thought I could give satisfaction, and determined to do it. I was told I need not do anything the first day, but look around and see what was done, and learn how. The s cond clerk was vain, and a good deal of a dandy. Before I came in, it was his duty to sweep out the store, and brush down the counters, which duty he continued for a day after I came in. It then became mine. I remarked, when he swept the store out in the morning, before he pushed the dirt into the street, he would look up and down to see who was near, and delay his task while any one was in sight, and then would sweep the dirt out to one side of the door. page: 22-23[View Page 22-23] 22 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. When I assumed the office, I considered that, under the cir- cumstances I was admitted, it did not become, me to seem ashamed of my trade. I preferred to make an osten- tatious display of it, and when I swept out in the morning I also swept the pavement the whole width of the house, and would then knock my broom against the curbstone, attracting notice all around; and generally obeyed the suggestions of my father. This merchant had a very intimate friend, who was in the habit of calling in to talk with him on his way to bank, which was some distance off, and from slight evidences of my obliging dispositiop, he asked me one day if I would go to bank and transact his business for him. This was in the city of Richmond, when the Bank of Virginia was in front of the capitol,- a long, way from the seat of business; to reach it was a tiresome walk. I took his book with pleasure, left the store, and after getting out, ran at half speed to the bank (I was only fifteen), transacted the business, and returned as quickly. This friend could hardly realize that I had been to the bank. This happened very often. He ex- pressed his thanks. I told him I was the obliged party, the walk was agreeable, and it always gave me pleasure to serve him. One day he remarked to my employer that he want- ed a young-man, as his only clerk had left him; that if I could be spared, and was willing, he would be glad if I would live with him. My employer said he had little for me to do, and offered no objection. I readily agreed, and saw that, in a few weeks, I had mounted one step oh the ladder. My new. employer was a Scotch importer of salt, china, crockery, and queensware, wine, brandy, &c., all of which was sold by the pipe or crate; and, consequently, there was little to do in the store, but a great deal at the desk. He was one of the best-informed men'in the city, one of the'best merchants, and very fond of his ease. The great difficulty with me was that I wrote a bad hand, altogether unfit for books, which delayed my advancement as a bookkeeper, and I feared would THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. 23 be a great barrier to my advancement. I exerted myself however, to improve it, and gradually succeeded,- but never attained to a clerical hand. By reading and copying all let- ters relating to the business (there were no opying-machines then a nd for rising young merchants it is a pity there are any now), I soon learned the general run of the business; and I made all purchases, and executed all orders; even ventur- ing often to do what was required beforemy employer came down in the morning, the mail coming in at night, so that the letters were delivered at sunrise. As I made good bar- gains, he was pleased, and encouraged me in taking such ret sponsiblity I thought, after a while, I understood the an- swers which would be- given to letters, and in anticipation, would write them, showing them to my employer. They seemed to satisfy him, and, being willing to avoid trouble himself, he adopted them. If, at any time, I misconceived his wishes, he would correct me, and I would write the letter over. But, mostgenerally, my letters were satisfactory. I this way, I had taken most of the business on my own shoulders. - -We did a great deal of bank business; notes were becoming payable and receivable every day; and often he seemed caught unawares with a note due and no provi-ften sion -made. I concluded I would keep an estimate of re- sources and payments, besides the usual bill-book; and this; so far as practicable, a month in advance, I would some. times inform him that, on a certain day, some time ahead, heavy payments would be due, without adequate means. This would stir him up to meet them. I prepared all his promissory notes and checks, and presented them for his signature. He scarcely ever looked into them, but signed withou t inquiring. Even this fin ally became irksome,- and he lodged a power of attorney in the bank s for me to do everything; and I now seldom troubled him about the busi- ness in - any way. page: 24-25[View Page 24-25] 24 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHEAPrEE III. MY PLAN FOR IMPROVEMENT-BMy POSITION IN SOCIETY- THE MORTIFICATIONS I ENCOUNTERED To keep up this history in connection, I have omitted to say that, the nature of the business being such as not to occupy my whole time, I devoted most of my evenings to reading; spending two out of three alone in the counting- room. Impressed with an idea that, by leaving school before my education was finished, I should always show it in after life (by the by, the collegiate course was then so much more thorough than now, that a man's education as not considered complete who was not familiar with every histo- rical event, who could not tell exactly where any point of note is on the globe, together with the boundary of every coun try, its population, revenues, resources, manners, laws, and customs, besides haing a thorough knowledge of the soi- ences and languages), I felt a great anxiety to make up the deficiency, and studied very hard to do it. I made it a rule to read, at least, two hundred pages every week, and of solid matter, keeping a journal in which I noted what I read, and how much. I even wrote out an epitome of the histories of Rome and Greece. The British classics were then coming out in numbers; my employer was a subscriber. They were a great treat. I read them as they came to the extent or near one hundred volumes. He was, also, a very literatr man; very fond of reading; had a goodlibrary, and no trash and finding me fond of reading, he would suggest valuabl orks, and talk with me about them. Iwasextremely ton of mathematics in all its branches; and if I had any genius THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIE.' 25 it ran in that line. Questions often appeared in the papers, which I never failed to solve without difficulty; and my old mathematical tutor, to whom I would submit them for revi- sion, took great pleasure and pride in my efforts, and en- couraged me. But a great subject of mortification to me was'that the young men of fortune who had been my schoolmates and near friends-who had- spent their time with me at my fa- ther's when he lived in-Richmond, and I in turn -with them at their fathersa'-now that my father had removed to the country, residing at his coal-mines, as they supposed from necessity, and I was in a counting-house,- became cold, and not anxious for my acquaintance. Their invitations to see them were fewer, and less cordial, until I declined most of them. Some were still warm; but few. This was the great- est trouble of my life. I was extremely sensitive, and felt all slights most keenly. The young clerks were not gene- rally intelligent, and I had not much relish for their company; yet there were some who were so, and when so at all, they were so from natural strength of mind, cultivated by a- taste for reading, and consequently more interesting and strong than those who were so simply from the force of education. But I occupied a position of the most unpleasant kind. My relatives, connections, and the associates of my family, were of the best society, and the most fashionable in the State. In Richmond, however, a counting-house clerk is very seldom found in the best society; I might say never, unless his father is the merchant, and a man of wealth. With all the merit of Virginia, she is the most aristocratic State in the Union, and I seemed doomed either to have no society, or sink into the second class. Distinction, founded on merit, must and will always exist. Men. will seek the company of those of congenial disposition; but distinctions founded merely on wealth I always have abhorred, and always will abhor. Of those possessed of real 3 page: 26-27[View Page 26-27] 26 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. merit, and who did not bow to the tyrant fashion, there were manywtho occupied the highest positions in society, and who were warm friends of our family; but the Blights of a few made me suspect a11; and having a mostunbending spirit in matters of the kind, I finally almost quit society, for my rule was" never to descend, There was a proud conscious- hess within me that the day would come when these things would change; andy thoughoften mortifiedi I was never hum- bled. The greatest evil resulting from this state of things to me was a doubting of friends who deserved my confidene i who wantedto be as they everhad been; but I became so punctilious that it was a labor to keep up my acquaintance.; I required all to meet me more than half way. This there was no suffiient inducement to do, and they would not do it. My habits, however, soon won upon the respect of many, who, despite the frigid atmosphere I threw around me, sought to bring me out of it, and gradually suceeded, but not until I had had ample time to taste fully the bitter cup ofadvers- ity, and to become imbued with a feeling of deep sympathy for all who are :similarly circumstanced; s so much so, that I now never see a young man of merit in adversity but I feel an inclination to elevate him. This feeling, however, does not carry me so far as to allow every young man to be a judge of his own merits, and to push himself upon me or my family without being properly ouched for. The introduction by a friend of any young man into my family is,-a passport which entitles him to my respect until I find cause to withdraw it. But if I find him unworthy, not only is my respect with- drawn from him, but. also from the man whointroduced him. Nothing is more unwarrantable than the introduction into any gentleman's family of a man for whom the introducer cannot stand bound, and vouch for; and of all the company which I desire to avoid, the foremost is fashionable loafers and idlers-men -whose merit consists in theirbeing of the ton-without employment, business, aiml or object in life, THE PILOT OF HUMANLIFE. 2 mere men of fashion. I get into an -ill-humor the moment such men enter my house. In the deepest daysof -my ad- versity, I never did acknowledge fellowship with such, how- ever wealthy or respectable their families might be. I have always had the instinctive aversion to them which- a cat- has to water. But I am digressing from my narrative. For the reason named, my habits became somewhat solitary; but I learned to play the game of chess; there were a few of my acquaintances who understood it, and I now found that all the time which I was willing to spare could be very easily consumed at that game, which is so captivating that the great danger is in too great an indulgence in it. It was from reading the life of Franklin that I was induced to learn it, as he thought it expanded the mind, and-greatly helped to develop the thinking faculties. Having, as I before said, left school before I had taken a regular collegiate course, though the academy at which I finished my education, Gerardin's, in Richmond, -was perhaps equal to any in the State, -not excepting William and Marty, I always had a humble opinion of my abilities, notwithstand- ing, in my classes at school, I was generally foremost, or among the foremost; but I had not taken a thorough course, and that mortified me. I often debated the question with myself as to what grade I did occupy; and generally ended by concluding with a compromise, that, though my course had not been thorough, there wereI some whose course had been so who were as great fools as I was; and that, so far as I could, I would make up my deficiencies. Never did a lad struggle harder; and finally, seeing in the newspa- pers a criticism on Virginia manners and customs, which, from its style, I knew came from a Northern man, I felt an irresistible inclination to try my hand at an answer. I showed it to my father's clerk, who kept his books at his coal-yard. He was a very intelligent man, and a man of fine taste. He approved it, and offered to have it published, say- page: 28-29[View Page 28-29] 28 THE PILOT OPF HUMAN LIFE. ing the editor would be glad to get it. I doubted it, but agreed he WI#t try. It came out with some high commen- dations by the editor of the "Compiler," and I was gratified to see it copied in other papers. This gave me a little better opinion of myself. But the idea'ran through my head that the editor would not have published the piece if he had known the author had never been to college. During this time, I had no stipulated salary. The under- standing was that I was to have my board, and enough to clothe myself Besides my board, I credited myself with $300 per annum, which would not then go so far towards clothing me as $150 would now, for the war/with England then existed, and the best cloth sold for $20 per yard, and one piece of linen made up into shirts cost me $80. This war had been now raging about a year and a half. I got my elder brother John to write to Mr. Madison, who was an old friend of our family, to see if I could get a commission, intending to speak to my father if there was a chance, but not otherwise, as I did not wish to give him useless uneasi- ness. My brother; however, thought it. best to name it to him first. He objected. He,said I could not get one on account of my age, -and that I was too young to endure the hardships of war. Besides, I was but little trained as an accountant, and would come out of the war, if I survived it, unfit for any other business, as idle habits were acquired in the army which could never afterwards be thrown off; that, if I had fitted myself for a merchant or for any other profession, and were old enough, he would not oppose my wishes; but that after returning he might not be able to support me, and I would certainly not be able to support myself. Strong reasons, I thought; and so I abandoned the idea. i ' ' * THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFI. 29 CHAPTER IV. MY FIRST SPECULATION. AT this time there was an immense body of coal piledat my father's yard, which he could do nothing with, as the English fleet lay in the Chesapeake, and it could not be ex- ported. I observed, by the Baltimore prices current, that coal was $1 per bushel there, and insurance was 25 per ent. I asked my father if he would allow me to make an adven- ture in it. He said ye s and seemed pleased with the idea s said I might have as much as I wanted, as it was of no value to him. I went to Rockets, the ship-landing for Richmond, and engaged a schooner to take 3000 bushels at 50 cents per bushel. The insurance deducted would leave me 25 cents, if insured at full value; but, 'nsured at 25 cent s, not includ- ing freight, it would leave mi e 18 cents. I shipped and insured at 25 cents. The British took it, and I got 18] cos., or about $550. This was a pretty good beginning. I went again to Rokets to engage another vessel, and bought a sloop which carried about 3000 bushels, for $500, payable in coal, and as she w as unseaworthy, I bargained for her repair, in coal, for about $250, keeping my object a-profound secret from ev ery one but my employer, who allowed me time to a ttend to it. While the repair was go ing on, a man applied to me to know my object. I told him I was not disposed to make it known. He said the vessel was designed to-run through the fleet. I asked him how he could know i t. He answered that could be for no other purpose, for she could not get out of. the river without being in danger, and it was his knowledge page: 30-31[View Page 30-31] 30 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. of that fact which induced him to apply to me, as he wished to share in the adventure. His name was Baker. I asked him on what terms he expected to share. He said he would insure my safe passage through the fleet for half the profits. I asked in what way he would insure it. He replied he must be assured there would be no violation of confidence if he told me. Certainly not, I said. If he named the matter confidentially to me, and so desired, I would not name it; for I had not thought of how it was to be done. And he then showed me a license from the commander of the British fleet to pass any vessel he- pleased through unmolested, Believing he had obtained this license because of some ser- vice he had done the enemies of his country, I told him-I would have nothing to do with him. He asked me, then, not to name it. I told him I should not, as I had so pro- mised, but considered it a dirty business. In the course of the day, a merchant of the city came to me, and wished to know if I would sell the sloop I was having repaired, and my price. I told him I would, and By price was cost, $750. Well, he ,said he would take her. He loaded her with coal, and sent her out, and she was lost in a storm in the Chesa- peake. I now had about $1300, more money than I ex- pected- to have in ten years, and debated with myself what I should do with it. Nothing gave me more pleasure than the idea of pleasing my father; so I concluded, on his next visit to Richmond, I would give it all to him, for I knew he was hard pressed. And when he came in, I told him what I had done, and handed him all the money. He said he wished-me to keep it. I answered, I had no better use for it than to give it to him. He replied it would be a great relief to him, and his eyes filled with tears. I saw he ad- mired the feeling, and this was a full reward for me. The firm I lived with had a most -beautiful topsail -schooner, of about one hundred and eighty tons, called the "Richmond." My success thus far, although both vessels were. lost, sug- gested the idea of an adventure in her myself, and I pro- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. posed to my employer, if he would load her with tobacco, which could then be purchased for $10 to $20 per hhd., that I would run her through the feet and-go to Prance with it, where it was then quoted enormously high. She would carry 250 hhds., worth about $4000. She was Worth about as much, in all $8000. If I got through, the cargo would sell at least for $100,000. "Andy in the name of God, .said- he, "'would you hazard getting through? and how- would you expect to do it?" I told him I would, and I would expect to do it as follows:- I would go down James River, as near as would be safe, to the enemy, and lie in some cove, ready for the first hard westerly blow, or any wind which would take us out of the capes, upon a dark night. We could see the lights of the enemy, when they-could not see us, and I would dash by them while at anchor, taking care to run so that a broadside should not bear on us. But, after seeing us, we would pass so rapidly that they could not probably do us any harm After getti ng to sea, I would not fear them much, as the ," Richmond" was a rapid sailer . "tlu " said he, ," the French ports are all blockaded; how would you get in?" - "I would trust to running the fleet in the same way." "And what would your father say to such a scheme?" I had n ot weighed that mlatter. He would probably ob - ject. -But m y g reatest fear would be from my mother. I should tell my father, however, that I had often heard him say that a young man without enterprise w as of no accoun that the worst which could happen me would be to be taken prisoner (the dangers of the sea are but the daily dangers of life, not to be estimated); and, if taken prisoner, I would see something of England, and after a while he exchanged. He objected to the hazard . I told him t hen to value the Rich mond/," and I thought I could make-up a stock company for the adventure. He said he would see about it on his return from New York, where he had to go in a few days. page: 32-33[View Page 32-33] 82 THE PILOT OF-HUMAN LIFE. - - a A?T E R V. (]HAPTER V. MARCH TO MEET THE BRITISH. WASHNGTON CITY had been taken by the enemy some short time before, and my employer had not been gone many days before their fleet began to descend the Potomac; and, some shorlt time afterwards, while standing in the store door, I saw a dragoon dashing through the streets at half speed to- wards the governor's. Soon the fire-bells were ringing, as if the whole city was on fire; then came the booming of can- non, as signals of the enemy's approach upon the city, and a dozen drums and fifes went down the street, beating'the long roll to arms. Every store door was immediately closed, and every man who could bear a musket was soon on Capi- tol Square, and at his post in his company. H'had not been long mustering, and was in the militia. (My employer was a Scotchman, as was his partner, who had a branch-house in Petersburg, and I had been afraid to join a volunteer com- pany lest they might be displeased.) James Barbour, then Governor of Virginia, though a talented -and zealous man, was rather remarkable for his pomp, and- for making the worst of everything. He made a speech to the troops, in- forming them that the enemy had yesterday landed in force at Sandy Point on James River, within less than two 'days' , march of the city, and might be expected upon us in a shortt time; that now we would have an opportunity of wiping out the disgrace of Bladensburg, and showing the chivalry of the ';I: Virginia character, &c.; that he had appointed Colonel Tho- l mas Man Randolph commander of the advanced guard, with liberty to select fifteen hundred chosen men, to go forward ! THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. 33 immediately and keep the enemy in check, while the forces could be, organized below the city to receive the enemy. Colonel Randolph selected mountain riflemen and the city volunteer companies. They were allowed time to provide themselves with what provisions they could carry in their knapsacks, and each man a shirt. Catching the prevailing fever, and anxious to be of those Who were to go in advance, I applied for admission into the "Blues," obtained a second-hand uniform, and was soon on the march with them. It was only when I was passing our store that I recollected having the key in my pocket. I stepped out of the ranks, handed it to a neighbor and re- quested him to-write the partner in Petersburg; and away we went. We were cheered on by several fine bands of music, and the huzzas of the citizens. But the alarm of the ladies had a more powerful effect; they were seen at every window, some crying, but others waving-their handkerchiefs; but, in all directions, drays, carts, wagons, and every vehicle which could take off valuables) were packed with them; and carriages with families moving off as from a city that was expected to be sacked by the enemy. If ever men had, on earth, incentives to fight, we had. The sight around us was enough to make a man march up to the mouth of a cannon or any other certain death; and I think no force would have been sufficient to cause a retreat without a fight by our little band. We marched eleven miles that night, and encamped with- out tents, making the best shelter we could of pine-tops. We had no camp equipage of any kind--no cooking taensils. Every man ate all he took with him that night, )r it was eaten by his comrades. No news of the enemy. In the morning an express came nforming us that the e nem y had gone on board again, hav- ng understood that the approach was easier from York River; ,r our commander so suspected; and our march was bent to page: 34-35[View Page 34-35] 34 THE -PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the confluence of the Mataponi and Pomunky Rivers, whose junction forms the York. Five hundred horse went in ad. vance, and so swept the country of provisions, which is one of the poorest regions in the United States' that a very scanty breakfast was all wegot next morning, and not a mouthful then until night, when the men were allowed to range every- where to get something to eat. I got a supper, but some got none, and the next day not one got half enough to satisfy the cravings -of hunger. No commissary had gone ahead; no provision had been made; there had been no time for it; we had taken no baggage-wagons with us, not even a pack- horse; all we had' was in our knapsacks, for it was expected we would be the second day in retreat upon the city, pur- sued by a large British army, which our force was too small to make a permanent stand against. But we were expected to make a stand at every stronghold, and fight as long as we could; when whipped, to retreat to the next, and there fight, again as long as we could, checking the enemy as much as possiblej until the- main army tould be organized and come to our help. But the enemy having changed his plans, and we having to follow, we were not prepared to do it; but there was no help, and we marched to Warronigh Church, at the head of York River, almost starving on the way, and with- out shelter. When we reached this point, we found a church over one hundred years old, disused because of its decayed condition, built in the shape of a cross, the only part which would turn water being under the centre of the ridge poles, and not room enough for one-fourth of our forces. The second night after our arrival I was detailed on guard, and stood out in the heaviest rain that I ever felt. I had a watch-coat, but it availed nothing, for soon I. was wet to the skin. - When relieved, I had no retreat but, this church, already doubly crammed. I walked in;, there were lights kept burning. Not a soul was awake, and. not a spot was there for me to lie on. I picked out the driest place, however, THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIE. 35 and laid myself down in my wet clothes, between two volunteers, resting about equally on e aoh. They were too sound to awake by my weight, and I got as much down towards their legs as I could. - When I awoke in the morn- ing, I was so woven in among the legs of the soldiers that it was hard to extricate myself. I determined the next day, to have a better place than that by the next-night, and our mess set to work and built a pen of pine logs, which we got axes to cut, and roofed it with pine-tops, making a sort of shelter, but not a tight one. We, however, thoughtwe had fine lodgings, and went soundly to sleep; but in the night there came another heavy rain, and we found ourselves all afloat. We had omitted to dig ditches around our tents and the water came in upon us so as thoroughly to wet uS. Such was my fatigue, and so eager was I for sleep, that I felt the water running under me some time before I could summon resolution to get up. The next day, however, we dug ditches, and thatched our roofs so as to be pretty comfortable. We were in this condition a month before we got any help, and returned home in about two weeks after we got it, the enemy not having landed, though they came into the river. I had made a set of chessmen of wood and a board of plank, and as we had several chess-players with us our time was spent quite pleasantly. There w ere many interesting incidents and characters which I would like to namej but to give a very skeleton sketch is all I can hope for time to do. Should it ever be in my power to enlarge, I will do it, and give mat- ters more in detail. AMy present Object is simply an outline stch for m y son , to show how all those events have borne on my general destiny; to furnish a skeleton chart. Our re- turn was, of course, hailed with pleasure by our friends, and the British fleet had left the Chesapeake, except a ship or two, and gone to New Orleans, where the last battle was foug ht on the 8th of January, the result of which all know. I now returned to my counting-house. The labors were page: 36-37[View Page 36-37] 36 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. very flat and insipid. Had I continued much longer in camp, I could not have borne them. This is the worst effect of a military life. I had continued several months in my old position, where I had been four years, and nothing-was said about raising my wages, or my future advancement. Now, I could keep all the business straight which my employer made, but I could not make it; and it was evi- dent, from circumstances needless to names that the house could not stand. I found the resources of the house dimi- nishing-no new ones creating. I attempted to draw my employer's attention to this fact; but he heard me with im- patience and petulance. I had now an offer by a merchant in Norfolk, who had married a relative, of $900 per annum, to go and live with him. This was a great lift from $3001 I accepted, and left my old employer. This merchant took in a partner that I did not like. I did not write a good hand; I saw he was not satisfied, and I cdetermined to change my quarters as soon as I could find another plae-. CHAPTER VI. VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES- VALUE OF CIVILITY,* MY employers fitted out a large topsail schooner for:the West Indies, and offered me the berth of supercargo, wh accepted, as I had a fancy for adventure. I went to Sta Cruz and a market loaded with flour, tobacco -rice, and lil- dried meal. Finding the market of Santa Cruz glutted,.I had reason to fear all the others were. I learnt, by conferring with other supercargoes, that most of them designed going to lee- ward. I affected to agree to the correctness of their conclu- sions, but in my own mind was satisfieda that the farther we THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 37 went to leeward the worse, and that on a falling market the sooner a man sells the better. I had sailed in July, and taken with me for sea-stores a good stock of new Irish potatoes and bacon hams. On my arrival, as a rarity of the season, I sent as a present to the custom-house officer a barrel of the potatoes and one of bacon-hams. He invited men to dine with him. I did so, and made myself as agreeable as I could, and found him v;ery pleasant-and friendly. I soon found I had struck the right chord, one which none had who had been there before me, and he seemed anxious for my success. Whenever that is the case with a West India custom-house officer, the way is made smooth. -He intro- duced me to an American merchant as his friend, asking all the aid he;ould give me. I proposed giving this merchant a commission to sell my cargo. He tried, but found the idea prevalent that there would be a glut, and a whole cargo could not be sold at any price. But he offered me free of charge a lumber-yard which he- had, if I would land my cargo and retail it, and also lumber to make- shelters of. He invited me almost every day to dinner, and became very fond of me. I was very young, and he seemed disposed to exercise a guardian- care- over me. The custom-house officer sent to beg another barrel of potatoes. I had but two left. It would not do to refuse him. I let him have it. I now begasn to unload, and found the custom-house officer's friendship very valuable, for he sent me all the bakers and grocers, and in a week after landing I had sold out at a handsome profit, instead of losing as I had,antici- pated. All the other vessels from the United States except two had left port when I began to land cargo; and all were under the impression that I -was landing my cargo to get at the corn-meal which was at the bottom, whibh would do better at Santa Cruz than elsewhere, and that I designed running down with the balance. Of course, I did not unde- ceive them, and did not land in a very great hurry, not 4 page: 38-39[View Page 38-39] 38 , THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. much faster than I sold. Their going off, and leaving so few in port, caused rum and sugar to be very flat. I not only sold at a good profit- but purchased my cargo as directed -very low-at least fifteen per cent. under the general average. Altogether, I made about twenty-five per cent. on the adventure, while most others lost- twenty-five per cent. I have been particular in mentioning all the inci- dents of this adventure to show how far small civilities go; perhaps I sold my potatoes, and bacon, and politeness on this occasion for at least $3000; for certain I am that, but for the tide of good fortune which these threw me into, I should not have done so well by.$3000. The other supercargoes were a cold set, who seemed too stiff to make any advances or ask any favors. If ever the old adage, "thatmanners make the man," held good in any case it did in this; and so will it be throughout a man's life. There is no outlay which will return one such heavy inte- rest as kindness and civility to his fellow-man. I care not what a man's talents or business qualifications may be; kind and pleasant manners are almost indispensable to success. No rule is without its exception, nor is this. Men do some- times succeed with unpleasant manners; when they do it-is an exception to a general rule. A man's skill or talents might induce me to employ him, his bad manners or ill- temper to the contrary notwithstanding; but never if I could find a person of pleasant manners who would answer the same purpose, even if inferior. I would rather have the latter, because a man of disagreeable manners keeps us always out of temper ourselves and unhappy, and his talent and skill must be great indeed to balance such an objection. If one has naturally good feelings, the cultivation of kindness to- wards mankind is much calculated to improve these feelings. It continually brings its own reward.. It makes friends; We find ourselves beloved; and we are inclined to love all human nature. Such feelings continually improve our man- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 89 ners, and our manners, in turn-, give rise for a further in- crease of the feeling. Happy is the man who, in the outset of life, has cause to love his fellow-man, for it is apt to give a cast then to his manners which fix them for life. On the contrary, if soured in the outset, he is apt to hate everybody, and everybody hates him. He is apt to make ill-natured remarks of those who wrong or slight him, and having done so, he has fixed them in his own mind as his enemies. Believ- ing at firsts that he had cause for such feeling, he indulges it, and, having done so, he feels conscious that the other has cause to be his enemy. He so considers him, and his con- duct shows it, and makes the other his enemy; whereas in all probability at first there was no causewfor it. The sup- posed wrong or slight grew out of a misunderstanding or the evil disposition of some nischief-maker, who, enjoying none of the world's respect himself, cannot bear that others should, and continually endeavors to poison the minds of persons against each other to destroy that happiness which, not being able to enjoy himself, he -carnnot bear to see en. joyed by others. There are some who do this with so much art, giving such distant causes for the discontent, as hardly to be seen as the instigators of it; and then, apparently anx-. ious to allay it, pretend, Iago-like, to deprecate a misunder- standing between such friends, and evince an anxiety to find reasons why there should be no offence felt, but find such only as are calculated to widen the difference, gloating all the time in the idea of their success. Oh! how much unhappiness have I seen thus-caused! producing alienations between those who would otherwise Shave been the dearest friends, and which alienations, though the cause may be after- wards -ascertained, are never afterwards healed, because per- sons, believing they have cause to think hardly of each other, are apt to say harsh things, and whatever reconciliation may afterwards take place, those things are apt to be recollected, and remain always as a canker in the heart. Between gen- page: 40-41[View Page 40-41] 40 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LI-FE. tilemen this is not so apt to be the' case as where ladies are concerned, because the former are apt to demand explana- tions, but these cannot be asked where ladies are. parties. In my outset in life, I fortunately had none' of these -demons about me. I felt myself coldly:treated and slighted by the world because of. my want of wealth; but this I viewed as an infirmity of human nature which all had to bear .with who were circumstanced like myself-an evil which would be cured if fortune should ever smile upon me, and one which I was determined should be cured if human efforts could do it. I dwell upon this subject. here, because I felt the influ- ence all my life afterwards of the feelings which caused me to send this barrel of potatoes and bacon to the custom- house officer. An inclination to propitiate his good-will, a matter of policy, you will say. So it was; but it was an offer- ing of good-will justifiable in a country like the West Indies, but which I would not have presumed on in our country, lest it might be viewed as an overture for favors. That was my object in Santa Cruz; not for any corrupt favors, but for justifiable facilities such as I obtained. But there I had learned that they were not so fastidious, and that much was to be gained by any act of politeness or kindness. And I had it clearly intimated to me that there was a mode to avoid the duty on my cargo. I could have saved at least half if I had chosen to do so; but I did not consider that my office required me to save the duties at the expense of right, and I would not do it. Little presents are earnests of good feeling, and-throughout life they count largely, where judiciously made. There is no greater luxury of feeling, I think, than in making pre- sents to those we esteem, where we- can afford it. But it is a very expensive habit, and counts largely where no account is kept. l Having been instructed to lay out the whole proceeds of my cargo in rum and sugar, I had no discretion except as THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 41 fl to my own commissions. These were about $600-half of which I concluded I would invest safely, and the balance I ,S would lay out in oranges, as I got them for $1 per hundred, and never knew them to sell in the- United States for less than $4. On my return, I was the first supercargo that had got back, though others had gone out about the same time. My voyage had proved more profitable than my consignees had been led to hope, as all accounts represented a glut and gloomy prospects. Hope, however, was revived among shippers generally; but I told my consignees that other shippers would be disappointed-informing them how it happened that I had done so well. Time verified my pre- diction; when they returned, dreadful losses were found to have been sustained. I gained great credit for sagacity and good management, and was offered another cargo imme- diately to go back. But there was a splendid brig on the stocks, about to be launched, called the "Catharine Shep- herd," to be laden for the -Mediterranean, which, I was told, I should have if I would wait for her, which I agreed to do. I found oranges, on my arrival, worth $10 per hundred, and was offered that for all I had, but heard that at Richmond they were worth more. On one plan I had concluded to act-- never to hazard over half for a larger price, where a reasonable one could be obtained. I sold one-half for $10 per hundred, and sent-the balance to Richmond: for which I finally got almost nothing-a lesson to be satisfied, for the future, with a good profit, where I could get it. Notwithstanding this loss, however, I still had about $1500. I went to Richmond to see my father, mother, and family, carrying some presents. My younger brother, Philip, was at school in Hanover; but I had a sister, a lovely, beautiful, -and affectionate girl, who doted on me, and no lover ever took more delight in pleasing his mistress than I did in pleasing her. One of my greatest joys was the expectation of meeting 4* page: 42-43[View Page 42-43] 42 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. her, though she was not grown, and carrying -her a handsome present. And then I had the most affectionate of mothers, whose approving smiles were always the greatest reward for a good action. The idea that I now had a sum which would aid my father made me very happy; and, after arriving at home, and telling of my adventures, I drew it all out, kept about $150, and handed my father the balance--about $1200 -which I told him I had no use for. "Very well, Bob," said he; "a what I have received from you is to your credit. This shall be added to it." "Just as you please," said I. On my arrival in Richmond, the report of the successof my West India voyage had reached the ears of some of the merchants who had known me, and who had taken up a favorable opinion of me. Among the rest, was one rather noted for his literary taste, classical acquirements, and good sound sense, Mr. J. G. S., who was one of a select club that had induced Mrs. Peyton Mead Randolph to establish a sort of exclusive aristocratic boarding-house, at which the tonand Olite of the city were alone admitted, and where boarding was very high. Mr. S., on meeting me, greeted me very cordially, congratulated me, and said: "If you have no other engagement, you must dine with me to-day." Whether I had any or not, I would have made it yield to dine with a man whose heart seemed so full of kindness for me, and whose attentions were so creditable. So, at the appointed hour, I attended. Most of those who were present knew that, but a short time before, I had been a merchant's clerk in Richmond, and it did not comport with their aristocratic notions to have such a one an invited guest to such a com- pany. Mr. S. knew this; but he was a very independent man, yet deemed it 'proper, in my absence, to explain how it happened; and in doing so, as I afterwards learned, exalted my merits far beyond my deserts. Whenever a young man rises to a condition which is above that which the world seems to have assigned him, every hand is raised THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 43 to pull him down, as an intruder; but, if they find that a hopeless effort, and that he is likely to go up despite of opposition, there is anostentatious effort to be foremost in patronizing him. No attentions are too great. That, how- ever, I can hardly say was the case with this club, for they were all men of high breeding--Edward Roots, the Chester- field of his day, being chairman of the club; and they were all men of fine feelings. As I entered, Mr. S. met me very cordially, and as he introduced me to the company severally, I noted that I was received with an unexpected cordiality and kindness; some pleasant words were addressed to me by almost every one. At dinner, almost all asked to take: wine with me; and as every one present was almost as old again as I was, my situation would, to most young men, have been embarrassing. But one fortunate quality of my nature hasbeen, that I have never stood in awe of any company, however distinguished it might be; nor have I ever lost my self-balance, for I never felt anywhere that I was among my superiors, except intellectually. I knew I was often among those who thought themselves so; but I had always a great opinion of my own family and kindred, and felt that temporary causes alone depressed me, which causes I would in time overcome-when I would reach the level to which I was entitled. Talent I always- rever- enced and yielded- to, -and was always willing to bow in deference to it. But to wealth, never. The rich fool I have always despised as much as the poor fool, and I had too much pride even to show any elation at any attentions paid me from any quarter, or to boast of them, as I would thereby have admitted they were more than I thought myself entitled to. It-was always my pride to be grateful for attentions and kindnesses, come from what quarter they might; and if ever, in my walks through life, an occasion offered to make a marked return, it was my greatest happiness to do it. This company, henceforward, seemed to consider me a sort page: 44-45[View Page 44-45] " THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. of protge, and were-always ready to exchange a kind word with me; and these attentions being noticed by inferior men, whose wealth gave them consequence in their own eyes, and in the eyes of a portion of the world, they, too, seemed disposed to be very condescendingly patronizing, and prof- fered similar civilities. Yet, while I always expressed my obligations for their kindness, I managed to avoid accepting them. I was determined to maintain the position I had reached, and not sully my standing by accepting attentions from those who would not have proffered them but for the ex- ample of their superiors who had no merit but their wealth; and while I would decline the dinner of the master, it gave me great pleasure to go into his counting room, and there greet, with the warmest cordiality, his clerk, -who was my old acquaintance. The well-educated merchant, of a high order, is a man of'the first order. The lawyer, from a habit of speaking, is more showy, and, by the world, is considered the more intellectual; but I have been upon the easiest and most intimate terms with both classes, and while the mere trader, sometimes called a merchant, is below the general medium, the high order of merchant is among the best in- formed and the most intellectual men of our country. I went around to visit my friends at Fredericksburg, and, in a short time, was notified that the "Catharine Shepherd" was ready for her cargo. I took leave of friends and family, and went down to have her laden; after which, we dropped down to Hampton Roads, and there lay, waiting for a fair wind. While detained, the owners were offered a good price for vessel and cargo, and sold her, which knocked me out of my voyage. To compensate me, they-offered to load a ship, which they were daily looking for, inlmediately on her ar- rival, and send me out in her. I returned home. But the ship did not arrive for a long time. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LTFE. 45 XCHAPTER VII. J .I RETURN TO RICHMOND, AND UNDERTAKE THE MANAGE- MENT OF MY FATHER'S COAL-MNES. AIY father now resided in Richmond, and I went frequently to his coal-mines to attend to his .business. I found, as I thought, very bad management by his superintendent and his removal, with his family, to them seemed absolutely neces- sary to save him from ruin. This seemed almost like death to the family. In the dilemma, Iproposed to go up-and take charge i myself. He said I was too young to command the necessary authority (I was not yet twenty-one). I told hm if that was all the objection, I thought I could obviate it. He had great confidence in my being able to do what I thought -I could; so I went up. I very soon quarrelled with and discharged the overseer, who did not seem inclined to be directed by a boy. I procured another that I believed to be a good one, and told him that great responsibility rested on us. He engaged not to disappoint my confidence. Things took a different turn, and wore a brighter aspect. We sunk a new shaft, reached a fine body of coal, and sent if on rapidly to Richmond. It was now finding a reasonably good market, and I was in highlpirits. So it continued until the summer, when foul air gotnto the pits, and drove' us out. This was, however, always the case at all the pits in. the summer; and all owners submitted to the evil with resignation. I was inexperienced, and not yet accustomed to submitting to diffi- culties without an effort to overcome them. I could not'bear to see fifty hands idle, and asked if therewas no remedy' None," said the manager, " until the weather gets cooler and this may-not be for two or three months." page: 46-47[View Page 46-47] " -- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER VIII. MY SUCCESS IN EXPELLING FOUL AIR FROM THE COAL- MNES-A DANGEROUS ADVENTURE INTO ONE OF THEM. MY father had been anticipating the event, and was resigned to it. While at sea, I had read an account of a ship's hold being cleared of foul air, by extending a pipe from the ca- boose to the hold of the ship, and stopping off all other access for air. I determined to try the principle here. I had a furnace built, with a pretty high chimney, about ten feet from the shaft, and with an arch running to the shaft, which I had well covered with clay mortar to exclude the air. I then had wooden pipes made six inches square, and the joints pitched; the first with an elbow, to go under the arch, while the main stem went down into the shaft, the lower end pointed, so as to fit another on it below. The air was so foul that a candle wouldgo out if let down ten feet. After making a fire in the furnace, closing the door, and daubing it up with mud, so that no air could get in, except through the pipe from the pit, I had a lamp let down, and, to my joy, found it descended below the pipe before it went out. I then had another joint added, and the connection filled with pitch to make it air-tight; sod!the lamp-went to the bottom of this, without going out, and so on to the bot- tom over two hundred feet, and the hands all went in to work again. In a few days, I recommenced the shipment of coal. Writing my father what I had done, he came- up, and, after examining my plan, said it would save him a fortune. We now pushed on rapidly, and I had great hopes of extricat- ing him from difficulty. But he was too far behind, and I THE PILOT. OF HUMAN LIFE. 47 was paying shaving interest on too heavy a debt. I found }&.t. my efforts would be fruitless. I was wasting the dawn of my life, the most valuable part, without hope, and advised my father to give up, as he was evidently getting deeper and deeper into debt every year. He concluded to do so j and XH :? made up a statement of his' indebtedness to every one, among whom I was a creditor for two thousand, seven hundred dollars. He requested me to present my account with others, saying I was entitled to a proportionate divi- dend. I did so; but gave it to him, and he gave it to his creditors; and here we were all flat. I had thrown myself out of the line of business, and knew not how to get again back into it. I had foreseen the evil of doing so, but the great wish to extricate my father had caused me to do it. I had not money enough to buy me a suit of clothes, but obtained a suit for coal before all was too far gone. I thought I had a right to this. My elder brother was succeeding well in New York, and I knew he could save the family from want, and would do it. My younger brother had just quit school, and gone into a store a short time before, where he was making nothing; he wanted to study law, but had not the means to do it. Judge Bouldin, executor of the estate of David Ross, now applied to me to know if I would go to Kentucky to settle up that estate. If I accepted, a new direction was to -be given to my destinies. I should leave the regular track of mercantile promotion; but especially that of supercargo, of which life I was much enamored, although the fate of the "Catharine Shepherd" warned me that it was not' entirely without danger, for, after her departure for sea, she was never again heard of. A ship, arriving some time after -at Norfolk, reported having seen part of a wreck (the stern) of a vessel at sea, supposed to be hers. This was all th'at was ever known of her or her crew. As this seemed a providential interpo- 'sition in my favor (I was disappointed in not going out in page: 48-49[View Page 48-49] 48 THE PILOT OF: HUMAN LIFE., her), I will relate another, which afterwards occurred at my father's coal-mines. There was a pit about two hundred feet deep from which an entry had been driven towards another shaft for the -purpose of getting air, and it only lacked one or two days' work to effect the obj-ect; this was before the ex- periment with the furnace If this-communication could be made, we might be able to continue at work, as the air clir- culating from one shaft to the other would probably keep out foul air. The only way to do the work was by heat- ing heavy irons red-hot, and letting them down; before these cooled, heating a new set; bringing the others balck, reheating them, and so on. The heat rarefied the air, and purified it for a short time, but the breaths of very few men would consume the pure air as fast as made, and o at best, it was. but a temporary expedient. Living fire would not burn, or there would have been less difficulty. After using the hot irons some time, I -found the lamps would burn at the bot- tom of the shaft. If now we could woraptwo days, nigh and day, we could effect this- communiation. I called on Willis the overseer, to go down with:a hand and begin the work.- He told me if he did he should not expect to return alive. "Why," said I, " do you not see that the lamp burns? "Yes," he replied, "but as soon as two breaths get down there it ill go out" Impatient at his opposition, I turned to a very r'esolute negro digger, named Peter Moody. I shall never forget his name, because of the event which oc- curred. ,'Peter," said I, "are you afraidto follow me, if I will go down?" "Don'tknow, Mass Robert," said he; 'long way under ground -to go in damp air; but if you can gou I reckon lcan." It was a deep hole-indeed a depth'of two hundred feet conveys to the mind almost as greatan idea of distance as five hundred feet on a plane surface. "Well, Peter," said I, A I will give you and Joshua (an- other digger) five dollars each if you can work that entry through, and I will-stay with you. Mr. Willis, keep us well supplied with hot irons; stand to your mules, boy, and THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 49 I will go down." Willis, seeming a little ashamed of letting me go, but not enough so to take my place, came up to the shaft, and looked down. Said he, {' Mr. T., that lamp burns below with a very sickly light (a lamp had been let down with a string). I tell you, sir, I am an old miner, and it is not safe for you to go down." "Not entirely safe, Willis- but so much depends on it; I think, by aid of:the hot irons, after we get down, tying bushes to each corve (the name of the box hung to the ropes in which coal is brought up), and moving them rapidly up and down, the air can be kept free enough to work in." "I tell you sir," said he, " damp air is not to be trifled with." ' I'll try the experi- ment," said I, in a resolute tone. "Well, as you please, sir." Turning to the others who were around, said he, "Now mind what I tell you; mischief is going to happen here- to-day." I went -down; the next rope was an old one, and con- sidered too weak to bear a man; so on that the tools were- next sent down, which I took out. 'The rope was getting old and crazy; it was expensive, and I did not like to have it renewed while it would-last. The weight of two bushels of coal was about one hundred and forty pounds, with which it had once or twice broken; but the hands always used the- other rope to ascend and descend. Moody came down, and we proceeded to the end of the "communication-drift," where he went to work. This was a little rising from the shaft, say six feet. Carbonic acid gas, or choke:damp, as the miners call it, is of much greater specific gravity than the atmo- sphere, and, of course, makes its appearance first in the low places. We hadleft a lamp at the shaft to note its effects on it, because it would show there before it would where Moody was at work. Before he had been at work an hour, I observed the lamp, which was about sixty yards off, assum- ing a pale blue appearance, and heard indistinct noises from the top of the shaft. I knew if I moved towards it, Moody 5 , page: 50-51[View Page 50-51] 50 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. would look round and see it, and rush for the rope: and, being the stronger, would leave me behind, probably to perish; so I earelessly 'observed I thought a little whiskey would:help him. "What say you, Peter?" "Why, Mass Robert, I think it would." "Well, I will go and send'for some;" and moved as fast as I could towards the shaft. Before I reached it the light was out, and I felt sensibly the suffocating influence of the choke-damp. If Moody did not come in a minute, he wouldbe cut off. If he did come, and reached the shaft before I got started, he would pull me back and go up himself. But I called, with all my might, "Oh, Peter, the lamp is out!" He darted for his life, and I jumped into the corve, which was down, but-to my con- sternation found I was on the rotten rope. If I got out and waited for -the other to come down, Moody would take it, as -hecould overpower me. My only chance, then, was to risk it; so I, bawled out, "Drive for yourlife 1" Away the mules went, and I was fearful every moment that the rope would give way and precipitate me to the bottom. My great fear was that, in the vibration of the rope) the corve would strike under a piece of the curbing of the shaft, getting a strain thereby, which would certainly have broken the/,rope. I knew, too, that if I pushed off -from one side with any vio- lence% I would be apt to throw it to the -other, and had to be extremely guarded. The meeting of the descending corve, coming with such rapidity, was another danger I feared. At that time the shaftswere not divided as now. ButI passed it, and reached the. top in safety.. Jumping out, I called below, ,Oh, Peter, are you there V"' No answer, but a shaking of -the rope.- "Drive on," said I. "Do you feel his weight?" --to the driver. Oh, yes, sir; he's there." "Very well; drive gently. He's now above the choke- damp." Up he came, with his arm around the rope at the- elbow; his handkerchief tied around the rope andohis body, under his- arms, andt his head hanging down on one of his THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 51 shoulders. Two hands took hold of :him and drew him out, loosening his handkerchief; and he lay on the platform in- sensible for an hour. But for the handkerchief, he never would have reached the top. I asked him how he came to tie his handkerchief around him.; He said he felt himself choking, and knew -he could not hold on; that, when I called to know if he was on the rope, he could not answer, and could only shake the rope, but was all the time perfectly in his senses. " Well," said Willis, , young folks think old ones are fools. I told you there would be mischief here to-day; you thought I was scared, but I knew where the danger was." "Well, Mass Robert," said Peter' after he began to revive a little, " where's dat whiskey you was talk- ing about?" "Oh, you shall have it," and accordinglyI had it brought. "Mass Robert see de light burn blue-made him think 'bout whiskey--ha! ha! ha!, Oh, Mass Bob!" This was enough of choke-damp for me; I was satisfied to try no more experiments. I ordered that no one -s-hould name this affair unless I permitted, for H knew it would make my father unhappy; and I never told him of it until after the experiment with the furnace cleared the pit. He then; shuddered, and said it was one of the most foolhardy acts of my life, and gave me no credit for it; said it evinced less common" sense than he thought I possessed, especially as I pretended to some knowledge of natural philosophy; and, finally, I came to the conclusion that it was a very silly act, just such as many- young- men -are guilty of who are anxious, in the eyes- of the world, .-to seem bold at the expense of discretion and' good sense. Is did, however, think Hcould accomplish the workl; there was no vain sho' in my object; but Willis was a man of experience, and my not heeding his warning showed an over self-confidence and temerity which bespoke a lack of good judgment. It 'Was a lesson, however, which- was of value, to me afterwards. I have always viewed my escape here, as, in the case of -the page: 52-53[View Page 52-53] 52 THE PILOT OF HUMBAN LIFE. "Catharine Shepherd," as an interposition of Providence to save me, as I hoped, for some future good purpose. CHAPTER IX. MY ENGAGEMENT TO GO TO KENTUCKY TO SETTLE AN ESTATE. HAVING visited my brother John, in New York, in com- pliance with his request before accepting Judge B.'s offer, I found no opening there to justify my refusing it. My brother, knowing my wants, had sent me a small sum on loan to bear my expenses. It now behooved me to save every cent until I got some in hand, and to that end, instead of returning by land, I took a packet and went by water. On reaching Rich- mond, I went to Judge B., and told him I had concluded, if he had not -made other arrangements, to accept his offer ($1000 per annum, and expenses). He asked me my age. I told him. "Why," said he, " is it possible? I had thought you older. I hardly know how to intrust such a weighty matter to one of your age." He explained the nature of the business, which was to' settle up with several large estates in Ken- tucky, jointly connected with R.'s, in which accounts for twenty years' standing were embraced of the, most complicated character; to investigate the titles of several hundred tracts of land entangled in almost interminable difficulties; ascertain their value, &c: "Now, sir," said he, " do you think yourself equal to the task?' "I cannot tell," I replied, " until I try it. The accounts, I think, I am equal to; I cannot conceive of any accounts so difficult that I cannot reduce them to or- der." "None," said he, " so difficult that you cannot reduce to order! That is speaking strongly. In my court, there are THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 53 some estates of immense amount, which have been hung up for twenty years, owing to the complicacy of the accounts." "Very probable," I replied; " but a good accountant would put them all to rights in time. Great patience would be ne- cessary." "Suppose," said he, "I give you a hogshead full of papers bundled up, containing the transactions of an ad- ministrator for twenty or thirty years, and no regular books kept, but the condition of the estate to be found out from those papers; 'how would you do it?" "Nothing plainer than the course. I would open a day-book, and begin with the first bundle in the hogshead, caring not which. I pre- sume these are all claims in favor of or against the estate, vouchers, or bonds, contracts, &c. I would raise an account in favor of the administrator, as-'- Estate of i. R. to A. B., administrator, Dr.' If the first bundle I took hold of was not vouchers, I would lay it away in another hogshead. Then I -would begin on the first which was, taking out the top paper and numbering it 1, the second 2, and so on; and in each entry refer to the vouchers, entering the date of each payment, and having an interest column to enter the interest in up to any given date. When the numbers should reach 100, I would tie up that bundle and'label it, 'Vouchers I to 100;' when -200, then '100 to 200;' and so on until I had entered every voucher in the hogshead. Now I would take hold of the accounts of the estate against others, the bonds, contracts, &c., and make '-Sundries to the estate of Dr. Bonds receivable as follows: (Here give a list of all bonds by number.) Contracts same; Open accounts same.' If an inventory of the estate had been taken, as of course it had, I would charge the administrator with' the whole of it as valued, deducting such portions as were'found on hand not disposed of. Then, if he had kept a sales account, I would charge him with the amount of all sales, and ieverse the inventory entry sofar as such sales showed a variance; assuming the inventory to be correct only so long as sales 5*: page: 54-55[View Page 54-55] 5-1 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. were not made; but then putting the real in place of the assumed account, and striking a balance. If now anything herein stated is objected to, it is easy to rectify it, because, every voucher and claim being numbered and referred to in the entry, the paper on which the entry is based can be found in a moment. I suppose you understand, of course, I mean all those entries to be regularly posted in a ledger?" "Why, sir," said he, "you'd make a good master commis- sioner." . "If that is all that is necessary to make one, I could." "Well, sir, I will now ask you another question. Say here are one hundred tracts of land in different parts of the State; which of them are sold we know not, nor which are good in title, value, &c. All this we wish to learn; how will you, go about it?" "I would make a list of the several tracts, giving the best description- we have, and number them. I presume the records in Kentucky will show the deeds made; these I will have examined, and, where sold, cross the number to save further trouble about it. I would attend the legislature, and inquire of the members what they know of the lands in the region they represent, and obtain from them references to the best sources of information; all of which I would enter in a note-book, and number the notes. In the-face of every note I would put, in red ink, the tract to which it referred. I would have a land-book in which I would copy the survey of every tract not sold, and leave several pages for all infor- mation in regard to each tract. And-to each I would attach the- information from my note-book-this being a kind of journal; the land-book a ledger." ,Well, I think that will do. Now, another question. Do you think you could find a needle in a haystack?" "I don't know, sir; that might be a troublesome business; but still, if the needle is there, it can be found if there be sufficient inducement to take the trouble." "Suppose now, sir, I hide a needle in a large haystack, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 55 and let you pick a friend to see me do it; would you agree to pay me $5000 if you should not find it, provided I would pay you $10,000 if you should?" "Yes, sir." How would you do it?"- I would first dig a trench around the stack, say two inches deep, throwing the dirt out. I would now begin and pull out straws from the stack one by one, carefully dou- bling them up and putting them in a large tin pan, until I should get, say an ounce, which I would burn there. I could distinctly see in the ashes whether the needle was there. I would then throw away those ashes and continue repeating the process all around the circumference of the stack, gradually drawing to the centre, until I had burnt every straw. If, when this was all done, I had not found it, I would know it was within the ring cut around the stack. I would now commence and take two inches inside of that ring just as deep as the earth was loose, and I would take but a thimble- ful at a time, laying it out in this tin- pan, and examining it carefully, so that there could be no possible mistake; and, by the time I had finished the whole area of the circle, I must find the needle." "And, sir, do you think you could go through such a process?" "Why not? I could do it in a month, which would be earning $10,000 very easily." "Well, sir, I think you'll do. Any man who can carve out a certain plan, as I think you have, to find a needle in a haystack, can do this business; so we'll try, anyhow." My arrangements were soon made. Then there were no railroads, nor steamboats on the Ohio (September, 1817), except perhaps one or two that had commenced below the Falls; neither were there any stages; and horseback was the universal mode of travelling to the West-or in carriages or wagons. Having taken leave of my friends, I was soon on my way to Frankfort, Kentucky, then a sixteen days' jour- ney from Richmond. It may be well here to note, in explanation of its bearing on future matters, that I had page: 56-57[View Page 56-57] " Ii 56 TnE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. regained the ground which I seemed -to have lost by first going into a counting-house. Men of the highest standing took me into favor, invited me to dine with the first men of the State, and treated me with much respect. I found my opinions respected and of weight; and in company with imy old schoolmates, who had rather been disposed to "part cable" with me, I found we occupied very different ground. They, to be sure, plumed themselves on their wealth, and held a high standing on that account in the social circles- higher than I held; but among men of business and intellect it was a very different thing. I would not have changed conditions with them., The greatest struggle I had was leav- ing my mother and a lovely sister, to whom I was most devotedly attached. The time of our separation- was inde- finite, and might be very long. M My father and younger brother it cost me less of a struggle to part with, because men can bear such things better than females, and our feelings always respond to theirs for us, which made me feel the more for my mother and sister. There are a purity and devotion in the love of an affection- ate sister which are akin to divinity. One of the great com- forts I had in my undertaking was the hope that I would be able to evince my affection for this dear and lovely sister by supplying her wants. To be able to aid my younger -brother, too, who wished to study law, but whose resources were now cut off by the failure of my father, was also a reflection that strengthened my fortitude in leaving the land of my nativity and all I held dear on earth. But the means to do this were yet to be earned, and I had to return $100 borrowed of my elder brother, and $120 of a friend in Rich- mond. This would take nearly my first quarter's salary, leaving nothing for such expenses of my own as were not chargeable to the estate. On the whole, the probability was that, before the third quarter, I would have nothing which I could spare. In the mean time, my brother would have to get along the best way he could. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 57 CHAPTER X. MY FIRST HORSE-TRADE--VARIOUS OTHER ADVENTURES. I DEPARTED, and travelled almost entirely alone the whole route. I had a very fine horse, a good and easy traveller; but the weight of the papers I carried, together with my clothes, had nearly broken, him down before I reached Bean's Station, near the point where Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia come together. About two miles before I reached that point, I saw, at the distance of .two or three hundred yards ahead of me, in the road, before a house Which seemed to be a tavern, a man beating a horse most unmercifully; another caught hold of him to stop him} and they continued scuffling in the road until I came up. One said to the other, "Dave, let me go!" "I won't, unless you quit beating that mare." "Let me go, I tell you; the mare is my own, and I'll beat her d d breath out of her body." "Well, Jim, you're a fool; the mare is the best animal you ever owned in your life; I doubt if she ain't the best animal in the county; but because she has too much spirit for such a lubber as you, and won't move like a cow, you want to kill her: it's all nonsense, and you sha'n't do it." a What's the meaning of all this?" said I. "Why," said the man holding the other, who was large enough to manage him, "^ Mr. Thompson here put this mare in a wagon; she never was in harness before in her life, and was rather too spirited for him to ride; so he thought he would break her mettle by driving her in his wood wagon-- and he don't know nothing about driving, either-and she made the other horses run away; but they all ran right to page: 58-59[View Page 58-59] 58 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the stable, and there stopped, doing no harm; and that's what Jim Thompson's making all this fuss about." "Well," said Thompson, "let me go." "Why, my friend," said I, "you won't help the matter by beating the animal; she seems a very fine one, and you are in a passion for nothing." "Yes," said Dave, "to vent his spite he'd kill the best mare in the county, worth at least $140." "Well, if you think so," said Thompson, "just give it to me, and take her; but let me go, and I'll not hurt the mare." And Dave let him go. "rll not own her twenty-four hours," said Thompson; "I'll take her to Bean's Station, and sell her for whatever she'll bring." "Well," said I, " my friend, how will you trade for my horse?" He gave a sort of careless glance at him. "Rather low in flesh," said he. "Yes," I replied, "or I would not trade ;- in good order, he's equal to your mare." He came up,-looked at him all round, fellt his ankles, took hold of his tail, raised it suddenly, let it go, and looked into his mouth. "How old do you call him?" said he. ' I do not know his age." "Past eight," he said. "May-be so; I do not know a horse's age." "Well," said he, " how'll you trade?" "I'll give you $25 to boot." "Oh no; that cock won't fight. Let me put-your saddle on my mare, stranger, and try her," which was soon done, and she moved magnificently. "How do you like her?" "Very well." "Yes, you may say that; and as for riding, she'll suit you as well as any. But I can't afford to keep her to ride, or I wouldn't take $60 to boot;) but say $50, and you may have her." "No, I can't do it." "Well, what's the most you -will do?" "I'll give you $40." ' Well," said he, " take her;" and I was soon on my journey, upon the finest animal I ever backed. On arriving at Bean's Station, a man belonging to the hotel walked up to her, and threw his hand up before her eyes. "Where did you get that mare?" said he. "- A-bout two miles back." "She's as blind as a THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 59 bat." "She is?" "Yes, sir; try her; ride her up against the railing;" and I did so. She thumped her head against it. I then related what had occurred. "Exactly," said the man. "She did not run away with any wagon. A blind. horse won't run away with anything. It was all a trick to take you in." "Very well," said I; "I'll have my horse and my money back." He laughed heartily.- "That's not the way they do things." "May-be not; but I'll have my horse." "No, stranger. Take this as the cost of. a lesson. You can't get your horse nor money again. They are an unprincipled set of scoundrels and bullies. If you had stayed there last night, you would probably have been robbed; and if you go back and-get into an altercation with them, they may beat you unmercifully, and perhaps rob you." - "I can provide against the latter by leaving what I have, and that is not much, here." It was a very respectable hotel. "But' come what will, I'll get my horse again, or try." A vene- rable, gentlemanly-looking man said to me, "It is a hard case, my young friend; but you had better let it stand as it is." "I shall not do it," I replied, firmly. "I will leave my saddle-bags in your bar." I handed them to the bar- keeper, and started back. When about a hundred yards off, one of the men called to me to come back, saying they would go with me. A South Carolinian, who was travelling, heard them say, as I rode off, that they feared some mischief would happen, and he desired the man to stop me, saying that he would go with me; and then all the rest, about six or seven, determined to go. On arriving at the house, my horse was still standing tied to the railing. I rode up to the man of whom I got the mare, and told him his mare was blind, and I must have my horse and money again. "Step here, Thomp- son," said the man of the Bean Station Hotel. He took him out of hearing) and talked with him awhile. The man came back, and said he bad found, afterI left him, he had made no great bargain, and was now glad I had come back. He gave page: 60-61[View Page 60-61] 60 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. me my money and my horse, and I went back in high spirits. I asked the hotel-keeper what made the fellow give up my horse so easily. A Why," he replied, "I was afraid of some mischief, and so made up a chunk of a 'story for your benefit. I told him, when you rode your mare against the fence, and found she was blind, you swore you would have your horse and money; thatI had told you it was useless, and that you would get terribly drubbed if you went back to attempt it; that you said very well, if that was the game to be played you were ready to take a hand at it; and that you would have your horse and money or somebody's scalp; that we all saw from your manner there would be mischief, and we asked you to stop until we could come along; that the South Carolinian had said he would make one in the scuffle; that you were both well armed, and mischief would come out of it if there was any difficulty about the horse, and he had better give him up. As to your threats, he said he didn't care a d-n; but he got no great shakes of a bar- gain, and was willing to rue." "Well," said I, "I am very much obliged to you. I had no idea of taking any man's scalp, but I intended to -have my horse." "How would you have got him, if he had re-* fused to give him up?" "1 don't know. I intended to let events take their course, trusting to good luck, believing in some way or other I would get him." I thanked my Caro- lina friend heartily for his aid, and we both concluded we had escaped 'an adventure on very good terms. Having, on a former occasion, seen the force of conscious guilt in a boat's crew who had stolen a load of coal, say sixty bushels, from my father's landing, these two events went far to convince me that it is hard for guilty men to have courage; and that there is but little danger in encoun- tering them where they cannot overpower and make way with you without being discovered. Having, one morning, gone to my father's coal-landing, and missed a quantity of THE. PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 61 coal--seeing the pile broken, since the day before, when none of our boats had been up--I knew it was stolen by some boat going up the river. I mounted my horse, and went up to Columbia, thirty miles, where I stayed all-night. I knew the boat could not have passed. Here I got upon a descending boat, and told them I was going down to catch a thief. Just above Goochland Court-House, I descried, at a distance, in a rapid part of the river, the coal on a boat as- cending. I desired the captain of the boat I was on to run close along-side. He did so. They passed like arrows. I jumped into the coal-boat, and, being armed, called to the man at the helm to put his boat down stream instantly. Con- scious of the cause, he obeyed. He was a white man-the two bow hands, negroes. I carried themto Goochland COurt- House landing, close by; but while I was preparing to have them taken care of, the white -man dodged round a house, and made his escape into the woods. The negroes and boat I secured, and had the former put in jail, who were dealt with according to law. The coal, being proved, was sold for my father's benefit. These two events gave me an idea that, by acting boldly in opposition to guilt, a man would, nine times out of ten, come out safely; and, indeed, that, on the score of safety alone, where a man is certainly in the right, a per- fect self-possession and determined firmness, without being oppressive, will almost invariably save him from difficulties. The great point is, to know where to stop. Few men have self-control enough, when their rights are invaded, to stop when they have repelled the aggression. They are almost certain to " carry the war into Africa," and a fight or duel ensues; whereas, when the aggressor yields, if the offended party would just say, "That's sufficient, sir; if you intended no offence, no harm is done; I am satisfied," here the thing would end, and the bystanders would all admire the coolness and dignity of the offended. But he often, where his pas- sion gets up, returns an indignity for the supposed one re- 6 page: 62-63[View Page 62-63] C62 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. ceived, leaves no opening for reconciliation, and a conflict is inevitable; often, too, by becoming the party in the wrong. This a man ought never to do. Be sure you're right, al- ways, and let that be evident to every one. Public opinion is then with you; and, if mischief becomes unavoidable, you are doubly armed by your proud consciousness of right, and are almost certain to be victorious in any encounter. Self- possession is the great key to success in almost anything, but in nothing so much as where personal difficulties occur. It paralyzes an adversary, fills him with dread, and always leaves you in a position for amicable arrangements; where- as, the man who is sensible of his own lack of courage has to supply its place by lashing himself into a fury to hide his agitation. In wandering from my narrative thus, occasionally, to in- dulge in such reflections, it is because, when they are sug- gested by any event, I like to bring them out, lest I might forget them; for this narrative is designed as a lesson for your guidance, and the moral at any time brought to mind is the result of events which have happened to myself, as you will see in my progress, and by which the said moral has been brought to mind. It is a philosophy founded upon experience. I will now proceed. After getting my dinner, I ordered my horse, to proceed on my journey. Said a gentleman at the table, "Have you examined your pistols, to see what they are loaded with?" "Why?" said I. Because, about two weeks since, a tra- veller having spent the night here, being told he had a dreary road to travel, where robberies were sometimes committed, concluded to examine his pistols. The priming was all right; but, as they had been loaded some time, he thought it safest to draw the loads and put in fresh ones. In doing so, he found, after taking out the balls, that in place of powder his pistols were loaded with ashes. He recollected that a man had slept in the same room with him who was THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 63 then, absent, and he was convinced that man had, during the night, made the substitution, and that he would be waylaid by him on the road. He reloaded, picked his flints, and made sure that he had everything right. He then pro. ceeded on his journey. About five miles beyond Clynch Mountain, where the road turns suddenly around the square edge of a rock, in a dark gorge overshadowed by foliage, his horse's bridle was suddenly seized, and his purse demanded. The traveller, being on the look-out, had his pistols cocked, and loosely fixed in his belt. He suddenly drew one, and shot the man dead on the spot. He proved to be the very fellow who had slept in his room. The traveller came back, and made the event known. The neighbors went and found him; he was killed so suddenly that he never- spoke. He Vas a traveller that no one knew, and there was no paper or name about him by which it could be ascertained who he was."' Of course, I reloaded and primed my pistols, and saw that they were in good shooting order, and took my departure through the same route. Just before reaching Clynch Mount- ain, I came upon a very fine white sulphur spring, which would be very valuable in any settled country.* CHAPTER XI. CURIOUS ADVENTURES, AND SOME REFLECTIONS IN REGARD TO THE FIRST SETTLEMENT OF KENTUCKY. THE stand I aimed for was fifteen miles off. I supposed I had plenty of time to reach it; but Clynch Mountain is so steep and so high that it was very tedious to get over, and the sun had nearly set when I reached the bottom on the western side, * I note this in passing. page: 64-65[View Page 64-65] " . THE PILOT OF HUIMAN LIFE. where I found myself in the most dreary-looking wilderness I ever saw; the hills so steep on each side of the road that the limbs of the trees on their sides, after I had travelled a, few miles, seemed to interlap and form a canopy, which shut out the heavens from view; and upon such a road I found myself overtaken by night, about five miles from the stand at which I expected to spend the night, and with Clynch River to ford. I could not help wondering if it was possible, as I was told, that this pass over Clynch Mountain, and this general route, was the best except that by Kenhawa, and the only other practicable pass, at that time, between Virginia and Ken. tucky, with about three hundred miles of mountains between the two points deemed inaccessible. Since that time, I know other traces have been cut; but it was said, then, that there were no others. If so, how Kentucky was ever settled, seemed strange to me, for the principal emigration was by this route. It appeared to me that one hundred men could have kept back any force from crossing Clynch Mountain, by merely rolling rocks-down upon them, or could have destroyed them in the gorges after they had passed. What a disposition for adventure must have possessed those who first penetrated this wilderness, filled as it was with hostile savages, who would sometimes surprise cavalcades of families on the route, and murder nearly all of, them; and still, in the face of those facts, others would follow, with a strong probability of sharing the same fate. And what for?' Not to get cheap land and good, for there werd millions of acres on the east of this wilderness yet unoccupied, to be had for almost nothing. But to those first adventurers there seemed a charm in the very dangers which attended their enter- prises. ' Surely no such- people were to be found anywhere else. When we see the Ohio River, affording so much greater facilities for settling what is now the State of -Ohio, and that there was already a fort on its border (Fort Du- quesne-now Pittsburg), to which emigrants might rendez- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 65 Vous and take their departure, and yet that Kentucky was first settled-indeed a long time first-it shows the difference in the character of the early emigrants to each State. At first those emigrants clustered together in stations, and forted themselves in, working the land-outside, with rifles by their sides, and were often shot down by the-Indians in the adjoin- ing forests; but still others would take their places; the Indians would be pursued, sometimes overtaken, when a desperate fight would ensue, and perhaps half of each party would be killed. Sometimes the whites would be taken prisoners, and slowly put to death by the most excruciating tortures which could suggest themselves to the Indians; but most commonly by being burnt at the stake. A constant habit of facing danger causes people finally to disregard it, and soon families would leave these stations, -and make stations of their own, often be attacked by numbers of Indi- ans, and succeed in driving them off, and often whole fami- lies would be butchered. A young man or boy, who would show any symptoms of fear, would be almost turned out of his father's house; the family would have considered them- selves disgraced. The very women were heroines; the men necessarily became as fearless as' lions; and a hunt after Indians was a matter of sport, although the Indians were as brave as they were, and as skilful with the rifle, but had not so much judgment. In no European battles have such losses been sustained in proportion to numbers, as in those Indian fights. Sometimes half of each party would perish, for it was understood on each side that no quarter was expected or shown. Such a life necessarily rendered every man a soldier of Spartan character, capable of the most desperate undertak- ings, and knowing not what it was to be conquered. Such traits of character, too, are contagious, and all the settlers in the adjoining territories, by intercommunication with the 6* page: 66-67[View Page 66-67] a 6 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. IKentuckians, if they had not originally the same valorous. spirit, finally imbibed it, until the whole weitern population partook very much of the same qualities, which were con- spicuously shown at New Orleans and in Mexico. To be sure, the volunteers from other States fought equally well in Mexico; but the West first-led the way, where a handful of men maintained their position against armies, and where "retreat" was a word they did not understand the meaning of. When the true history -:of this war is written, it will be more like fable than fact. General Taylor, in the heart of -Mexico, is ordered to give up his regulars and fall back from Saltillo to Monterey. -'He sees, if he does it, that it will re- quire a much greater force to hold -his position there than where he is, and lose him all the country he has conquered, and much of his credit. The day before the battle of Buena Vista, he writes to a brother: "The administration, by taking all my regulars, are determined to force me to retreat or resign; but I will do neither." Tle next day commenced the battle of Buena Vista, with between four- and five thousand rawoplunteers against twenty thousand regularsunder Santa A nan in which Taylor was completely victorious. But equal success attended our army afterwards under Scott, with many volunteers from the Eastern States; -yet, they were inspired by the example-of those under Taylor. But, besides hard fighting, therewas a skill in planning by Scott which almost insured victory with any troops. But -I-am rambling .from my subject. After it became dark, I knew I whs in the road only because I could- not get out of it. Finally a path led off to the right; Vwhere an opening occurred between, two hills, and my horse took this instead of the main road. He soon stopped, and snorted with fear. I tried to urge hima on. ie would not go. I had often heard it said that horses -had a great instinct of danger, and the idea which struck me was, that he saw or smelt some animal that he was afraid of. I tried to quiet him, that I might listen; -qi Mta ih itn THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 67 but he whirled, and evinced the most frantic apprehension. I could hold him only with great difficulty. But, after riding back a short distance, patting him on the neck, and talking soothingly to him, I got him quiet, and sat five minutes per- fectly still, to ascertain whether there was any noise or evi- dence of danger. I could hear nothing. The country I knew was the home of all the wild beasts of the forest- panthers, bears, &c. He might have smelt or seen one. What was I to do-? If I attempted to get back to -Bean Sta- tion,-there was doubt about finding my way, and a chance-of breaking my neck in passing Clynch Mountain. Not being able to determine what to do, I sat still, listening and pon- dering, I suppose, fifteen minutes, but could hear nothing.- All was as still as death. "This will not do," thought I; so Iurged my horse in a slow walk forward, until he -reached the point he had turned from; here he stopped and snorted again; I did not urge him on, but patted hihm on the neck, and talked to him in a low tone. He became quiet. I urged him on. He would not go. I sat on him quietly to listen again-could hear- nothing; but presently imagined I could smell blood. I reasoned with myself on the power of imagination, and tried to satisfy myself that it was imaginary. If so, ho'wever, the imagination was very strong, for-it became more and more evident every minute that I did smell blood. What now was I to do? I could not get my horse forward. If a murder had been committed, the murderer was probably not then there; so I concluded to dismount, and lead my horse, keeping one pistol in my hand cooked. My horse followed me with great reluctance, snorting:every minute. Finally I found the object of his terror. :it was a beef, so---far as I could judge, in the road, with the hide that evening taken off. I got him by, and mounted him again. Soon a aiilar occurrence took place, with the same result. After getting on a mile or two, I saw a-glimmering light at a -dis- tance-a joyful sight, I can assure you.? I pushed-on to it, page: 68-69[View Page 68-69] 68 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. and found it a miserable little log hut, with one- roomy a man, his wife, two grown daughters and several smaller ones. It was no place to stop, if it could be helped. But stop I was determined I would, unless my station was close by. But I found, on inquiry, I was--off my road, and no chance for another house. I told the occupant I should be under the necessity of asking shelter for the night. Well, he said, such as he had he would share with- me. They-had supped, but -soon got me some bacon, eggs, and milk, with a warm corn hoecake--the sweetest supper I ever ate in my life. The natural -good feeling shown soon put me at rest as to my personal safety; but I deemed it prudent to let it be known in some way that I was not worth murdering for my money or horse. I asked how far it was to the a Crab- Orchard." He told me. I asked the price of travelling. He told me. I remarked, my horse I had thought able to take me the journeyr, and I had provided money enough to carry me there, but he began to give out, and I had to travel slow, and- was afraid I might run short before I got to my journey's end. "Ah! well," said the old man, " if you do, this is a plentiful country; just tell the people where you stop how it is,landyou will find no difficulty." I was curious to see how we would be-stowed away when we went to bed. Presently the old man said to me, '- Well, stranger) let us go and feed your horse." I went out with him-saw him fed in a pen-no stable; he had none. He kept me there about half an hour, when we returned, and found the old lady and all her daughters in bed ; the daughters and chil- dren all on one pallet, and the old lady on another, upon which there was also room for the old man, and the bed-left for me. I told them that would not do; that I could not think of depriving them of their bed-to take it, and give me their pallet. No, nothing else would do; I had to take it. The old man and myself had to rise by light, and go out, to let the mother and daughters get up. I concluded THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 69 to get my breakfast before I started.- I asked him about the story I heard at Bean Station. He said it was true, and told other stories. Said it was best for travellers not to go alone-that several " bad jobs" had occurred about Bean Station. It was where the roads from Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Carolinas all came together, and was known- as a good stand for robbers, who were prowling about to see whom they could have a chance at. I told him of my horse swap, except giving boot, which I concealed, thathe might not know I had any money. "Yes, sir," said: he ,' and they do tell' hard tales about travellers who stop at that house." I asked him what; but he would say nothing more-shook-his head ominously, but remarked, -No man's stock, house, or life would be safe who was known to say anything against them." I asked what meant those beef carcasses that I had passed on- the- road? He said a drove of beeves had taken the distemper; those had died the day before, and had been skinned,- After breakfast, I asked him my bill. He said nothing. I told him I must be allowed to pay, for I. was aware- he could not keep travellers for nothing. Well, he said, he charged fifty cents when he did charge, but " being as how my horse travelled slow, and I might get out of money, he would not charge me anything." I pulled out. fifty cents, and forced him to -take it, saying, if all were as moderate as himself, I thought I could get on before my money gave out. Two meals, a nit's lodging, and my horse for fifty cents! page: 70-71[View Page 70-71] 70 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. -C-HAPTE-R XII. HSTORY OF A SUICIDE AND OTHERI MATTERS, I -AVE had occasion to remark that nature has a homoge- neous tendency, as well morally as physically. As all-parti- Cles of matter, of the same kind tend to aggregate arid form one mass, so are similar feelings? propensities, qualities, and acts apt to be generated about the -same spot, or at the same period or age; one begets another. If a little village pro- duces one great man, it is apt to produce two; the same of a neighborhood-; witness about thirty miles square, below the Blue Ridge in Virginia, has produced- three Presidents of the United States. The town of Russelville, in Kentucky, has produced Bibb, Crittenden, and others; and wherever blood has been: once- spiltj more is apt to be spilt. This idea is suggested by the fact that an old acquaintance and friend of mine, about twenty years after the time I am now writing of -committed suicide at Bean Station. If asked for a reason, I would say that familiarity with scenes of blood, by -wit- nessing them, or' hearing them related, deprives them of their horror; sets us to thinking of them; and if a man has any idea of committing suicide, he is more apt to do so under such circumstances than at any other time. This friendi whose name I will not mention, was one of the most interesting men I ever' knew. A man of fine education, high-toned feelings, the most lofty sentiment of honor, and the nicest sense of propriety conceivable, but sensitive, and abhorring all obligations to his fellow-men, which grew out of anything like dependence' on them, to an equal degree. Accustomed to the best society, and with expectations which /,/ THE PILOT OF HXUMAN LIFE. 71 justified him in supposing he would-be able to maintain him- self therein, but in which he was disappointed. He had been raised a merchant, but had no taste for, the profession; he had no business habits; his mind. seemed always restless and withiout .a partioular aim. Indeed, although a man' of remarkable intelligence,- the finest taste for literature and the fine arts;, a fine singer, with a deep, manly, sonorous' voice, and feelings which gave interest to every tone, either in: song or conversation; yet his qualities were all ornament- al. He had, no one that was useful or available for making a support. As an apology for him,his most intimate friends said, that he had been long attached to a lady in Kentucky , who was as much attached to him; that he loved her to dis- traction, but was too honorable to doom her to poverty, as he believed he would by marrying her. She saw this, and remained single, still hoping for a change. But his im- patient feelings and his wild fancy could not; brook the drudgery of-business; in fact, his mind was incapable of it. It was not disciplined--had no method in it ; he had no en- ergy for want of those qualities, and for want of confidence in his business judgment, of which he had none. Like a, ship, under full sail at sea without a helmsman,?he-was tossed on every billow, but seemed to have no-object or aim for which he was steering. I never saw him in any society that he was not the most interesting: man there. All his- views were correct, as were his moral reflections in an emi nent degree. His'conversation was rich in imagery; his metaphors and figures were beautiful, and there was a glow of warm eloquent feeling imbuing all his conversation, which was perfectly enchanting. But he was a gilded cloud; while throwing brightness, hilarity, joy all around him, with a laugh which seemed to come from his whole system, and spread its contagion through the, company, there was, never- theless, perceptible upon his countenance a wild gloom, which told that there was a worm beneathkgsuwing udpon his i -k page: 72-73[View Page 72-73] 72 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFEb happiness. One of the finest painters in Kentucky, Jewit, considered his face one of so much character that he asked liberty to take his portrait, which he did. Another painter, Allen, of fine penetration into human character, said, upon looking at it, "That face looks to- me like that of one who would some day commit suicide." What a compliment to the painter's skill and the judgment of the critic! He concluded he would turn author, and wrote a work on moral philosophy. I never saw any one who had seen it; but all who knew him were satisfied it must be good in every- thing but its practical application to the affairs of life. It was supposed to be too sublimated; but, as he never submit- ted it to any one but the publishers, who did not feel disposed to publish it at their own expense, and he was unable to dc it, he burnt it. - I saw him in New Orleans afterwards, and the girl of his affections, after waiting ten years upon him with -hope lessening every day, finally married. I had met with some heavy misfortunes, which made me then verj gloomy. He was one evening in my room, when I rather gave way to my feelings, and it seemed to kindle a sympa thetic fire in his bosom. I seemed drawn nearer to him and deep as were my feelings, so much deeper were his tha he reminded me of Milton's description of Satan, where hi says:-- "Myself am hell- And in the lowest depth,-a lower deep, Still threatening to devour me, opens wide, To which the hell I suffer seems a heaven." He raised the very hair upon my head. "Yes, sir," sai he, ,' I will roam the woods, where I shall not encounte again the power of man; where I will breathe the air whic the beasts of the forest breathe, and where, like them, shall be free. My dog and my gun shall be my companions. I remarked to a friend next day that talked rath wild. 'I hardly knew what to make of him. He went 1 THE PILOT F HUEMAN LiFt t73 Texas.-liveda there until; the wir -with Mexicno bro e out. . I thenv met him there, found him in high favor, and aeting as a confidential agent of the government. ::Some time 'a'fteir this, he was sent on a mission to Washingtonh.'i THe R had' to go int'fothe lower part of 'Ken'tucky, and thence traveled on by way of Bean Station. : While there, he dtermined to commit suicide; wrote- to a friend in Kentucky to come arid take :charge of- his apers; said he could endure- existence -no longer; wrote a short note to the innkeeper, apologizing -for bloodying his -house, and thieni ble out his brains with a pis- tol. In this tale there is'not a word of fiction or exaggera- tion. His character, so far from being overwrought, is but feebly depieted. ' ,It may be wondered, that I; should stop in the course of mny narrative to giveA the history of another.: It is:-in accord- ance with my. purpose. "The 'object-in giving fan acciUnt of my own: life is not because I cofceive it to be 1 one of suffi- cient-interest to be read for itself,;but to point out to myson the lessons which it- furhishes; and, as this character Which I have just drawn: is a striking instance of the unhappiness attendant:upon tastes-and habits of an expensirveEiaracter, unsustained by business qualifiations tod procure a revenue to gratify them, I desire to hold it up for his contemplation. He would'have been among-the most perfect of m:en" if he had not wanted discipline of mind, method, and business habits. These are qualifications which no young-man should be without; let his fortune be what it may; for, wanting them, his fortune will soon melt away, and from -the time he' comes into possession of it, he may be compared to a man on the top of a coneshaped mountain. He can travel in no direction, but he must go down hill. He, starting with his fortune down hill, will probably meet the man of business ascending, about half way. There they pass the man of business approximating daily nearer and nearer the -iMnacle of fortune, while the man who had a fortune is daily descend- 7 page: 74-75[View Page 74-75] 71: THE PILOT OF HUMANI LIFE, ing nearer and nearer to the vale of poverty., Soon the two will hove exactlyv wangedpositions.., This is the history of almost every young man of fortune., They are not pre- -sumed to stand in need of business knowledg. -. Often, their fathers will not teach it to them; /unmore often -the belief that there is--no necessity for it makes it, so litsome to the young man that he cannot apply himself, and will not learn. In such a ease, the best fortune which could befall him would be for his father to fail before the son is yet too old to learn; for .the experience of life- in America shows almost as regular an alternation from wealth in the sire to poverty in the son, and from poverty in the sire to wealth in the son, as if it were a legal regulation of the country. The game of life is like many other gamest There is a boy who has very little to stake. He sees that, to avoid losing this little, he must learn to play the game well, and not to commence it until he is master of it. When fully trained, he, turns out with his very little stock. His wealthy companion taps him patronizingly on. the shoulder, and pro- poses- a :game. . At it they go. The wealthy man, having ample fortune, considers it beneath him to learn the game. He can afford any losses he may sustain} and bear: them with a smile; the poor boy, with his knowledge of the game, always wins, until finally the positions of the two are changed, as I have stated above. If I am asked, what I consider business qualifications, I answer, a training of the mind to method and to application; the making of the mind, in its raw militia state, yield to dis- cipline, and become a regular. If specific instances be asked, I reply, if he is to be a merchant, go into a merchant's counting-house. If he is to be a lawyer, and can Obtain a good berth, with a knowledge that he is only serving for a lesson, and soon to leave it, I say still, go into a merchant's counting-house. If he is to be a farmer, or gentleman of leisure*or anything else, I say, go into a merchant's count- [*I uB TfPii- TOP'j iUMA-LIIE. 75 ig-house, proided you canb a ttetothe ame desk, 'or-get soon in thei road, to reach it.- I do'-inot :mean a',retail mer- chant, but a large wholesale dealer, with'foreign" correapon4- ende, etc.; s great many papers, bank tratisactions, corre spondence, etc., requiring-method and thought to comprehend. the business. No other profession that I know of embraces. gso wide a field requiring method, unless it be an exftesive land-office. But!"would prefer'the merchant's counting- house, because it brings you more into contact with maanlind '-an important, study. I have had occaien to note several instances, whereI you-ng men originally intended for -er- chants; after going through their regular course, have de- termined'on' the study of law, -and I never knew a -case :of the kind where such did not come" to be eminenit in their profession, and an Overmatch for any member of not more than naturally equal intellect;"But their- great advantage was in the greater amount of business which they could do. With a hundred suits, the clerical lawyer could refer to any one, and tell you its whole condition in a' moment,;for he has everything so 'methodically arranged that it takes him no time to find any paper; besides which, he would have a book in which every suit would, be entered, with every step taken rioted, a docket of hisgown, with his own notes of al:l thsteps necessary to be taken, and of all that had been tak e n-; ie n. the strong points in his case, with references to authorites. Ordinarily methodical lawyers keep a sheet of paper as a brief,on which such steps are noted; but a book is better. But then the ordinary lawyer is always at a loss to find' Mis papers, and his accounts are kept clumsily, and neglected. His bonds -and notes for fees, and his receipts, are all in con- fusion, and cannot be found when wanted. The clericl law-: yer has each put up in bundles, numbered, and listed by number, so that they can be found in a moment. His chief advantage, however, is not in knowing {vhat to do, but in the habit of doing it. A lawyer might soon learn page: 76-77[View Page 76-77] 76 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.. what to do; but nine out of ten, when they open a bundle of papers, would hurriedly put them up in confusion, in- tending to arrange them at another time; -but that other time never comes; and when he next has to hunt up a paper it takes him four times as long as if he had put all back again properly. 'Tis not the knowledge of what ought to be done, which he wants, for in a week any man could learn this; but it is a fixed habit of doing it-a habit made natural by practice, and which is only acquired in some office. I would proceed with my views on this head more at large; but my wish is to intersperse lessons with my narrative, and not make them too tiresome. Broken doses of medicine sometimes act best; so of lectures. CIIAPTER XIII. MY ARRIVAL IN FRANKFORT---MEETING WITH A NAME- SAKE-ADVANCES TO HM AND REBUFF. I RECEIVED my instructions how to get into the main road again, and now took my departure. During this day, I was overtaken by a gentleman from Scott County, Kentucky, Major Flournoy, very intelligent and agreeable, travelling my whole route. This was a great relief to me, and my after journey was comparatively pleasant to Frankfort, the seat of government, my destination. While pulling off my leggins, I heard a gentleman in the room called by my name. It was music to my ear. I walked up to him with warm feelings, and remarked: "Sir, I think I heard your name called." "That is my name, sir," he replied. "It is also mine/' said I; " and thinking we might be related, I concluded to ascertain." I was dressed THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. " in travelling garb, muddy and dusty, and had not changed my shirt for several days, which was dirty, He looked at me from head to foot, and- observed, "Kentucky is full of - "Ah i" said I, "it is an uncommon name in Vir- ginia," and turned from him- instantly. It is difficult to con- ceive what a shock it is to the warm confiding heart to be so received. My feelings, pent up by along journey, wanted vent. I wanted something for my affections to take hold of; I could have loved any one of my name, who was worthy, and who would have reciprocated the feeling. I was naturally of an affectionate disposition always; all my relatives were affectionate; and it was a principle with them to nourish this affection, as the greatest source of human happiness. An aunt of -mine, the most splendidly intellectual woman I ever saw, considered it a part of her religious duty to visit all her sisters once a year, unless they could visit her. -Her husband was a merchant; he could not always go with her, and he could not bear her absence; but she would say to'him, if his business would not allow of his going, she must; that, next to his own, the love of her sisters was-dear to her (she had no brothers living at a distance); long absence would estrange it; and while on this earth, if she could help it, that' should not happed Never were sisters, or their children so attached to each other; all the cousins were like brothers and sisters, and loved each other most dearly. Nothing grows so strongly by cultivation as affection. Nothing sooner wears out by neglect; and there is a happiness resulting from warm affection among relatives which cannot be bought by money, and which money can furnish no substitute for. It refines the feelings, makes the heart virtuous, sharpens our sense of honor, and ennobles our whole nature. Oh, how little' do those reflect on the consequences of the smallest neglect of a worthy relative, which is sometimes the result of fallen. fortunes! If the heart is sensitive, it is almost death to the slighted; and the injury can never be repaired. Like the - 7* page: 78-79[View Page 78-79] 78 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. broken bowl, the parts may be cemented together, but the crack will forever show. From the common world such things are matters of course, and are little regarded; but from relatives they sink deep into the heart. It must beta rare family indeed, with as many branches as mine, if all were blessed with such correct feelings, as to have treated me with equal affection, under all circumstances. But few indeed have not, fewer than in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred in the usual run of families. But still there are exceptions, and with as much pain to me from the reflection that, by such conduct the door is forever closed to a return of our former feelings, as from the injury to my feelings at the mo- ment; for such an event never did occur without a conviction, on my part, that the time would come'when conditions would be changed, and the authors of the injury would regret their conduct more than I did. He who, being prosperous for the moment, is unfeeling enough to trample on a relative in mis- fortune, should bear in mind, as -a mere matter of policy, that this world is in a continual-state of revolution-always changing, and it may happen that positions will be reversed. These reflections are suggested by the conduct of the man before named, not that I had any claim on him, but it brought to mind subsequent events, Yi though an un- paralleled prosperity attended me for a period, so long as I kept my affairs under my own control; yet, in expanding, I experienced a reverse which had well-nigh ruined me, and fell with a weight, which it was supposed I could never rise under, and from which time it might be desirable to get clear of me. Time, however, has disappointed such expec- tations. The great evil growing out of such a state of things is the necessity -for some justification to the public for such conduct. The party slighted must therefore be blamed for something; but, being a relative, of course it cannot be told. Nothing more than insinuations are indulged in, and it is a rare accident if you ever hear of them; but you will see by THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 79 the conduct of the associates of your slanderer that some- thing is wrong; their minds are poisoned against you; they give great credit to the high-toned feelings of your relative, who has evidently cause for his demeanor towards you, but would not for the world make it known-oh, no, not he! Of all the characters, abhorrent in the eyes of Heaven, I think such superlatively so. So far, however, as such conduct was calculated to injure me, I have deprived it -of its sting, as well as I have done the same to all imputations of in- justice from any quarter, by a general proclamation, that, in any case of difficulty between myself and any one, I am will- ing to leave the matter to arbitration, by men mutually chosen, or adopt any mode whatever that is calculated to de- termine what is right and just between us; and this I will always do with any man. With these reflections, I will now return to my narrative. I now shaved, washed, dressed myself in a handsome new suit of the latest cut, which I had brought out with me, and was transformed from a dirty traveller into a genteel man of fashion. The hotel-keeper happened to have removed from Richmond, and knew my father. He introduced me to some gentlemen present, and while in conversation with them, this character who had rebuffed me so unhandsomely came up, and remarked: "I have been reflecting, sir, and have come to the conclusion that we may perhaps be related. What was your father's name?" "And I have also been reflecting, sir, and have come to the conclusion that we are not related;" turning on my heel from him. I walked to another part of the house, and, although this man and myself were afterwards thrown together often for fifteen years; and he made every effort to become intimate with me, I nevfr would allow him to approach nearer than cold civility'de- manded. After I was married, this man -was so civil to your mother that she often asked me why I was so cold to him. "Because," said I, "'I do not like him, and never can. page: 80-81[View Page 80-81] 80 THE PILOT OF HUMAN, LIFE. When I have once proffered a man'my good feelings, and he rejects them, he' can never obtain them afterwards." The only letter of introduction I had here was to a gentle- man of the-most eccentric character-a hermit in the midst of society; one of the most intelligent of men; indeed, con- sidered 'by Judge Bibb equal in intellect to Jno. J. Critten- den, both of whom studied with him. But he had no asso- ciates; he affiliated with nobody. My business was a great deal with him. His father's estate, and the estate I had to wind up, were so connected-R-'-having an interest of one. third in Mays-that we were unavoidably thrown much to- gether. He was even a better informed man than the sui- cide I have named, and. of finer literary 'taste. His conver- sation was as chaste and pure as the finest literary work, but he was the very antipode of the other. He was as cold as the top of Mont Blanc. He seemed devoted to nobody; and yet his enthusiasm could be aroused in speaking of the merits of books, or even of ladies whom he admired; but it seemed an enthusiasm without feeling-admiration, not love. When he laughed, though he did so sometimes most heartily, his laughter seemed all in his face; it did tot convulse his body, and seembd not to go below his throat. He was timid, shy, and altogether without the manly qualities which cha- racterize the West; void of energy and industry, but more thorough in whatever he did than any lawyer of his day. I never saw such perfect instruments of writing as he drew, nor more strongly or beautifully expressed.. He had a per- fect conception of natural justice,- and seemed to defy any law which was in violation of it. His notions of allodial rights seemed to put him above all law in violation of them. He could not conceive that any law could be valid which in- vaded them. He was a real old black letter chancellor, and, with more fire, manliness, and energy, might have been the first man in any country. But there was nothing about him to attach his fellow-man to him. His thoughts were THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 81. brilliant, but never burning; they were like the radiations of moonlight from an iceberg. As .an exemplification of the notion, that men of very contrary characters sometimes fancy each other, he imbibed quite an attachment for me, so far. as his nature would allow. I was off-hand in the expression of my feelings and opinions-very mercurial in my nature; my admiration or indignation came forth with equal facility, and with equal energy; but still my feelings were always within my control. I always knew what I said, and I generally in- tended to say what I did say. Few men had better control of their feelings, and fewer still ever gave an imprudent ex- pression to them. CHAPTER XIV. MY OPINION OF 'DUELS, AND THE MODE OF AVOIDING THEM -WITH VARIOUS. OTHER MATTERS. OFTEN on the point of difficulties, which might have led to duels, I have managed so far to-, maintain my self-posses- sion as to avoid them, as in a case about six months after the time I am now writin of. -A gentleman, feeling him- self insulted by me, when I did not intend it, 1left me with the intention of challenging me, and so told his friend, who intimated it tome. I replied, his friend had better consider what he was about; there was no real cause for any such step. At any rate, it was my request he should defer it until the next day. If, after sleeping'a night -upon it, he awoke'with the same feelings, I should be ready to hear 'from him, but would not consider any communication before.. The effect was, by giving him time to cool, he changed his mind, and the matter there ended. I was never afraid, on \ page: 82-83[View Page 82-83] 82 THE PILOT OF HUtMAN LIFE. account of public opinion, to makb reparation where I had offended a man's feelings unintentionally; I took a pride in doing it. Nor could any man so far throw me off my guard as to get me into a difficulty, and I in the wrong. If so at first, I would repair any injury I had done, and then tell him to bear witness that I had done my best to avoid the result. If that would not do, my conscience would be at rest, let what would happen, and these sentiments I very freely expressed. Your codes of honor and duelling punc- tilios always appeared to me a pack of nonsense and bar- barism. No man should submit his case to the manage- ment of a friend, and the more especially if that friend is what they call "au fcait" in such matters. Having a taste for them, instead of doing all he can to produce a recon- ciliation, he throws barriers in the way. His friend's honor is too dear to him to make any advances, or open any door for an arrangement. Oh, no-oh, no-that will never do; honor requires a fight! And often a fight takes place, when both parties are perfectly willing to be reconciled, and where very little common sense, mixed with ordinary good feeling, would bring it about. What is this honor, which shuts the door to negotiation and the obtainment of a fair understand- ing of the parties? It is the fear that one party may con- sider the other too anxious to avoid a fight, or that the pub- lie mayso consider it. Now, if a man was perfectly fearless, would he have any such notions? No; he would then act just as good sense would direct, regardless of what others might think on the subject. And what Auld that be? A challenges B, setting forth his grievances. If B intended the injury, and will not repair it, of course he has to fight. But ifB did not intend it, he should say to A, "Take back your challenge; you are under a misapprehension; 'before going to extremities, let us perfectly understand each other. I do not wish to fight you, while I believe there is no suffi- cient cause; if you cannot be otherwise satisfied, however, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 83' I will do it. But before I do, I must know what we are going to fight about, and that you are under no mistake." No man is so savage, so lost to all feeling, and all regard for public opinion, as to acknowledge that he wants to take a fellow-being's life without\ a cause; and if not, then, after such a communication from his adversary, he would have no cause, and the thing would be ended. Again: Suppose it were established as a rule of duelling that, when on the field, before exchanging shots, a party should be chosen by the two seconds whose duty it should be to address them as fol- lows: "Gentlemen, as your mutual friend, it becomes my duty, before you go to extremities, to understand the nature of the difficulty between you, and to see that you do not misunderstand each other; and also to ascertain, if an insult has been given, whether it was intentional or not, and what impediment there is to a reconciliation. Neither of you, I presume, is seeking the other's life, for the mere love of blood; and if both be innocent of such a wish, a fight cannot take place unless one of you be willing to acknowledge his lack of justice. If such be the case with either, it is due to public opinion and to the innocent party that the fault should be fixed where it exists. Unless both be in the wrong, one party is fighting in self-defence only, and is not blamable if he kills his adversary. If killed by the other, the other is a murderer, and will be so esteemed by the public. I now proceed to propound my questions, in accordance with the established rule, beginning with the challenger; and permit me to remark that, whatever feeling or indignation may have been excited by the offence originally, usage, propriety, and good taste require that all such should be suppressed here; and that there may be no cause for contradiction, or any exciting matter between the parties, it is my province always to presume that there has been a misunderstanding between the parties. In asking- my questions, therefore, I ask what is your understanding of your cause of offence? If you page: 84-85[View Page 84-85] 84 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. name what-you understand it to be, and your adversary, without the restraints which custom has allotted to this tribu- nal, would contradict you and deny the fact, adding to the aggravation, he will consider that any such course will be looked upon as a wish on his part to escape investigation, and right will be presumed to lie on the other side. There must be no passion evinced here. Mr. A. will say, in as respectful and mild a manner as he can what he considers cause of challenge in this case. A. "In conversation with Mr. B., I justified nullification of the laws of the United States by the States, when they were considered tyrannical; he replied-" ZUmpire.-"Or- der! you understood him to reply." A.-"'Very well; I understood him to reply that he considered the nullifiers a pack of traitors. I answered none were greater traitors than he was. To which I understood him to reply, 'You are a d--d liar!"' ,Umpire (to B.).-- Did Mr. A. understand you correctly?' B.-"He did." Umpire.-"Then you intended to insult him?" B.-"No, sir; I only expressed my opinion of nulli- fication." Umpire.--"But you designated them traitors as a class, knowing he was one." B.-"Well, sir, I have nothing more to say." Umpire.-"Then you are content I should note you as the insulting party, refusing to make repara- tion?" -B.-"No, sir." Uimpire.-"What other conclusion can be drawn?"B.-"Why, sir, when I made my remark I was heated, and did not sufficiently reflect that my remark included Mr. A. until he rejoined, when my reply was the natural consequence, and his challenge placed things beyond remedy." Umpire.-"But A.'s challenge was made inevi- table." B.--"Well, I admit it, and, so far as I can see, the fight is inevitable." A.-"Mr. Umpire, I think we are wast- ing time to no purpose." -Umpire.-"Perhaps, Mr. A., you would do well to observe the regulations, and not speak out of order." A.-"Very well, sir." Umpire.--"Mr. B., you THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 85 say the fight is inevitable; I answer, it is not, unless you are determined to have it so. You admit that you desig- nated nullifiers as traitors, without bearing in mind at the time that Mr. A. was one. As a gentleman, had you been aware of the offensiveness of the speech, your own good breeding would have prevented your using it." A.-"Most assuredly if I had reflected I would not." Umpire.-"Then you are willing to allow that the expression was used without intending to convey an insult?" B.-"I allow I did not design the first speech to insult Mr. A." Umpire.-"And the second would not have been, but for Mr. A.'s reply?" B.-"Of course not; his reply drew it forth." Umpire.- "Very well. Now, Mr. A., I presume it is hardly worth while to ask you if your remark would have been made but for what you supposed to be an intended insult?"A.-"That hardly needs an answer; it was, of course, the result of Mr. B.'s remark." Umpire.--"' Mr. B., I am right, I presume, in saying the explanations here given prove beyond doubt that your remarks were inadvertent, and no insult was intended?" B.-"Yes, sir." Umpire.-"And Mr. A. has said his were caused by your remarks. It is evident, then, gentlemen, that there is no cause of fight. I ask of-you, as your mutual friend, to spare your families and friends the pain which may result from this encounter, having no cause but a mis- understanding, which has now been explained. Mr. A., will you, upon the explanation, withdraw your challenge?"A.- "I will." Umnpire.-"Then, gentlemen, the difficulty is over; and we will return and drink to more caution here- after." A. and B.-"Agreed." 8 page: 86-87[View Page 86-87] 86 THEE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. C HAPTER XV. MY -MODE OF GAINING THE INFORMATION I WANTED-A "TTLE DRY AT FIRST, BUT READ ON, AND THE OBJECT WILL BE DEVELOPED WITH MORE INTEREST. HAVING obtained a room in Frankfort for an office, I now set to work vigorously in the prosecution of my labors. I spent the day in examining the public offices for grants of land to D. R., and deeds from and to him; having prepared a book, which I called my land-book, in which I digested all the- information I obtained. I took care to make friends of the clerks in all the offices by giving them liberal fees to aid me in the prosecution of my labors, and, by so doing, I ob- tained suggestions from them as to the best sources of in- formation. This was not necessary in their regular business, but for extra services I deemed it advisable. The public officers in the register's and auditor's offices knew all the sheriffs in the State, and many surveyors, and a great many of the old land-locaters, land-agents, land-dealers, &c., to whom they referred me. I noted all their names. I was advised to spend my time at first in obtaining all the inform- ation which the offices in Frankfort would afford; get what I could from attendants on the Federal Court and Court of Appeals, and other visitors to Frankfort; and then attend upon the legislature, where I could see members from every county, who could either give me the information I wanted, as to any lands in their county, or show me where I could get it. There were several hundred tracts of land to be investigated, and a great amount of information to be sought in regard to the acts of former agents and the condition in which they THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 87 had left the business; lands sold, bonds taken, bonds col- lected, uncollected, &c., and all kinds of contracts in regard to land. This was the most fruitful source of difficulty to me' But by dint of perseverance I progressed rapidly. As before said, I made an index to all the lands, referring to pages where the information was condensed as to each tract. My. note- book was my journal, in which I put down everything I learnt, numbering every note, and at night, in the face of each note, I putin red ink the number of the tract to which it referred, and once a week I would post up all the information I obtained to the tracts to which they respectively belonged, and as posted I would cross the note to show that I need pay no more attention'to it. I was astonished at -the progress I made; but, in Kentucky, such general information prevails in regard to land and land-titles that an industrious inquirer would, in a short time, possess himself of information to al- most any extent. He could, probably, do more in Kentucky in a week than he would anywhere else in a month. The great difficulty in my business was avoiding confusion and bewilderment in the immense mass. I ascertained this to have been the stumbling-block with former agents. They could compass a certain amount, confined to a few counties; that they would attend to, and leave the balance, with no methodical digest or intelligible record of what they had done. It was chiefly in their heads, or in bundles of papers, and most of the information obtained during their lifetime died with them. My plan did not confuse my mind, nor leave a weight of oppression on it to comprehend what I learnt. I had it so methodized that I could turn in a moment to all the information I had obtained in regard to any tract- of land, the doings of any agent, or any transaction on any subject connected with my business. And this is the chief art in doing a large business of any kind, but more especially legal business;: to have it so methodized as not to render it neces- page: 88-89[View Page 88-89] 88 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. sary to keep it in the mind; for, while that is attempted, after going to a certain extent, the mind has received its load, and will bear no more; any further addition prod fenusion and bewilderment, and- the mind gives way under it, a strong illustration of which I found in the gentleman I have been describing, whose father's estate was connected with the one I was investigating. It was of great extent, and, had it been prosecuted with method and vigor, would have yielded him an immense fortune; but he became bewildered in its mazes, overwhelmed with the weight, and discouraged in the hope of being able to-compass the business to such an extent that he attempted nothing, but wasted away his time in Frankfort in reading and fishing. As my task was to com- prehend all that he had to do, as my constituent's estate was one-third interested with his, and also interested in several other estates where a similar course was necessary, besides an independent estate of greater magnitude than his, he asked me if I ever expected to be able to master the subject. I told him I did. "Well," said he, "it will run you mad, and you will be in the lunatic asylum before you get through with it." "No," I replied; " there will be nothing to run me mad. Whatever I can do will be done without oppression to the mind. I can work hard all day, possess myself of a volume of information, embracing the most intricate questions, all of which I will solve, as far as may be within my capacity; record those solutions and all this information; then throw it off my mind, and sleep soundly at night." at But how," said he, " can you throw it off? Such matters pile upon and bewilder my mind so much that I have to quit them. I cannot help thinking of them; the constructions of entries, and surveys, legal decisions on similar cases, &c., so run in my mind that I cannot sleep, and if I were to push the investigations continually as you do, I should go mad." "Not so with me. It is my daily avocation. I have cer- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 89 tain information to obtain. When I have obtained all the information to be- had, in regard to a tract of land, learn all the titles conflicting with it, compare dates, calls of entries, &c., and see how the surveys conflict, I see at once the points of law on which the strength of each hangs. (The land-law of Kentucky is comprehensible at once by a mathe- matical mind. It is based on mathematical *principles. I felt at home in regard to .it immediately; and would have wagered two to one, on first reading a land-entry, that I could tell whether or not the title would stand, provided it was surveyed according to entry.) I note all those facts, exam- ine the reports of decisions by the courts, observing all -that touch the case pro and conk and then record my own opinion. This being done, I discharge the subject from my mind, be- cause I have done all the thinking about it that I can, and have packed it, and all that it is based on, in its proper place, where I can, at any time, find it; and there is no need to trouble my mind further about it. I do it," said I, " on the principle of mercantile bookkeeping. A merchant has several thousand accounts. He does not attempt to keep-one in his head, and only thinks of them when he has to collect or pay. - As I have neither .to do with mine, they give me no trouble." To give each subject in connection, I continue it, when be- ginning it, often long beyond the period of which I am writ- ing, as in this case. This conversation was, in part, proba- bly twelve months after the time of which I write. 8* page: 90-91[View Page 90-91] 90 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTE R XVI. MY FORLORN FEELINGS UPON FIRST BEING DOMCIILIATED AMONG STRA:NGERS. DURING the day, I found my time to go off well enough; but my evenings hung most heavily. For the reasons before named, having only a letter to this hermit, and "he having no intimates, I made no acquaintances. I had no associates. I had not thought of letters of introduction, and- if I had, could not probably have found a man in Richmond who knew any one in Frankfort; for then there was very little com- munication between these places. This hermit I only met with in daytime, and not often then. Naturally of a very sociable disposition, and having no one to interchange thoughts or feelings with, I became very unhappy; and but for the pride I took in never looking back when I had engaged in any undertaking until I had accomplished it, I should have returned home, for never did a man feel so desolate and for. lorn; and this feeling began to show itself in my counte- nance, which mortified me, because it seemed an acknowledg- ment that I felt myself slighted and neglected, a thing which few young men are willing to admit, and none without morti- fication; and it was the more galling to me, because many young men from Virginia, coming out to hunt up their fa- thers' lands, and of the best families, with letters to the first men in Kentucky, would, by theb imprudence, find them- selves short of money, borrow and not return it, and thus throw a shade over the characters of the more worthy.-- They were looked upon with distrust, unless well vouched for. I had no one to vouch for me, and was, in consequence, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 91 isolated from society in its midst. About a fortnight after my arrival, there was a ball at Frankfort. I was always pas- sionately fond of dancing, and went to the ball; but I knew no one. Everybody seemed gay and happy, the girls seemed beautiful and interesting, and I would have given the world for some one to talk to; but, like the wandering Jew, I moved among the crowd unknowing and unknown, and was not :at liberty to speak to anybody. The tavern-keeper of- fered to introduce me, but this I thought would never do; I politely declined. One of the managers offered to do the samne; but, as I did not know him, nor he me, and he could not vouch for me, and as, if -I had known him, I might not have been willing to be introduced by him, I declined his offer also; and the night passed off, and the ball broke up, without my dancing, or speaking to any one at it, except in the two cases stated. To those who have never been similarly circumstanced, it is not easy to conceive my unhappy condition, and I began to regret ever having undertaken the agency-was satisfied I could not bear my position--determined to fix on a period by which I could make a digest-of the information necessary to know the condition of the estate, and then go back. My feelings were becoming soured; my nature was changing; I felt it, and was uneasy at the effect; for, young as- I was, I was even then very sensible that a sense of injury towards our fellow-man would sully the fine, fresh feelings of youth, which give interest to character, which are the best evidences of uncontaminated virtue, and a high-toned feeling of honor. There is nothing which can compensate for the loss of such feelings, and it is a misfortune for 'any young man to be so circumstanced as- to incur such -an evil. The mortifications I experienced in the outset of life were of a different sort. My relatives were near. I could com- mune with them. I foresaw the day of change. But here, I had not one single human being to interchange feelings with. I became daily more and more gloomy and unhappy. page: 92-93[View Page 92-93] 92 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. Finally, my hermit companion, informed me that he had to go to the Yellow Banks, to have transfers made of town- lots in Owensboro', the grantors having given half the town to the county to fix the seat -of justice there, his father own- ing one-third, and my constituent two-thirds. I went with him, by way of Bardstown-a five days' journey. On arriving within twenty-five miles of the town, "Here," said my com- panion, "begins the great survey of M. B. & Co., which ex- tends six miles below Owensboro'; thirty-bne miles in length, and containing 160,000 acres; my father's estate owning one-fourth, and your constituent the chief of the- balance; but interfered with by various other surveys, and occupied by hundreds of settlers." About three miles above the town, we came in sight of the Ohio River, which I now saw for the first time. It was very full, nearly up to its banks on the Indiana side; and I thought it one of the most sublime wa- ter-sheets I had ever seen. We entered the town-the court- house had been built, and a number of cabins; but there were not more than two or three brick chimneys in the town. I thought it was the prettiest situation for a town that I had ever seen-level, and high banks, on a great bend of the river. Having accomplished our object, and having noted all the information I could obtain relative to the property here, we now returned to Frankfort. The Federal Court was now in session, and Judge Todd of the supreme bench was presiding. I attended the court regularly to meet with men who could give me the in- formation I wanted. Seeing me a stranger, the judge was induced to inquire who I was. He was told I was a young Virginian from Richmond, by the name of . After the adjournment of court, he came to me, and said he was informed my name was T , of Richmond. I told him it was. "A son of Daniel T ?" said he. "Yes, sir." "Why, sir," he rejoined, 'yoiur mother and myself are THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 93 cousins. How happens it you did not come to see me?" I replied, "I did not know you lived here until I saw you on the bench, and inquired who you were. When I heard your name, I knew there was a relationship--what I did not know, however-between our families." "Well," said he, "you must come and dine with us to-morrow;" which I told him I would do with pleasure. I went at two o'clock, an hour ear- lier than the common dining-hour in Richmond, and two hours earlier than party dining-hours. On entering the pas- sage, I perceived, in a hall in the rear of the house, the dishes which had been removed from the table. I had not rung, and supposed no one had seen me. The awkwardness of coming in after the dinner was removed, and having it set for me again, determined me to retreat and send an excuse. But the judge had seen me through the window, and came out to meet me. He rallied me on my fashionable hours; said the clerks and all the officers of the court dined early; the court therefore had to adjourn at twelve, and, to get through business, had to meet again at half-past two, and he was compelled to make his hours conform to theirs; that he had neglected to inform me of his dining-hour, supposing I had been in Kentucky long enough to know that the fault was his, &c. He made me acquainted with several members of the bar and his family, and I made a short dinner, as you may imagine. After a short time, he remarked he would consign me over to his family, as he had to return to court, and that I must amuse myself in the best way I could. Mrs. Todd was a sister of Mrs. Madison, wife of the President, a very intelligent and agreeable lady, with whom I spent -an hour or two very pleasantly. The judge had also two sons, both married; one afterward minister to Russia; but neither was then in Frankfort. The lawyers I was introduced to were married men, much older than'myself, and, at that time, no companions for me. Things were now a little changed, but not much. The judge was so absorbed- by his judicial duties page: 94-95[View Page 94-95] '94 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. that he had not much time to think of me, and I had not acquired that easy footing which authorized me to call when I pleased, and before I had time to do it he left to attend the Supreme Court, with his-family; at Washington. CHAPTER XVII. THE SOCIETY OF FRANKFORT-THE LEGISLATURE-ASSO- CIATION WITH THE MEMBERS. THE gentlemen with whom I had dined made me ac- quainted with some of the young lawyers and students, and occasionally a party to which I was invited brought me in acquaintance with the society of Frankfort; my time passed off more pleasantly, but still not entirely to my satisfac- tion. There was not, it appeared, the habit, prevalent in Virginia and the Eastern States, of making a visit of cere- mony to you at your room, which then authorized you to return it, and feel upon an easy footing. But being intro- duced to you in a court-room, you would be asked to call at their offices, told they would be happy to see you at any time, &c., and all in sincerity, but it was not deemed necessary first to call and see you. The consequence was, I went to none of their offices; always met the young men I was introduced to politely in the streets, and at the tavern, but never went to see them. When I would be in my room, a whim would take some of them to come and see me, not as a matter of polite duty, but merely because they wanted to be better acquainted. Then I would get on an easy footing 'with such, and gradually learnt that I was "standing on a punctilio not usual in the place." Had my room been more convenient than their offices, they would have been to see me; THE PILOT OF HUMAN' LIFE. 95 but as I would never call at their offices, they thought I was unsociable, and did not care about their acquaintance. I en- deavored to conform to their habits, but was never satisfied with them. The fact is, no man is ever satisfied with him- self, nor with those whose manners and customs induce him to forfeit, in any degree, his own self-respect, as I always thought I did by visiting a man, in a strange land, who had not first visited me. And yet some deemed it a nonsensical formality, as all ceremonies are deemed in the primitive con- dition of any society. They did not seem to consider that it was necessary to have some means of knowing whether our acquaintance was desirable or not, and that there was any bet- ter mode than the one which society had adopted-of first visiting strangers whose acquaintance they desired. If he reciprocated the desire, he returned the visit, otherwise he did not. But, strange as it may seem, it was only in the capital where such notions prevailed. Soon afterwards, on visiting Lexington and Louisville, the latter then a small town, our Eastern customs prevailed. There was then no fashion, or attempt at it, in Frankfort, but more substantial intellect than anywhere else in the State, among young and old. Indeed, I thought I had never seen so many law students, all of a high order of talents, anywhere; and I had never seen a more intelligent or agreeable female society, without pomp or pretension. My footing with it was soon as easy and agreeable as at fst it. had been otherwise. I took a turn or two to some adjacent counties, Owen, Gallatin, and Grant, to examine into the title and value of some lands there--some fifty or eighty tracts; and ob-- tained connected surveys, showing all the interfering titles; and by means of my examinations at Frankfort, I was soon able to fix, in my own mind, upon that portion which would be saved, and that which would be lost. These upon the maps I painted of different colors, so that the eye took it in page: 96-97[View Page 96-97] 96 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. at a glance. In my land-book, I gave my reasons for the conclusions I had come to. Soon the session of the legislature commenced, and I pro- ceeded to become acquainted with the members, to learn from each such information as he could give in regard to my busi- ness, which lay in almost every county in the State. This was a fine school for me, because the extent to which I could trespass on any member's patience would depend on the extent to which I could conciliate his good-will. If I could win his friendship and good feelings, there was no extent to which he would not go. So I seldom broached my business on my first visit, unless a very apt opening occurred; but gave parties at my room, to which I would invite twenty or thirty at a time, as I became acquainted with them, making myself as agreeable as I could until I got through with the whole body. As it is very usual for such a course to be adopted by those who are seeking office, the members would in joke say, "Well, T., what office now can we give you? I don't think you can be making yourself such a clever fellow for nothing." "Oh!"I would reply, it would be rather hasty to seek office in the first three or four months after my arrival. I think I must stand acquitted of that charge. But if you will put it on the footing of electioneering for your good- will as citizens of Kentucky-not as members of the legisla- ture-as I expect to travel much over the State, and give me some little credit, too, obr being sociable in my charac- ter, fond of company, and not unwilling to lay an anchor ahead in case I should visit the regions in which any of you live where I might need friends, then I plead guilty." "Oh, ah-that's it, ay! Well, by hokey, if you will come to my county, I will show you every pretty girl in it; and I tell you there are some not to be sneezed at. Or if you are fond of hunting, or anything of that sort, just come my way." And one and all would set forth the in- ducements to visit each of their counties, all declaring they THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 97 would do anything for me, or go with me anywhere. I was soon on such a footing with them that I obtained all the information they had, and references to those who could give me more, all which I regularly noted, and when the legis- lature rose commenced a tour over the State. From time to time I transmitted such information as I obtained to Judge B. in a condensed form; giving him an account of my mode of obtaining it. My father wrote me that Judge B. informed him I had an extraordinary talent for the business I was in; that he could not have conceived it possible for any man to accomplish so much in so short a time. Of course this was very gratifying to me, and the more especially as it was so much so to my father, whose comfort and happiness I regarded much more than my own. CHAPTER XVIII. DEATH OF MY SISTER ANN AND OF MY FATHER-MY RETURN TO VIRGINIA--SETTLEMENT WITH JUDGE B. AND AGREE- MENT TO RETURN TO KENTUCKY. BUT, during the spring, an event occurred which dashed half of my happiness on this earth. My sister Ann, in the bloom of all her loveliness, died in New York on a visit to her elder brother. I loved her as seldom brother ever loved a sister. It was a cruel stroke. I had planned much for her enjoyment and happiness, but all for naught. It was a heavy blow to my father and mother. This event paralyzed my efforts for some time. My father had been appointed master commissioner in chancery to the Richmond Chancery Court, which yielded a comfortable support for his family, but not enough to enable 9 page: 98-99[View Page 98-99] 98 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. my younger brother to, prosecute his studies. I agreed to furnish him with one-third of my salary. I could still live on half the balance by close economy, and, having now discharged the one hundred dollars borrowed of my elder brother, and one hundred and twenty dollars from a friend in Richmond, I informed my father that he might draw on Judge B. for another third of my wages as they then became due. IBut he wrote me he did not need it, as his business gave him a sufficient support. But, he said, he 'felt a glow of pride in having a son so willing to spare his little means to aid him. This feeling almost iqortified me. To feel a pride in a son who would spare what he had no use for, to aid a father, to whom he owed his existence, and all that he was-I felt as if he had not before known my feelings, and had considered me lacking in proper affection. I could not imagine that any son could be so unfeeling as not to part with his last cent to aid his father. But my cup of sorrow was to be filled yet more by the death of this excellent father, who died during the succeeding summer-a man of the most un- conquerable fortitude and perseverance that I ever knew- respected and beloved by all who knew him. My brother, who resided in New York, was now doing a large business, and thought he could branch out to advantage, either to New Orleans or Petersburg, and wrote proposing to connect himself with me. -I concluded to accept his offer, and go in, after I had made a pretty complete digest ofmy Kentucky business; and having mentioned my- intention, a gentleman of Frankfort, anxious to obtain my place, pro- posed to me to allow him to apply for it, to which I agreed, giving him a letter to Judge B., informing him of my inten- tion, and that he was at liberty to employ him or any other substitute. When ready, I started, the aforesaid gentle- man having gone ahead of me. On arriving at Lynchburg, I heard of the failure of Brown & Finney, of Richmond, for nine hundred thousand dollars. I knew my brother was THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 99 their chief correspondent in New York, and feared for the effect on him; and, on arriving at Richmond, found-he was- under acceptances for them to the amount of sixty thousand dollars. This he could not stand, and he fell with them. Now I was again on the wide world, with not one hundred dollars to go upon, and not knowing what I would do next. I proceeded to see Judge B., to settle up accounts with him, very much regretting that I had resigned my agency, and now wishing I had it back again. On entering his door, after welcoming me and receiving me with great kindness, he observed: "Well, sir, you must go back to Kentucky." "Have you employed no one else?" said I. "No, sir; I was satisfied I could find no one else who could do the business. You take hold of things -by the right handle; and, believing I could satisfy you that you were in the track which suited your genius, and which would finally lead you to prosperity, I determined to employ no one else until I saw you, and had a conversation with you. Rely on it," said he, I' there is a great field open before you. Your industry, energy, and method will finally procure for you as much business as you can do if you find it to your advan- tage to leave my employment. I am not only satisfied with what you have done, but doubt whether I could have found any one else who could have done it, and have so expressed myself freely to your friends." Believing the judge was not aware of the facilities I found in Kentucky to prosecute my investigations, I felt as if he was giving me credit which- I was not entitled to, and so rem arked to him, explaining how I had accomplished what I had. He looked me steadily in the face for a minute. "I act,perhaps, imprudently," Isaid he, "in talking to you as I shall, but I do not think I am mistaken in believing that you are not to be spoiled by re- ceiving your due commendation; and it sometimes, if it does not spoil, is of service as an incentive. I understand, sir, perfectly, by your letters, what you have done, and how you page: 100-101[View Page 100-101] 100 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. have done it. The facilities, you say, are great, and so you have made them, by the simplicity of the system you have adopted. But you have made your own road smooth by your own plan. It is very simple, to be sure, and in that consists its beauty. Go on, sir, as you have commenced, and there is no telling what you may accomplish." This was a course so different from that'which merchants usually adopt towards those in their employment, fearing that any admission of the value of their services might raise their demand for wages, that it filled me with admiration for the man, and I would have toiled night and day to fulfil his expectations. I now, in turn, felt inclined to reply with the feelings of which my heart was full, but, not being able to command words to express them, It did not attempt it. Rut I saw at once the difference between a great man and a little one. This man was just, he was reasonable, and a judge of human nature. He knew that his remarks would have a good effect-they had- a powerful one. But, when we came to settle accounts, he seemed inclined to draw back some of his lavish praise. He said my expenses were too great-almost unreasonable. I heard him calmly, gave him full time to deliver himself of all his economical lessons, and asked him in what they were unreasonable. "Oh," he said, "the sum total, the aggre- gate'of expenditure was too great-too. great-too great;" and I thought he would have recalled all the encomiums he had bestowed on me. "Judge B.," said I, 'there is no one more open to reproof, when deserved,than I am-no one more willing to be advised; but, at the same time, no one whose feelings revolt so decidedly against anything bearing the impress of injustice. If I have been unjustifiably ex- travagant, convince me of it, and I will stand reproved; but do not attempt to sustain your charge by saying the aggre- gate has been too great-too great; that will not do. If the aggregate has been great, but the aggregate good still greater, there is no cause of complaint. Take the items, sir, and THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 101 point out which of them bas-been needless. Now, sir, here is the account; name the objectionable items." In looking over--"Well, sir, here are-charges that I do not see belong to the account; these were expenses of entertaining legis- lators, &c." "Very well, sir, if my expllanation is not satisfactory, then expunge them. I found, by making friends of those men, I could obtain a vast- amount of information from them, and make correspondents all over the State, by which I would be saved a great deal of riding, time, and expense. And that is not all. I conciliated their good feel- ings, obtained their friendship, and, by means thereof, a zeal and anxiety to serve me, which secured me information, and put me on the track to get more--which in fact have, in a great degree, enabled me to do what I have -done, and for which you seem willing to give, me so much credit.' 'Well," said he, softening down, "but could you not have done this at less expense?" "Why," I replied, "I might have saved your money, and been without the information I have obtained. The expenditure equals about two weeks of my wages and expenses, and, I venture to say, saved six months of the same." He took hold of other items, all resulting in the same way. Driven from his ground, he did not still like to yield, but preached me a long lesson about economy-said I lacked only that one quality to be the most efficient man of business he ever saw. But, shaking his head, he said: "You must try and correct that-economy is at the bottom of success in everything. I care not what a man's genius or talents ma.'be-lacking economy, he will never succeed." "In all which I agree with you, sir, most decidedly. We only differ as to what economy is. I -con- sider it is the use of a given sum of money to accomplish the greatest amount of work. You would, perhaps, have been better satisfied if I'had presented you a very lean bill of expenses, and half the information I have obtained. -But I would do myself injustice by such a course. No, sir, I 9* page: 102-103[View Page 102-103] 102 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. understand the drift of your remarks. The precedent is a dangerous one, and you are unwilling to give in to it. I ad- mit it, and that wine, &c., in an agents accounts, has a bad look; but I do not drink a pint of wine, or anything else, myself, in a year; neither do I smoke cigars, nor chew tobacco, nor take snuff. But it is sometimes necessary to use such means to accomplish an object." He shook his head. He could not be convinced, and, on the whole, perhaps he was right; for if he had sanctioned it in my accounts, having con- fidence in my, prudence, it would have been a plea for other agents, and therefore he could not accept, as a justification, -the great amount of good coming out of an evil precedent. He, however, sanctioned the account, but with a lecture on the subject, which I had to put up with, because I saw he was inclined to award me full as much credit as he thought I deserved, and more than I thought I was entitled to in other matters, and I was willing to submit to this drawhack. CHAPTER XIX. RETURN TO KENTUCKY-PLEASANT ADVENTURE. HAVING purchased a sulky to aid me in carrying out papers, a great many of which I took this time, I now de- parted a second time for Kentacky; my horse, which was a very fine one, working finely, and I made good speed. At Liberty, I overtook a gentleman with a young lady in a gig, travelling to Tennessee, and felt quite gratified, though I outtravelled them -so much that it was rather a severe tax on my- time to wait for company. I concluded at least to travel with them one day. The gentleman had been to take his niece home from school, a Miss C , of Nash- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. .103 ville, a beautiful girl, -full of romance and enthusiasm. 'As my horse was much the larger and the more spirited, I pro- posed the next morning that he should put my horse to his gig, and his to my sulky-the weight being better propor- tioned to their strength-to which he agreed, and seemed very thankful for the favor. But I purposely reined up my horse very tight, having seen that he was restless under a tight rein, until driven off and held tight. The servant held the horse until the young lady got in, and then handed the reins to her uncle. As he mounted, the horse backed and reared up, and the servant ran and took hold of the bridle. He bounced out, and said he must have in his own horse. "Oh no," said I, " let me try him." The young lady was frightened, but I assured her I could ma- nage him, and asked just to let me try; she sat quivering. I ordered the servant to let him go, and gave him the whip heavily. He bounded off in a gallop; but as soon as he be- gan to bear on the reins, and not on the bridle, he became manageable, and went on very handsomely. lWe, of course, as we were going to travel together, had introduced ourselves to each other. I found Miss C very intelligent and agreeable, and very fond of a laugh. I remarked I had the most intelligent horse in the State. He knew exactly when I wanted him to cut a caper, and when to let it alone; that I had whispered in his ear not to let her uncle drive him, and so he began to give himself airs to get her uncle out, but as soon as he saw I was in he knew how to behave himself. She laughed heartily, and asked why I had pretended to offer him to her uncle if I did not wish him to drive him. Because I wanted his seat. But, she said, he would claim it when .I got him tamed. "Well," said I, "let us try if he will."' So I reined him up, for the uncle- to come on, keeping the reins, however, fretfully tight, and sawing his mouth imperceptibly to her or him. As he came up, "Well, Mr. ," said I, "you see there- is no danger; will you take page: 104-105[View Page 104-105] 104 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. charge of him now?" - The horse was then' moving on by jumps, and almost sitting down -on his hind-legs as he sprang forward, "No, indeed," said he; "if I did not see that you can manage him so easily, I should- isist on taking my niece out and putting my horse in; but he- seems safe -in your hands." "Oh, perfectly; no danger-in the world." 1 then held him steady, and gave him a crack of the whip, and away he went as steadily as I could desire. "Do you not see,"' I remarked, " that- he understands me?" ".Upon my word," she replied, "I believe he does Y" "Yes; and your uncle will not get this seat again.' "I am agreed," said she; and we had a merry and pleasant tour on to Bean Station. They had an old family servant along on horseback, who was very amusing, and who recounted to -us -one evening a courtship he had heard the night before, while he was lying unseen among the- baggage, in the room where the lovers were. We travelled four or five days together before we reached Bean Station, and here we were equally loath to part. I felt the change the more, as I had now to encounter the lonely wilder- ness alone.. Nothing of consequence occurred on my jour- ney to Frankfort. CHAPTER XX. SECOND RETURN TO FRANKFORT-APPROACH OF A MONEYED CRISIS IN KENTUCKY-CHARACTER OF THE KENTUCKIANS --HSTORY OF THE INDEPENDENT BANKS-RELIEF SYS- TEM AND NEW COURT. , I TooK up my former quarters, and proceeded to business as usual; visited the acquaintances I had made, who seemed pleased to meet me again; became better acquainted with the young ladies, and was soon domiciliated as one of their THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 105 fraternity;. Things were now upon a much more agreeable footing than formerly. When the legislature sat again, which was in a few months after my return, I found myself greeted as an old acquaintance by most of those whom I had seen the year before, and I pursued my old course towards them, but now at my own expense, as I had had fair warn- ing that those expenses must not come into my account, I found great benefit from it, however-great facilities in my business. About this time, there was a moneyed crisis -in Kentucky, and the "Independent Bank System" was intro- duced. This was giving a bank to almost every county in the State. I foresaw, as all reasonable men must have done, a general bankruptcy of those institutions, and wrote several essays, under fictitious signatures, in the papers, to endeavor to stay the ruin. But the people of Kentucky are as deter- mined as they are impulsive. . When their minds are made up to any measure, you might as well whistle against the wind as to try to move them. Every man in the State thinks he is capable of judging and comprehending any subject; and being. a little touched with the " horse, the alligator, and the snap- ping-turtle," when he takes his course you must get out of the road, or be run over. What he wants he will have, and (, all creation" can't stop him, unless he is brought up by the constitution! This is his Bible; and he who will move like an infuriated horse over everything in his path, trampling down great and small before him, and even, in his mad career, trampling down the constitution itself, will afterwards, when cool, and satisfied that he is wrong, come back and rectify all his errors, and submit his neck to the yoke of constitu- tional law. This was magnificently evinced in the case of the "stay" laws of Kentucky, which succeeded the bank- ruptcy of the independent banks, and which produced the bankruptcy of nearty the whole community. .Never, perhaps, was any country before in such a condition.- The creation of those independent banks had flooded the country with ,r page: 106-107[View Page 106-107] 106 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. money-begotten a wild taste for speculation; immense stocks of goods from the East were brought in; everybody purchased liberally of the merchants, as did the home merchants of the Eastern As the day of reckoning came, the independent bank- notes would not suit the Eastern merchant. H e must have funds which he could use at home; this brought in the notes of the banks, which one after another failed. Then the Eastern merchants sued the Kentucky merchants, and they sued the citizens. A general tumult was caused throughout the country. The property which would, a few years before, have brought five dollars would not now bring one. All the property of the country seemed doomed to be sold, and yet not pay half the debts. The first plantations were going for a mere song; securities who, from a feeling of friendship, had- lent their names to neighbors, who seemed to have five times as much property as would pay their debts, found that their friends could not pay, and even their own handsome estate would have to go too, and yet all would not suffice. To avert this wide-spread ruin, there was a universal cry for legislative relief, and everywhere members were elected under a pledge to enact laws to stay the storm. Accordingly, a bank was created called the "Commonwealth Bank," based on the reve- nues of the country, with a capital of three millions of dol- lars, with branches located in different parts of the State. This bank was to loan to borrowers, upon a certain propor- tion of the appraised value of real estate, pledged as security clear in title; and, I believe, also requiring good indorse- ments. The money, so borrowed, was redeemable ten per cent. every four months until paid. This gave time to con- vert property into money. It was also enacted that the usual replevin of three months should be extended to two years on all judgments, unless creditors would take the paper of the- "Commonwealth Bank" in paytnent of such judg- ments, in which case it'was only to be three months. Credit- ors now became furious. The ' Commonwealth's' paper sunk THE PIInOT OF HUMAN LIFE. - 107 twenty per cent. quickly; creditors would not take it, and it kept gradually sinking until it got down to fifty cents in the dollar.' To a great extent, finally, it was received in prefer- ence to submitting to the delay; and, so far as it went merely to settle balances among citizens, it was no great hardship where credits and indebtedness were nearly equal. But if a man owed a debt to one who owed nobody, then this creditor, not sharing in this " sliding scale," lost half his debt. Credit- ors out of the State lost half their debts; and without any cor- responding benefit. But the man in the State who wanted to lay out his money for property within it could get more for his "Commonwealth Bank" dollar than he could have obtained for his silver dollar when the debt was contracted. Still, however, he wanted all which he thought himself entitled to. Money has been fixed upon as the universal measure of value. It is only conventionally so, however. Labor is the true value. And if there could be any mode of knowing, at all times, what is the value of a day's labor in every coun- try, and anything could be found exactly to represent it (the labor being a given amount. of work), that would be the best mode of evidencing debts by so many days' labor, in lieu of so many dollars; but as this would vary in all the countries of the world, and in every ten miles square in every country, universal confusion would result from attempting to fix on any such basis. The value of gold and silver is fixed by the amount of labor required to obtain them. They, therefore, represent labor at its value where obtained (a certain toll or rent being charged for the use of the mines), and they are consequently the best universal representative of value. To return to the operation of the Relief system. The effect was to array the community into two parties most violently opposed to each other. One representing the debtors, and x those whose milk of human kindness and general benevolence of heart would make the laws and the constitution swerve from their sphere to avoid a universal crush and ruin; the page: 108-109[View Page 108-109] 108 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. other, the cieditors, and those who believed the integrity of the laws and constitution should be preserved-at every hazard, and, under them, that "justice should be done, though Hea- ven should totter." None of the first class, to be sure, did argue that the laws and constitution should actually swerve from their sphere. But they contended for principles amount- ing to the same thing. Ther 4 Anti-reliefs" contended that the laws existing when the contract was made governed the contract; and any laws afterwards made in violation of it did violate the constitution. As, when a man agreed to give his debtor one year's credit, the law, by extending that credit-to three, interfered between debtor and creditor, and changed the contract; that it had no more right to extend one year to three than to reduce three years to one. The constitution said "(no law should be passed impairing the obligation of contracts." The "Reliefs" contended that they did not interfere with the obligation, but only with the re- medy. That, in the face of the said clause of the constitu- tion, the laws had enacted that, after judgment, the debtor should have the right of three months' replevin, which was as much an interference in principle as two years, as was the delay of execution sixty days, for the constitution said, jus- tice should be administered without sale, denial, or delay; all delay, then, for delay's sake, was unconstitutional. The extension of the replevin three months was matter of discre- tion, so was that of two years; and, in principle, one was as constitutional as the other. And, though in ordinary times, it was a harsh remedy to extend the -replevin; yet, in a great emergency, it was justifiable when required to save a country from ruin. The "Anti-reliefs" replied: That the three months' replevin was at first submitted to, because it was not such a 1 violation of the rights of the creditor as to induce him to test its constitutionality; and, when it became the standing law of the land, it then formed part of every contract, because THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 109 every man entering into a contract knew that his remedy at law was burthened with this delay. There was at least plausible ground for each party to oc- cupy honestly, and doubtless, in most cases, the differences of opinion were sincerely entertained. But when men's passions are excited, on the one side, by a belief that they are robbed of half their debts, they have no discretion, no sympathy, and no respect for those who would rob them. While those, on the other, who see an inexorable creditor determined to ruin them, rather than wait two years, or take property at three-fourths of its valuation or "Commonwealth Bank" notes, think such creditors deserved no consideration, but are tyrants and oppressors at heart, as are all their aiders and abettors. With the malignity of feeling growing out of this state of things, the most vindictive political war raged in Kentucky that was ever known in any country; and it is truly wonderful that civil commotions did not arise under it. They were often expected. At one time I witnessed an election in Frankfort- when it was thought to be unavoidable. Both parties were roused to a perfect pitch of frenzy; both believed a collision absolutely certain; both prepared for it, and both desperately determined to go all lengths. Never did I have .more awful feelings than on the day the polls opened. Every man was armed to the teeth; -every man determined, if his way to the polls was obstructed, to cut it out with his arms; and now the struggle commenced. In an ordinary election, the shouts, huzzas, and fights would sometimes create a tumult to be heard a great way off, But now there was no shouting, no noise, nQ tumult of any kind. Every man voted, not without a general rush to the polls, however, and much crowding. But no man's toes were even trodden on, and it was the most quiet election I ever saw. The "Reliefs'- carriedthe day by a small majority. But there was a general congratulation on all sides at the peaceful 10 page: 110-111[View Page 110-111] "O THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. result, only to be accounted for by the fixed and desperate resolution, evident in every face, and the conviction of every one, that the first blood shed would be a signal for a general mWlIe. Take the whole history of Kentucky during the pendency of the "Relief" contest, and the Old and New Court question, which followed, and which was equally as exciting, the two continuing many years, and to learn that no civil commotion was ever known to arise out of the whole, is a sublime picture of man nowhere else to be seen on the face of this earth, and evidences a fitness for the enjoyment of rational liberty to be seen nowhere out of the United States. I never saw a mob in Kentucky in my life, and do not recollect that I ever heard of but that one which rose and peaceably destroyed an abolition press, or, rather, sent it off to Cincinnati from Lexington. There was no blood- shed or other violence. It was a stern conviction by the "Anties" that if this Relief system was not driven from the land, it would leave a moral stain on the character of Kentucky, as well as inflict a vital wound upon the integrity of her constitution, and the prin- ciples of our government, which caused tremendous efforts to overthrow it, and finally the Court of Appeals determined the law to be unconstitutional. This produced a great ex- plosion of public feeling. The indignation of the "Reliefs" against the Court of Appeals reached a fearful height, and having the majority in the legislature, they abolished the Court of Appeals to get rid of the judges who had pro- nounced the decision, and then created a new court, and appointed new judges, clerks, etc. The Old Court, however, disregarded the act of the legislature, and proceeded in its business, as if nothing had been done. The New Court sat at the same period: and here were both courts trying cases at the same time. If an appellant wanted the doctrines of the "Reliefs" to prevail, he took his record to the New Court. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 1" Otherwise to the Old; and here were conflicting decisions all over the country. The prudence and discretion of the Old Court, however, caused it to abstain from action as much as possible to avoid difficulties, until a change of public opinion should take place. But here was as effectual a revolution in the government as could have occurred. A forcible annihilation of one of its departments by another; the judiciary by the legislative and executive, and the substitution of a pliant judiciary, willing to conform to the legislative will, or the will of the people, if it be more proper so to speak. But the people did not so speak. They became alarmed at this stretch of power, and soon overthrew the new system. While the contest was for a policy, they most decidedly leaned to the side of cha- rity and mercy. But when it came to a contest of the con- stitutional question, all the arguments of the New Court now failed. They insisted that they had not violated the constitution; that the constitution said there should be a Court of Appeals, and there was one. They had only newly modified the court. But the "Anties" said they had turned out the old judges, and put in new ones. The "Reliefs" re- joined, so they from time to time had newly modelled the Circuit Courts; discontinuing some, and creating others, etc. The "Antie'" said they could not displace the judges of-the Court of Appeals except by impeachment, or an address of three-fourths of the legislature. They were entitled to their seats during good behavior, by virtue of the constitution. This question was canvassed upon the stump, at cross- roads, court-houses, and everywhere in Kentucky, until almost every barefooted boy of fifteen was master of the subject. But the "Anties" had moral right with them. All was sped 'pleading, and indirection on the other side, to sustain their cause; it fell; the Old Court was re- instated, and the integrity of the constitution preserved; and it may be universally remarked that, whenever the page: 112-113[View Page 112-113] "2 . THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. mass of the people see right clearly on one side, they embrace- it. There is a power in moral right which will in time prevail. It may be for a long time obscured, and the people may be bewildered, as they very often are; for when an honest man, without information and strength of mind sufficient to clear away the fog for him- self, happens, by the force of circumstances, to be thrown with any political party, and reads all that is written in sup- port of it, and nothing against it, but all against the other party, which he is induced to believe is not only in error, but dishonest, his prejudices become so fixed that he is immovable, and, though honest in everything else, is, in time, trained to believe that it is necessary to adopt all means,- fair or foul, to overcome a party which is waging war against the best in- terests of the country. It is deemed a matter of self-preser- vation, and a party drill is submitted to on one side, which seems to require it on the other. The members of the par- ties become mere sheep in a flock, to be driven by the leaders as they think proper. This is very much the result of the temper of the newspapers. They act not as expounders of wisdom and advocates of justice, but as counsel for clients opposed to each other, whose cause they respectively sustain- before a jury, deeming all advantages of law justifiable. There are few papers so just that they will not throw any weight they can upon an adversary, by permitting inferences from facts partially given, or by concealing something to pal- liate the facts which are given, so that the whole truth does not appear. Now, a partisan approaches one of his clan with this paper in his hand. "Neighbor,"' says he, :'you know such and such facts, do you not? That is, matter of history which no one can deny?" "Yes, certainly I do." "Well, you lhave seen great outcries in this paper, the , about the injustice of our party, its oppressions, corruptions, &c.?" "Yes." "Now, then, I desire to satisfy you that these papers are all alike; that not one is THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. to be relied on. Not a word they say to be believed." He then, points out a paragraph, of little moment in the great mass, but calculated to produce an impression that the party assailed is what this old man knows it is not. This at once discredits this paper, and has done it more injury than all the assaults of its opponents for months. "Where one lie springs up, another will grow." An editor, therefore, who is, at any time, guilty of the slightest misrepresentation, in- tentionally, forfeits the moral force which ought to belong to his paper, and without which it amounts to almost nothing. He is a discredited witness on the stand. His only power is with his partisans, where it is of no value, for he can igain no converts from their ranks. And, as this fact must be evi- l dent to all editors, as well as- to all speakers, I have often wondered at the want of tact in both in adopting a kind of merciless warfare on their opponents, calculated to drive them more firmly back into the ranks, instead of addressing their good sense in a respectful manner, showing feelingly the evil which the speaker deprecates, and imploring a correction of it. If the leaders of the other party have acted corruptly and dishonestly, and it is necessary to expose it, great care should be taken to draw a distinction between the party and its leaders; for you want the party to leave their leaders. While you castigate the one, therefore, you should soothe the other. And to be effective, never make a charge which can- not be sustained by facts, and not then, if the charge is one of little moment when proved. He who makes small charges, in effect, admits that there are no great ones. I think, my- self, it is no difficult matter for any well-balanced mind to take up a newspaper on each side of any question, and, after reading both, to determine which side is in the right; if the editors are intelligent, and one is candid, he will be in search of truth. The very spirit of his writings shows-it. The other pretends, also, to sustain it; but his writings are full of special pleadings; he does not meet the question fairly; there 10* page: 114-115[View Page 114-115] "4 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. is a lack of plain, palpable candor about him. One shows the arrogance of power; the other, the convictions of justice. The partisans of the first may hold the reins for a series of years, by force of party discipline, patronage, and alluring hopes. But time will inevitably correct it, in a reading com- munity like ours. The moral sense of no intelligent people can be so permanently corrupted that they will be willing to sustain corruption. No; there is an innate power in the virtuous heart which will ultimately disenthrall itself, and the sooner, if the opponents of corruption were to despair and abandon the struggle; for then, having no outward enemy, the members of the party would begin to look at home, quarrel with each other, and, finally, right themselves. I am not one of those who believe that our government will easily fall from its corruption. Like a cask of beer, it will go through its fermentations, and every now and then throw off its filth. But we have a corroding poison within us which, of late years, has shown dangerous symptoms, and may, in time, upset all our political philosophy on this sub- ject; to wit, presidential patronage. I am satisfied that the assumed basis of a permanent republic, "the virtue and intelligence of the-people," is erroneous. The true basis is a constitution so framed as to offer no temptation to corrup- tion. If the frame of government invites corruption, then corruption will come, and the government fall. But I do not consider it impracticable to so frame a government as to exclude this temptation. But our great safety is in educating the young mind. Give us Normal schools all over our country, to produce teachers for us. Every State in the Union should have one at public expense. At another time, I will dwell more on this subject. I have indulged in these reflections so far to impress on you the history of this noted epoch in Kentucky, and the moral appertaining to it. When I reach an event like this, in my own history, it would lose its interest to be kept back, and only give its progress THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 115 with my own. To impress it on your mind, I prefer giving it all in connection and for the further reason, that then such subjects can be read detached by those who might feel no interest in the balance of the narrative. It will be instructive to the future politician to have a history of the downfall of the New Court. The condition of things now existing it was evident could not last-two ap- pellate courts giving conflicting decisions, and with a double set of officers. As before said, a stronger evidence could-not be given, of the love of the people of Kentucky for order, than the history of this period. When the New Court was constituted, the Old was in possession of all the records, and the New could not proceed without them. Hence, it was thought there was ground for violence which could not well be avoided. One court, it was supposed, would order a posse to take the records, and the othet to prevent it, when, of course, a conflict must ensue.. But the Old Court, now ap- parently under the ban of the State, and feeling that the cur- rent of public opinion was against them, acted with great wisdom and prudence, and were content to let the records go, and also, although they regularly met, as required- by law, yet they gave no decision which could create a tumult. The coming elections must finally decide the question whether the constitution was capable of being sustained or not, and if not, into what kind of an abyss we must fall. Writers in the newspapers, from every quarter, called upon them to maintain their posts, and to stand manfully by their country. I wrote a piece in which this sentence occurred: "Stand by your post, maintain it at every hazard; a react- ing and redeeming spirit exists among the people, which, at no distant day, will show itself; and then enviable indeed will be the reward of persecuted patriotism; the highest offices in the gift of the people will be deemed a poor reward for such inflexible integrity." I cannot give a better idea of the feelings and views of page: 116-117[View Page 116-117] "6 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. parties then prevailing than by the relation of an event which occurred on board of a boat on the New York Canal about, I think, 1827. I will premise that great toleration prevails in Kentucky on the subject of politics. Two of the most intimate friends will sometimes differ in politics. They will bitterly oppose each other at the forum, and then retire and spend the evening together. The -contest, how- ever, at this time, had gone near interrupting private friend- ships; yet there were many cases where it did not, and the case I am going to relate is one of those. Walking backwards and forwards on the canal-boat, I ob- served a foreigner, a young man who seemed to evince a wish to speak to me, and to make an opening for it; I made some commonplace remark about the weather. I found that he was just from college in France, though apparently older and more mature than fresh graduates in our own country. He said he came to our country to study our institutions, that he was a dear lover of liberty, and wished to be where it existed. He wished to see its practical workings. Now, said he: "Your constitution. I do not exactly comprehend it. The people made it. And the people also make the laws. Now I understand the laws, which are against this constitu- tion, are void. ,But if the people make both, how are you to determine when one of your laws is ,in violation of your constitution? Suppose your judges so decide, your constitu- tion is but parchment, and your people are the head of all authority. This, in the law, is as omnipotent as in the con- stitution, and your judges will not dare to oppose the ex- pressed will of the people." I had noted two young men on board from Kentucky, who were in conversation on this subject-one Old Court, the other New; though dressed in jeans, they were evidently very intelligent, Butj as I have before observed, this ques- tion had so long occupied the public mind in Kentucky, that every man, of every grade, could discuss it with the apparent I THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 117 ;! ability of the ablest politician. I observed to the French- man that I could give him an illustration on this head by a discussion now going forward yonder-pointing to those young men. "Let us go near and hear what they say." tIe looked surprised at me, and said, i Why they seem to be of the canaille." "Yes," I remarked, din France they would probably be so considered; but not here." They were probably farmers. (I learnt afterwards that they were drovers, who had been in with beeves.) -"Come up." He came on sluggishy and reluctantly, as if he had nothing to learn from such men. As he neared, one of these young men observed to the other, "What do you call a constitu- tion?" and was answered, "A rule of government laid down by the people in convention for the government of their legislatures." ("Good," said the Frenchman, "very good.") "And what is the use of that rule unless 'it is observed?" u It has been," replied the New Court man. "Does not that rule say that justice shall be administered without sale, de- nial, or delay? and is not a two years' replevin delay?" New Court.-aJ Yes, rather more than three months. Your Old Court admit that the three months' replevin law is constitu- tional; and if it is, then it is preposterous to deny the con- stitutionality of the other." Old Court.-"The three months' replevin law was not at first tested. The time was so short that it was submitted to; and being for a long time submitted to, the acquiescence in it caused every man to have it in view when he made his contract, and it became a part of his contract. It was not enacted to obstruct justice, but to give a reasonable time to the defeated party to provide the means of paying his debt--not to be surprised. Yet had this been at first contested, it must have been decided unconstitutional. But your law, made expressly to delay justice, there can be no question about. It violates the ob- ligation of contracts." New Court.-'"The people say other- wise, and they are the sovereign judges." Old Court.--- Yes, page: 118-119[View Page 118-119] "8 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. that is an argument that your party are driven to when rea- sons fail them. The people in convention framed a consti- tution-in other words, a power of attorney to their future legislators, saying what they might do and what they might not do. And they decreed a court of appeals to judge on the subject. This court have judged, and have determined that the legislature has done what the constitution said they should not do; and for so deciding, the legislature have passed a law displacing them and creating a new court: an- nihilating the tribunal created by the constitution, to be re- placed by one created by the legislature, to decide in its own case. If they can do this, then the constitution is a mere mockery, and we are governed by the will of the majority for the time being-mere mob law. A government under which there is no security for person or property; and a go- vernment under which I would not live." New Court.-"I am afraid you will have to bear it.' Old Court.--a The next elections will tell. However, let's 'quit the subject and take a drink, for we shall not agree." They moved off to the bar, took a drink, and commenced talking about their trades in New York. "Ma fo'!" said the Frenchman "I would give one hun- dred francs if my father could have witnessed this scene. Oh! I have learnt more from it than I thought I should in one year. Oh! it was beautiful. Who are those men?" I replied, "I heard one of them speaking just now of the price he sold his cattle at. I presume they are cattle- drivers." "Cattle-drivers! They are statesmen, sir, states- men." "Yes," I replied, "such statesmen as you will find anywhere in Kentucky."^ "Anywhere in Kentucky? So much intelligence? so much self-command? so much philo- sophy? Why, sir, in France, if two men, so opposed, had got into such a conversation, differing as those did, it would probably have ended by their drawing swords. But here you say, ' Let's quit and take a drink;' and off you go and THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 119 drink together, and talk of something else-and these your canaille! Oh! mon Dieu! Oh! I see, I see; France is not ripe for liberty: she has no such population as this. I No, no; you in America can maintain your government; but we in France could not." i The canvass went on warmly--the Old Court men con- tending that the question was not which party was right; but who had a right to judge. That the legislature had an- nulled the tribunal which the constitution designed should X judge; and that we were now at sea -without rudder or com- I pass. The result, to the astonishment of all, was the utter defeat and total annihilation of the New Court party; and to show how literally my prediction came true, copy of which I , now have, Judge Clark, who pronounced the decision which I was taken up on appeal, was elected Governor of Kentucky. Judge Mills and Judge Boyle soon died, but not before Judge Boyle had been appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States; and Judge Owsly, the most unpopular of all, was ultimately elected Governor of Kentucky. Never was there such a triumph of principle; because the feelings of the people, and their interest for the time, were in favor of the law; but they were not willing to have the constitu- tion violated to sustain it. The New Court party, being en- firely overthrown in Kentucky, now looked elsewhere for relief. General Jackson had been nominated for the presi- dency in 1824, and supposing it was intended as a burlesque got violently angry. But the hatred of the New Court party for Mr. Clay, who sided with the Old Court, caused them to go over in a body to General Jackson, and to throw all their influence in his scale. The leaders of the New Court party might be considered Judge Bibb, Judge Barry, Preston Blair, and Amos Kendall. Judge Bibb was a man who was beloved even by his political enemies, and it was believed was originally thrown on that side by accident. He natu- rally leaned to the side of benevolence and mercy, and he page: 120-121[View Page 120-121] 120 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. believed the rigid construction of the Old Court would ruin the country. -He sided against them, and his example was all-powerful. It was followed by Barry, who, between mercy and the law, always leaned to the former. He was an elo. quent man, and very much beloved by his partisans. Blair was a shrewd, jovial, laughing, sociable fellow-full of wit and fun--so interesting that his violent political enemies sought his company at the highest period of excitement to which this political struggle reached. He was withal, though a nominal follower, the actual schemer and leader of the party. Amos Kendall, editor of the "Argus," the mouth- piece of the party, was a shrewd deep-calculating Yankee- a fine writer, and by some thought to be the planner of the party. But that was not so. Blair was the man. Among those four, the most perfect harmony and concert existed; and in their fall, they were bound the faster together. It has been my fortune to be so placed as to be able to estimate the power of men combined to accomplish a common object, before parties became disciplined as they now are. To the close of Mr. Monroe's administration, and to the period of which I now write, the election of president, after the coming in of Jefferson, had caused no excitement. A junto, at Richmond, relieved the community of all trouble on the sub- ject, by making a nomination which was generally acquiesced in, and the. election went almost by default. This junto con- sisted of Judge Roan, Judge Brook, John Brockenbrough, and Thomas Ritchie. They having decreed who was to be president, he was nominated and elected. But now Virginia had no prominent man to offer, and this junto ceased their office. There were no conventions then-no compact disci- pline of parties on the national theatre. It was a matter not generally understood. But the struggles in Kentucky had made aspirants there familiar with it. This discipline was carried by the four New Court men aforesaid into national politics. It was faintly begun during General Jackson's THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 121 g: first campaign, before the New Court party were overthrown. The unlooked-for strength of General Jackson, which came very near electing him, and the ultimate prostration of the New Court party, gave additional energy to their leaders in the next presidential struggle; and General Jackson was elected by an overwhelming majority. Judge Bibb was made Secretary of the Treasury, Judge Barry Postmaster- General, Amos Kendall third auditor, and Preston Blair editor of the "Globe," the organ of the government. Thus the New Court party were transferred from Kentucky to Wash- ington City. A new set of tactics was created-rewards and i punishments introduced;* and henceforward the spoils were considered as belonging to the victors. Now the presidential elections assumed a violence never before known, and it re- mains to be seen whether an alteration will not be required in our constitution to correct the evil. The temptation had never before existed to disturb the quiet and probity of our smoothly moving government. But now corruption is abroad, and will go on increasing to a point of culmination, unless some means can be devised to put an end to i'. This it will be hard to do, as those who could apply the remedy are interested in perpetuating it. Our government is presumed to be based upon the virtue and intelligence of the people, and to be preserved only at the cost of eternal vigilance. If so, it must fall, because this canker-worm of corruption cannot be always eating and produce no impression-like the worm in the bud, it will in time produce a sickly hue in the political visage of our country, and ultimately drive it into decay. There will never be a monarchy in America. I have no fear of that. But when our government becomes * This is not thought to have been the work of Bibb and Barry. Bibb, though a warm politician, was ever a kind and charitable man. " ^,i page: 122-123[View Page 122-123] 122 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. corrupt, its citizens will "gradually lose all respect for it- with the loss of respect will follow the loss of amor Patrlia and we shall gradually sink to the condition of Mexico or of the South American states. To base a government upon the existence of virtue and intelligence, and the necessity for eternal vigilance to pre- serve it, is requiring for its continuance a perfection in hu- man nature which is not to be found, and ought not to be looked for. The basis should rather be in absence of all temptation) to do wrong. A president should not have it in his power to reward those who -aid in electing him. On this head, I will refer to a treatise on this subject, which I Had prepared for separate publication; but being disheartened by the doubt whether I could draw public atten- tion to it with any good effect, I abandoned the idea. IIow- ever, on a future page, where the subject is again incidentally referred to, the plan is laid down. CHAlPTeR XXI. THE PERILS AND DIFFICULTIES ATTENDING THE INVESTI- GATION OF LAND-TITLES IN KENTUCKY. AFTER the rising of the legislature, I started for the Yellow Banks, to look into the land there, to see about getting pos. session of it, and selling it. My first object was to survey out all the interfering claims, and ascertain how much of the land was clear in title, and what occupants were on it; ther to have all that which was clear in title sectionized into tracts of from two hundred to four hundred acres, with an accurate description attached to each section, of the land contained in it, with the probable value thereof; springsi improve THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 123 ments, &c., with the settlers thereon. Having obtained a very intelligent and very honest surveyor for the purpose, I started him on the work. But now difficulties presented themselves which were likely to give me much trouble. Like the anti-renters in New York, the occupants refused to sur- render the land, and with better ground here, for I had no leases from them, and they acknowledged no tenancy, but denied my right. The number of parties concerned would , render a suit very troublesome andc it was very important for me to avoid it if possible. Always believing in the policy of taking things by the smooth handle, here I saw a great deal of address was neces- sary. If delayed to put off every man by suit, I might be delayed many years in my progress. Iv believed a great. deal of determination of purpose was required, tempered with a great deal of evident justice and kindness. Most of the occupants were reasonable, if left to themselves, but an effort was being made to create resistance, and word was brought me from one man, considered a very- desperate fello*w, that if I came on his land he would shoot me. My resolution was immediately taken to go there at once and alone. Danger, like a dog, will often bite you if you fly from it, but will flee at your approach. I knew, if I suffered myself to be scared off, I had as well abandon the business, for of this kind was the chief which I had to do. I must, therefore, make it evident that that could not be done, and the sooner the bet- ter; for, if one man drove me, all would do it. I knew, too, that the messenger would report my answer, my manner, everything about me. All these considerations passed in my 'mind in a twinkling. So I observed, looking steadily at him: "He says he will kill me, does he?" "Yes, sir, if you go on his land; and, sir, let me advise you ribt to go there." "Very well," said I, "I will see ;'" -giving him a meaning nod. It was about twelve miles off. I started the next morning for his house. I never yet saw a man who, if you page: 124-125[View Page 124-125] 124 TIE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. could get into his house, and had not before had a difficulty with him, would not treat you civilly while you were there. I determined, if I could, to get into his house before speak- ing to him. On arriving there, and inquiring if that was Mr. M.'s residence, and being informed by his wife it was, I alighted and went in. tHe immediately came in from the back yard. I arose, and, with a firm but civil air, remarked: "Mr. M., I suppose." "Yes, sir," he said, rather gruffly. "My name is T." "Take a seat, sir," said he. His wife was a healthy, fine-looking woman, and they had a house full of children. I talked with her of the country, her children, their ages, dispositions, &c. I determined not to leave the house until a certain ferocity on M.'s face left it-in a word, to conquer his good feelings, but, at the same time, to preserve on my own countenance a sort of inward determina- tion of purpose under a complaisant air; such, indeed, as was more than half natural. After sitting and talkinguntil I thought he was in the "right tune," I rose to depart, and asked him if he would walk with me. He did so to the gate. I asked him to walk farther, as if I wanted to be out of hearing of the house. He moved on hesitatingly, as I led my horse. Finally he stopped, saying he reckoned that was far enough. "Well, Mr. M.," said I, "I was told yesterday that you had said if ever I came on your land you would shoot me. I did not believe the statement, but it is my rule never to be under a threat, so I thought I would come and see whether there was any truth in it." "Shoot you?" ," Yes; so I heard." "No, sir," said he, "I never had any such notion." "Such, sir, was my opinion. There are men who will try to makoe mischief between others, with- out any ground for it, and ny rule is always to go to head- quarters for facts. I am satisfied you never said so; but you must not think hard of my coming to inquire." "Not at all," said he; "I like you 'the better for it." We parted, the best friends, and he was of great service to me afterwards. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 125 - We had some conversation after making friends. I re- marked to him that my business necessarily brought me in contact with men of all kinds, and I could not expect all to be reasonable. There would be some who would expect to drive me from my duty, and to bully me; I knew he was not of the number, was the reason why I had pursued the course I did with him; "for, Mr. M., you know every man has a right to preserve his own life at any cost, and I am not one of those who would- rather be killed than save my life at any forfeit. If any man in this region has such an idea, he had better not let me hear of his threats. I am determined not to be driven from my duty. I will always do what is reasonable and just, where the man I deal with is so; but I am firmly resolved to take the very first occasion which may present itself to convince those -who thinlk other- wise of me of their mistake. I want no difficulties with any one, if I can help it; but I have made, up my mind that I have to do this business under all its difficulties, and I intend to do it." "You are right, sir," he said. "If the-land is yours, you ought to have it, and I do not blame you." For a long time after this I met with no difficulty. It was known through the country that I had gone to this man's house, who had threatened me; that he was now my friend, and others had been warned by him to take care of me. I never named anything of our interview, only that I had been to see him, ,and found him very friendly, instead of being shot by him- I had, however, a more obstinate fellow, by the name of C., to encounter, one who was afterwards killed in a street- fight in Owensboro'. I was warned to beware of him--was told he was a desperate devil. I felt assured I would have to take the chances of an encounter with some of those fel- lows, and must trust to luck to bring me out safely. If I escaped well, it might be of future service, provided I could leave a good impression. This I was determined to do, but felt some uneasiness as to the cost. I determined on my "* page: 126-127[View Page 126-127] 126 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. course, however, and trusted to Providence for the end. An application was finally made to me to buy C.'s place, and I sold it. I had agreed to pay all for their improvements who acted reasonably, but C. would not. I knew now I had to prepare for an attack, and would have met him at his own house, in conformity to my rule laid down, if I had had ground to go upon; but I had none. I knew that the attacking party was, nine times out of ten, the successful one, but I had to await him, and he was not long coming. He presented himself one morning at my office, stood in the door before me, as I wrote at my table, with my back to the fire. I had used an axe-handle as a poker. It was pretty heavy, and stood against the fireplace, convenient for me to reach it. I also kept a dirk by me, which was on the chim- ney-piece. I will premise that this was not kept with any expectation of using it, but, by having it, it answered as a protector; and while, if I had known I would use it, I would rather have taken a moderate beating than to have done it, yet, without arms, and a general belief that I would use them if provoked, I could not have maintained, my position at all. Nine brave men out of ten have no taste for danger, and will avoid it, if certain that by any particular course they will encounter it; and nine out of ten have a comparative courage, that is, they are braver towards some men than others. Take a man who would sit upon a keg of gunpowder with you, and deliberately apply a match if challenged to it; let him have cause of offence of equal magnitude against two others, one as determined as himself and the other timid, the chances are ten to one that he will act very differently towards the two. And if a man can get out the impression that all attempt to bully him is fruitless, he is very apt afterwards not to be bullied. From my youthful days, I had the greatest abhorrence of quarrelling and fighting; so much so, that I have sometimes feared I went too far to avoid it. That same feeling still THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 127 followed me; and, in the- ordinary pursuits of life, I think it probable I should have been remarked for my extreme peace- fulness of character. But I had engaged in a business, the difficulties of which I did not know until I engaged in it; and it promised to be very lucrative.: I saw, if I pursued it, that I must probably encounter many hard jolts; and the ques- tion was, should I meet them, or retreat? My pride and my interest opposed my retreating; so I made up my mind to take the hazards. In doing this, I was aware that there was a charm in a reputation for fearlessness, which, if I could maintain, might go far towards carrying me through safely. So I, upon philosophically weighing the matter, determined to take the hazards. I had always great confidence in rea- son and justice, and believed that it seldom happened that any man, who would have them always on his side, would get into any difficulty that he could not get out of with credit. I determined never to be at fault there; to be always courteous, polite, and friendly; and so being, I be- lieved I would get through safely. One fortunate quality appertains to me. I always have my presence of mind, and know exactly what I am doing. Full of ardor, and impetu- ous in my purposes; nevertheless, under the strongest pas- sion, I know what I am doing. Anger never deprives me of my reason, although I can be as angry as any man. I do not mean to say that in anger I would never do what I would be sorry for in my cool moments-though not often; yet I intend to say that anger never entirely dethrones my judgment. These remarks are preliminary to the relation of the affair with C--. As he entered the door, his visage looked as red as an old turkey-gobbler's, and there was desperation in it. I never saw a man who seemed so bent on mischief. I saw that there Was death in the pot, and that if he got hold of me he would probably kill me. tMy determination was not page: 128-129[View Page 128-129] 128 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. to be killed, if I could help it, even if I had to go to any extremity to avoid it. I had used, as aforesaid an axe-handle as a fire-poker, which was about the right length to be wielded with the best effect. As I saw him enter, I reached back and got hold of it. If now I could by a sudden motion spring at him, and knock him down, before he could get hold of me, I might master him; but I had a dirk with which I was determined to protect myself, but not to use, except in the last extremity. This lay on the chimney-piece behind me. "What do you want, sir?" said I. "I want to know if you have sold my place, sir." "I have, sir." Then, sir, do you intend to pay me for my improvements?" "I do not, sir." -"Before, then, sir, you shall get possession of it, you shall walk over my dead body." "Ah, indeed!" said I, suddenly rising, grasping my dirk in my left hand, hav- ing the axe-handle in my right, and springing at him with a stroke of the latter, which he dodged by jumping back out of the door, when he turned and ran. The end was, I got him to sign a writing giving me up his land:'. As a number saw the whole transaction, it was useless for me to speak of it, and so I did not; but as others jeered him about running, he had to make the best excuse he could, by saying he believed I would as soon kill a man as eat, in the which he was never more mistaken in his life. But- the impression answered me a good purpose, for I was never afterwards threatened or had any difficulty with these men; and moved eighty families off of the land in one year, and had not a single dispute or lawsuit with any man. Whether I act prudently or not in relating this incident to you, is questionable, for it would seem to approve a course of violence, which I by no means do, unless in a case of very rare occurrences and of very extreme necessity. Mine was a very peculiar case. I had been employed to recover the lands of this company, I must go forward, or acknowledge I was THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 129 afraid to do so; and I then, of course, must resign, and let -some more resolute agent take my place. This was too mor- tifying to think of. -I therefore weighed all the chances, and believed I could go through safely; and that the best plan to do so was to create an impression that the surest way to get into a difficulty with me was to threaten me, and for me to ride ten miles at any time to meet a threat. There is no adage more true, than that "the surest way to get clear of danger is to meet it boldly ;" and although I have an aversion to "scenes," affrays, and quarrels, beyond per- haps what any other man has--for to me men who are en- gaged in them are always prima facie blackguards, rowdies, and bullies, characters to me more hateful almost than - any other which could be named--yet, where the extremity of the case made it necessary, I deemed it justifiable to run the hazard, being sure never to be in the wrong, but so clearly in the right, that public opinion should sustain me, let the consequences be what they might. Thus, while I have determined to meet assaults always more than half way, if I could foresee them, I have also felt so natural an inclination to conciliate, as to feel confident that no man who knew me would doubt for one moment, if he heard of my having an affray, that I was in the right-for I would not have one, and be in the wrong. CHAPTER XXII. ACCOUNT OF TWO ROBBERS--FIRST STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE OHO--LOSS OF ONE HUNDRED AND lfIlFT DOLLARS. I NOW returned to Frankfort, and at Hardinsburg, on my way\up, witnessed the trial of two men for highway robbery. It seems a Mr. Jones, a preacher, had been stopped by them Elm page: 130-131[View Page 130-131] 130 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. some two or three miles below Hardinsbturg, taken into the woods at a distance from the road, where they proposed killing him. But he protested he was a poor preacher, not worth robbing, and if killed they would hazard the penalties of the law without any benefit. They emptied his saddle- bags, in which, with a few clothes, they found a Bible bound in red morocco, and about his person a few dollars. These they took, but concluded he was not worth murdering, if they knew how to escape detection without it. One was for kill- ing him; but the other, named Thornton, proposed to swear him on his own Bible not to inform upon them. This done, they let him go. It was growing dark. He proceeded on to Hardinsburg, and they towards the Yellow Banks. On Jones's arrival at Hardinsburg, he went to a friend to consult what to do. He stated a case hypothetically similar to his own, and asked what the robbed man ought to do. He was answered that, acting under duress, the poath ought not to be considered binding, and to save the community from the depredations of such a band, it was the duty of the'robbed man to disregard his oath, and lodge information. "Then," said he, "I am the man who has been robbed, a few miles below this place, not one hour ago." A company was im- mediately mustered, and proceeded in search of the robbers, taking Jones with them to identify them. At Crawford's, six miles below Hardinsburg, the robbers had put up, got their supper, and gone to bed, when the armed party arrived and took them. Seeing Jones among them, the elder of the robbers, whose name I have forgotten, said to him, "Ah, Jones," for Jones had told them his name, " that little red Bible has saved your life for once; beware next time." They were taken and lodged in jail that night, and were on trial next day before magistrates as I went through, were committed, and ultimately sent to the penitentiary for five years. They were both young- Thornton about twenty, the other about twenty-five, and ITHE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 131 the most determined, desperate-looking wretch I ever saw. Had Jones not told on them, these men would have met me about Blackford's Creek, some twenty miles on their next day's travel; but anywhere on the road would have answered as well, for there was not a more dreary wilderness in all the West than this road was, and in all probability I should have been murdered by them. 'Here was another providential in- terposition, as I considered it. These same men served out their time, were liberated, and soon detected in another rob- bery, for which they were sentenced for ten years. The elder made an attempt to escape, and was shot on the roof of the penitentiary by young Scott, son of the keeper. I had not before carried arms, but did after this, and generally gave a wide berth to any one that I met on the road. Passing through Louisville, I put up at Gwathmey's old stand, where the "Northern Bank" now stands. Here I heard at dinner a conversation in regard to the first trip made by a steamboat, from New Orleans to Louisville, a few years be- fore. She was called the "Buffalo." Capt. Shreve commanded her. She made the trip, I think, in thirty days. The usual time by keels and barges had been ninety.* The citizens, in compliment, gave him a dinner for the wonderful achieve- ment, and, in a speech which he made on the occasion, he predicted that the day was not far distant when the trip would be made in sixteen days. This was considered an ex- tremely sanguine estimate. "But," said one of the parties, "this prophecy has been already more than realized ;" and some boat was named which had made it in twelve, or possibly ten days. This was in 1819, when Louisville contained about four or five thousand * Barges were then moved by "cordelling"-i. e., some of the hands would take out a line some hundred yards ahead, tie it to a tree, and the balance would pull the boat up. Or, they would draw it up by taking hold of bushes where admissible.- by which means they could only make about fifteen miles per day, against a current of three or four miles an hour. page: 132-133[View Page 132-133] 132 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. inhabitants. Capt. Shreve had to buy fence-rails at $5 per hundred, for fuel; and when they were not to be had, which was half the time, he had to lay by until his hands could cut wood. At this time, a stage ran twice a week between Louisville and Frankfort, and was not more than half filled with pas- sengers. There was no turnpike, and so deep were the roads in winter that I recollect, on one occasion, making a very hard day's ride, and getting only ten miles. Arrived in Frankfort, I went at my usual avocations, in the usual way, and soon again went to Gallatin. % In return- ing, I lost, at a house where I had stopped for dinner, $150, which I did not discover until several miles on my journey; then I turned back to endeavor to find it, being satisfied I had dropped it when I took out my pockethook to pay my bill. But no one knew anything of it. There are times when money is worth much more to us than at others. My ar- rangements left me none to spare, and I could not afford this loss. I was unwilling to confess it to Judge B., who had so high an opinion of my business qualifications, lest it might lower me in his opinion; for I ought not to have carried so much money where I was liable to lose it. I ought to have put it into a belt or handkerchief, and tied it around my body under my shirt, all but what was necessary to pay travelling expenses. However, the mischief was done, and could not now be helped. I had to devise means to get along without it until my next quarter's salary was due. I concluded to get on as long as I could, and then explain to my tavern- keeper, and get him to lend me a little. It happened, how- ever, that I was not under the necessity of borrowing, and I was very glad of it, because it has a bad effect when a man is reduced to borrowing. It makes those to whom he would be likely to apply, shy of him. A young man should avoid it if possible. I consider that, in the end, this was no loss to me. The lesson it taught me was worth its cost. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 133 CHAPTER XXIII. MY FIRST LAW ARGUMENT-ARRIVAL OF JUDGE B.-TRIP TO THE YELLOW BANKS-DISCUSSION ABOUT JACK RAN- DOLPH. I NOW proceeded to put in form the materials I had col- lected at the Yellow Banks, in regard to the entries of Ross and May, which I had had surveyed. They called to begin at the upper end of the Yellow Banks, about forty miles above Green River, and run to the lower end thereof, and back for quantity. I had had a front profile of the bank taken at the upper andlower end, and at various intermediate points; had all neatly painted, and an argument framed to sustain the entry, which was in litigation. The large entry of May, Banister, & Co. was also in litiga- tion, but with a decision against us. On looking over the record) and applying the facts which I knew of, I saw there was a fatal defect which had escaped notice. I noted it. The argument about the Yellow Banks entries was very long and complex. What made it so would be uninteresting to you. I only deem it necessary to state the fact for the con- nection of the tale, and what is to follow. In my book of briefs, I noted every case, so far as investigated, in the same way. During this fall, Judge B. came out on horseback, as all had to do, for there was no other way. I was delighted to see him, and conscious that I had a good show to make for him. He was a remarkable man. The most thorough mian of business I ever saw, when on business; but a boy in his 12L page: 134-135[View Page 134-135] 184 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. fondness for enjoyment, when he had an opportunity to in- dulge it. After he had been with me a day or two, I began to feel anxious to exhibit to him my work, of which I was some- what vain, and I presumed he would be anxiousto see it. But it seemed irksome to him, and he avoided it. I got one sit- ting with him, however, and, on examining my Yellow Banks argument, he said : "Whenever that suit comes on,-you must put that argument into the hands of your lawyer; that it was a very strong view of the case." I felt flattered that he should think so: I directed, then, his attention to the other of May, Banister, & Co., and what I thought a fatal defect. He said I was right; the view was correct; and instructed me to abandon the entry, and rely on the patent only; In conver- sation with one of my friends, he was pleased to speak in very complimentary terms of the correctness of my views. Soon we proceeded to the Yellow Banks, engaging in general conversation about everything. He was remarkably affable, had a very quaint way of talking, and a laugh the most per- plexing to the listener. He would begin to laugh, and hold on beyond a reasonable time, and you felt yourself in the un- pleasant dilemma of letting him laugh alone, or force your- self to laugh when the provocation had ceased: He was a great admirer of Jack Randolph, and wished all others to be so. I was just the reverse; He said in Randolph there was a high-toned chivalry which all must admire, and that his very isolation, his being without a national party, was to him a feather in his cap: He was too high-toned to belong to any party; "and,'in fact," he observed, "there has al- ways been in my eye a moral beauty, a moral purity attached to politicians of that school, which I could see in no other." "You think others are not as honest, then, judge?"I re- joined. "I believe most in those," said he. "Well, sir," I observed, "I am sorry to differ with you. "I believe most in those," said he. "Well, sir," I observed, "I am sorry to differ with yoi -THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 135 1Randolph seems to me against everybody but those who are willing to follow him blindly:; I do not recollect of one single measure of our national policy of which he is the author, and, if he has advocated any, they are few; He is a man of cour- age, of transcendent abilities; to a favored few kind, but to the world in general, otherwise: An autocrat among- his partisans, he will tolerate no difference of opinion: Ran- dolph seems to me to be a man who, having been disap- pointed in his youth, has become petulant, disagreeable, and impracticable in all things since. He is a man of unbounded satire, of universal reading, and such minute acquaintance with every recorded event, that he is- able to detect any er- ror, and to correct any man who blunders. As a critic, he is -feared by all, and he has little charity for the weak. He has good feeling for but few, and little of a social kind; He cannot laugh; I doubt whether he ever laughed in his life. No man can tell me what policy Mr. Randolph advocates-, except that he is for Virginia against the world; they can tell me what he is opposed to, and that is everything except Virginia; but not what he is for." With a smile ofcompas- sion, the judge remarked that "the Kentuckian was-growing on me very fast." "How so, judge?" said I. "Why," said he, hesitating, and smiling good humoredly, "in a very confident expression of opinion for so young a man." "f Well, judge, you must recollect you provoked me; to it, by an in- timation, not very equivocal, that the man who did not agree with you about Mr. Randolph was wanting in moral purity. Feeling myself honest in my views, however erroneous they might be, if I was excited to an immodest expression of my opinions, it is not to be wondered at."-We jogged on to the Yellow Banks, where I showed him the condition of everything, and what I had done, with which he seemed well pleased; and in consequence of there being a large sur- plus in the entries of Ross & May, which could not be held against an elder patent, he advised me to go to Washington . . page: 136-137[View Page 136-137] 136 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. City, see the Masons, and endeavor to compromise with them, giving one-half for the other. These things being settled, we returned to Frankfort, and the judge to Virginia. The papers, including many relating to titles of land, which had been in the hands of T. C., former agent, were in the hands of his son T. D. C. of Cincinnati} and there it was necessary for me to go to get them. CHAPTER XXIV. GROWTH OF CINCINNATI AND ITS CAUSE. AT this time Cincinnati contained about six thousand in- habitants, and seemed to me overgrown for an inland town- so prone are we to fix our estimates by things which we have been accustomed to. Having been raised in Richmond, at the head of tide-water and at the falls which broke the navigation, I concluded that no town could grow very large, without similar causes. I thought Louisville would become a very large town on account of the falls. I did not reflect that towns were agents for the country, and that they would grow in proportion to the country tributary to them. Thus, if you place one leg of a pair of dividers on Cincinnati, and open them to any given extent, and sweep a circle, then sweep that same circle from any other point on the Ohio, no other will contain so large an area of country within it. But Cincinnati now projected, and soon completed the Day- ton Canal, some sixty miles long, which not only added this sixty miles to the outer circumference of the aforesaid circle, but brought the whole trade of the great Miami to Cincin- nati. John Jacob Astor is reported to have said that it cost him more labor to make the first thousand dollars than THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 137 it did to make one hundred thousand afterwards. The phi- losophy of this is that, without some capital to work with, intellect is put upon a level with brute force; a man is with- " out tools, and can only gain by manual labor; but with some capital, he can expand his intellect, provide the means to exe- cute what the mind will cut out, and so go forward, gaining every day, and making all the gains instruments to acquire more; accumulating, to use a sailor's phrase, " hand over hand." This process was now illustrated with Cincinnati; she had been a long time reaching six thousand inhabitants, and it cost her a great struggle to make this canal, but it being finished, she found advantages greatly overbalancing its cost. The income yielded a revenue more than equal to the inte- rest on the cost of the canal. Of course, then, this income would borrow as much money forever as the canal cost, and consequently the canal may be said to have cost nothing. Yet Cincinnati reaped all the benefits which she would had the cost been a dead weight. She now projected, and executed the White Water Canal. She could do this with the money which the income from the Dayton Canal would pay the interest on, and not feel its cost. This done, she had now its revenue to borrow more money with, to make other improvements; and other projected improvements now promised so good a return, that individuals were willing to embark their capital, and they went forward with great spirit. Such has been the effect, that Cincinnati is now approximating towards two hundred thousand inhabitants. What a wonderfully rapid increase! The advantage of such improvements is that, besides the increase of its commerce, it causes manufactories to flourish, and few who have not taken the pains to examine the subject are aware of the effect which capital invested in manufacturing has to in- crease population. For instance, a merchant with a capital of two hundred thousand dollars will manage it with some three or four clerks, and give employment to some six or 12* page: 138-139[View Page 138-139] 138 - THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. eight drays; whereas the same sum employed in cotton or woollen manufacturing will employ directly in the factory some four hundred hands, and in various ways indirectly as many more. Cincinnati now engaged in such, but had long previously engaged in every branch of iron manufacture, especially steamboat engines, railroad cars, etc., to a greater extent than any town in the West; also in every kind of wood- work, doing that by machinery which was done elsewhere by hand, so that, if a man wished to build a house in Memphis, he could obtain the flooring ready dressed, the door-frames, doors, window-frames, sashes, lights, and all painted, and then his bedsteads and other furniture, cheaper here, than they could be made at home. Hence Cincin- nati was rapidly becoming the great workshop of the Mis- sissippi Valley.. But lately, Louisville has been making a great struggle, and is succeeding in dividing this business with Cincinnati. The concentration of railroads to Cincinnati from Balti- more, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, naturally brings most of the emigrants first there, whence such as cannot find employment go elsewhere. But as Cincinnati has such a resource to draw labor from, it will be seen that there is no estimating any limit to her growth. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 139 CHAPTER XXV. VISIT TO WASHNGTON, RICHMOND--CHANGE OF TERMS FOlR DOING BUSINESS--RETURN TO KENTUCKY--ACCI- DENTAL MEETING WITH1 MY BROTHER-AUCTION SALE OF LAND AT THE YELLOW BANKS. HAVING accomplished the object of my visit, I now re- turned to Frankfort, and, having obtained from J. L. M. the necessary powers, proceeded to Washington, where I met the Masons; but none was authorized to act, so I failed in mak- ing the desired arrangement, and went on to Richmond, and now proposed a new arrangement with Judge Bouldin, that he should give me five hundred dollars per annum,- pay my expenses, and give me ten per centage commission on sales, in which the other members of the firm of May, Banister, & IICo., in Virginia, might join him, and divide the expense with him. To this he agreed; and accordingly the papers were prepared. Here were about one dozen parties interested, and not one fieme covert or infant among them; such another instance would not occur again in an age. The titles were all vested in three trustees, the survivors and survivor. They wished to make me one of the trustees, but I would not agree to it. I wished to occupy a position which would enable me to settle up at any time, pay off, and be done with the business. So I was appointed attorney, in fact, for the trustees, with plenary powers to sell, sue, arbitrate, or compromise all difficulties; and I had liberty to take any other business which might offer. I now went to Norfolk to see my mother, who was yet alive, though very old and feeble; but with her page: 140-141[View Page 140-141] "O THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. full strength of mind. She was much pleased to see me, and much gratified to hear I was doing well. I spent some time in Norfolk and Richmond before my return. I found my reputed success had given a wonderful interest to my society. Finally I returned, and was warmly received by all my friends in Frankfort. I went soon to the Yellow Banks, to prepare for a great sale of land at auction, and made the necessary preparations, advertisements, &c., to sell in the fall. I had forgotten to mention, in its proper place, the arrival in Kentucky last year of my brother Philip, who came out in compliance with my request. -He had just obtained his license. In my travels, I stopped at Elizabethtown, a neat small village in Kentucky, walked into the tavern, there saw a young man reading a newspaper which concealed his face, and he did not at first look up. But :presently we caught each other's eyes, and so joyful a meeting seldom occurs as ours was. He was bound for the Yellow Banks, and, though myself bound elsewhere, I returned there with him. When our horses were ordered, out came his, a little black Mexican mustang, which he had bought for/ twenty-five dollars, with a saddle and bridle which he had 'got for ten. We had a hearty laugh over his horse, and in after life often recurred to the event with amusing recollections. There is much gratification in looking back to such events in our past his- tory, where we have no aristocratic pride to make us ashamed of it. Neither of us had any. We were proud of having been the architects of our own fortunes; often traced the career of our rich schoolmates as far as we had heard of them- nine out of ten of whom were now poor. But we were both now happy, and I told him he would soon be making money. This, however, is not so easy for a young lawyer in a new country, and it was yet two or three years before he was able to do much. Having stayed with him about a week, I re- turned to Frankfort. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 141 In Frankfort (returning to my narrative), I remained, proceeding as usual with my investigations, until the time for the sale at the Yellow Banks, when I went down. I had had a large number of maps prepared of the-sectionized lands to be sold, with books of surveys, the lots numbered and de- scribed, so that with a map any one could find any lot and examine it; and the sale and transfer by number were very simple and easy. I will here note the difference between -doing a thing with system and method, and the reverse. By the steps I took, I had the business under my eye-in my office, and could there, with all the information I needed, make contracts and sales with little trouble. Whereas, others who subsequently be- came owners of large bodies of land, adjoining those I sold, were accustomed to go out with every man who wanted to buy, whether he bought or not, to view the land, often time thrown away; but if they sold, then to attend with a sur- veyor, run it off, make contracts and conveyances. Now such land as I did not sell at auction I was ready afterwards to sell in my office. A reference to my book of surveys gave me quantity, quality, and value. I had con-/ tracts all printed, as also deeds, bonds, and every necessary paper, with the prices on the face of each tract.- And often I would sell a tract of land, and have all the papers signed and the whole transaction closed in thirty minutes; whereas, in the other case, a week would probably be con- sumed. One of the company for which I acted proffered to act as auctioneer, and was a fellow of infinite humor. He kept the company in a continual roar of laughter. Among the evidences of his humor, I recollected the following :- "Iere, gentlemen," said he, " is a first-rate tract of land, K rich, lies well, and is well watered." "Stop, Mr. Miller," I remarked; 'that is a mistake; there is no water on the tract." ," How do the people live, then?" he -asked; " have page: 142-143[View Page 142-143] "2 . THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. they learned to live without drinking?"' "No," said I, "but they use a well." "Very good," he replied; ' did I not say it was well watered?" Again he said : Now, gentlemen, I will offer you a tract with a fine mill-seat on it." "No, Mr. Miller," I replied, " you are mistaken; there is no water- power on it." "- But," said he, " there is a first-rate place for a horse-mill." a Well, gentlemen," I remarked, "you understand Mr. Miller's humor; recollect I vouch for the correctness of the description given in the book of surveys (which description was always read before offering the land), and nothing more." a HuImph!" said he, a I understand from this the gentleman doubts my credibility., Now there is not a more atruthful man living, as you will all find out when you come to know me. So let's begin again. S"' Some things are lies frae end to end, And some great lies were never penned; But that which I am going to tell' Is just as true as the devil's in hell, Or Dublin city.' "Arrah! may it plaise your honor,' said an Irishman in the crowd, "it's meself that's been there." "d Then you've seen his Majesty," said Miller. 'a No," said the Irishman, 4' but O'Lary did'when he went to the birthday at London." The humor of Miller aided very much the sale of the land, which, however, went very low, but better than was expected. After the first day I stopped. the sale, my commissions amounting to about two thousand dollars. This was a pretty lift, and I now felt in high spirits. I had proclaimed to all the squatters that, according to the ground they had cleared, I would pay them per acre one- fourth of what the land brought per acre; and this so far satisfied them that I got clear of over eighty settlers without any difficulty. , THE PILO,T OF HUMAN LIFE. 143 CHAPTER XXVI. GAMBLING ADVENTURE-THE PHLOSOPHY OF GAMNG. I WILL now name an event necessary to a candid detail of my history, though one of which I should be ashamed. It is necessary, however to guard you against falling into a similar difficulty. After the sale had been overtwo or three days, and I had given contracts to the purchasers and closed up, there came one evening into my room four young men; they sat talk- ing, and apparently enjoying themselves very much, when presently one of them proposed a game of cards. I replied I was a very poor hand, but would look on and see them play. One went out 'and got a pack of cards.. They com- menced lue, and went on for an hour with little advantage any way, when one remarked, "Well, boys, this is poor-fun for T--, who does not play, so let's quit." "Oh no;"I replied; "go on; Iam entertained in seeing you play.": "Let us," said another, " change the game to Viynt-et-une; any one can play that, and bet as high or as low as he pleases. This was a game which I thought I could join in without hazarding more than a few dollars, so I joined them and played on for an hour, when the deal fell to me. The dealer had generally been winner; but the bets were so low that it -did not amount to much. Now, however, I remarked they began to run higher, and the good fortune Which usually at- tended the dealer had deserted me. I was Soon loser some forty or fifty dollars, and had a strong inclination to quit, but I thought it would look rather cowardly, andaI hoped luck would soon change. But it did not, and went on until I page: 144-145[View Page 144-145] "4 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. had lost $100; when I proposed giving up the deal, which had remained with me an unusual time. But one of the company said: Oh, no! your only chance to get out is to keep the deal. Luck cannot run the same way always; it must turn after a while ;" and so I thought until one of them made a pretty heavy bet, and lost it. I had accidentally dropped a card before dealing; but, in picking it up, put it on the under side of the pack. When this man lost, he snapped hs fingers in great disappointment, and said " if that card had not been dropped, he would have won." I asked him how he knew. He looked confused. I then recollected that he had always cut and shuffled the cards. I threw down the pack on the table and rose, saying, I be- lieved I had enough of the game. I was urged to hold on. "No," said I; "I find a man should never engage in a business which he does not understand; this gentleman here under- stands the run of the cards so perfectly that he knows what card is going to turn up. This is beyond my skill, and, as I cannot hope to win with my ignorance opposed to so much knowledge, I must quit." I was asked if I meant to charge foul play. I answered that I meant to say that, ignorant as I was of the game, I had no business playing with those who were so skilful; and with some other words we broke up, I now examined into my losses, and found I was minus about $150. "Well," said I, "this maybe worth its cost. I deserve it for playing with men that I did not know to be gentlemen. I will never-do it again." Some three or four years after this, in playing with a gentleman, I had become winner, at this same game, some sixty dollars, too large a sum to take, so I endeavored to. let him win it back, and bet him $20. He drew two aces, branched, and drew a ten to each: thus win- ning from me $80. I now quit, and concluded I was not cut out for card-playing, and so,abandoned it. The losses were perhaps lessons cheaply purchased, for I have naturally a THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 145 strong inclination for hazard, and might have lost a great deal but for a conviction that a man who plays cards and means always to be fair cannot win. An advantage which I had of most young men was, that when I saw that any habit was injurious I could abandon it. This cannot always be done, and especially at card-playing; the inclination for which grows as it is indulged in, and many a fine young man is ruined for want of sufficient self-command to avoid it. I know one whose father left him about $25,000. He plays cards with men that he would not be seen in public association with. This is unerringly a bad sign. Any young man who will do it may be considered as lost. It is not all who are considered by the fashionable world as gentlemen who are fair at cards; and, consequently, a man who means to be fair should play with none. But to play with men with whom he would not publicly associate is to seal his doom. Let any man, who is given to this habit, look back twelve months, and see the difference in his circumstances. Is he not worse off? Has there, at any period, been a time when he could look back and see that for any one month he was gainer? Go back beyond a year, if his purse has been long enough to hold out beyond one year, and extend the same inquiry to the commencement of his playing, and see if any other answer can be given; and yet the infatuated man plays on, hoping for a change of fortune. His gambling associates will tell him of men who " had luck against them for a long time, but it finally turned, and they won back all they had lost and a great deal more." This is to keep him on to his habits, in the hope of this change of fortune. But it never comes, and never will come, unless he will adopt the habits of his associates, cheat, and forfeit his position in society as a gentleman. It seems really a loss of reason, a monomania, for a man who will lbok back and see, whatever his compan- ions may allow him to win temporarily, in order to prevent his quitting in disgust-yet for no one inonth could he 13 page: 146-147[View Page 146-147] "6 THE- PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. say he was winner--to-dontinue playing. What is his object? It is surely the hope of winning, and yet if he is not as blind as a bat, he must see there is no such hope. CHAPTER XXVII. ' ANECDOTES OP ISHAM TALBOT AND HENRY CLAY. I NOW returned to Frankfort, to which place I was be- coming much attached, finding the society intelligent and agreeable. On -alighting at my hotel, I heard Isham Talbot say to an old gentleman, called by courtesy Commodore (his name was Briant. He seemed to have some business with the courts, butotherwise --a 'plentiful stock -of leisure on his hands, and an inveterate reader of the newspapers, so much so that he was posted' up on every point, -had a remarkable memory, and was never found behind- the news of the day, or- -wrong in anything): "Well, Commodore," said' Mr. Talbot, what's the news?" '-Why, Mr. Talbot," replied the Commodore, "I do not -hear of any." "Be gud-be gud, then," said LTalbot, "there is none." Talbot was a member of the Senate of the United States from:-Kentucky, and voted for the. "Compensation Law," giving ito members fifteen- hundred dollars per annum, in lieu of their per dieihm allowance. This caused almost every man- who voted for'it 'to be turned out of office. A member of thel legislature, a friend of Talbot, who wanted to vote for him,- the election being now at-hand, asked him how he came to vote for that law. {(-For /a very good reason," re- plied- Talbot, with a careless air, leaning back in his chair, and puffing away at h cigar. I am very glad to hear it) ga. vra THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 147 Mr. Talbot/' said the member,, for, reallyI, Ihave been anxious you should be able to give a satisfactory explanation; I wish to vote for you again.": Puff, puff, puff, went Talbot's cigar, with the smoke curling up in elouds, while he sat with the most stoical indifference and silence. The member waited, but no reply. "There are many others in my condi- tion," continued the member, a little nettled at the indiffer- ence with which Talbot treated him, "who, would be glad to hear what explanation you have to give." '"I wanted the money, be gud," said Talbot, still puffing away. The mem- ber, hardly knowing what to reply, rose, and went to the room of some companions, where he related what had occurred. They all burst out into a laugh, and said it was true. He was the only man who had told the truth about it, and, they would vote for him again; and he was among the very few who were again elected. Mr. Clay was another. An old friend, a huntsman, who had always supported him, said to him, Well, Mr. Clay, I have always, until this election, supported you; but now I'm going to vote for Mr. Pope." "Why so, friend?" said Mr. Clay. "Because," replied the huntsman, "I can't stand this 'Compensation Law', business .nohow." "Very well," replied Mr. Clay, "we will not fall out about it. Let me see that -.rifle of yours;" taking it in his hand, and examining it. it How long have you owned it?" Huntsman.-." O, I hardly know, it has been so" long--I reckon, twenty 'years." Mr. Clay.- "That is about as long as you and I have known each other." '"Yes," said the huntsman, I have now voted for you twenty years, and but for this ' Compensation Law' should voteforyou again. But -I can't stand that, nohow! . Nohow you can fix it." Mr. Clay.--"This rifle you've had-twenty years? She's a good gun, I reckon?': seeming to examine it veiryclosely. "Yes," said the huntsman, O old Kate can't be beat; she's the best piece of iron on this side of Clyneh River." Mr. Clay, pulling back lthe cook, and examining the lock--"Does page: 148-149[View Page 148-149] "8 'THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. she not miss fire sometimes?" Huntsman.--"Not once a year." JMf. Cloa;-- And what do you do when she misses fire?' Huntsman.--"Oh! pick the flint, and try her again." Mr. Clay. -- "Well, here your rifle misses fire once a year, and you pick the flint and try her again. Now I have missed fire but once in twenty years, and you would throw me away. I think, friend, you will have to pick my flint, and try me again." :The. old hunter, with tears in his eyes, pilled off his hat, threw it forcibly on the ground, and said -"Dang me if I don't! Pick your flint, Harry, and we'll try you again." CHAPTER XXVIII. EFFECTS OF AN UNCONCILIATORY SPIRIT, AND THE CONTRARY. ON going to the Post-office, I now found a number of let- ters giving me new and profitable business, calculated to add much to my income. I seemed to'be now on a new theatre, and. was in high- spirits. Two agents from Virginia, for a part of one of the companies for whom I was acting, now came out to wind up one branch of that business, relating to an interest in ten-thousand acres of land back of Port Wil- liam, now Carrolton, at the mouth of Kentucky River.' Some six original partners had been concerned in it, of whom David Ross was one, and had bought out most of the rest; but for the interests of two, comprising one-third, he had failed to pay.- It was accordinglyisold, and purchased in by the company, represented by these two agents; they being two of the purchasers. - One was a very pleasant, smooth, estimable man, of the THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 149 old Virginia school, but not much a man of business. The other, who was considered the business man, was rigid, fret- ful, and unyielding. Taking up an idea that he had the better right to the land, he would listen to no claims opposed to his, and had no charity for the claimants, who were innocent purchasers, and entitled, to consideration. I went with them, and soon found they would accomplish nothing amicably, and told them so. The fretting one, whom -I will call No. 2, fumed and fretted terribly. He wanted a few lessons in the Kentucky school, where kindness, evident justice, and endur- ing patience may make men do almost anything, but where scolding and a driving policy will accomplish nothing. JI soon left them;, they spent several months in attempting an adjust- ment, but were further off in the end than they were in the beginning. Finally they came to me, and told me they were going home in disgust, and wished me to take the manage- ment of the business. I replied, I would gladly have done it at first; but such hostility to their claim had been now aroused that I had not much hope; I would, however, try. So I went down, while they returned to Virginia, The settlers were Dutch generally, who are averse to law. A Mr. Porter then kept one of the hotels in Port William, and I. E j since chief owner, and keeper of the Galt House, kept bar for Porter. I went to some of the most intelligent settlers on the land, and told them I was empowered to settle the difficulty, and wished to do it on reasonable terms, which I would explain -at a public meeting, that I desired they would procure to take place at Porter's; there were about fifty settlers who met. I told them my obiect, explained their situation in writing, stated my terms, and desired them to employ a lawyer and submit my written proposition to him. Out of fifty, as might be-imagined, there were a great many very unreasonable men, and my patience was put to the test every day for a week;, but my mottoes were, Blessed is he who holds out to the end;" "Never give up the ship;" and 13* page: 150-151[View Page 150-151] 150 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. "One drop of honey will catch more flies than a pint of vinegar,'? and in one week settled the great preliminaries for an adjustment; the settlers refusing to employ a lawyer, but relying on my statements to them, and on those preliminaries the matter was finally wound up, being within the limits which the agents said would be satisfactory. I made a very handsome commission, and, of course, my business reputation was not injured with my Virginia employers by doing in so short a time what two other agents, had fruit- lessly attempted for several months. Here resides General Butler, and two of his brothers with their families; with whom I spent many pleasant evenings. The remarkable circumstance was exhibited at the battle of New Orleans, of two brothers, William and Thomas, being both aids to General Jackson. Thomas, though but little known to fame, is a man of great decision of character, and only wanted an occasion to distinguish himself. They are all natural men, true and sincere friends. Notwithstanding we differ in politics,-it has never in the slightest degree inter- fered with our private friendship. I mentioned I. E., as being a barkeeper at this time at Porter's, to show what close business habits and'an obliging disposition will do to advance a man. ". I heardean anecdote related of him in his presence, which he acknowledged to be true; that a Southern planter at the Galt House called for a bottle of wine, and had a bottle which' had been half used sent to him. Indignant at such treatment, he sent for E. to know the meaning of it. "Why," said E., " when you were here some two or three years ago, you called for a bottle of wine, and this is what you left of it, which was labelled and put away to be handed to you if ever you should, come again." How could such a man fail to succeed? E. reminded me at the Galt House of my adventures witlh the Dutch, and said he thought I had an unbounded stock of patience. But patience was necessary to success, and I was determined to succeed. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 151 CHAPTER XXIX. HOW TO CURE A SCOLDING WIFE--- THE VALUE OF MONEY. RETURNING from Port William through the town of New Liberty, I was sitting in the tavern dining-room, when a carryall drove up to the door, and in it I saw, through the window, a beautiful woman, an acquaintance of mine from Fredericksburg, in Virginia. There were reasons -(no love matter) why I knew it would be painful to her to see me;so I did not go out to speak to her. She had run away with her husband, jumping out of her chamber window in the snow to meet him; and here. they were travelling in this humble way to seek their fortunes they hardly knew where. Hers was a very eccentric family. Her father was a physi- cian of some fame in Fredericksburg. A man of quiet temperament, but very firm and determined in his purposes. Her mother was said, at one time, to be a great scold; the father had endured it for a long time without murmuring, untilthe habit became chronic with his wife; and he saw, unless he could find some mode of stopping it, he was doomed to unhappiness for life. Lectures and expostulations were found only to aggravate the evil. So he determined to try a different experiment. When she would begin to scold, he, if reading or doing anything else, would stop and look at her with apparently the most affectionate concern -and com- passion, and remain silent; but would presently take her hand affectionately and feel her pulse, and shake his head in sorrow. "What do you mean, doctor?" she would say. "-Nothing, my dear, nothing,' he would reply; "let me see your tongue." She would show it. He would turn away page: 152-153[View Page 152-153] 152 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. in sorrow. ' Why, what does the man mean?" she would ask. To which he would make no reply, but go to his room and commence reading. In time, he would leave the library with his book turned down; the wife would enter and see what subject he was reading of, and find it.: "The signs of approaching mental derangement, for which bloodletting was advised.", In time another scolding- fit would come on her, when she could not get him to utter a word in reply; but he would feel her pulse with the same ominous shake of the head, and privately gave orders to the servants in the house to watch her and see' that she did not hurt herself; -but not to name-the subject to her, saying she was in danger of going deranged. She observed a mysterious air about the servants, and asked what it meant; they answered nothing, but with a compassionate and mysterious kindness, still more puzzling and provoking to her, causing her to fume with rage that they would dare to treat- her so. When the doctor came in, he had- a strait-jacket put on, and. bled her; kindness, compassion, and affection marking all his conduct. The -servants really believed she was deranged. In this strait- jacket she would be kept until her rage would subside, and she would become quiet; then it would be taken off. When she would commence a course of abuse again fr such treat- ment then the jacket would be returned, and she be kept in it twenty-four hours longer. When next taken off, she would be more quiet but very sullen, and would, finally, in- dulge her natural propensity again. Then he would pursue the same course and bleed her in the other arm, despite of all her resistance and:convulsive struggles to avoid it. Now a longer sullen fit would follow, but confinement in the strait- jacket was a great tamer; and finding that, as long asl she continued sullen,- the jacket would be continued, she found it best to assume da cheerful air, when it was taken off. Now when she felt the scolding humor coming on, and saw the concerned look of her husband, the figure of the lancet THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 153 presented itself, and, having a natural aversion to bloodlet- ting, the scolding fever would subside, and she- would get into a good humor. This course of self-constraint continued until by its habitual exercise it became natural; she became cheerful, pleasant, and affectionate, and he as much so. One day, when in a very good- humor, and feeling -mag- nanimously inclined, she turned to him and said : "Doctor, I have-been a very bad Wife." The doctor replied, "he thought she was a very good one." "Do you love me?" said she. "Do you doubt it?" he replied. "No," she said, kissing him; " but, doctor, it has taken a good deal to make me a good wife. I was hard to tame. I was very bad, but you have done it. I at one time thought I never could forgive you, and determined in my own mind that I never would. But I see now my error, and the propriety -of your course. You have' saved me from being a miserable wife, and making you a miserable husband. You have taught me to think, and to control my passions.'" , Ah!" said- the doctor, "now you are my own dear wife," kissing her, 's and we. will differ no more." 'It is said that one evening, to a company of her friends, she told this story on herself. A gentleman travelling to Frankfort now came on, and I had my horse saddled to have his company. He was what is called a drummer from Cincinnati--a man who travels to procure business for his employers. I did not learn his name, but recollect the following remarkable conversation:- I mentioned to him that down about the mouth of Cedar Creek (we w'ere crossing about the head of it), a year or two ago, I had lost one hundred and fifty dollars. "Ah," said he, "and all the interest on it-forever?" "Of course," Lreplied, "the money and everything appertaining to it." "I never care much," said he, " about the loss of the principal-,if the interest did not-go with it; but I do' hte the idea ;of losing the interest forever. -Now these one hundred and fifty dollars -lent-out at ten percent., as can be always safely done- page: 154-155[View Page 154-155] 154 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. would probably to your grandchildren be worth one hundred thousand dollars; the principal being always reinvested an- nually." "Oh," I remarked, "you are mistaken; it will double every ten years, and some less, allowing for interest on interest-say seven times multiplied would be from eleven hundred to twelve hundred dollars." - ' Not at all!" he re- joined, "Try it when you go home, and you will find that in sixty-eight years it will go to one hundred thousand dol- lars, and in one hundred years it will go to over two millions." On getting home I made the estimate, and found, he was correct. This led to his mentioning to me that he was in- terested in a banking-house in Cincinnati, into'which he had put five thousand dollars, which had yielded about twenty per cent. per annum. "How-could that be?"I asked. '"Why," he replied, "we deal altogether in exchanges. We buy the notes of banks in other States, at various discounts from one to five per cent. These we remit and get the specie for, or bills; we- also discount bills of exchange on short time-- never over sixty days, and, no matter which way they go, we charge some premium, never less than one per cent.; if on New Orleans, two per cent., and here most of our business is done. Now the English cotton and tobacco buyers send most of their funds to New York, or sell their bills in New York, because they always bear a better price there than they do in New Orleans; and, hence, they want to sell ex- change on New York, and will, generally, discount from half to one per cent. for it, by which means, by the time we get our funds to New York, we have made about three per cent. on them, and then we draw on New, York from Cincinnati at two per cent., which makes five. Now, when the credit of a house is so well established that the public will deal freely with-it, it can do a very large business on a very small capi- tal. Thus: A wishes to sell exchange on New York for one thousand dollars, at-sixty days; we buy; B wishes- tobuy; we sell at four months, gaining sixty days. iNow it matters not THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 155 whether-we have funds in New York or not, we have estab- lished a credit there; in fact, have a branch of our house as well as a branch in New Orleans. We sell bills to all ap- plicants, no matter lo what amounts, who will take them at four months, and we buy all we can get at two months. In case, when the time comes round for the payment of what we have sold, there is not found enough purchased to pay for them, the house in New York meets the difference by drawing on New Orleans, where we can always place a plentiful stock; all the capital we need is to cover balances; as, for instance- if we do business to the amount of five hundred thousand dollars-the difference between the purchased and sold bills will not probably exceed fifty thousand dollars. If, then, we have fifty thousand dollars, we can do business and get the exchange on five hundred thousand dollars." "But," said I, " you would not sell a bill at four months and buy at two- on the same terms, without regard to interest?" "Ex- change," said he, "does not include interest. Interest is according to time, besides-but our profit is in the difference between the price we pay and the price we get." At that time exchanges were not so nicely regulated as now; the profits were greater. This conversation made a deep impression on me, and I considered that I had learnt a good lesson from this traveller. page: 156-157[View Page 156-157] 156 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER XXX. PRETTY GIRLS-RESOLUTE YOUNG LAW STUDENT-YOUNG "AWYERS OF FRANKFORT. AFTER dressing, I went around to see my acquaintances, and with one of them to see the girls. It is wonderful how pretty the girls, who dress with taste and fashion, look to a man who has been a long time in the woods. I recollect, on my first arrival from Virginia, the girls in Lexington, where I first saw any fashionable ladies, looked much prettier than the girls in Richmond; but, on returning, the case was changed, the Richmond girls looked the prettier; so I con- cluded it was a long absence from them that gave the charm. Next day I took a ramble to the outskirts of the town, and, at the foot of the hill back of the State-House, saw a little rough hovel, about eight by twelve feet, and just high enough for a man to stand upright in, built of the scat- tered rocks lying around, and in an unfinished state. It was covered with boards laid with one end on a ridge-pole, the other projecting\ over the eaves, and held down by a weight-pole. A bedstead made by four forks in the ground, and poles in them, with boards laid lengthwise for the bot- tom, but no bed or mattress as yet on it. There was a shelf made by working boards into the chimney and side of the house; and a stool with three legs. The floor-was about half laid on loose sleepers, with boards of various thicknesses; the whole seemed as if made up of such materials as the builder could pick up here and there. My companion told me that this was the work of a young man from some .of the THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 157 back counties, who had been engaged upon it for about a week; that he had come to Frankfort to study law, but had not the means of paying his board, and was building this house to live in, and intended to- buy bread and cheese to live upon while he pursued his studies; that he had ob- tained the use of Judge Bibbs's library, etc. I do not know when I was so interested for any one. This was G. M--. Before he had quite finished his house, John. Logan, a lawyer and representative from Shelby in the legislature, passing one day by his cottage, while he was at work upon it, got into conversation with him, and proposed to him to go and live with him, saying he needed a young man in his office, and would give him- his board for such services in writing as he could render, to .which M- - agreed. When I heard the tale, I was sorry he had accepted. It had destroyed the romance of the story. "Well," said I to my companion, "that young man will distinguish himself, and you will- see it. -No man can be so resolutely determined on studying law, as to encounter -it under such difficulties, unless he feels conscious he has the materials within him for success." The result justified the prediction. After qualifying him- self for the practice, he moved to Henderson, and ultimately to Hopkinsville, where he became very conspicuous at the bar; and, finally, married the daughter of the presiding judge, and, had he not died, would,' before now, have represented that district in Congress. There were at this time in Frankfort a remarkably talented set of young law students; now, and a -few years afterwards, the following, Harry J. Thornton, now Judge of the U. S. DistrictCourt, Mobile-; Isaac Caldwell, now dead, but former- ly State Judge in Mississippi; S. S. N , since-, Judge of the Court of Appealsof Kentucky, and afterwards Chan. cellor in Louisville, and author of the "Criminal Code;, Preston Loughboro, author of the ," Code of Practice; "Jor " page: 158-159[View Page 158-159] 158 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. seph L. White, subsequently representative in Congress from Florida; Charles S. Bibb, Judge of the Circuit Court; Ma- son Brown, Judge of the Circuit Court;. Edward Bibb, Allison Bibb, Orlando Brown, James Forbes, Harry I. Hunter, Lucas -Broadhead, Richard H. Lee, Christopher Greenup, Clayton Slaughter, and others, all- of whom were above the ordinary standard of intelligence, and most of them men of fine talents. No other town of its size in America could compare with it, and few of any size. Among such, of course, -my time never hung heavily. All .were stu- dious, and gave the mornings and a portion of the evenings to reading; but, generally, towards sunset they would as- semble, those who were sociably inclined, at the office of some one, and there chat over the news of the day. Several played chess; one of the girls, H. N , played an excellent game, and she and myself often spent the evening in that way. - I was passionately fond of the game. I had occasion to note in the progress of -time the truth of a position hereinbefore assumed, that the effect which a mercantile education has in disciplining and methodizing the mind tends much to- its efficiency and--power. Of all the young men,-aforenamed, only one had been raised in a count- ing-house, and he was considered decidedly the most talented of the whole group. Judge Bouldin owed his reputation to the same cause; and Henry Clay was raised in the Chancery Court Office in Richmond, where a similar discipline was obtained, and to -this clerical training is due a great portion of the efficiency of his mind. The strength was there to make him a distin- guished man, let him- have been raised as he might; but to that power of throwing his arguments like a rifle-shot, which is the result of clerical training, in contradistinction to the scatter-gun mode of other plans, I venture to say is due that vast pre-eminence which Mr. Clay attained. It is not that this clerical education naturally expands the mind. If the THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 159 clerk remains a clerk, it may injure it by confining it to one' subject; but, when he goes to other pursuits, he carries the clerical method with him, and thus it not only pervades his whole business, but his logic also. C APTER - X XXI. A SPECULATION-ANOTHER-TRIP TO RICHMOND- AMUSING SCENES THERE. I NOW prepared to go into Virginia to have my annual settlement, previous to which I had to make another trip to the Yellow-Banks. Before starting, a young Virginian came to me and proposed selling me twelve thousand acres of land in Boone County for fifteen hundred dollars. I asked to look at his grant. I found from its age that it ought to hold a good deal of land, even if covered by other claims; and, if it held three hundred acres, it would pay what he asked for it. It may be well to state that the land-claims in, Kentucky so conflicted with each other that a man was never sure that he was safe, and this young man, after going on his land, had determined to give it up in disgust and go home. I answered him that I was then bound on a trip below, should be gone- two weeks, that I had not time then to consider the matter, but that I was well satisfied he offered it for much less than it was wdrth, and advised him to go -upon the land and satisfy himself, and when. I re- turned I thought, if he had not previously sold, I would buy of him. On my return, I found him in Frankfort, where he had been since my departure, having concluded he could not do better than to sell to me. I had not fifteen hundred, dol- lars to spare, but went to Achilles Snead, Clerk of the page: 160-161[View Page 160-161] 160 THE PILOT OF HUMAN, LIFE. Court of Appeals, and proposed to him to take half. He did so, and we took -a conveyance. Some time afterwards General Gaines, who -lived in the neighborhood of this land, gave us three thousand dollars for our purchase. Here was a handsome sum made with very little trouble, although, if we had held on to it a few years longer, we should have made ten times as much. I now proceeded to Virginia through Chillicothe, where I stayed all night. Here I saw a lawyer whose acquaintance I had some time previously made in Frankfort. He told me, as I was going to Richmond, he would be glad if I would examine a military, laim which he had, and the adjudica- tion of which belonged to the Virginia Council; the - claim being for land within the Virginia Military District in Ohio. He brought me the papers, very voluminous, and that night I examined them. Next morning he called, and asked what I thought of them. I answered, I thought the claim was good. "Well," he said, " if you can obtain warrants under it, I will allow you five hundred acres. But I must tell you it has been already twice presented and rejected." "Oh!" I remarked, "that alters the case. I will try, however, what I can do." On arriving at Richmond, I wrote out a history of the case in the plainest and simplest form, referring by dumber to vouchers to sustain all the evidence I adduced in its favor, fatiguing the mind as little as possible to comprehend the subject, and wound up by saying, the evidence to my mind in favor of the claim was conclusive, and I could not see where it was deficient. But, if defective, I would be glad to know where. This letter, with the' accompanying documents, -I left with- T. G--, attorney-at-law, and requested him to present them while I went to Norfolk to see my mother. In about a week, he wrote me the claim was allowed, and the warrants would be ready for me on my return. After I had seen my relatives in Norfolk, and en. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 161 joyed myself very much among the girls, I now proceeded in search of Judge B----, to settle up with him, which cost me a vast deal of trouble, having to follow him from court to court; but finally concluded it, and gave him a check for the balance. He asked me how I was getting on. I gave him some detailed account.. He seemed as much gratified as if he had been my father, and said, "Was that ,not better than remaining here like -some of my former com- panions, getting on in a slow, jog-trot way?" I now re. turned to Richmond, and obtained my military land-war- rants. Here I remained some time awaiting business, and enjoying myself among the girls, having always a great relish for their society. T and- myself were pretty constant companions, and -had pretty much the range of the city. - Among other acquaintances, I made one who be- came my favorite, a beautiful girl of about sixteen, tall, some- what embonpoint, though magnificently shaped, a laughing, joyous creature; with a heart full of love; and I had pro- bably been her lover, had I supposed she would go to Ken- tucky with me; but'at that time I would as soon have thought of asking a girl to go with me to Kamtschatka as to Ken- tucky, so wild was it considered. Besides which, I had just begun to make money, and my continuing to do so depended onmy remaining without the trammels of a family. So my prudential philosophy was an overmatch for Cupid. But the partialities formed in this way were a source of great pleasure in my subsequent - correspondence, interchanges of messages, &c. -Thiswas Miss F. L . But the most amusing, as well as provoking associate- I had was an old maiden aunt of two beautiful girls, whom G and myself visited very often. When we would call for the young ladies, she would uniformly present herself; and when they would be very joyful and chatty, she would turn to them and say, "Young folks should be seen, and not heard." It would somehow generally happen that she "* page: 162-163[View Page 162-163] 162 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. would get a seat next to me, and destroy all my enjoyment for the evening. One evening, in order to get rid of her, I proposed to the young ladies a walk. The old aunt was the first to assent to it, and soon locked arms with me. I could see that G-- and the girls were tickled to bursting. I was so mad that I could hardly be polite. She observed: "O, Mr. T., why are you so gloomy on this beautiful night, when it is so charming to look at the-bright moon and talk of love?". It cost me all my self-command to avoid roaring out into a rude laugh., I had -in my bosom a moss rose, the first of the season, which Miss L-- had given me, saying she had been permitted, as a special favor by Miss Gibbon, to pluck it from her father's hothouse, "and," said she, "you must prize it accordingly." I replied, I should do so, most undoubtedly, but more on account of the giver than the circumstances. Seeing this, this old lady asked me for it; but I rather unceremoniously refused it. On returning home with them, when about to take leave at the door, she plucked it from my bosom, and ran into the house. I had no alternative but to retire without -it. On our way home, G--- congratulated me on the delightful time I had had with the old aunt, laughing immoderately at the manner in which I had been taken in. "Yes," said I, " but the cream of the joke you have, not yet got;" and related to him the remarks of the old lady about love and the moon. He was diverted almost into convulsions. "But," said he, " what are you going to do about the moss rose?" "I don't know," I replied. "I think I will go to-morrow, and get one of the young ladies to steal it for me." Accordingly, I went round early, rang, and when the servant came, sent for one of -the young ladies to come to the door; told her the story of the rose without mentioning names, and asked her to go up quietly to her aunt's room and steal it for me. "Oh," said she, "aunt would never forgive me. She prizes it very highly as coming from you; and let- me tell you, you are a THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 163 great favorite with 'her; she says there is not such another * young man in Richmond; that you are of the old school stock; you appreciate good sense and dignity, instead of the nonsensical frivolity of the day. There, said she, is Mr. G , with his-taste-for frivolous girls, like sister and my- self, while-your mind is of a higher caste, and you prefer her society. . Oh, I tell you," said the niece, "I know how you value her good opinion. I know it is as dear almost to you as your life; and let me tell you, too, that I think that things may work to your wishes in time. You have evi- dently brought her mind into a state of perplexity, and by proper assiduity you have every chance for success." "Look here, you little vixen," said I, " will you get me the rose?" "What and spoil all your prospects? Oh, never!" and she enjoyed my vexation exceedingly. All my efforts were fruitless. I had to return without it; but on my return I found G-- absent. He- had been to see Miss L----, and told her the whole story, and the great perplexity I was in, and that he would bring me round in the evening, and she must ask me for the rose, and-pretend that she had seen it in Miss 's bosom. When he entered, he remarked he had been down to the coffee-house, but there was no news. I related to him my fruitless effort to recover the moss rose, and the ironical compliments I had received from Miss -- at his expense, which seemed to tickle him very much. In the evening, he proposed we should walk round to Mr. P.'s to sde Miss L---, and we went. She was alone, and wel- comed us courteously. I took my seat beside her. G--- walked up to the centre-table, looked over the books, and then joined us. "Well, Mr. G----," said Miss L-- , {'I hear that Mr. T--- has been caught' at last." "By whom?" said I. "Ah, you pretend ignorance, do you?"' "Why, my rule is always to put my accuser to the proof." She, turning to G , said,;"Tell me, Mr. G , is it not so?" "I don't know," said G--. "I was walking behind him page: 164-165[View Page 164-165] 164 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. while he hld a certain lady under his arm last evening, and heard a good deal about love and the moon." I could not help laughing at the fitness of the reply, and to see how well all the circumstances conspired to put the joke upon me. "Besides," said G--- , "I understand the lady said there was no comparison between T and myself; that he is a man of infinitely the finest taste, etc.; and that the lady's niece is of opinion that T stands a fair chance of suc- cess." "I congratulate you, Mr. T--," said Miss L--. "Thank you, madam; your congratulations are always ap- preciated; but I hope you will not soon have occasion to congratulate me on such an event." "Apropos," rather softly, she said, but loud enough for G---- to hear, 4 I presume you have no further value for the rose I gave you yesterday. Will you permit me to ask its return?" "Do you regret having given it?"I asked. "No," she replied; "but as it is not appreciated, I would rather have it back." "Very well," I rejoined, ,-you shall have it to-morrow." "Then you have it not now? No; I see you have it not. -Now this begins to make the evidence thicken. Tell me, Mr. G---, have they a hothouse at Mr. ----'s?" I do not know," said G-----. Well," said Miss L--, 3 I was walking on the Capitol Square this morning, and there I met Miss -- the elder, with a moss rose in her bosom. I re- marked to a lady with me, there is the second moss rose which I have seen this season. But since the reports which I have heard about Mr. T. and Miss ---, I am inclined to believe that this is the identical rose which I gave to Mr. T , which he has very kindly transferred." G-- was convulsed, and I extremely perplexed. "Now, honor bright, Mr. T----; tell me, was this not the rose I gave you?" "Honor bright, T--," said G--, " honor bright." "Honor shall be bright," I answered. "It would be use- less, if I were inclined to deny it, with such a witness against me as G ; but I appeal to him to say if be did not hear THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 165 the lady ask me for the rose, which I refused, and she snatched it from my bosom, and ran off with it." "Why, T ," said G--- , a in ordinary cases you might call on me, especially in love-matters, and I would put conscience aside, and be a witness for you; but, were I to accommodate you in this case, the circumstances go so strongly against you that my testimony not only would be of no use, but would discredit me - if you wished to use me in any other case. I think, therefore, you must excuse me this time, and I will serve you on some occasion where, if I should deviate a little to serve a friend, the circumstances would not so clearly convict me as in this case." - Well," I replied, "I see how it is; G is determined to have me convicted, and so is my fair judge. I can only say that the case is as I stated it; but if you will have it otherwise, be it so." Af- ter a good deal of badinage and playfulness, we started to depart, when Miss L--- told me, as she was satisfied with the enjoyment she had had at my expense, she would- relieve me by. telling me that Mr. C had been round'in the morning and acquainted her with all the circumstances, and prepared her for the interview. Some time after this, G--- and myself were one eve- ning on a visit at , one of the most magnificent residences about Richmond. Miss was a beautiful and bewitching girl, but rather fond of flirtation. G-- had a special fancy for such, for he preferred buzzing round, to lighting, and giving the. girls a fair chance at him. This Miss --- was engaged to be married, but was anxious to have an opportunity to enlist G--- as one of her beaux, and tried to entrap him; but he was too old- a stager for that. As we retired, she came to the door with us,; -we took leave of her, and were retiring, when G-- pretended to recollect some- thing, for which he returned, while I walked on. On getting to the outer gatej I turned to see what had become of him; and there he was upon the steps, having both of Miss -- 's page: 166-167[View Page 166-167] 166 - THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. hands in his, malking some earnest speech, and all of a sudden dropped them, seemed to have changed his tone for some cause, and after a while bid her adieu anid came on. "Well," said I, "Tom, you are the rarest fellow to hold on, and keep talking 'after you've done,' like some politi- cians in making a speech, that I ever saw." He laughed, and continued at intervals to laugh, as we went home, for some cause not connected with our conversation, until I in- sisted on knowing the cause. "Ah! my good fellow," said he, "if you knew, you would be amply revenged on me for the moss rose affair." I insisted on knowing, until he agreed he would tell me, if I would not name it to any one (the, limitations have run against the injunction now). "Agreed!" said I. "Well,/ he remarked, "you know I have been always very fond of Miss --, and as I knew she was en- gaged to be married, I concluded I could venture, without danger, to indulge in some gallant remarks, which might have entangled me under other circumstances. But I said nothing to justify a response as to a lover. She tried hard to get me to do it, but all in vain. Finding I was a hope- less case, and that, perhaps, she would never have a better opportunity, she took both my hands, and, looking me ear- nestly in the face, with great compassion, said, C Mr. G--, I love you as a brother, but you must expect nothing more.' ' hy, Miss ,' I replied, 'even this is more than I had hoped for!"' And here, while telling me, he seemed di- verted beyond measure. "Ah," said I, "that is your come- off, is it! Fairly kicked, and this is your way to get out of the scrape? Ah, Tom! it won't do. Fairly hit, my good fellow; acknowledge the corn." I spent several weeks very happily; walking occasionally of an evening on- the Capitol -Square, and up the James River Canal with our -favorites. Two more beautiful walks are-not to be found in any town in America. And with the falls of James River in full view from each-rolling, foam- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 167 ing, and dashing among the rocks. The only drawhack to the delight of the scene was that so much fine water-power was wasted. . Here seemed ample water-power for five hun- dred mills--a very small portion of which was consumed. And here, coming down the canal, is the coal and pig iron in any quantities. There are said to be seventy-two feet fall from the basin to the river. This. is the height from where the water comes into the canal to where it goes out. Allowing eighteen feet fall to a mile, this would allow of using the water four times over, and here it is just where it is wanted. The James River Canal is eighty-five feet wide, and might be made a source of great profit, merely to furnish water-power; and the power, if properly used, ought to make Richmond one of the largest manufacturing towns in America. I now began to prepare for my departure to Kentucky, leaving with no little regret my acquaintances; but none with more than the lovely F. L--. Meeting with one of the councilmen, with whom I was intimately acquainted, I asked him how it happened that such a claim as the one I had presented to the council could have been rejected twice. He answered that many attempts had been made to obtain warrants fraudulently, and their suspicions were- always awake when a very large bundle of evidence was produced, and, unless we know the applicant, we always lean against him. The evidence furnished, strictly considered, was not authenticated in due form, and, having some doubts in re- gard to the claim anyhow, thought it safest to reject it; "especially," said he, " as it was a very troublesome task-to wade through all the testimony. But when we received your letter, we saw that you had done this for us, and condensed all the proof into a very small compass, referring to the ex- hibits on which you relied by- number. Your exposition seemed fair and candid; we all knew you, and were satisfied page: 168-169[View Page 168-169] 168 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. you. would have nothing to do with a fraudulent claim; so we passed it." Before leaving Richmond, I made an arrangement with T. G--- to present such similar claims as I should send him; and, also, in regard to obtaining other land business for me, and departed. -On arriving at Chillicothe, and- presenting the warrants to L. S--, he expressed a good deal of agree- able surprise, gave me a receipt for my five hundred acre- warrant to be located for me; "and now," said he, "I have twenty thousand acres of similar claims, of which I am to get one-half for obtaining the warrants. If you will return, I will divide my commission equally with you upon all that you can have allowed."' I told him I could not return, but would make the arrangement with a friend, who would do the business as well as I could, and gave him a letter to T. G-- . Out of this arrangement we ultimately made eight 'thousand acres of military land. I now proceeded on to Frankfort, where my acquaintances seemed glad to see me. Here I found numerous letters on business, so increasing my stock, that I saw I could not give it the necessary attention, and wrote to A. T. B-, at Frede- ricksburg, to come out, he, having expressed such a wish while I was with him. I now proceeded to advertise an- other large land sale at the -Yellow Banks. On looking over my year's work, I found that, of collected and uncollected commissions, fees, and salaries, I had during the year booked between five and six thousand dollars., This was a consider- able upward movement, and the next year promised to-be still better. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 169 C HAPTER- XXXII. RETURN TO KENTUCKY-STORY OF B. T--- . I WENT to the Yellow Banks to take some testimony in the suits against Mason; the witnesses had been there in 1780, and related many curious events. One, Jacob Vana- der, was captured by the Indians, and taken a long way back into Indiana, where he finally made his escape and returned home. B. T , another, mentioned a singular event: In -one of the adjoining counties, I now forget which, there 'was a suit between the occupant of a tract of land, and a non. resident claimant. The occupant had cleared a large field, and built him a pretty good house; all were living in- comfort and presumed safety, when this non-resident claim was set up, which was a large one, and covered this occupant, whose grant, however, was the oldest, but he could not esta- blish his survey. T ,being one of the original chain- carriers, was summoned as a witness, and came only on the day that the case was on trial; the tract of land lay about a mile from the court-house.- The land around was settled, and to all appearance all the corner trees were cut down. It was an isolated survey, calling for no other, and no other calling for it. No corner trees being found, and nothing else to fix the position of the claim, the jury-must give the land to the non-resident claimant according to all expecta-' tion. T---- was asked what he could say on the subject. He replied that the country was so changed that he hardly recognized it, but that he recollected the beginning corner was made in the forks of a little creek. There was- such a 15 page: 170-171[View Page 170-171] 170 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. creek adjoining the occupant's farm, and some timber in the forks which had not been cut down, owing to its out-of-the- way position. But there trees had been minutely examined, and no marks found. He was asked if he recollected any circumstance in connection with making the corner; he answered, "that while the surveyor was preparing his note- book, he sat at the root of the corner tree, and with his knife amused himself in cutting notches into the root that before they had started, after marking the tree, the surveyor having taken his object to a hill at some-distance-a dead tree-they heard the crack of a rifle some distance off in an opposite direction. They knew the rifle was shot by Indians, and the surveyor said, ' Come, boys; we must get out of this.' Every man picked up what he had, to run; and one of the chain-men corked a bottle of whiskey which he had, and threw it into a small hollow about as high as he could reach in the tree, and they moved off pretty rapidly, and found themselves presently under the object tree, when the sur- veyor said: ' Come, boys, H don't think the red-skins will follow us-let us go on with the survey. I will allow,' said he, 'one hundred poles for the distance from here to the corner-mark light, stick your sticks without speaking, and keep a sharp look-out.' So on they went around to the fourth corner, where they stopped, leaving the fourth an open line, which was filled up by protraction; and that is the reason no marked trees can be found." Counsel for Plaintiff.-"But you say the corner tree was marked?" "Yes, sir," T replied. Counsel.--"I understand that th., trees claimed are not marked." The court adjourned for dinner, a two hours' recess, and defendants with their coun- sel, T-- and others, went to the place to examine it. T-- said "'it seemed to him that was the place." But on examining-the trees they found no marks. Looking up, however, he discovered in one of them a hollow, about the height of the one into which the bottle had been thrown. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 171 T-- immediately sprung up to it, looked in, and there saw the bottle. A noose was fixed to a stick, and the bottle drawn out, having all the appearance of having been there a long time, but the whiskey had leaked out. All present were satisfied with the proof. They returned to the court- house, and when the court sat, named the facts. The ad- verse counsel asked if they had any corroborating circum- stances? Was the tree marked for a corner tree? "No." "Very well," said the counsel, "witness said the corner tree was marked; this, therefore, cannot be the corner." And continuing, said he, "I have practised law a long time-I have seen many tricks played where the object at stake was a large one; but, in all my practice, I have never seen so shallow a trick attempted as this. No corner trees-because there were none; and a poor devil of a witness is brought here to manufacture testimony, who has not tact enough to preserve his consistency, but goes and puts a bottle in a hol- 'low, says such a bottle was there filled with whiskey, but he had not even sense enough to fill the bottle with whiskey; or, probably after being filled by his employers, could not forego the temptation to drink it; carries a number to see him find it, climbs up, and says here it is; ha! ha! ha! Well, sir, if our land-titles are to be held by such a frail tenure as this, he who can, with the least scruple, suborn a witness, will be the most successful. It is utterly ridiculous, and an insult to the understandings of the jury. They all know that there is no more faithful record of a corner mark than the tree itself; it not only preserves the mark, but nature keeps a record of its age by the annulations in rings which have grown over it since it was made, leaving the scar out- side. This the witness well knows; this his employers well know; and T consider this a clear case of fraud, and subor- nation of perjury." The case was clearly against T - ; those who had previously sympathized with defendants now viewed them with suspicion, and all avoided T as they I page: 172-173[View Page 172-173] 172 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. would contamination. He says, although he knew he was innocent, the circumstances seemed so strong against him, that he almost-felt guilty; said he, "I believe I would have confessed my guilt, if I had thought by so doing I could have obtained forgiveness, all my friends seemed to leave me." Presently an- old hunter camne up to me, and asked T "what kind of a tree was that corner tree?"Answer.--"A beech." "Well," said he, "do you not know that the bark of a beech will sometimes overgrow the marks on it?" "No," said T- , "I have never remarked it. "Well," -said, the huntsman, "I have -known it to do so. Now tell me in truth, and no quibbling, are you sure you did not put that bottle in there?" "So help me God I did not!" said T---. "Do you believe that bottle was put there-forty years ago, and has been there untouched ever since?" "I believe," said T--, "it is the same which was put there forty years ago. As to its being untouched, I cannot say; it'was then full of whiskey-now it is empty; I do not know how to account for this, I .acknowledge, if it has been un- touched." "Well," said, the hunter, " you are in a narrow place, and circumstances seem against you; still, I feel as if you were innocent." -As Jesus-is my Saviour," replied T ,'"I am T, "And if you are," replied the hunter, "this lawyer has committed a great outrage on you by ac- cusing you of perjury. If you knew you were innocent, why did you not knock him down?" "Oh!" said T "I felt so bad,- I did not know what to do." Ah, bad," replied the hunter; "this looks bad; and yet," as if solilo- quizing with himself, said the hunter, " it seems to me that this man- is innocent." "O!" said T-- , " do believe me, I am innocent; as God is judge, I am innocent."- Allthis time plaintiff's lawyer was going on in the most rampant style against the conspiracy which had been so evidently de- veloped, and hoping when he was done with the case that THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 173 the prosecuting attorney would feel it his duty to take hold of thel conspirators. "My old friend/' said the hunter to T---- cI am an old surveyor; I hate to hear you abused so, and these old people on the land who are reputed to be honest. It is monstrous, if there has been no foul play. Call your friends' lawyer here!" T-- touched him on the elbow, and he came outside of the bar. Said the hunter to him, "I have been talking to your witness, and I believe he is innocent, and, I think, there may be a way to prove - it.'.'" How?" asked the lawyer, with eagerness. "Why," replied the hunter, 'I have been a surveyor, and if what he -says is true, and I can find any old survey in the neighborhood of about the same -age, so that I can set my compass on the line, and get the variation, I can, then, set it from this cor- ner claimed as the beginning, and run the course to where T--- said the line commences, and being on that I can find the other corners." Lawyer.-- "There is not time for that now. However, I will try the court." Stepping into the bar, he asked the opposite counsel to allow him to make a suggestion. Here was a grave charge of perjury; if well founded, the guilty man could not be'too severely punished; if innocent, even his opponent could not wish him-to lie un- der the imputation of guilt. A plan had been suggested for determining this question, and he wished to ask an adjourn- ment of this case, until the day after to-morrow, to give time to determine it, and stated what the hunter had said. The court remarked that it was the misfortune of the lawyer's client if he had gone into the case unprepared; but that the testimony had been closed, and that the admission of any more now--as not allowable. "I knew this," said the lawyer to the hunter; "but the suggestion will have a good effect with the jury. Now,- go as quick as you can; take out the county surveyor; he can find you such a survey as you want; try your compass for 15* page: 174-175[View Page 174-175] 174 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the variation; then run your line, and, if you find any marks, have them reported to me, while you continue thbe survey. I will not begin my speech this evening, but will ask indulg- ence until to-morrow; in the mean time, you be wide awake and move ahead." "And," said T-, "so we did. We found such a survey, got the variation that night, and next morning at daylight started from my corner on the course of my line, and at one hundred and eighteen poles fell upon marked trees. We never stopped for breakfast, but sent in for some bread and meat. The--marks continued, until we reached the corner of a field, which had been cleared where the corner was, and it had been destroyed; but we got the next line, and went onf'to where the next should have been: and there it was the same ease, and so with the fourth; but,. from the fourth there was no line to the beginning. Squatters had evidently destroyed those corners intentionally." But the facts, as shown, proved that T---was innocent. This had been- all accomplished before court went into session. "Now," said the old hunter, " bring me an axe, and I will try another experiment, which- I was afraid to propose at first, lest your hatchet, in making the mark) had not gone through the, bark of the tree, and? if not, we should find no marks inside; and, then, the absence of them, and all the other circumstances against you, :would have been very strong. But now, if we do not find them, I think you stand cleared." "Stop," said --T--, "let us try the root, for I perfectly well recollect cutting into the wood there! So the axe was ap- plied to one root, which was cut up and split open; but no marks; another--here the marks appeared in the shape of a scar, but not very distinctly. In cutting the notches, I had taken out the wood, and the growth over it left so little mark that, had we not- been hunting for it, we should- not have noticed it. But it was evident that the annulations of the wood were here interrupted, and the company gave it as their opinion that it was the mark of a cut." -"Well, my THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 175 old boy," said the hunter, "we will now find something which will tell, and no mistake, if it is here at all." So he proceeded -to block out .a part of the tree about three feet long, and eight inches deep. This he split open, but as yet no scar; another split, none; a third, here half-a-dozen voices cried, "There it is!" and there it was; three .chops as distinct as if made yesterday; and, on counting the an- nulations, -which had grown over and covered them, they placed back the date of the chops, to correspond exactly with T--- 's testimony." "Now," said the old hunter, "we have that dog of a lawyer; let us hasten to the court-house." They did so, carrying the block with the notches in it. As they entered, the old hunter held up the block with the notches towards the court. They were so distinct that they could be seen across the house. The jury,saw them. Defendant's lawyer wavs speaking; complainant's lawyer rose, when he heard the hubbub, and, looking round, saw the block, re- marked to the court that the testimony having been closed, he moved the court that it order away all extraneous matter, and order that the argument of his opponent be confined to the testimony as given on the trial. The court accordingly so ordered. "Well," said-defendant's counsel, "I am ordered, gen- tlemen of the jury, to confine my argument to- thetestimony given on the trial. That- testimony was by one of the chain- men, who made the survey, that, at the corner, a bottle was put into a hollow of the corner, tree; -this tree was found corresponding to the position which the chain-man said it oc- cupied, and, on being examined, the bottle was found in the tree. The testimony was as clear and conclusive-as it-was possible to be,- and -if you believed our witness, you could not hesitate as to your verdict. And who is, this witness? A venerable old man, gray with age, and who, probably, never- had his word disputed or his feelings hurt: before, nor until it became necessary to fix the charge of perjury upon page: 176-177[View Page 176-177] 176 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. him by my opponent, in order to enable his non-resident client to put my client and his worthy family out of doors. And upon what grounds is this charge of perjury brought? Upon the groutind that there were no marks upon the tree. I am credibly informed, gentlemen, that it does sometimes happen that beech outgrows its marks, though generally it is otherwise. ' Now, my client has prepared his case badly, I admit-;for, although no lines or corners could be found, he ought to have gotten a surveyor to ascertain the variation of the compass, and have started from his claim's begin- ning, and run the courses called for in his deed; he might have run some distance, without finding a marked tree, but he might have found it at the distance of the first object tree, as stated by our witness; --oreven a little further, say "8 poles by way of being liberal.- He might then have gone -on from corner to corner, finding- the corners all gone, but-the lines distinctly marked- between them; and had he done so, and those lines been found, it would have been the strongest circumstantial evidence in" corroboration of our witness's testimony. But if this had not sufficed, he might have taken witnesses to the corner tree, have taken out a block, and there he doubtless would have found the old marks, as plainly showing as you saw them on that block just now. But he did not, and although our witness, in his distress of mind at being accused of perjury, might proceed to have it done, to vindicate his own character, yet the rigid rules of the law are resorted to exclude his evidence so pro- duced.- But, thank God, his testimony is clear as to the- corner, and you must give your-verdict in our favor, unless you disbelieve him. Now, look at him, gentlemen; see his gray hairs, and that benevolent countenance; do you see anything there of the perjured villain, which my opponent would make you believe he is? He is, to be sure, poor, and, perhaps, on that. account, has, no right to complain of being abused. It seems that some lawyers consider this is THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 1" -the poor man's lot, when brought to the witness-stand. If you dare to give such evidence as is in your possession, and as is due to-save your neighbor's property,-whatever may be your honest reputation at home, however you may be beloved by those who know you, you are liable to be branded with perjury, and charged with all sorts of crime. - I have, gen- tlemen, never deemed it necessary to ruin- an innocent man's reputation in order to gain a cause for my client, and, I trust, I never shall. My client's witness is as credible a witness as any in this house; the court has excluded the legal evidence of it, but every one in this house knows it, to be so.' If you believe him, you are bound t0od for us." And he sat down. His -opponent .had t& closing of the argument, but said -he -had no reply to make, and the jury gave a verdict for defendant, without leaving the jury-box. CHAPTER -XXXIII. THE IMPROPRIETY- OF ABUSING WITNESSES-A BA-D POLICY IN LAWYERS. I HAVE always viewed the liberties taken by lawyers with witnesses, abusing them without grounds, as an outrage, and have wished the witnesses, out of court, would give them a sound thrashing for it. It is extremely injudicious in the lawyer, It generally excites the compassion of the jury, and in a majority of cases results to the injury of the - lawyer who is guilty of it. I knew a case which occurred at Brandenburgh, where a Mr. T , a lawyer, lost his life by needless abuse of his opponents. ^TeJy took him from the court-house, immediately on the adjournment of the court, and so beat him that he died. Ham surprised that lawyers look for anything else, and that they escape- so-often page: 178-179[View Page 178-179] 178 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. is wonderful. In Kentucky, a jury could hardly be found who would punish a man for vindicating himself when so outraged,-and the courts are very culpable for allowing it. I would advise all zyoung lawyers to avoid it. I t only excites the prejudices of the jury, but of the public against them, and does their cause infinite injury; for, when a jury- man's prejudices are excited, argument is needless. A law- yer should endeavor to win the good feelings of the jury and of the public, on all occasions. Kindness is a shrub which sprouts and propagates itself very rapidly wherever sown; -or, like bread cast upon the waters, it returns after many days; and hatred is not less fruitful, nor less certain to be returned with compound interest. A man who is habitually unkind can succeed well at nothing. As a lawyer, he may succeed if his talents are pre-eminent; but I venture to say, where he makes one dollar he would makeztwo if he were ha- bitually kind and benevolent. Everybody wants to help those who are kind and pleasant in their manners. They will be re- commended for business, while the man of unsocial habits and unkind feelings will have no friends, and will only obtain such business as is commanded by his pre-eminent talents. He is a very unwise man who puts the world at defiance. There are few of us who are not dependent on the good opinion of the world for success, and policy would dictate a kind course, if our natural inclinations did not. But he must have savage feel- ings, indeed, who can be unaffected by the evidence of being beloved by the community in which he lives, or -of being shunned and hated by them. There is to the benevolent mind a happiness in doing a favor to another which an unfeeling -man knows nothing of. It is a luxury which he cannot comprehend. We hear much of the unfeelingness of the world, and that money is a man's only friend. -It would be useless to deny the power of money. It will cover up many faults; but not all. I know a very rich man who is the abomination of all who know him, except his immediate de- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 179 pendents. They sustain him from the employment he gives them, or from the obligations they are under to -him. He is an intelligent and well-informed man; but arrogant, and dis- courteous to such;an- extent that all well-bred gentlemen shun his society. If any do riot, it is either from an ex- treme charity and benevolence of disposition, which induces them to put up with any conduct sooner than differ with a neighbor, or else they are willing to keep the door open for any pecuniary favor which they may have occasion to ask of him. If he differs with you in conversation, he cannot politely 9 state his difference, and in so doing retain your friendship; but replies to you like a blackguard: "Not a bit of it; not a bit of it." Any one can see by his language that he asso- ciates with such as will bear any language from him, and he knows none better. So envious-is he that he can -hear with no patience any one spoken of with credit. -His general an-? swer is, when he- hears any one so spoken of, " pshaw- aw.---aw!"To his agents he is harsh and unkind, seldom speaking to them: except in a very rude manner, such as no well-bred-gentleman can hear without pain. He is a bully in his general-manners, but a very great coward at heart,- as such men generally are. * . . 'X CHAPTER XXXIV. MY APPOINTMENT BY THE STATE OF VIRGINIA AS MLITARY AGENT. ABOUT this time, I heard of the death of John Herring, " military agent for the State of Virginia, and wrote in to have my name presented as a candidate. Virginia originally had, while Kentucky was yet a part of her domain, appro- page: 180-181[View Page 180-181] 180 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. priated all the country west of the Tennessee River to pay her officers and soldiers for services during the revolutionary war, and pledged that country to them for that purpose. A great many entries had been made- here of those military claims, but a great many of the warrants were unlocated, when, by a treaty with the Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, Virginia guaranteed them the peaceable possession of this country, which prevented the location and survey of military warrants within the said boundary. But, in 1818, by an- other treaty with those Indians, made by General Jackson and Governor Shelby, they surrendered the country to the United States, and it now fell to Kentucky. Virginia sent out Watkins Leigh to claim the land for the officers and soldiers aforenamed, and he- addressed the legislature of Kentucky on the subject, but without success. Herring was then a member of the Virginia legislature, and was appointed resident agent in Kentucky to attend to the business. At his death the- office became vacant, and there were a number of applicants for it,' as it was worth $2300 per annum, including $700 outfit. I was the successful applicant, however, and received the commission. As I was not required to relinquish my other business, this was a great addition to my income; and, be- sides, during- this year I received another salary of $400, and another of $50. - From May, Barrister, & Co., $500, and about4$600, for expenses, including those of my horse, office, &c., which-made a total of $3850 of salaries. Besides this, out of auction sales of lands; I made about $2000 of commis- sions, and perquisites for miscellaneous business to nearly an equal amount, making a total of $7000 or $8000. This, I thought, was getting along pretty well. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 181 CHAPTER XXXV. THE KENTUCKY LAND-LAWS-ITS DIFFICULTIES -AN ADVENTURE. Now T. G. sent me an agency from P.'s estate of 32,400 acres of land in Breckenridge and Mead counties, with a commission of twenty-five per cent. The amount of commis, sion was in consideration of the claims being considered hopeless. I went upon the ground to examine into it, and found it settled by a desperate set of adverse claimants. As before remarked} the plan adopted by Virginia for selling those lands caused them to be shingled over with entries con- flicting with each other. The Indians were in possession of the country, and it was necessary to make surveys at the hazard of life, so that purchasers of treasury-warrants were allowed to enter, in a book, the land which they intended to survey; and, provided it was so distinctly described that " a subse- quent locater could take up the adjacent residuum," this entry would hold the land until it could be surveyed and patented, otherwise the entry was of no avail; and, to deter- mine this question, caused the establishment of principles which made the Kentucky land-law the most complicated conceivable.- The United States land-system could not be adopted, owing to the danger of the Indians; and the Legisla- ture of Kentucky, at various times, endeavored to remedy the difficulty, but found themselves entangled by the compact entered into with Virginia, by which it was provided that the land-titles should be adjudicated by the laws then (at the time of making the compact) existing in Virginia. In order to get clear of this difficulty, Henry Clay and George 16 page: 182-183[View Page 182-183] 182 THE PILOT OF H1tMAN LIFE. lM. Bibb were appointed commissioners from Kentucky to apply to the Legislature of Virginia to relinquish this stipu- lation; but they were unsuccessful. It always appeared to me that, where sales and transfers of land had been based upon this stipulation, it became a vested right in the claimant under the Virginia grant, and that Virginia had no right to relinquish it. But here would arise a curious question for legal philosophers. Can two States make such stipulations that by joint consent they cannot annul, however willing they may be to do so, and however injurious the same may be to the country at large? Suppose, for instance, that, by a law of Virginia, previous to the separation, it had been provided that limitations should never run in regard to land- titles. Kentucky provides that an undisturbed possession of seven years should bar all claims. A and B have two lawsuits, one by A,-the Virginia claimant, against B, claim- ant under Kentucky, who has been in undisputed posses- sion for thirty years. But he cannot plead the limitations, and loses his land. Another by B against A, who has been in possession eight years only under a Kentucky patent; but he holds by the seven years' limitations. Could this state of things last 1 I took a wandering trip all through this survey of 32,400 acres, which was ten miles long and five broad, and the most of it settled upon; some very extensive plantations. Here was a harvest of difficulty, -" and no mistake." But I was prepared to brave it. I stopped on the road just outside of the survey, at a Mr. S.'s, to get my dinner, and remarked that they seemed to have a good country about there. "Yes" said he, " if these non-residents would let us alone; but we are annoyed to death with foreign claims. Here now is a whole neighborhood who have purchased under Dr. B., and who have thought themselves secure, and here comes a maln by-the name of T., claiming the land for P.'s heirs, and I suppose the whole neighborhood is to be broken up." I THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 183 confess I felt like giving up the business. It did seem too bad. I did not then let him know I was the- man. I remarked it was an unfortunate statelof things, but that, if they lost their land, they woul'd have their recourse on B. A Ah!" said he, "that is but little satisfaction after a man has fixed his home in a way that he expects to live at for life." "Well," said I, suppose you were in P.'s place, what would you do? give up the land to which you thought you had the best title?" "I do not know," he replied; "' I suppose I would try and get it, but it is a hard case." "So it is," I rejoined, " and both parties ought so to view it, and endeavor to make an equitable arrangement to lighten the difficulty as much as possible. T. ought to take a moderate price for the land, and give good time to pay it in; and the settler ought to view his condition as he would, if, by acci- dent, he had put on another man's coat which he had to take off and give up." "Well," said S., putting a chew of tobacco into his mouth, and chunking the fire, "I would take a dif- ferent plan; these foreigners should not come among us claiming our, lands." "But," said I, " if they believe the land to be theirs, they would come." "Very well," he re- plied; i I reckon they would not come but once." "What, would you kill them?" . Not exactly; but I have ventured to advise some of my neighbors on the subject; and, when this T. comes here, he will be apt to find a rough time of it". There was no one in the house but us two, and, being well armed, I felt in no danger when put on my guard as I now. was -; and, acting on the idea that danger is greatest when most feared, I concluded my safest plan was to leave an im- pression that I could not be scared. ,' My friend," I remarked, " that is a bad plan. It is in violation of the laws of your country. " "May-be so," he replied; "I am not for that; but I would not lose my home, law or no law." "What would you do, then?" Why, by page: 184-185[View Page 184-185] 184 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. way of a taste, I would first take him up here to the Bear Springs and give him a sound ducking, and try how that would set on his stomach; and, if that did not satisfy him, when he came -again we would try other physic." "'You would never have to try a second dose." "You think that would answer for him, do you?" "Or for those who tried it." "4How so?" Why, [ know the man, and if you design anything of this sort you had better make-but one job of it." "You know the man, do you? well, what sort of a fellow is he?" As civil a man as you ever saw; but, if he were to-hear of your making any threats against him, he would give you an opportunity of executing them as soon as his horse could bring him to your house." "That's my darling; now, if you are a friend of his and see him, just tell him what I have said." Very well, I am a friend of his, and you will not be long without a chance to execute your threat. He says he had rather, at any time, be shot than live in danger of it." "Stranger," said he, " pray what is your name?" Assuming a composure, and putting on a smile very little in accordance with the apprehensions I felt, I answered,-"R. T. at your service." The fellow looked puzzled and bewildered for a moment, and then said again: "And that is your name?" "Yes, sir," H replied, still smiling. a Well, stranger," said he, "I don't know how it is. I am not afraid of you; and by G-d I ap ready to do all- that I said I would; but dam'me if I know how to begin a fuss with as good-humored a fellow as you seem- to be; just give me the leadnow, and I'll start the ball." I had kept-my distance, and could lay my hand on my pistols in a second. "Oh no," I replied; "I am not so anxious for the dance as that, and hope, when you take a little: time to think, you will find we can both do as well without it." "Well, dang my buttons," said he, "come up here and take a drink." I thank you," I replied; 6"I never drink." "Well, now, by Jove, you must [ THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.- 185 drink or fight.'" "Very well," I replied; "I had rather drink than fight, at any time." So we took a drink together. "Well, stranger, you don't consider there is any back-out in me, do you?" "Not a bit,"-I replied; "on the contrary, I see you are perplexed because I won't get mad." , And why the h-11 don't you get mad?" "Because I see that your feelings are natural and reasonable, and I in your place would probably feel as you do. It would therefore be un- reasonable for me to get mad, But at the same time that I intend-to give you no provocation, I intend to do my duty as an agent, and never, while I have breath left in my body, to be scared from it." Well, dang me, old fellow, if I didn't think I would do-what I said, and I ain't afraid neither; but somehow I' can't come it." "You can't come it now, of course, for I have drank with you in your own house." "Well, well, we'll be friends. I b'lieve I like you anyhow; but you run a mighty risk, I tell you you did." "Not so much as you think." "-How so?" - What was the risk from?" Why, I am a- stronger man than you, and could easily overpower you." "If you could have gotten hold of me." - "And why not?" a Well," I remarked, -"I may, I presume, consider that we are now friends, and that all I say will be taken in friendship." O yes; the toma- hawk was buried when we drank together." "Well, you may have remarked that, until we drank together, I never let you get near enough to me to get hold of me, and I never intend you should." "RHow would you have prevented it?"Hav- ing my hand on 'my pistol, in my belt under my coat, I sud- denly drew it out, then the other, and showed that when I pulled the guard the point of a dirk on each was loosened, which sprung up and formed a bayonet to the pistol. "That'c the how, is it? and a. pretty'cute contrivance, too. Well, dam'me, I thought you looked mighty safe, somehow, and did not know how to understand it; but now"I see." This man was always afterwards one of my -best friends, 16* page: 186-187[View Page 186-187] 186 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. aided me very much in quieting opposition, -and but for my self-possession and keeping my temper, he would have cared nothing for pistols., He was disarmed by my apparent non- resistance, forghe had the courage of a tiger, and belonged to a family -who were all of the same sort, and noted for it, and every man of them was my friend. I merely name this incident as carrying out the idea sug- gested in regard to the commencement of my difficulties in May, Banister, & Co's. case. Before I got through with this case, I had numerous adventures, but will not relate them, as they would probably be uninteresting to the reader, and have an appearance which I wish to avoid. Suffice it to say, I gained the land. CHAPTER XXXVI. MR. CLAY BECOMES PROMNENT--MR. MONROE NOTIFIES THE ALLIED POWERS NOT TO TOUCH AMERICAN SOIL-- ITS GOOD/EFFECT, AND THE WISDOM OF HS DOING SO. ABOUT this time, 1822, a move was made among the Old Court men in Kentucky to bring Mr. Clay home from Con- gress and run him for governor. I published a piece signed "Fabius," protesting against it, as Mr. Clay's services were important to the nation, and Kentucky had a plenty of citi-, zens who would make good governors-moreover, suggesting that the nation might call him to a higher office. Mr. Monroe's administration was now coming to a close, and no prominent man presented himself.' The nation had been heretofore content to let Virginia furnish- the President, and a junto at Richmond nominate him, as stated herein- before in my account of the Old and New Court parties, and the transfer of Kentucky politics to Washington. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 187 An incident, not a little remarkable, occurred towards the close of Mr. -Monroe's administration. The allied powers had indicated a disposition to interfere in behalf of Spain, to enable her to subjugate her South American colonies. The subject came up in conversation one day, in Frankfort, and in the presence of -a number of friends I remarked I wished that Monroe in his message would say to the allies that they must not intermeddle- with affairs on this side of the water. When his message came out, it did contain this notification. "Well, B ," I re- marked, "you see Monroe -has acted according to my sug- gestion." , Yes," said he, laughing; "great men will think alike" (ironically). Mr. Mibnroe was an evidence that you can never predict from what a boy is at school what he is to become afterwards. He was an old acquaintances of my father's, who said he-was considered by no means a promis- ing young man. I have heard his contemporaries at the bar say he was by no means strong. But that was because it was not his forte. I question whether Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison would have been strong there. Their minds were of a, more philosophic cast. Monroe, if a dull man in the ordinary acceptation of the word, was one of the best Presi- dents we have ever had., A good deal of speculation was now going on as to who would be our next President, and as Richmond was con- sidered the fountain-head of news on that head, the letters which I received from G ,which gave public opinion there, and the views of the junto, were sought witih interest by all the politicians of Frankfort, so that, of an evening after the arrival of the mail, they generally came round to see what news I had. But from the start, Virginia was opposed to Mr. Clay's protective policy, and consequently to him for President, so that I never had any good news to give. Returning to Mr. Monroe, I think justice has hardly page: 188-189[View Page 188-189] 188 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. been done to .the importance of his warning to the allied powers.' I may be told that he hazarded embroiling us in a general war with all Europe. If- he did, he only hazarded what would have resulted to a certainty had -those powers sent their armies and navies to conquer the Spanish colonies,. because, when they came to Mexico, Texas would have been debatable ground, and a collision there would have been in- evitable. But even without that, the fleets and armies of the allies, on this side of the water, could not have operated without some collision with us. So that Mr. Monroe only hazarded what would have been certain without his warning; and then those allies must be indemnified by Spain for their aid. This would probably have given Cuba to England, and other provinces to the- balance; and we should have had always dangerous and troublesome neighbors along-side of us, which it would have been a good bargain to have gotten clear of, even at the cost of a general war; but Mr. Monroe got clear of them by a few strokes of the pen. To resume my narrative. CHAPTER XXXVII. TRIP TO THE IRON BANKS. COL. RICHARD TAYOR, then military surveyor, notified me that he should commence surveying the military entries on the 20th of May, when it bechme my duty to be present. I designed going down about the 1st of the month, but it commenced raining, and continued incessantly until -I ha4 scarcely' time to get down, the distance being over two hundred and fifty miles, and it still continued. But I was bound to be present at the surveying, having given THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 189. bonds with security to the amount of twenty thousand dol- lars to do so. So I had to start in the rain, and with the country all thoroughly flooded I had such a ride as few could conceive of. My brother Philip was atteining court at Henderson, which, however, had just closed on my arrival, and he accompanied me to Highland Creek, the rain having ceased. Here the creek had overflowed-its banks until it l - was apparently near a mile wide, the bridge- appearing a quarter of a mile from the shore where- I approached it. "What's to be done here?" said I. "But the case admits of no debate. I must go on." So here I stripped off, and put my clothes in a bundle, tying them above my head, and my saddle-bags on one shoulder. In I plunged, and reached the bridge without swimming, but with the water half way up my saddle-skirts. Here I waved a farewell to my brother, and proceeded on. - The water beyond the bridge was shal- low. On arriving within four miles of Cypress Creek, I stopped at a cabin to inquire my road. "Why," said the man of whom I inquired, ' the country is all overflowed, and the ferry-men are all away from the ferries-you cannot get on." "But my friend,"' said I, "I am so circumstanced that I am obliged to go on. I am obliged to be with the military surveyor before he gets into the woods, or I will never find him, and I have no time to lose." "Well," said he, ' when we have dry ground it is a hard road to find, and if you get lost now, there is no telling what will become of you." But, as I insisted that I had no alternative, he commenced giving me directions, and presently called to his son to saddle "s Kate" for him, saying he must go and show me, for I would certainly get lost under any directions he could give me. He accompanied me to within a mile of the creek, where the overflow stopped him;- but it did not continue far; and he informed me that just on the other side I would come to another cabin, where I could get fur- ther directions. -Here the occupant toldtne it was impos- page: 190-191[View Page 190-191] 190. THE PILOT OF HUJMAN LIFE. sible I could get over; that none but a man intimately acquainted with the -ground could keep from swimming "Do you think you could?" said I. -"Les," he replied "I think XI could." "Very well, then; pilot me over, and I will give you a dollar." To which he agreed. On reach ing the creek, the waters seemed rushing through the wood; with maddening velocity, and the settler seemed inclined to withdraw from' his engagement. The bridge was a lon way off-water intervening, and through -the timber flowed a sea of waters, the extent of which could not be told. He wanted to beg off, but I pleaded with him to go on, or I must do it alone at all hazards. He assented, bat said I would get well ducked. This I could not avoid; and now concluded not to undress myself or to loose my saddle-bags from their fastenings, for should I get unhorsed I might lose them and my clothes, which would leave me in an awkward pre. dicament. My guide went first, and I followed. In getting to the bridge I got. thoroughly wet, and my saddle-bags also. But the worst was to come; we had to travel at least a mile up the creek in water, the depth of which could not be known, but my guide went foremost. Sometimes he would get over his depth, and have to swim a few yards as if crossing a drain, and, of course, I had to do the same. At last we arrived at dry land. But he said, as it was not far to the mouth of the creek, he would go with me. Here there was a ferry-boat, but no ferry-man. He put me over the creek again, and then over Tradewater River. I went on until near night (not very long), when I came to a cabin with but one room, but from what I could learn, there was no other that H could reach before night. Asking if I could stay, and being told I could, I, alighted, and stripped my hore e,for every man had to be his own hostler in those days. I would have been thankful for a chance to put on some dry clothes, but I had none, and, therefore, was com- pelled to dry those that were on me by sitting close to the THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 191 fire. My saddle-bags I emptied, and dried everything in them; among the rest, a good many papers which I feared were injured, but they were not. Having recounted to mine host my day^s adventures, 'Ah!" said he, "you have seen nothing yet. Wafit till you pass the Tennessee, and get upon th-flits of Clark's Eiver; there I guess you will see trouble. The family was large, several grown daughters, and we had all to sleep in the same room. It may be wondered how we managed this. When the family were ready to retire, the master of the house asked me to go and see my horse fed, as in a former case; and as is customary. On my return all were in bed, and I pulled off all to my drawers, and was soon ditto. I could have crossed the Cumberland and Tennessee next day, but, according to the advice of the landlord, I stopped on this side of the Tennessee that I might have the -more daylight next day for the flats of Clark. I will here ven- ture to pause a while to pay a passing tribute to the kind- ness of these farmers. My business has thrown me a great deal among them, and I have had occasion to note their kindness of heart and benevolence of disposition. They- seem to be a different species from those raised in cities. Had I asked a man in a large city to direct me anywhere, he would probably do it with some impatience. But here a farmer, from real goodness of heart, stops in his busiest farm- ing season to ride three miles to show me the road for fear I might get lost. And this is not an isolated case. They were of daily occurrence with me in some form. If any people on this earth are the chosen of God, they are our rural peasantry. I never did treat one of them unkindly, and never will. The next day I took the flats of Clark, with instructions to steer due south, for there was no following any path. I did so; and travelled, it seemed to me, four or five miles without seeing one foot of dry land; but go -very level is the page: 192-193[View Page 192-193] 192 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. s. country that I did not go beyond my saddle-skirts in water Sat any time, and got through without getting wet. The next day brought me to Mayfield's Creek, which had overflowed its:banks on the opposite side, and the ferry- boat was tied there almost out of sight. I hallooed a long time in vain; :and finally concluded my only chance was either to swim my horse, or leave him and swim myself to get the boat, bring that over, and take my horse. The lat- ter I determined on. The creek was like a river at this time, and I was not a very expert swimmer, but thought I could accomplish the job. The mosquitoes being very bad, I kept on my shirt, as I should not have done, but for hav- ing to row the boat back. The sleeves filled with water as I jumped in, and caused me fatigue in swimming. I reached the limbs of the trees on the opposite bank with great diffi- culty, and almost exhausted. Here I held on to get rested, the boat being yet a long way off; presently I started again, however; but after going a little distance found I could touch bottom, and then waded on to the boat, which I got into, rowed some distance up stream in the dead water, and then out and over, landing near my horse, who nick- ered me a welcome. I now changed my shirt, put on my clothes, and got my horse into the boat. I was at some loss about fastening him to avoid the danger of his getting overboard, but got a heavy chunk which lay on the shore with a bit of a limb, placed- it in the middle of the boat, and tied him to it. Now I commenced rowing up stream to get, as the sailors term it, an offing, but found it a most fatiguing job, my utmost efforts being scarcely equal to the current of the stream. Tired at last, I turned across, and found myself drifting down much faster than I expected, and my strength failing me. Looking ahead, I saw a ham- per or collection of drift below, which I could not avoid. I laid down my oars, took a look, and saw a channel or clear passage through it, apparently of about twice the width of THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 193 my boat. I had, as I thought, yet time to make it; so I lay to, and pulled like a clever fellow until opposite to it, then turned the boat's head down, and she went through almost like a locomotive. I now turned, and reached the opposite shore about half a mile below where I found the boat. But after passing the bank} the water being dead, I managed by a fatiguing effort to get up to my first starting-point, and beyond it I found a rQoad leading to the Iron Banks. This I took, and by inquiry arrived at Col. Taylor's about sunset of the 19th, the next being the-, one on which he had advertised to commeneehiss survey. Never did Columbus feel more joy at the sight of land when in search of America than I did on getting to the end of my journey; and never did I travel miles which seemed so long as those from lMayfield's Creek to the colonel's. ; The house was a large, double log-cabin, with a separate room in the yard for visitors, and everything as comfortable as the newness of the country would allow of. The fried- chicken, with bacon andqggs for supper, with a cup of hot, rich coffee, seemed a meal for a prince. Oh! what a sauce for a supper is a keen appetite, and how the laboring man after a day's toil enjoys it. The colonel was a hospitable, sensible man; full of kind feelings, and with an intresting family, but buried here ill the wildest forest I ever saw. I wondered that he should ever be willing to leave them alone. He had two sons, how- ever, very able to take care of them. Loneliness was never so thoroughly realized to me as in this situation. It seemed to me ten miles " from anywhere." Upon relating to the colonel the incidents of, my travel, he remarked, he believed he would have hazarded the consequences, and waited until the waters fell. page: 194-195[View Page 194-195] 194 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER XXXVIII. A BEAR STORY-MEET A COUNTERFEITER----LODGE AT i CONYICT'S' HOUSE-HSTORY OF THE COUNTERFEITERS. ABOUT nine o'clock I retired to bed-the only good comfortable beld which I had had since I left Henderson. Before I got tosleep I heard a sudden squeel from a hog, which continued most frightfully, gradually lessening as if the hog was being carried away. Curious to know the meaning of it, I bounced out of bed, put on my clothes, and went out. :There the colonel and his servants were whistling for the dogs, and the. sons having got their rifles ready, we went in. pursuit ot a very large bear, which had come over the fence into the yard, and taken off a half-grown hog. The dogs got after him, ani'kept so about him that, in the dark, the young men were afraid to shoot for fear of killing them, and the bear finally got away unhurt, leav- ing the poor hog with some two r three mouthifuls taken out of his rump, but he yet alive. .The bear does not stop to kill its .prey, but commences eating it while yet alive. This was the most daring thing I ever saw. i-Why, he might as likely have gotten hold of some member of the family! The next day, on examining his tracks, they said he was one of the largest bears they ever saw, and that he would have weighed 500 pounds. This was a sort of liberty by the gentleman of the forest which I considered decidedly too familiar. The next day, all things being arranged, the colonel and myself proceeded on our surveying expedition; the chain-men and marker having been engaged to meet us near where we were to begin. On our road we met a man, who spoke THE PILOT OF HUMlAN LIFE. 195 kindly to the colonel; but the colonel, considering his uni- form kindness of manner, I thought was not as cordial to- wards him as I should have expected, and I asked who he was. "That," said the colonel, "is one among the chiefs of the counterfeiters.", "Chiefs of the counterfeiters?J I re- joined. "Yes," said he; i all the counterfeiters of the west nearly are congregated in this district. We have not yet population sufficient to take them, and they roam at large, perfectly secure and fearless/' A" I remarked," said I, " that gou were rather cold- in returning his- salutation." "Was I?" he rejoined; "well I; did not intend- to be so; I cannot yet -afford to excite the 1nmity of those--fellows, for there is no telling what- they would do, -if you once arouse their'malice. They will be less disposed to harm tie, as they think, being a government officer, if they were to do so, it would arouse the State to send a-force sufficient'tho over- power them. While I am- ivil to them, I think I am safe, but- I have no wish to excite their en-mity.'" {{4And do you know," I asked, -"who they are?" 'We have a pretty good idea," he replied; "but there is no telling how far their ramifications go} there are men who-are not engaged in actually- counterfeiting, who nievertheless deal with them,- buy their money, and pass it off, and ther are interested in befriending them. It would bedangerous-to speak against them to any but such persons as you-know. You might, ignorantly, speak to a man concerned with them, and then the eyes of all would be upon you-you would be safe nowhere." We, after a while, arrived at our point of beginning, and having agreed upon the mode of surveying the entries, com- menced them. - We stopped about an hour before night to have time to hunt lodgings, the chain-men and marker, with instructions to meet about an hour by sun next day, going one way, and we another. We had eaten no dinner, and were very keenly set. We called at a cabin, the most page: 196-197[View Page 196-197] 196 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. miserable hovel I could conceive of, and the colonel asked for lodgings. No one was at home but a boy about ten years old. He said they werse out of meal, and could give us none to eat, Wye had then to go a mile further to where the colonel said there was another cabin. When we had left this, he remarked he had no very great relish for that place anyhow. "No," I replied, " it is the least attractive dwelling for a human being to live in that, I think, I have seen." CAs to that," said the colonel, "we will not meet with much better; but the fellow who lives there is a con- vict just out of the penitentiary." "My God," said I, "and would you have lodged in such a fellow's cabin V hy, he answered, " it is a tolerably tough case; but sooner than starve, and lie out in the woods, subject to be eaten by the bears and wolves, I would." Having arrived at the next cabin, pretty much fatigued, and very hungry, although it was not much better look- ing, yet, getting used to a thing goes a great way, I felt much relieved. But on the colonel's asking if they could give us lodgings, he was answered that the house was full; bnd, besides, they had no corn for our horses. Here was a dilemma again. "Well," said he, "can, we get a lit- tle meal from: you?" They answered we could. "Mr. T.," said the colonel, if you have a clean handkerchief, will you' hand it out?--mine is not clean." I got one out of my saddle-bags, and handed it over to be filled with meal, enough for our supper and breakfast, and, having received it, said, "Well, colonel! which way now?" Turning his horse, and I with him, he answered, "Those are the only two cabins within our reach. We have no alternative but to go to the one we have just left, and it is now some time in the night." My horror was extreme at such an idea. I asked if there was no help for it. -"None," replied he, "but to sleep in the woods; and -then we have nothing for our horses to eat." "But," I rejoined, "they have probably nothing THE PILOT OF HFUMAN LIFE. -197 where we are going."' "Yes," remarked the colonel; "I saw :some corn, in 'a crib.": After a -while we arrived, and told the boy we had come -back to stay with' him, to- which he-agreed. I 'did not learn whether he wag the -convict's son or not; I :rather :think not, however. He could not' tell whether the mani of the house would be at- home or hot that' night. "CGod grant he may not!" said I to the colonel, as the boy went out to get some wood to kindle a fire. "I don't know," said the 4aopnel ; "as to being harmed by him, we would be safer' if he were here. The fellow would never think of irnjuring us in his own house, when it was known he was at home; but he might- return at night, and, seeing our horses in the pen, steal them, and expect to lay the theft on some one else." 'On my expressing a fear that- he would do this, the colo- nel r;emarked he should- take' occasion tho tell ;the - boy who he was; theli convict would be sure to'inquire-of-the boy, and "they all believe it is best to let me anid mine alone. While we are togetheri therefore, I' do' not think there' is anything to apprehend; ,but Hwould not advise you to lodge in- this region when alone." The fire having been made, the boy undertook to bake our bread for us in a little oven, which he produced, and then, looking up the chimney, which was his ineat-house, he took down a, venison ham placedI there to smoke. Though a dry meal, being very hungry, we made a pretty hearty supper. And now we were for bed. There ,was no sign of a bed in the house, but a pile of bear-skins and deer-skins in one corner of the room. The boy pulled out, and spread on the -floor, hair up, a couple of bear-skins, and laid a deer-skin on top of each; and on these we lay down to sleep, with our saddle-bags for pillows. The colonel was in five minutes dead to all outward cares-nort so with me; I could not sleep so soundly under circumstances so novel. The colonel lay between me and the fire, and pre- sently I heard him snuffling aud'd blowing at the nose. I 1 7* page: 198-199[View Page 198-199] 198 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. concluded he was dreaming, but he continued it with increasing energy, until I rose up and looked over to see what was the matter, for he lay with his face to the fire; and there I saw a little pig rooting at the colonel's -nose.- The sight caused me to burst into a fit of laughter; and I was for driving off the pig, yet concluded I would wait and see how long the colonel would bear it. But he was dead asleep; it seemed nothing would wake him, and, for fear the pig might take hold of his nose with his teeth, I drove him off, when he went out at a hole which had been burnt in the corner of the chimney, which was built of logs. I got up and moved the unburnt chunks up against this hole, to keep him from returning. I could not go to sleep, weary and tired as I was, for the boy did not come into the cabin to go to bed, and I could not conceive the reason, not having noticed that there was any other room. But in the morning I found there was a little house, about ten feet square, back of the one we slept in, in which the boy had slept. As I lay reflecting on things around me, I could not help exclaim- ing to myself, "My conscience, what a country is this for a decent man to live in!"In time exhausted nature gave way, I fell asleep, and so continued until awaked in the morning by the colonel. When I told him of the pig adventure, he seemed much amused, and said when he was tired and lay down to sleep, it took a good deal to awake him. I asked him how he could live in such a country. He remarked he had a large family, and wanted to have plenty of land for them. "Be- sidles," said hbe, "it is not in the nature of things for this condition to continue long; soon good settlers will come in and drive those fellows off-like the bears and the wolves, they clear out as civilization approaches." The event proves that he was right; for, now, the population is very good, the inhabitants kind and hospitable. But it was a long time before those counterfeiters vanished; and they did incalcu- lable mischief while they remained. Many a boat-load of THE PILOT OF, HUMAN LIFE. 199 produce was purchased by them with their spurious mo- ney, and the vendors would only know their loss when afterwards they would attempt to pass their money. There was no use in trying to get redress; a majority of the population-were their friends. They were finally, however, compelled to retire as an honest population came in, and they went to Wolfe Island. At last they were driven from there, and went to some island several hundred miles lower down the Mississippi, where they became more daring and desperate-often enticing in boats to trade, murdering the crews, and taking possession of the cargoes. There was some difficulty, too, in detecting them, for, in the first place, it is ten to one, if the boat were seen there, whether any one would suspect anything wrong; and if they did, and went with a force sufficient to overcome them, they would see the boat, perhaps a part of the cargo; the claimants would say they had purchased it of men who had taken their pay, and gone down or up the river. If the men were -mur- dered, their bodies would be thrown at night into the river, to float a hundred miles or so, before they would be dis- covered-if discovered at all. But there is an old saying, on the Mississippi, that A that river never gives up its dead. They sink, never to rise again." The cause of this is said to be the quantity of sediment in the water, which settles upon the clothes, or in the dead man, and keeps himn down. Many an ansious father, or mother, or wife, has looked for the return of the son or husband, who has gone down with a cargo made up by all of his earnings, perhaps for years, who has never returned and whose-death has been charged to cholera or yellow fever among strangers, but who was robbed and murdered by this gang. Their outrages however, became finally so evident that a company was made up at some town on the Mississippi, which went to the island, surrounded it, and executed every man upon it. This seems to have closed their career. I have page: 200-201[View Page 200-201] 200' THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. heard nothing of any such since. e This summary justice may seem harsh to some; but in a country'where the laws can- not be made to reach the evil, there seems no alternative. These fellows n6ver could be punished by law, proof to con- viet them never could be obtained, and if an outraged publid, under such circuinstances, sooner than, submit to having their fellow-citizens thus murdered with impunity, should take justice into their-, own hands, the necessity for' the act is rather to be regretted than the act itself. It may seem strange that any law-abiding man should be willing to tole- rate violence unsahctioned by the law. But what is to be done? Self-preservation demands their extirpation, and the law will not, or cannot do it. Are these fellows to be allowed to continue their murders because they manage to evade the law? There were the Harps and Masons in Union County, Kentucky, who forted Ithemselves in on the Ohio River, be- fore steam-boats commenced running, and had a company so strong thdat no force, which could be raised in the county, could& take them:. They began by levying tribute upon-every boat which passed- down the Ohio, for they even had can- non. The tribute which they levied was small, and evinced at first an uncommon moderation for freebooters, and no step was taken to: conquer them; but, finally, they became 'more daring, and murdered some of the citizens of the county-- among the rest a young girl. Her father now determined never-to rest until he had his revenge. Those fellows had the country under such- fear of them that they would go out trading, and transacting business, notwithstanding their out- lawed conduct. They believed the settlers would not at- tempt to arrest them for fear of the consequences. This man, whose daughter was murdered, watched continually to catch some of them out of their fort, and, at last, caught the Big Harp (there were two, called Big and Little), meeting him in the road, being between Harp and his fort. Harp. saw him at some distance, and knew his danger. He turned THE -PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 201 and put spurs to his horse, which was a very fleet one; the father had also provided himself with a fleet horse, and Harp did not gain much upon him; but the father could not shoot with any assurance of killing him, unless very close, and, if he missed, he was then in Harp's power. So he con- tinued to pursue him, and they run in this way a great dis- tance, but the father's horse was rather the best bottom, and he finally overtook Harp, and shot him. j But he did not fall, yet it was evident he was hit, though he stuck to his horse, still being pursued relentlessly, until. finally he fell. - The father now dismounted to dispatch him; Harp told him he should not resist him; but, if he would bring him a little water, he might kill him. He lay near a tree. The father lifted him to, and set him up against it; and then went a little way to a branch, from which, in the brim of his hat, he carried Harp some. water, and, while he was drinking, re- loaded his rifle, and shot him. Then, with his knife, such as all hunters carried, cut off his head, and stuck it on a pole at a fork of the road between Henderson and Miadison- ville, which place, from that circumstance, was called, and is to this day, "Harp's Head." A novel has been written on this- event, called "Harp's Head." These men now found they would have to quit the country, and did so, scattering their forces; some went down about the Iron Banks, where they were hunted and killed, and the rest, it is believed, shared pretty much the same fate., Since then' no such piracies have been known on the Ohio. - But it was only last year that a finish of them was made on the Mississippi. To return to my narrative: After making the best break- fast our means would allow of, we paid the boy and prepared to resume our surveying, our convict-host not having made his appearance. The details of our progress would be needless; suffice it to say, it was soon found, as we agreed on the mode in which the surveys ought to be made, to conform to the entries, my page: 202-203[View Page 202-203] O2 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. further presence' was deemed needless and I tools my de- parture. The way in- which the' things of 'this world go by accident or fashion" is illustrated by the: settlement of this country. Here are to be found some lands as rich as any in the world, below obstruction by low water or ice, and from which the produce can be got to market When it cannot be from the Ohio, and the land here can even at this-day be purchased at from $3 to $5 per acre, which would cost on the'Ohio River from $20 'to $50. This is, in a measure, owing to the fact that the stream of emigration has neveir yet been directed to: this point, because of the original character of the population. :'That population is-allgon, but the recolle:- tion of it has a deadening effect. CH AP TER, X XXIX. PLAN FOR A NEW SETTrEMENT -TRIP TO THE YELLOW BANKS. IF some dozen families would contribute $1000 each; ' and employ an agent to lay it out judiciously in this section, all in one body, divide the same into as many parts as there were contributors, and sell the same at auction among them- selves for common benefit, reserving, however, a school'tract in a central position, say of 200 acres, they would overcome the existing obstacle to the lands rising in value, to wit: the presumed want of society. The first choice could be offered at auction to the highest ]idder, then the second, and so on. All the fund raised in this way over and above cost might be laid out in adjoining lands for the benefit of the society THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 203 and Iventure to say that the lands so settled would soon rise in value from 500 to 1000 per cent. As it is society, mainly, which gives value to lands in the west, I wonder that there are not more combinations of this kind. Suppose a family designs moving to Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, or any western State; such is the general emigration west, that, by a little pains, such a club could be formed, and derive great mutual benefit from the combination. It is the only kind of socialism wher y man ill be nleft free to enjoy the benefit of his own capital, his own industry, and his own good management and intelligence, and conse- quently the only kind which is feasible and practicable. But those who own slaves could not find a better region than this for such a settlement, the -lands are owned by individuals, and if credit was desirable it could generally be obtained, thereby enabling the purchaser to provide much more land than he otherwise could. The passage of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad through this country is also to add greatly to its value. While, in taking leave of Col. Taylor, I left with regret a man whose short acquaintance had won much on myy esteem, I confess I felt gratified at the idea of getting into a region- where more personal comfort was to be found. About ten miles on my road, I came to where there seemed to have been a small Indian settlement-no house or inclos- ure; but a small opening in a dense forest;- Here, stopped for a moment to contemplate the change. Nature all around never had a wilder. aspect to me, rendered the more palpable by the presence of this little opening, or prairie. .There was not a bird, nor a squirrel, nor a living thing to disturb the awful silence which prevailed among thb huge forest trees. I threw my right leg over the pommel of the saddle,.and so sat, enjoying the lonely solitude, when the sudden cracking ' of the sticks upon the ground caught my ear, and the next moment I found myself flat upon the earth. The bounding of page: 204-205[View Page 204-205] 204 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. a deer past had scared-my horse, caused him to jump from under' me, and leave me prostrate. Away he went, wildly through the woods, I knew not where. Rising up and look- ing around, I now felt my loneliness in reality-not even my horse to keep me' company, and in a region infested by -bears and wolves in abundance; very probably this deer might be fleeing from their pursuit. Upon the possibility of such an event, I sought a small tree to climb-too small for the grasp of a bear, by the- side of which I stood, ready to mount if occasion should require. Here I felt inclined to adopt the exclamation of the fellow who, being shipwrecked at sea, saved himself in n open boat; but this being upset, he got upon her bottom, and was likely to be washed off by every wave that came, when he exclaimed- "Hail Columbia, happy land! If I ain't ruined; I'll be hanged." Pursuit was needless; I could not tell which way he would go; so here I stood, not knowing what to do, when I heard a galloping in a different direction, and presently my horse came dashing back to the spot which he had left me at, but not finding me, he gave a violent snort, when I walked towards him, and he came to me, so that I got bold of his bridle. The wildness of the country doubt- less frightened him, and he came back for protection. I now mounted him and pursued my journey. The waters being down, I reached the Yellow Banks without any diffi- culty, and put up at Mrs. Adams's tavern-my old stopping- place ; and although she had not a brick chimney to her house, she had everything very neat and tidy, and her meals well cooked; indeed, everything as good and comfortable as her means would admit of, and three pretty daughters to set off the whole--to advantage. THX PI-LOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 205 CHAPTER XL.. STORY OF MSS RHODY SEHERMAHORN. HERE I met with Col. Lowry, from Virginia, who hiad been down on the Cumberland River to hunt up some lands of his. 'Well, sir/' said I, " you found an awfully rough couantry?" "Oh, not at all," said he; "you found the Iron Banks country rough, I suppose; but I was in the centre of fashion and gayety." "Ah!"I remarked,-"I was not aware there were any -such settlements in that region." "Oh, bless your heart," he rejoined; "why, sir, I found myself behind the times!-' late,' as the negroes- say in my country. I found I 'didn't know nothing, and always did,' when I got -there. I was at a ball, where all the intelligence and fashion of the country were assembled-a brilliant affair it was, too." "Indeed!"I continued. "Oh, yes, sir, and the belle of the evening was a dashing girl, I tell you." "You have reached the condition of brick chimneys,/then?" said I. "'Why, not quite," he remarked; "but we had the floor very well rammed, until it was as hard and smooth as a treading-floor." Ah!"I remarked now comprehending his waggery. "Yes," he continued, "and I had a. friend there who was very much disposed to make a lion of me, and so took me up to introduce me to the belle. She was, as I said, a famous girl. Oh, she was dressed to kill; she had on both shoes and stockings; and indeed most of them wore shoes, and were the kindest-hearted creatures in the world*.. If one was asked to dance who had no shoes, one who had. would take them off and lend them to her. I saw -my friend looked very self-complacent, and proud, of every- page: 206-207[View Page 206-207] 206 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. thing around him--indeed, his looks very plainly told me that he supposed we had nothing like that in old Virginia; and mine as plainly answered nothing, for I thought they took the shine off the ginger-cake. Feeling anxious to take a hand in the next break-down, I asked this friend of mine to introduce me to the belle. I felt smitten by her at first sight. She was a splendid girl, I tell you; she wore a splendid calico dress, full of peacocks and game-fowls on it, and all other things to correspond. Oh, she was dressed to kill, and her eyes were so bright that it made a fellow almost sneeze to look her in the face. We approached her sitting on a bench, in all the conscious pride of undivided power. 'Miss Shimmyhorn,' said he (Miss Ithody Sherma- horn was her name, pronounced there Shimmyhorn), 'let me introduce you to my-friend Colonel Lowry, of Virginia.' She looked perplexed, and made no answer., Supposing she did not understand, he repeated the request, when she uttered a very emphatic ' No, sir!' -1 being very much embarrassed, retired, and omy friend with me. 'What does this -mean?' said I. 'I can't understand it,' he replied; I there's some- thing wrong-a screw loose somewhere; I will endeavor to find out,' said he to :me before going; 'she is somewhat spoiled here; she is the great toast among us, and is very punctilious, and I apprehend she imagines we have violated some rule of etiquette: however, I will soon find out.' So he went up to her, and said: ' Miss Rhody, will you do me the favor to inform me why you refused to be introduced to my friend Col. Lowry?' She looked at him with a manifesta- tion of- scorn, and said: 'John Shanks, you ain't got no manners, and never did have any!' 'Why, Miss Rhody!' said he; i I assure you I am unconscious of having offended you; please inform me in what I have done it.' 'Why,' said she, you fool! do you think I have become so brazen- faced as to let him kiss me here before all the- company? No, he sha'n't do that, if he is Col. Lowry of Virginia!' and THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 207 here being asked to dance, she bounced up, and my friend came to report the result to me. Well, thinks I, so much for not understanding the etiquette of society here. I said to my friend: ' What shall 1 do? I wish- to dance with some of those girls.' I Very well,' he replied, ' lay aside your- city fashions, and go and ask 'em,' So I laid aside my city fashions, and enjoyed myself very much, and even danced with Miss Rhody, whom I found very affable, and I apolo- gized for asking the introduction when I did, saying I would take it after the ball was over. 'Very well,' she replied, with an arch smile; ' there is a season for all things.'" We all laughed heartily at this relation of his ball adven- tures, and I found him a man of infinite humor and fun, with whose society I was much entertained while we were together. CH APTER XLI. THE A--- SETTLEMENT. SETTING-Out for Frankfort, I had to call on- my way at P--'s 32,400 acre survey to do some business there. Along-side of this survey was a settlement of five or six Vir- ginia families, made as I have advised at the Iron Banks, chiefly of the A--s, an intelligent, refined, and -hos- pitable people. Here I found it very convenient to stop a day or two, in my passages to and fro; the only objection was the difficulty in getting away. There is a heartfelt, genuine sincerity in the character of these old Virginians which is truly delightful. They are generally improvident and uncalculating, and will have good dinners, fox-hunts, and races at any -cost, and regardless of consequences. Such page: 208-209[View Page 208-209] 208 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. was the case here to some extent, but not with all. There was one who, with all his fine Virginia feelings, had a keen eye for the future, and took especial care not to let the end of any one year find him worse' off than he was at the be- ginning. He had two beautiful daughters, neither-grown, the eldest probably fourteen. They had seen but little of: society, and yet how charmingly refined their manners were! Their very mode of dressing, of tucking up their hair, of handling the ivory netting-needle, of sewing, every movement about them showed, in racer's phrase the "Diomede blood." Neither the log-cabin nor rags could have obscured their gentle raising. It was ingrained in their nature. An evi- dence of this I had many years after the time I am now writing- of, for this delightful settlement in time became scattered. The gentleman I have just been speaking of died. His daughters married, and sons went into business. Another also died; and a third, whose wife died, afterwards married again. He was what in the West is termed a whole- souled fellow; that is, a man who will lend his name without sufficiently calculating the consequences; the effect of which was that he had finally to sell- out. But he too had a family of beautiful daughters, one of whom only it became my for- tune to know. She was probably not in existence at the time I have been writing of, but was the daughter of his first wife; and finding, when she came to years of discretion, that her father could not support her, she determined to take a school and support herself. I was driving one morning into the town of New Haven, in the county of Nelson, a very- -small village, with an honest, industrious population, but no sign of fashion about it. On the opposite side of' the street from the hotel at which I stopped, I saw a young lady enter a store. Her air; grace, and the tout ensemble about her sa- tisfied me she did not belong- there. There was something remarkable about her, and I asked the hotel-keeper who she was. He answered she was a young lady who was keeping THE PILOT OF HUMAN -LIFE. 209- school a few miles in the country. I remarked she was a lady; I could see it in her every movement. "Yes," said the keeper, " she is a Miss A----, from -Breckenridge County." a What!" said I. He repeated the answer, and mentioned whose daughter she was. "Why, I knew her father well; have been a hundred times at his house. How came she here?"He then gave me her history, and said, "poor though she was, she had been courted by one of their wealthiest farmers, and had refused him; that he was not a man of education, but very well to do in the world." "Humph!" said I. "Well, sir, you must introduce me to her." He said she would call at his house presently, which she did- going into the private part of the house, and we went in. On being introduced, I told her I was an old ac- quaintance of her father's. She said she had often heard him speak of me. I found her very intelligent, interesting, and beautiful, and withal cheerful, and resigned to her lot. Upon inquiring of her how she spent her leisure hours, she replied she had not many of them; but with a sweet laugh, as if the thing were ridiculous, she answered, among other things she was trying her hand as an authoress. What a pity, thought I, that some clever fellow, all things suiting, could not have you for a wife. I left her with a feeling of regret. 18* page: 210-211[View Page 210-211] 210 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER XLII. PURCHASE OF MASON---SECOND SALE OF LAND AT THE YELLOW BANKS-TRIP TO VIRGINIA. BUT how I am wandering! Yet ever so from childhood's hour a pretty girl could always attract me. But to return. In the neighborhood I have been speaking of, I met with Major Richard B. Mason, of the United States-Army, who was related to the A----s, and was staying with them. lHe held the legal title to the claims at the Yellow Banks, which interfered -with Ross and Mays. He proposed to exchange his claim there for 1200 acres of the P. survey, and though I was not authorized to exchange lands, I concluded to do it, and charge myself with the land exchanged at valu- ation, and take the claim myself, which I had been sent to Washington to compromise, and to complete that arrange- ment. But finally, finding what I got was a great bargain for what I gave, I concluded, in order to avoid all ground of cen- sure, I would turn it over to the P- s. I was now ready for a third land-sale, and so advertised on my arrival in Frankfort. In due time this took place with a very large company, and although the lands, compared with present prices, sold very low, yet with prices as then ranging, they sold uncommonly well. J. L. M ,-one of the chief owners, who was present, said they went far beyond his expectations. This was in consequence of the low price at which the lands had gone at the previous sales. Persons expected to be supplied at similar rates, but, more attending than could be supplied, it was evident some must return landless, and so the bidding was very spirited. I purchased more than THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 2" twenty years afterwards some of the property sold at that sale for -less than it cost; and sold- twenty years after, for less than cost and interest, some which I bought at that sale. My commissions, amounted, I think, as well as I can recollect, to over six thousand dollars, though now B-- came in for one-fourth. After he had lived with me one year without any agreement about salary, I directed him to credit himself with one thousand dollars, and then told him I would give him one-fourth of the future profits of the busi- ness in lieu of salary; this was before the sale. I now prepared to go to Virginia for- another general set- tling up. I never liked more than two years to pass with- out clearing the decks, paying up, and getting clear receipts. This had a good effect. It kept me familiar with those for whom I was doing business, inspired them with confidence, and enabled me to make acquaintances from whom I got fresh business; although I now had as much as I could do, and my income for the last year-had been much greater than any previous year. On starting in, I took letters of introduction from J. J. Crittenden to Henry Clay, which I did not deliver, however, until passing through Washington on my return trip. My first step on reaching Virginia was to go to Norfolk to see my mother, who seemed to think me on the high-road to fortune. She was an excellent mother, and told-me many things of value. While in Norfolk, I met with Miss P---, a beautiful and fascinating girl, a great belle, and very rich. Her- sister, Mrs. T----,was an old acquaintance of mine. I spent much time with Miss P--, but I had in my own mind a destiny to fulfil, and I would not allow myself to fall in love. Returning to Richmond, I settled up with all claimants there, and then went to Amelia, where Judge Bouldin was holding court, and closed with him, thence to Petersburg, and- closed with every one there. Now being free to enjoy myself, I again returned to Richmond, there page: 212-213[View Page 212-213] 212- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. had an interview with Governor Tyler in regard to the mili- tary surveys) and my action on them. I had addressed the Legislature of Kentucky, with a view to obtain permission to' lay the unlocated warrants, but unsuccessfully. The. governor was satisfied with my course. But there was now a blank in my enjoyments-the lovely F. L-- was out of town. CHAPTER XLIII. MEET WITH MSS P---. AFTER a little while, I concluded to go to Norfolk again, and started down on the steam-boat "Petersburg," in com- pany with two acquaintances, Lieutenants Kennon and Mc- Grudor, of the United States Navy, two noble fellows, as all our naval officers are. The day was beautiful, and we en- joyed it much. On arriving at City Point, I heard the cap- tain tell one of the stewards to " heave ahead" and bring in General P----'s baggage. I was acquainted with the gene- ral, and was glad to find he was coming on board, for he had always a smile of welcome to his friends, with a sunshine of benevolence on his countenance, which told that he was in peace with all human nature, and yet with a firmness and resolution as determined as Andrew Jackson's. The reso- lutions of censure against General Jackson for hanging Ar- buthnot and Ambrister came up while General P---- was in Congress, and he was one out of only fifteen who voted for them. Afterwards, when General Jackson was elected President, General? , being then Marshal of Virginia, under an appointment from Mr. Monroe, presuming,- of course, as all the opponents of General Jackson were to be removed, as was understood, he would' be among the fore- THE PILOT OF HUMAN-LIFE. 2183 most, sent in his commission; but it was returned to him with a complimentary letter from General-Jackson, hoping he would- continue to serve. Now came the general on board with a young lady under his arm. It was his daughter V--, to whom he intro- duced us all three. She was fourteen years of age, spare made, but very symmetrical, in a travelling-dress, with the fairest skin I almost ever saw, the rose and lily beautifully mingling; with bright hazel eyes, a nose a verylittle arched, or Roman; a mouth exquisitely sweet and beautiful, of such a classic chiselling that the- most fastidious painter or sculptor would be satisfied with it as a model; the chin in corre- spondence, and the forehead fair and capacious. Her hair was of a rich auburn, and beautifully glossy. I thought I had never seen so pretty a thing in human shape, and had no idea that a mere child could haveemade such an impression on me. Her manners were easy and self-possessed. There was nothing childish about her but her age.- She had the refinement of a Virginia country lady accustomed to city so- ciety. There was no mannerism, no pretence, nothing but the natural well-bred lady about her. If I were to search the world for a lovely woman,: the loveliest of- her sex, I would seek her from a refined country family in Virginia or Kentucky. It is there, in the country, that you will find re- finement and good sense, which sees everything through a natural medium, and is superior to- the affectations of .the conventional fashions of the day. Oh, there is something of lovely originality, freshness, and purity in such acharacter, which charms on first sight. 'Her mind was, if possible, more lovely than her person. She had evidently read a great deal for a girl of fourteen, and of substantial reading, -had well digested it, and made it a part of her own mind . Without the least pedantry or vanity, she had a distinct opinion upon any named subject, and :expressed herself with ease, in chaste, beautiful, and appropriate language. I was attracted by her page: 214-215[View Page 214-215] 214 THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. on her first entering upon the boat, and continued in con- versation with her until we landed in Norfolk, where I saw her to her boarding-house, and promised to call next day. On going to my brother's and Major S---'s (they married sisters, and the gentlemen. and their wives were all so at- tached to each other that they lived in the. same house as one family, until' the size of their families made it necessary to separate. I doubt whether another instance of such har- mony and affection could -be anywhere, found), I related my adventures on the way down, and described Miss P-- . lMy sister-in-law and Mrs. S-- both laughed heartily. "Well, R.," said they, " you surely are in love at last. None but a lover could dress up poor human nature as your fancy has ketched Miss? / ." "When you see her," said I, " you will not call it a fancy sketch." The next day they visited her with me. On returning, Mrs. S. said, "R., I am as much in love with her as you are; I do not think you have exaggerated at all." My sister-in-law rejoined," Not a bit, not a particle. She is the loveliest little thing I ever saw. And, oh! so re- 'fined and intelligent. Oh! you have my consent, boy; I'm clear for it. But, I tell you, she's not going to Kentucky. . You must come to Virginia if you get her." I replied, "It would be time enough to settle that question three or four years hence, when she was grown." While we were visiting Miss P--, Miss?--r came in to/ see her, and spent about an hour. In the course of theday afterwards, I called on Miss? r, and, during our conversation, made some remark, a little touched with gallantry "Oh, look here/" said she; " none of that now, if you please. I have seen enough this morning to satisfy me-; if I ever had any hopes of-you, they are now at an end;- Miss P-- has you secure in her net. I never saw a& poor fellow so far gone in so short a time." V Why," I replied, "she is a mere child " to which she answered, "Child, or no child,- she has, you fast." THE PILOT OF H-UMAN LIFE. 215 General? was now iinvited on board some of our ships-of-war, to Old Point Comfort, and I with theme; and we spent several days delightfully, r believing that my atten- tions were by no means unacceptable. - After about a -week, General P-- returned to Petersburg, and I should have gone with them but for my unwillingness to acknowledge that I was captivated by such a mere child. Nevertheless, she was not such a mere child but that she could see the fact, and I could see that she was disappointed when she found I was not going. Having a niece, however, living in Petersburg, Mrs. Wm. H. cF --, I had a good excuse to go there, followed in a few days, and, on my arrival, found. Miss P at Mr. M-- 's. She 'seemed evidently gratified to see me, and said she was afraid she had seen me for the list time.' I replied she would forfeit one of the high attributes I had allotted her, sincerity, if I thought she expected me to believe her; that she, unfortunately for me probably, saw deeper into my feelings than it was prudent for me she should. The next day Miss R --, a beautiful girl, and herself, pro- posed a ramble to the Appomattox. I alone went with them. We went out into the river Upon the rocks, jumping over 'the gushing waters from rock to rock, where I would often have to jump down to a lower rock to receive them, and was not such a pilot as-to select the smoothest passages, but those where most help would be needed, and a delightful ramble it was. The moss-covered rocks, and roaring waters in among them, foaming, dashing, and plunging, with those two young innocents, like fawns skipping over them--it was a scene for a painter. Several days I spent in Petersburg, and my niece discovered my partiality; like my friends in Norfolk, guarded me against committing myself, saying : "She would never go to Kentucky, and, if she would, that I should have the oppo- sition of all her friends to encounter." I replied, "-She was too young for me to think,of courting her; that was out of page: 216-217[View Page 216-217] *216 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the question now. What a few years might bring around I did not know." On the day of my departure, I went to take leave of her, at Battersea, Judge M-- 's residence, where she made her home while in Petersburg, her father living about sixteen miles in the country. She asked me how long it would be before I would return to Virginia. I replied, about two years. "By which time," she continued, "you will have forgotten us all." "You hardly think so, I imagine?"I replied. "Well," said she, "we shall often think of you, and you must not forget us." "-Never," I replied; "I can never forget you." On taking leave, my vanity induced me to think she looked sorrowful. On arriving in Richmond, I related all nmyadventures to G-- . I now prepared to take my final departure,-going around among my relatives and friends. Mrs. P---, a cousin, charging me to take, care of -that bewitch-. ing Miss Shermahorn; having, on my first arrival, related Colonel Lowry's adventures, but pretending that I was my- self the hero, and to her infinite amusement. CHAPTER XLIV. VISIT TO JUDGE BROOK-FIRST INTERVIEW WITH MR. CLAY-HIS NATIONAL POLICY--THE ERROR OF VIRGINIA IN OPPOSING IT. i ON my way out, I passed through Fredericksburg, and, a few miles on: the south side, called on Judge B--, the especial friend of Mr. Clay, who was then in nomination for the Presidency. Judge B---- was very warm in his admiration, and sanguine in his hopes; too much so, I thought.' -Iy association in: Richmond had' brought me to a different conclusion. Judge B-- gave me letters to THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 217 Mr. Clay, and such as were calculated to give me his con- fidence. With my relatives in Fredericksburg, I spent a day or two. My aunt, Mrs. S----,- was -a magnificent woman. I was always delighted in her company. fMr. Madison, while President, in passing from W ashington to his resi- dence, in Orange County, always made- Mr. S ' s his stopping-place in Fredericksburg. I doubt not the society of Mrs. S-- had a great attraction for him. And, she had a daughter, not less attractive :to me ; but now my fancy was otherwise filled. 'There was an affection and good feeling prevailing among all the branches of this family, the result of the wise teaching of their mother, which made them all happy, and kept most of them in Fredericksburg, that they might be always together; while most of'their friends have scattered everywhere, sometimes rich, oftener poor, but en- countering all the vicissitudes of fortune, with the anxieties and uneasipesses necessarily consequent thereon; while those of Fredericksburg, occupying a medium ground, never hoping nor caring to be rich, lived always handsomely and plentifully, being content with the affection and society of each other, and the friends around them, discarding ambition and the vain aspirations of the common world; they showed a good sense, self-control, and correct philosophy, which are not com- mon, and are only to be appreciated when we compare their happy, quiet, contented condition, with the restless enter- prise and constantly changing fortunes of their more ambi- tious relatives. I now proceeded on to Washington, and delivered my let- ters of introduction to Mr. Clay. He received me cordially; but somehow, not as I expected; there was a loftiness about him despite of his courtesy which was, I presume, the natural result of a constant association in Washington with men who were- always paying court to him and cringing before him, but which was repulsive to me, and -I was for a little while disappointed. There was a decided elegance and courtliness 19 page: 218-219[View Page 218-219] 218- THEl PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.' of manner, but such a loftiness that-I felt as if I could not get within ten feet of him. I was hurt, not at any disre- spect, but I had such an admiration of the man's character that I wanted to love him, but I felt as if I could not do it, and left him after the first interview-with a feeling of melan- choly. He told me I must call often to see him, while I was in Washington: "Call up at any time, and take my coffee," which I construed to mean, "I have no time for ceremony with one of your years." I was so puzzled and put out by his manner that I made no reply. In my own mind I determined not to go to see him any more. And with this feeling left him, a good deal lowered in my own self-esteem. However, I consoled myself with the con. clusion that I was ignorant of Washington manners, and had only to regret that they were such as would preclude my mixing with its great men. It would be difficult to convey a true idea of my feelings. I admired Mr.- Clay. I believed, him to be the greatest man in our country. I was anxious to have cause- to continue to admire him. He could not intend any disrespect; there was no motive for it. On the contrary, every inducement to the reverse. It was, then, that I was too young to-be considered entitled to any such respect as a visit from him. Perhaps so-perhaps I was, and I began to roompromise the matter that I would still be his friend, but would not repeat my visit. In the evening of the same day, however, while in my room, the servant brought me Mr. Clay's card, saying he was below, wishing to see me. I went down and invited him to my room. He remained about an hour, making in- quiries in regard to Judge Brook, Mr. Crittenden, and his other Kentucky friends, and was altogether a different man from what he was in the morning. His-friendships, sympa- thies, and good feelings for his acquaintances, seemed all to come out. How was this? thought I. The answer suggested itself, that, when I called in the morning, I probably found THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 219 him engaged upon some important State matter, and his mind- could not be released from it while I was with him; and while talking to me, he was thinking of other things. Now he had thrown off those State matters, and was in- his sociable and agreeable humor. He was then -Secretary of State, and I will here take occasion to correct an error which I have seen going, the rounds of the papers, that Mrs. Clay was never in Washington. To my own knowledge she was, for I saw her there. , The conversation turning upon Judge Brook's letter, I remarked, "I feared the judge was over- sanguine." He asked my reasons. I answered: "My as- sociations had probably been more promiscuous than the judge's. I had mixeda good deal with both parties, and I apprehend that Virginia was afraid of his American system. She was odd in her notions, and sometimes took up very un- reasonable ones; but having taken them up, there was great pride of consistency, and -she would adhere to them with great pertinacity. There were men in Virginia who had been in the habit' of controlling public opinion, and who were not willing to be led by others. If they themselves could have originated his system, they would probably have adopted it;- being, however, originated by another,' if they gave in to it, they must play a secondary part, and they would prefer being first in opposition." He seemed a good deal affected at my opinion, and -I regretted having so freely given it, and remarked, " that, however, I might be mistaken, and probably was, for I had not been long in the State, and my opinions were formed from a -short association." "No, sir," said he, ."your opinions are correct, and your advantages for learning public opinion better than those of -older men. Old politicians would speak freely before you, but would be cautious before older men; and as you are not yet old enough to have become hackneyed in the -ways of politicians, you speak the true impressions made upon your mind. Your in- terest and your wishes do not bias your judgment. I would page: 220-221[View Page 220-221] 220 , THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. rather," said he, "rely on your -opinion now, than probably ten years hence." (I presume -he went upon the maxiim that "Fools and children speak the truth.") Mr. Clay seemed always especially anxious for the good opinion of his native State, and hurt that she always opposed him. And this is singular, for all his measures were especially; as I conceive, calculated to advance the interest of Virginia. No State- in the Union has- more latent wealth in the shape of water- power, coal, and iron (Pennsylvania perhaps excepted), only needing the fostering care of the general government to bring them into life, but for want of which, the water-power is wasted, and her minerals lie buried in the earth valueless. His proposition, too, for distributing' the proceeds of the sales of the public lands, was, as I conceive, the wisest mea- sure which he ever originated, although it is least noticed, and, as far as I have seen, entirely omitted in the eulogiums upon his life and public services by those who have under- taken to deliver them. Had that law been permitted to con- tinue, -that fruitful source of demagogueism, the public lands, would have been withdrawn, and with it one of the greatest causes for corrupting the political integrity of the country. Now it is a fund to offer for presidential votes, and is squan- dered in a most- licentious manner, and most partially and unjustly. Virginia,- who originally ceded the greater por- tion of it to the general government, sees millions upon mil- lions of acres ceded to the new States, to make railways and other public improvements, but no part of it comes to her. By Mr. Clay's bill, she would have received about two hun- dred thousand dollars per annum to expend in railways and education, for the condition of the payment was that it should be so expended. This, at the present rate, would have paid interest, probably, on four millions of dollars, which, under a well-managed system, would have distributed railroads throughout the State; -for I would never have railroads to cost over $4,000,000 progressing:at any one time. Let them THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 221 be finished, or a portion of them, before commencing lany more, and go on as fast as the revenues arising from the finished portions would pay interest on further sums to be raised. Thus, when works to the extent of one million were completed, they would probably yield five per cent., which would borrow one million more. Nowj again, start works to that amount, and so on continually extending as, the revenue increased. It is easy to see, if the works were judiciously planned, how, in time, railroads might, by means of this fund, have been made to penetrate every part, and without any ex- pense to the State; developing immeasurable wealth, which must otherwise be buried in the bowels of the earth until the cheap transportation, which railroads would furnish, shall cause a demand for them. The plaster of Paris, in the neigh- borhood of Abingdon, would be a source of great wealth, if it had vent. The southern trade, which would- come by way of the Nashville and Richmond Railroad, if completed, would make Richmond a great manufacturing town. All of those benefits would have resulted from continuing in force the Distribution law. The Old States-the Old Thirteen-which originally ceded the greater part of the public lands, would have obtained their full share of the proceeds of their sales. But no, it must be repealed, and this rich fund squandered in political corruptions. Some argue that the law was un- constitutional! Was it unconstitutional to let all the States share the benefit, but constitutional tcrconfine those benefits to a few? The truth is, it was Mr. Clay's law, and such was the feeling of jealousy prevailing against him, that, sooner than let the country thrive under his direction, his opponents preferred to let her suffer; hence, they repealed one of the very best laws upon the national statute-book.. This feeling was never more clearly evidenced than in the Compromise Laws. Mr. Clay offered one bill embracing them all. This Congress rejected, because the credit of its passage would inure to Mr. Clay. But afterwards they took up the several 19' page: 222-223[View Page 222-223] 222 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. branches of his bill, and, one after another, passed them all, vainly supposing thereby that they would deprive him of the credit of the authorship. - But vain was the hope-the object was too shallow. -He has the credit of it,- and will forever have it. To the same feeling may be traced the general policy of our'country. . It has been not what Mr. Clay's political opponents thought was for its advantage, but what was in: opposition to the measures which he advocated. Among the rest, the improvement of our rivers and harbors by the general government. For the want of this, thousands of lives and millions of property have been annually lost. Why was this? Not because the nation willed it, but be- cause politicians were unwilling to add to the brilliancy of a luminary whose, light already too effectually obscured the lesser stars. No earthly ground could be found for opposing such appropriations but its pretended unconstitutionality. Then the rivers must fill up with snags, navigation cease be- cause of the sublimated scruples of those fastidious politicians who would--ruin their country to avoid the danger of doing what they pretended to consider an unconstitutional: act. Why, what sort of -bumpkins do they suppose our forefathers were, to make a constitution which should prohibit the pas- sage of laws indispensable to the security of our lives and property? Or what was the meaning of that clause which authorized laws necessary "for the public good and general welfare?" But, say they, take this clause literally, and it abrogates the whole of -the restrictions of the constitution. Was it then meaningless? Why was it put in? For the very reason that there -might be cases, beyond the ken of the members of the convention, where it would be indispensable for Congress to have power to act, and this clause was de- signed to give that power in such extreme cases, while the- general tenor of the- constitution -was to be taken as an ex- pression of the meaning -and intention- of the convention. I am far from advocating a licentious construction of the con- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 223 stitution. On the contrary, I am for. construing it strictly, with due respect for good sense. But, according-to my view, the convention never intended to deprive Congress of the right to do an act which the- States could not do, and which the public good required.' Thus, if Congress :could not remove the snags from the Ohio and Mississippi-Rivers, what power can? These rivers divide States throughout their whole course until they come to Louisiana, and for the States to act, the two opposite States, all along the boundary, must form a league, the river belonging to them equally; but this league is prohibited by the constitution, except with the consent -of Congress. -And neither would those States have a right with- out the consent of the others, because the navigation of the river is the common property of all. As I conceive, the constitution cannot be so construed as to annihilate a right of sovereignty. It must exist with the States or the general government. This does not exist with the -States; because, as aforesaid, the constitution prohibits a league among them; therefore, it does exist with the general government. The protective system is another of Mr. Clay's measures, the wisdom of which is shown by its effects on our prosperity, on which it acts as heat on mercury in a thermometer, or as manure upon a meadow; its presence is seen whenever it exists and as it is withdrawn, so go its fertilizing effects. Take one year, at any time after an increase of the tariff, and you will discover an unusual prosperity prevailing; take a year after its decrease, and you will see the evident signs of approaching ruin. d Look to the years '29 and '30, and then the gradual fall- ing off to '42--the grand crisis having arrived in '39. -Then look to the prosperity succeeding '42, until a reduction of the tariff in '46, and the general prostration which im- mediately followed, and which would have resulted in national bankruptcy but for the discovery'of gold in Cali- fornia, which has served to pay up the thirty or forty millions page: 224-225[View Page 224-225] 224 ' THE- PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. of deficit, which would otherwise exist between our imports and'exports. With a command of prosperity unexampled, we have blindly surrendered it all to England. We caom- mand the cotton supply of the world-that of the East Indies, Egypt, and South America being of comparatively little consequence. Our exports of cotton ought to be a clear gain to us, and our imports ought to be paid for by our other exports. But so far from that being the case, it takes all our cotton, and from thirty to forty millions of our California gold to bal- ance our imports. Such would not have been the case, had the policy of Henry Clay prevailed ; and it would have pre- vailed, had he not been the author of it. It is said there is no evil without an accompanying good.. While Mr. Clay's death has caused a mourning through the nation among his friends, it is to be hoped that it will now quiet hostility to his measures among his opponents, and that they will set themselves to work for their country's good. Time will unfold his value, and show to his country how ungratefully she has treated him. But alas! while this may be a consolation to his posterity, it is of no avail now to him. CHAPTER XLV. NECESSITY FOR CHARTTABLE FEELINGS-FUR'TIEni - BTEMA RKS UPON MR. CLA'S -CHARACTER. EVENTS in my after life showed how uselessly sensitive I had been at our first meeting, for my own business threw me into positions where I needed more the charity of others than he did: of mine. On one occasion, going into a store in Owensboro', I met an old gentleman named Mosely, to THE- PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 225 whom I spoke familiarly, who did not answer -me, but turned off to the young man behind the counter, and commenced buying some goods. Thinking this singular, I renewed my efforts to draw him into conversation, when he turned- to me and remarked: "Mr. T - . I like my acquaintances to be the same to me always; I do not like a man to speak to me when it suits his convenience, and when it does not,' to refuse to do so." "Do these remarks apply to me.?" said I. -"Yes," he answered; "not an hour ago I spoke to you as you came from Bristow's Corner, and you would not condescend to no- tice me." ' I do not recollect it,' I replied. "Yes, sir," ho continued; "you looked me full in the -face." "Now I do remember!"I observed, "as in -a dream. I remember it, Mr. M1 ? and must ask credit from you for Sincerity, when I tell you that still I was not conscious of seeing'you;. my mind was deeply absorbed at the- time, and I saw you as a somnambulist would. If I had designed refutsing to return your salutation then, I should not seek it now." Some friends who were by remarked that it had been noticed by several of my friends that I would 'sometimes pass them in the streets and not notice them, and soon after meet them with the utmost familiarity, which they had attributed to absence of mind. ' Or rather," said I, ' to the mind being turned inward, and was for. a time insensible to outward objects; I am glad, however," I remarked, ' that you have acquainted me with this foible ; it is a serious one, which I shall endea- vor to correct." And I did so to a great extent, even carry- ing the thing to an opposite extreme. To return; Mr. Clay finally took leave of me, after having endeared me to him as much as 'he could have desired; and this attachment on my part was always on the increase until his death. There was this in Mr. Clay, where he differed from most politicians-the object he had in view was always honest. Most politicians are subject to be approached by men having some private measure to advance, often in -oppo- -\ page: 226-227[View Page 226-227] 226 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. sition to. the public good. From popularity-seeking motives they listen with patience and politeness, never giving an un- civil rejection. Mr. Clay, on the- contrary, heard all such measures with reserve, taking'especial pride in never pro- motinguany of them, when in his opinion opposed to the public good. This gave- a certain semblance of austerity to his mapners-something forbidding on first acquaintance; and the want of that indiscriminate cordiality which marks the manners-of the ordinary- politician caused him by -many to be thought cold. But such was far from being the fact; he was warm and cordial in his friendships, but would not sacrifice his-public duty to serve any living man. The remark he made, that- he "had rather be right than be President," is a true type of the man. Hefwas too upright and unyield- ing, apd too pre-eminently distinguished to reach the Presi- dency. But would it have added tohis credit to have been President? Not one pennyweight. iCHX[APTERR. XLVI .- MY OPERATIONS IN KENTUCKY. HAVING finished my'mission to Washington, I departed for Kentucky. 'An act of the past legislature, forfeiting all lands wlhichO should not -be taken possession of and tenanfted by a- certain time, now opened a rich harvest for me, or rather us, B-- being now a partner with one-fourth inte- rest.- We were almost the only agents now for non-residents. I presume out business exceeded that of all other agents" it the State. We had a book prepared for every county in the State, and all the- business belonging to the several counties regularly entered in those' several books, with in- structions as to what was to be done. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIpE. 227 We employed several sub-agents, and kept .themalways riding; charging ten cents per mile to- and from Frankfort, and $3 33 for each lease taken. The income was very con- siderable. At the last land sales I had purchased in some of the choice lands of May's estate at the upper end of the Yellow Banks. This was done in trying to make them bring at higher price, but-J. L. M-- insisted on my keeping them , and I agreed to do so, on condition that he would insert inv the deeds all the circumstances, which he did. At the same sale, he had been induced to- buy some lands below Owens- boro, now known as Bonharbor. These he regretted having bought, and urged me to take. I did so on the' same condi- tions. These purchases absorbed nearly all my commissions which were due, and I feared -might leave me in debt. This was- a condition which I had promised -myself I -never would come to after seeing the- unhappy results 'from it to my father. But we were making money-very fast, and the pros- pect was, we- would soon pay up. Upon this land - above town was, a very large pond, of three hundred acres, laid down on the original map -of Kentucky as Davis's Pond, which had to be drained to make -the land of any value. This would cost agood deal of money. But it would not now do to look back. So at it we went, cutting a ditch around the pond on the outside, throwing the dirt inside, our' object being' to prevent the water of -thee hills from running-in, believing that no more water fell upon any land than it would absorb, or than it would -evaporate and as there were no springs in the pond, we had only to get clear of the water which flowed in from the Surrounding country. 'This -we. would do -by -turning it -off. ,Besides which, however, we had, interior ditches.- This was a very expensive job, some of -the cutting-being ten feet deep,and necessarily twenty feet Wide at top and over. ]t was mainy page: 228-229[View Page 228-229] 228 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. years before this was permanently successful, but it was finally, so, and- reclaimed a large body of the finest land I ever saw, made by a deposit for ages of the rich washings of the adjacent grounds. A tenant to whom we rented part of the ground admitted that he obtained ninety bushels of corn to the acre. But what were we to do with the corn when made?, there was no market for it. By distilling it, we could make a market; then in public estimation there seemed no impropriety in doing so; and although now no- thing coulad induce me to engage in such-a business, yet then we had no temperance societies or lectures to set forth the evil arising from the business. The idea of annihilating the manufacture seemed absurd; and if it must be made, it seemed of little consequence who made it.- The impro- priety. in the abstract was little thought of; especially while corn sold at sixteen cents per bushel, and whiskey at thirty cents per, gallon; and one bushel of corn would make three gallons of whiskey. Since then four are obtained. But at three the value was increased over fivefold, and the slop fed to, hogs would pay the expense -of manufacturing. - So at it we must go, was the conclusion. There were, however, no mills in the country to furnish lumber to build the dis- tilleries or to grind the corn. Well, we must build one; the country needed one, and it would be profitable, without regard to our own demand for it. Now B-- thought, in this matter, one-fourth was too little for him; sol it was agreed that I should be paid a thousand dollars per annum, and the improvements-made be charged at valuation on one-half the land, the other half to be my private property, and we would share profits equally. So we commenced vigorously to build the steam-mill.. At first scared at the idea that all my commissions and profits were to be absorbed by the purchase of the land, we had Step by step gone on, sanguine that it would pay well to build a steam-mill and two very large dis- tilleries, also a large dwelling-house, --with various other S THE PILOT OF nJUMAN LpE. 29 buildings. Our income and all mymeans ere found insuf- ficient to meet the cost, and we -w ere getting hard rn for money. But the pond being put in mdadow promised a great result; the saw-mill seemed to be doing a good busi- n:ess, and the prospect was that the distilleries would do finely; so that, although "in the narrows" temporaril, the chance was we would soon be out, and with a brilliant pros- peet before us. So our spirits never flagged. But we had t carry on all this business by agents and overseers, while we remained in Frankfort. To leave this matter iow a while, and return to Frankfort; there our business flourished as well as we could have hoped for. BUt theiniit ry surveys being now complete, and the State of Kentucky refusing to allow any more warrants to be laid west of the Tennessee River, it became my-duty to suggest to the Governor of Virginia the abolition of the office of military agent. Du r- ing the same year, I made a- report, which will be found in the Journal of the lztse of Delegates for 1824-5, in which I set forth the condition of those whose warrants were un provided for, and the very great injustice which would be suffered by them unless ome provision was m ade fortheir benefit. A s their services were rendered during the revo- lutionary war, not to Virginia or Kentuclky , but to the United States, it was just that the United States should pay them. In conformity to this suggestion, Mr. Gilmore was sent-on to Washington to makle application to Congress, which deeming the demand a just one, granted it; and thus ended the necessity for continuing my office,-Whih wa s accordingly abolished; but, in the u sual spirit of Virg inia ge nerosi ty she extended the time for its discontinuance six months forward, although there was nothing to do. I took this as a compli- ment toy suggesting the abolition of the of effice, and point- ing to another mode of accomplishing the object for which it was created ; and have the satisfaction of kno wing that the r eogrds of t he lr ilgini a L egislature will bear testim o ny 20 - 1 page: 230-231[View Page 230-231] a30. THE BILOT-OF HUMAN LIFE. that I suggested the step which has procured the reward due ;o many a patriot for his revolutionary services. At this time we occupied a, house for our office with four rooms on a floor, one of which was a -lodging-room for friends. About 1825 or 1826,-General Scott, being stationed in the Weot, made his head-quarters in Frankfort, and ac- cepted our invitation to occupy our spare room. He spent some time- with us, during which period we went together to the Harrodsburg Springs, taking a large company along. And we there had Mr. Crittenden, Judge Porter,* of New Orleans, General Samuel Houston, and a delightful company of young men and young ladies. But I am leaving a part of my story behind. ' CHAPTER XLVII. "OVE AFFAIRS. Two years had now nearly elapsed since I had left Virgi- nia, during which time I was in constant correspondence with my friend G--, who seemed fearful that my young affections would receive a shock whichl he was anxious to guard me against, and so informed me that Miss P was becoming a great toast, had a Mr. S--- as a suitor, who wa's considered one of the most promising young men in the State, and whose attentions seemed likely to be' suc- cessful. The condition of our business rendered it impos- sible for methen to leave Kentucky, and the accounts I * Of all the men I -ever met with, I considered Judge Porter one of the most finished gentlemen. Erudite, classical, chaste, witty, and elegantly humorous, there seemed nothing wanting to complete the polished and elegant gentleman. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 231. received seemed to make it useless as far as Aliss P- was concerned. The warnings of my relatives and friends all recurred to- me, and the more I thought of it, the more hopeless seemed to me the prospect of inducing her to leave all her friends, and come to a country which in Virginia was then considered so wild. I looked back with fond re- gret upon the past as a delightful dream, the recollection of which had filled me with happiness which made the contrast with my present condition the more gloomy. It was a wild idea for me to have entertained that she would leave all else she held dear on earth to come with me to Kentucky. But I had not entertained it. I had fixed no definite end to'my hopes. I had seen, and been charmed by a beautiful child. To say I was inl love with her would perhaps be putting the fruit in place of the seed. But I felt as if she filled the beau iddal of my fancy. Yet it was necessary to wean my thoughts as soon as I could; so I commenced looking round as a matter of business for a wife; and found one whose position in society, whose manners, intelligence, and beauty I thought would do, and settled it in. my-own mind that I would take her; and courted her--but now, to my astonishment, I found that -something more than my will was. necessary; that it took two -to make a bargain, and that two fancies had to be pleased, for she rejected me. I viewed this as a mere means of clinching the nail tighter, not thinking she could mean it in earnest, and it gave me but little concern; the effect upon me realized- Byron's idea of woman's love:- "In her first love a woman loves her lover, Ever after all she loves is love; Which grows a passion, she can ne'er get over, And fits her loosely like an easy glove." Such was my case, and I concluded now to set to-work in good earnest, for the first was a sort of trial-shot. There was, page: 232-233[View Page 232-233] 232 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. however, a secret in the case which I was not then aware of. Her affections were already engaged. About this time, a Mr. M arrived in Frankfort from Petersburg, who told me that Mr. S- and Miss P--- were engaged to be married. I know not why it was, I had anticipated this, and believed it was almost certain to occur; and yet it went likg cold steel to my heart to know it. Something in M-- 's manner induced me to believe he thought I felt an interest in the result, and would report the effect upon me. My pride was excited, not in any resentment at Miss P--, for the time I had fixed for my return had passed, and she had reason to suppose that I had forgotten her. But I was un- willing it should be thought I had been supplanted by S--; so I assumed an air of carelessness, and remarked he would get a lovely girl, and took occasion to tell M -, before we parted, that I was courting a lady in an adjoining county. This I knew he would report back, and "this would make us even." Such was my foolish pride-foolish, foolish, fool- ish. But, although this story of her engagement continued afloat for six months longer, they still were not married. Something whispered me that there was a mystery about it, and although, if I had previously had a right to hope, I had cut myself off by courting Miss --, still I could not help thinking why it was that they were not married. My interest about Miss -began to fail, and a letter I received from Virginia determined me to go in at once. I accordingly did so, and on arriving in Richmond was informed by my friend G- that all I had heard was true, and that Miss P and Mr. S-- were certainly engaged. I determined, how- ever, that I would go and see her, and went to Petersburg, arriving there about supper-time. My niece, Mrs. M--, at whose house I stayed, informed me that all which I had heard was true, and that she and her suitor would be that evening at a ball. I determined to go to it. On entering the room, I observed Miss P- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 233 and Mr. S-- standing together in a cotillon. She had no idea that I was in Virginia; but, on perceiving me, quit her place and ran to greet me. There was something so artless, natural, and affectionate in her manner that it brought our former days freshy back to memory. She was now a woman, fully developed, and the most lovely human being my eyes ever rested on. Oh what a pity!-what a pity, thought I, that I had not kept command of all my means, so as to go where I pleased. I would come to Virginia-I would go anywhere on earth- I would begin life without a dollar, if I could have her to share it with me. O what a fool-what a fool I had been! She was now beyond my reach, and I believed I had myself only to thank for it. There was something in her sweet, affectionate smile -which I thought I could not .mistake. Nature was there unmistakably. My lovely little V-, with whom I had skipped over the rocks in the Appomattox, was there in all her matured loveliness, and with that evi- dence of affectionate interest in me which there is no coun- terfeiting- but gone from me!- gone forever! - gone! gone! gone! Such were the thoughts which flashed through my mind in an instant. The cotillon was just closing, and I asked her to dance the next, to which she assented. But we took our seats, there to rest until several had been danced. Delighted as I was to be with her, and- to see her so much like her original self, yet the idea of her being beyond my reach filled me with a melancholy which I could not throw off. She rallied me about not returning as soon as I had promised. I named the unavoidable obstacles, until I heard that she was engaged to be married, and then I had no fur- ther inducement to come. "But," said she, "you see I am still single, notwithstanding all reports to the contrary." "As yet," I replied... "But," said she, "suppose it had been otherwise, you would :have no right to complain, for I understand you have been addressing a Miss ,in Ken- 20, page: 234-235[View Page 234-235] 1;4 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. Acky.'"This was a poser, and a death stroke. I determined to deny one word of what had happened. I answered, Yes, she bad heard aright, but never until I had heard iat she was beyond my reach." At this reply, she seemed arprised, and looked a little thoughtful; but resuming, said, You were very easily consoled, however." I answered, I ras determined to be consoled, and to seek a remedy where could find it. "' And," she rejoined, "succeeded?" No," replied. "There is a tale connected with this matter only o be explained to one who will give me credit for sincerity. : am incapable of anything else, and if you feel inclined to mear me on those conditions, I will unbosom myself to you." Co which she nodded assent. I then proceeded, as to a Ca- Iholic priest, and unburdened my whole heart, and related, in all their nakedness, the inducements to my every action, ind all that I had done. She seemed a good deal affected; but finally remarked, that " one who was so much of a phi- losopher could not be much hurt by any event." I replied she had perhaps forgotten that, when we had met before, she was a mere child, not old enough to have made the im- pression which she would make now; but, nevertheless, the impression then made would have sufficed to prevent any other, had I believed that, under the circumstances, it was not my duty to endeavor to efface it; that I had come now, very imprudently, to add new lifnks to an attachment which must needs be hopeless, and I already felt a regret that I had been so thoughtless. Said she, "' When we wish to find cause to forgive an offender, it is not a difficult task. I was sorry," she continued, "at what I had heard, and am quite willing to believe you sincere." "You do believe me, then?" I asked eagerly. "As God is my witness, I am." "Yes," she replied, "I believe you." Oh how I wished we had been in private, that I might have sealed my gratitude as my heart prompted me. "Then tell me," I said, "is. it true, as is generally reported, that you are to marry Mr. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 235 S--?" "C It is not," she answered. "It is very generally believed," I remarked. '"But," she continued, "when I tell you it is not so, I expect you to believe me." " I will," was my reply, emphatically. We had now gat so long in earnest conversation- that, to avoid remark, we had to join the dance. S--, too, seemed very uneasy. Miss? told me she should return home next day, S in company. I told her I had to go to Norfolk, but in a week would see her at her father's. At Norfolk, I received a letter from G--, telling me he had heard of my adventures at the ball, and warning me; that I was only laying up trouble for myself; that Miss P-- was certainly engaged to S--, and was leading me a dance which would assuredly result in my mortification if I persisted in it; that he had it from S- 's own mouth, and could not be mistaken. This was a most mysterious thing to me. She, who seemed so sincere, so natural, so innocent! Was it possible she could be playing -false with me? It was evident she was playing false with one of us, and why might it not be me as well as S-- ? Oh! the thought was horrible, take it either way. If not to me, there was an evident insincerity which took from her character half its loveliness. But I would know all about it before I went any further. I would first see S -, and for this purpose went to Richmond, where I desired him to walk with me. We strolled up the canal. I remarked to him that I understood our interests came in conflict in a- love affair, and I felt anxious to know the ground I stood upon; to ascertain which, I must know whether or not he was en- gaged to Miss P--. . He answered that he was. I then told him that she had my affections, but that, if he was en- gaged to her, I should abandon the field to him; that, never- theless, I should first have an interview with her; that I would give him three days to see her, and then I should ex- pect him to be absent when I should arrive. Accordingly, I went at the appointed time, and found S-- still there. I page: 236-237[View Page 236-237] 236 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. reminded him of our understanding. He said he would leave next morning, and did sO. Miss P--'s reception of me had been very cordial but she looked sad. She had evidently to me carried the joke too far, and was relenting. Soon after S-- 's departure, I proposed a walk.' Hertister M- and Miss C accompanied her, but kept at a distance. I told her I supposed she had been pre- pared by Mr. S for my visit. She remained silent. I remarked that the opinion I had always entertained of her had left me no room to apprehend that she would wantonly trifle with my feelings. It was cruel, very cruel in her to do so, knowing as she did how sincerely I had loved her. The tears rolled down her cheeks, which she wiped away, but remained silent. Seeing her so much affected, I guessed that, although she was engaged, she-was sorry for it. So I remarked to her that possibly she might regret having en- gaged herself. If so, to tell me candidly. She said "she was engaged to Mr. S , but-"- and here she again fell into tears. ButJ' said I, " you are sorry for it?" Still she made no answer. We walked along silently for a while, when I resumed: "Miss V--, I stand in a position which I cannot longer occupy. If you are en- gaged, but regret it, and will say so, my life is at your service. But unless you let me know that fact before we reach your house, I shall again depart for Kentucky." She made an effort again to speak, and said, "It was true, she was engaged to Mr. S-; but-" and here she fell into tears again. We now approached the house. "Will you- tell me or not?" said I, with emphasis. She had wiped her eyes, made no reply, and we entered the porch. Her father and mother were present. No more conversation on that head was admissible, and I felt no inclination for any upon any other. I was very much perplexed to know what to do, but concluded that she knew the conditions on which she could retain me; and, if she did not choose to do it, I would THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 237 be trifled with no longer. So I ordered my sulky. The old folks very politely asked me to stay, but I declined. While my sulky was being got, I took a letter from my pocket; tore off a blank leaf, the envelop, and wrote upon it "A VISION.") Methought, midst other flowers, I had seen Upon a stem yet delicate and tender, A rose-bud, coated o'er with mossy green, About unfolding all its wonted splendor. I would have pulled this rose-bud, and had laid My hand upon its stem, when in a tone Of deprecation, methought some voice said: Oh! leave that rose until it shall have blown. Hearkening to the prayer, I left the flower, Hoping to pluck it when mature in blossom; But ah! it happened that in evil hour 'Twas plucked and planted in another's bosom. My horse being now at the door, I rose to take leave of the family, and, as f shook hands, left this effusion with her. I now drove to Petersburg full of gloom. Were my hopes at an end? Could I push this thing any further with-credit? 3Iy pride told me I could not. And yet, when I thought of giving her up and seeing her the wife of another, the future had no interest for me. It was dreary and desolate, and still I was possessed of the idea that she loved me. In a letter which I wrote to G from Petersburg, and which I re- claimed many years after, occurs this passage: S will marry her, I suppose; the fates seem to-favor it; but I believe she loves me, though fate is against me." On my arrival in Petersburg, I related my adventures to Mr. M-- and his wife. He thought my conjecture was correct, and advised me not to give up the case as a lost one. I remained several days in Petersburg. During the time, an old lady from General P---',s eighborhood came to page: 238-239[View Page 238-239] 238 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. Petersburg, said she spent a good deal of time in General P--'s family, and, if she was not more mistaken than she ever was in her life, Miss P-- was in love with Mr. T--. Mr.! heard of it, and advised me not to give up the ship. But his wife said to me, "Oh! Uncle R---, let me -beg of you do not be misled by any such notions. Miss P-- is, probably, sorry for having gone so far with you, and that was, probably, the -cause of the feeling she showed; but I think you cannot, with any regard to your own self-respect, carry this thing any further." Such -was my own feeling, though at war with my inclinations. But I made a -manly effort to command myself; went to Norfolk, where my, friends agreed with my niece, and determined me to abandon the matter. The fact is, ladies have a great deal of pride about such matters. My relatives could not bear the mortification of seeing me rejected, and were, therefore, opposed to any further action on my part, and excited my pride against it. I returned to Richmond, determined to go back to Kentucky, and to com- mand myself as well as I could. But to gain time to recover from the shock, I circled round, by way of New York and New England, mixing as much as my spirits would allow of, with gay company. 'Returned to Kentucky, I kept my disappointment as much to myself as I could, and a mass of business awaiting my attention, aided very much in withdrawing my thoughts from the subject; although the very frock which she wore, and every article of dress were vividly fixed upon my memory, together wfth all which had passed between us. At night, when I would retire to bed, I could not avoid going over the scenes again. But press of business kept me, generally,.up until twelve or one o'clock, and I was apt to be too sleepy when I retired to keep long awake. Gradually I became, in a measure, reconciled to what seemed the inexorable de- cree of fate. a THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 839 CHAPTER XLVIII. T. G---'S VISIT TO KENTUCKY-DISCOVERY OF A COAL-MNE. DURING this year, G--- came out and went with me to the Yellow Banks, where, witnessing all our arrangements, he seemed delighted, and thought they must result as we expected. Indeed, there seemed no reason to doubt it. as far as human calculation could go. We had, after several ineffectual efforts, finally succeeded in getting much of our drained pond set in grass, and it yielded a tremendous crop of hay--three tons to the acre. We had discovered coal in our Bonharbor hills, too; the coal for which I purchased the property was only a thin vein at the river. But a hunter, seeing us working this, said he could show us a better vein in the hills, which he did, to the depth of four and a half feet. And from this to the Ohio, three-quarters of a mile, we made the first railway in 1826 which was made in Kentucky, or, I believe, in the West; and the next year (the present) commenced delivering coal to steam-boats ; being the first attempt below the falls, if-not the first attempt in the West, to use coal as steam-boat fuel. The field seemed widening all around us. and theobeckoning of fortune strong. There seemed every reason to believe we were stepping right into wealth at'once. But we began to have too many irons in the fire. Our business at the Yellow Banks dis- tracted our attention from our land business; and while it as yet yielded no revenue, it was a constant drain upon us for- page: 240-241[View Page 240-241] 240 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. money, and kept us hard pushed; a condition inimical to success under any circumstances. *I proposed to G - to come out and join us in our farming, milling,' and distilling business. He thought well of it, and took it into consideration. CHAPTER XLIX. A SPECULATION MSSED-PROGRESS OF OUR BUSINESS- "OVE STORY CONTINUED-MARRIAGE. DURING this year, I met with --, of Woodford County, representative of the family owning the Raleigh coal-mines in Chesterfield County, Virginia, which he wished to sell, and offered for $20,000. I knew the mines, and considered this a very small price for them. I proposed trading him land at valuation out of P---'s survey for them, provided P--- was willing, to which he seemed inclined; but I had first to obtain instructions, so I wrote to G--, in Rich- mond, he having returned. His reply was that P-- said the mines were filled with water, and could not be drained for less than a cost of $10,000. I still urged it, however. But, while we delayed, Mr. Mills, of Richmond, purchased them; and, after draining them at probably half the esti- mated cost, obtained a revenue of fifty thousand dollars per annum from them until he made, money enough to retire, and then fented them for thirty thousand dollars. During this year,-B-- married a daughter of Judge and moved down to our establishment, which was still in progress, absorbing allour means and gettingus 'm debt, and the demand was still upon me for money-money -money-always money. But there was a consolation in the idea that the day for a change in the tide could not be THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIE. 241 far off; yet, like the horizon, it seemed to reede as we 'advanced. All my private means eretabsorbed, besides the means of the firm, and we were a good deal in debt. ,rTe had raised almost a town. Our coal-works too had cost a great deal of money. But we were in negotiation with G--- and my brother J to sell to them one-third of Haphazard for.$13,333, at the rate of $40,000 for the whole; this being our farming, milling, and distilling establishment. And this arrangement would- if made, relieve us. About this ltdime Go -- wrote me that Miss p had discarded Mr. S-- b. The idea struck me that she had found some one that she liked better, and so had dropped him. A month or two after this, a lady in Frankfort, who had some relatives in Petersburg with whom she corre- sponded, told me one day she had a message for me from an old friend in Petersburg, and that if I would call upon her she would deliver it to me. I called accordingly, and- a Doctor M -- an old friend of minei desired her to say to me that S-- -was discarded, and the coast was clear. "Now," said she, you know that I know how deeply you are interested in this matter." I replied that I did not deny it, but that this argued nothing in my favor, but to the reverse. It only showed how hard jMiss?- was to please or possiblyvhow fickle. - We had a good deal of conversation, which ended by my stating that my feelings had been already lacerated sufficiently in that quarter, and that I should not return. Occasional letters from G--- mentioned that, since E-'s rejection, she seenled to shun company, and to have measurably retired from society. This lady and I often talked of Miss P- , and she seemed to feel deeply for me;, but I was of the opinion that it was M iss P----'s fickleness, and-I was not disposed to h azard a rebuff. Should I do so, it would seem that I could be kicked off, and whistled on again at pleasure, to b e again probably kicked:off, and I w ould run no such hazard. Thus matters 21 page: 242-243[View Page 242-243] 242 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. continued for some time, until finally I received a letter from G -- mentioning that he had spent the, previous evening in company with a Miss RI-- who asked him if he knew me, to which he replied in the affirmative e. She said she felt some curiosity to see me from a romantic story which was in circulation, concerning me and Miss P-- ; that it was said Mr. S-- 's rejection was owing to a previous attach- ment existing -between Miss? and myself. "Now," said G--, "this may be so; you know I was very much averse to your subjecting yourself to what I considered certain defeat, and may have been instrumental in prevent- ing your taking the right course when last here. I submit," said he, " the matter for your reflection." I shut my-door, stirred the fire, and lay down on my bed to reflect upon the subject; and after due deliberation rose and wrote to --- - as follows, as nearly as I can recollect:- "I have read your letter with deep anxiety, as you may imagine, with deep concern considered its contents, and have come to the following conclusion: My opinion is that there has been a chapter of blunders on my part in this business from beginning to end. I have carefully considered all the circumstances, upon the supposition that Miss P-- has been sincere with me in all our Intercourse, and that my own doubts and suspicions -have produced the results that have happened; and, taking this view, there is an explanation for everything which has occurred. I -have supposed, on the other hand, that she was merely fickle and changeable, and there is a want of explanation for a part of her conduct, and J I will now give you my reasons: When informed that I was addressing another lady in Kentucky, and when the time had elapsed for my return to-Virginia, she had good reason-to presume that I had given up all-idea of her. As I ascertained when I went in, the engagement which I had supposed had taken place a long while before, had, not occurred as I supposed, and my courting the, lady in Ken- ; THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. - 243 tucky, under the impression that Miss P-- was engaged to another, was upon erroneous- grounds, and it was after this that she became engaged. Now, suppose all to have been as I wished it, as to her feelings for me, would not her pride have come to her aid, and when addressed by a gentleman of the first standing, and considered of great -public promise, aided by the influence of friends who wished to settle her near them, have probably induced her to engage herself? Nothing would be more natural, and I would certainly have no cause to complain. But when I went in, and an explana- tion took place as to the circumstances under which I had seemed to have played truant, her feelings relented, her former affection returned, and she determined to break off the engagement with S and marry me. But in the belief that she was engqged to another, that I was preparing a mortification for myself by pursuing my addresses, the let- ters and opinions of my friends, earnestly expressed, so ex- cited my resentment and suspicions that I was played falsely with, in a moment of folly, I determined tosee S ,- and know the truth of the whole matter. He confirmed the sus- picions of my friends, and I, instead of going to see Miss P--- at once, gave S-- three days' notice to prepare her for my interview, and to operate upon' her feelings. Then I went under great excitement at the idea of having been trifled with, and with my feelings predisposed for a rupture. Now, doubtless, S---- had made the best use of his time, aided by the influence of those who preferred having her settled among them in Virginia, to marrying me and coming to Kentucky. She was alone, to withstand the operations of many upon her; and young and timid as she was, she could hardly have been expected to withstand them. -But when charged with being engaged, and wantonly trifling with my feelings, she had twice attempted to explain, but been overpowered by her tears; and under these circumstances I left her. When I now review my conduct, it seems to me that my stupidity page: 244-245[View Page 244-245] 244 - THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. was- unaccountable. Again, the old lady who said she be- lieved Hhad her affections, although S--- might marry her- how came she by this opinion? There must have been some- thing to found it on. That I should have, under all the circumstances, abandoned the ground, is only to be accounted for by the doubts which my friends had started, causing me to apprehend that I was probably deceived. A man may be embarrassed- by accumulated difficulties, until, like a horse beaten over the head, he loses all the sense he ever had, and such I believe was my case. I gave evidencein my letter no the occasion to you, that I believed I possessed her affections. "But now, after my departure, what excuse can be offered for her continuing her engagement with S ---? Because my conduct had been harsh and imperious, and she was deter- mined to love S . if she could; but was ultimately satis- fied she could not, and had discarded him. - Now, if she had been a mere coquette, what would have been her conduct? Would she not have triumphed in her conquest, and have mixed with the gay world as-ever? Did she do so? No, she retired from society; and then a report becomes general that a long previous attachment between her and myself was the cause of S is rejection. If this was false, it was easy for her to put it down. One word of positive denial from her would do it. Can it be that she would be willing to inflict still a deeper wound upon me by luring me on again, under the influence of this report, only to be rejected? No; her gentle nature would scorn it. "Those may be the views suggested by my hopes, rather than the reality. I may be giving vent to an evidence of my vanity, and preparing for myself a woful disappoint- ment. But if it comes, let it come r My happiness has been already much shattered by over-doubting, as I conceive, and I will err on that ground no more. I love Miss P-- devotedly, and-should it ever be the decree of fate to unite us, I shall consider myself the happiest of men. For a long THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 245 time I considered her as dead to me; my heart mourned her loss. To have her- now restored will be like bringing the dead to life. To you who know my every feeling, it were useless to say how your letter has affected me, and I have determined to commission you to see her, and hand her the inclosed ring, as a pledge of my affection. If she re- tains it, I shall immediately come in. If she returns it, I shall view it as a warning to me not to do so, and I shall endeavor to bear' my sorrows as best I can. With what anxiety I shall look for an answer, you may well imagine. "Your friend, &c." Having dispatched this letter, I awaited an answer with great impatience, which- at last came, and informed me that G--- had been to Petersburg;- had seen Miss P--;- men- tioned that he had lately received a letter from -me; and was inclined to -believe that I had not yet forgotten all my Virginia friends. Her manner, he said, satisfied him that I had taken the correct view-of the case, and he finally told her that he had a letter from me, which he was charged to deliver to her, and requested her to retire to her room and read it, and then return. She took it, retired, and in about fifteen minutes a female servant came in, hoped Mr. G would excuse Miss P -- , as she did not feel well; and he retired, came over to Richmond, and sat down to write me that letter. "Now, sir," said he, " as she has kept both the letter and the ring, I think you may venture to indulge the hope that your sug- gestions are correct." - I now prepared to go in, and wrote B- - accordingly. In the mean time, our negotiation for a sale of one-third of Hap- hazard had been progressing, and was likely to be consum- mated, which was very important to the end then in- view. On seeing G --, he congratulated me heartily; thought I was not mistaken; and I was soon in Petersburg with my niece, who had become satisfied that she had been wrong. I flew 21* e page: 246-247[View Page 246-247] 246 - THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. to Gen.? 's as fast as a horse and sulky could carry me, arriving there just at night. She was at home in the midst of the family, and from the manner in which she and all the family received me, I was satisfied all was right. There was a smile which I can never forget. It was the smile of true love; there was no mistaking it. It- seemed to me that she had determined to disguise nothing. When supper was over, we were left alone in the par- lor; where, seating myself beside her on the sofa and taking her hand in mine, I remarked, squeezing her hand, that I hoped we were through with our chapter of accidents and blunders. She answered me by a gentle squeeze of the hand. I asked her, if I had not divined aright in my let- ter?"Not quite," she replied., Wherein was I wrong?" In regard to my engagement." - "Were you not engaged?" said I. "Yes," she replied; " but my motives -for continu- ing it you have not rightly divined." "Where did I err?" "Ah, we will at a future day explain this; let us leave that subject now." I was now one of the happiest of living men, and asked her how it happened that we had so much misunderstood each other. She said I had divined the truth, with great correctness in the first part of my letter, up to our meeting at the ball. "As you said, our former feelings had taken then no definite shape; I had reason to believe you were partial to me, but you had never told me so-it was my conjecture only, and yet, in my simplicity of heart, I did not conceal my partiality for you from my family, who laughed at me for it, and said they doubted if you ever thought of me. This mortified me exceedingly, and when the time passed for your return, and you did not come back, I saw, as I thought, that my family. were right; but when Mr. M-- returned from Kentucky, and- brought the news that you,were court- ing another lady, then my hopes vanished. I had planted a little geranium in a pot, and named it after you. I had THE PILOT OF IIUMAN LIFE. 247 watered and nourished it, despite the jeers of my family; and now I felt, no longer any interest in it; and it soon died -an emblem of your affections"--looking me a little re- proachfully in the face. "It was well that our acquaintance had been so short. Mr. S--- now making his addresses, he had been a long time attentive to me, I did not dis- courage them, and finally engaged myself. When you un- expectedly appeared at the ball in' Petersburg, and gave the explanation which you did, there was something in your manner which told me you were sincere. I believed you, and was willing to forgive you all vour sins. My vanity, too, told me that you still loved me. I thought it was evident from your countenance and manriner, and all my old feelings came back. You told me you had heard I was going to marry S--, and asked me if it was so; I told you it was not true, and yet I was at that time engaged to him. But my heart told me I would not marry him. I was not in- sincere in'engaging myself to him. I then intended to marry him; but this night my mind had changed, and had you come calmly, and seen me, and we- had had a deliberate talk on this subject, things would have been then all explained. But you sent Mr. S--- to notify me that you were off, and would come on such a day to take -leave of me forever, in a manner such as I thought one could not do who truly loved; and, having a pretty good stock of pride, and some spirit, I determined -you might have your own- way. But when you came, although it was clear you; were greatly excited, yet you were respectful, and evidently felt so deeply that you excited my feelings, and I twice attempted an explana- tion, but could not go through. On nearing the. porch, you demanded an answer rather imperiously; if I could have given it, I would not; and you departed., My pride sus- tained me for a time, but not so well that suspicions did not get afloat that I was attached to you. I now knew not what to do. I did not do-right, I know. 'But; let us drop page: 248-249[View Page 248-249] 248 TIIE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the veil here. I became in time satisfied that, if I married Mr. S--, I should :give him my hand without my heart; we should be both miserable, and with great -reluctance I had to discard him. I knew how -I now stood in public opinion;, they could not know everything; explanations were inadmissible, and I had to bear the odium of being an unfeeling coquette -a character which I do abhor-and, to clear myself from it, I had to confess to some-of my nearest friends the real state of the case, with an injunction to defend me, but not to give the explanation. But such things cannot be concealed, and soon a report of the real truth was in general circulation. I cared but little about it, for I had determined never to marry. A friend told me, one day, that he had a letter from a friend of his- in Kentucky. I immediately thought it was you, and, although I was dying to know, I feigned a perfect indifference, and asked (who from?' He said, {a lady,' and handed it to me.- The lady said she had seen you, and informed you that S---- was discarded; that you looked sad, and said, W' What a pity that one so young and lovely otherwise, should have that unfortunate trait!' The lady said she asked you what trait. You answered, coquetry; she suggested may-be- not; and advised you to come in, and see. You answered, she said, with great determination, No! your feelings had been already lacerated enough; you should- not expose them to any further trial; and she wound up by saying, you were a man of fixed purpose, resolute in your conclusions, and she rather feared you would not be driven from them. Although -I did not know that this letter had been written to Kentucky, I felt mortified, for fear you might think I did, and expressed my very great disapprobation at it. He assured me, however, that there was nothing in his from which -you could suppose any such thing, and he was only induced to show me the answer, that I might see the state of your feelings. Then, thought I, he deems it even THE PIEOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 2-49 needless to conceal from me -that he knows mine. When he had retired, I went to my room, and took a hearty cry. 'Oh, how little does he know my real feelings; how far my heart is from being the callous one which he suspects; and how little of coquetry there is in my character!' But," she continued, "I could see you as plainly as if I had been present. I saw that high metal of your nature; your pride, summoned to bear you out; and my own heart said to me, 'No, he will never come back; I know him too well; he thinks he has been trifled with, and will never return. Be it so,' said I; 'but the day may probably come when he will find out better;' and I resigned myself to the necessities of the ease. Some months after this, Mr. G-- came with your letter to him, which you desired him to show me. In that, you came so near the whole truth of the case that I won- dered you could have ever doubted. After reading it, I was so overpowered that I asked to be excused from going down again, but kept the letter and the ring. I now saw your whole heart-that it was mine, and determined that I would let no foolish punctilio cause me to hazard the loss of it again; but that the- first opportunity which occurred after you came in, I would confess to you the, whole truth. This I have now done!" Lost in admiration at her confiding candor, I could for a moment make no reply. "Then (stealing a kiss), my own dear V--," said I, "how much injustice have I done you! I Oh, how could you love one so unworthy of you? I am not worthy of such pure feelings as yours; I do not deserve them. You have erred in nothing, in the whole history of our troubles, but in loving one who now sees how unworthy he has been of you." "Let us," said she, "forget the past, and try to do better in future, though, I confess, I think I have some cause to fear your impetuosity of disposition." "Were I as ferocious as a lion," I replied, "I would be a lamb in your-hands. You can lead me, and mould me page: 250-251[View Page 250-251] 250 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. as you please. To love you, and minister to your comfort, will be the greatest happiness of my life." "' And you will doubt no more?" she said. "Never-!"I replied. The very word was hateful to me. Thus we talked until midnight, and I grudged the hours which -we had to be parted for sleep. If ever man overflowed with happiness, I now did. I went to bed, but I could not sleep. Oh, I was too happy! Was it a vision, or-a reality? It seemed to concentrate-too much of felicity to be real. With but little sleep I passed the night, and rose late next morning. The old folks jeered us about keeping late hours. After breakfast, the general invited me to accompany him in his usual ride over his farm, and, while sitting close to- gether, viewing some-of his cattle, I thought it a fit occasion to open the subject of my attachment for his daughter, and began, in a very stammering way, to tell him I had for a long time been attached to her. "My dear fellow," said he, laying his hand on my knee, "I am- not ignorant -of it, and have for- some time anticipated this result. It is my rule to let my children choose-for themselves; I would have. been better satisfied had you lived in Virginia; but since my daughter is satisfied, her will be done." -On returning to the house, I told V---- that I had spoken to her father, and that he had said, "Her will be done." "Why," said she, with affected surprise,"llwho authorized you?" "Like the Yankee," I replied; "I am/good at guessing." 'd Well," she remarked, "I told mamma this morning of our last evening's conversation, and of my confessions to you, and she -said I had acted very imprudently." "V----," I observed, taking her hand, "you never appeared so lovely to me- as while making that confession. It showed to me the entire sincerity of your character; and, if I had ever sus- pected anythinglike coquetry, it dispelled the fear forever. Could I have loved you more than I did,.-that confession would-have caused me to do so!" "I think" -said--she, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 251 "the time for concealment between you and me is passed. H acted upon the presumption that we now thoroughly under- stood each other, for the want of which I had nearly been another's, and you also; when, if we had really known each other's feelings, this would not have been. I therefore con- cluded, as I felt certain oflyour affections now, that you were entitled to a confession of mine, in frankness and candor,- and that I hazarded nothing in making the confession. This I told mamma, and she said she admitted I hazafded nothing; but that you gentlemen were such queer animals, that it was neces- sary to keep you a little uneasy to make you love the harder (smiling as she said so); that hope gratified, was apt to lose its interest, and that it was impolitic ever to let you feel too secure.. "Ah T V -- said I, squeezing her hand, and looking her in- the face, with all the affection with which my heart over-^ flowed, "I must beg leave to differ with your mother -on this- subject; there is too much diplomacy in her philosophy: for the love of two .confiding hearts. There is a time during which her philosophy would be admissible, that is, so long as any doubt exists;- or, when no doubt exists, provided there is less intensity in the gentlemap's love than the lady thinks she has a right to expect. But do you think so of mine?" She answered, with a sweet smile, ",No;" but she. con- tinued, "You have a remarkable self-command for a gentle- man very deeply in love. Do you think, had you loved as hard as you ought (smiling), that you would have allowed any business to detain you beyond the two years from our first acquaintance, when you promised to be -back? I waive what followed after, as the consequence of unfounded reports which had reached your ears concerning me; but I confess for the first sin, I have had my doubts whether- your expla- nations should have been considered satisfactory to one whose judgment was less partial to you than mine." I answered, '"I am glad of an opportunity to recur'again page: 252-253[View Page 252-253] 252 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. to this circumstance. The truth is my own diffidence was at the bottom of it, aided by the doubts which my friends had started in regard to the willingness of your parents to let - you --go to - Kentucky.- My nearest friends charged me not to let my feelings get the better of me, or they would receive an awful mortification. I started doubting, and con- tinued doubting, until the two years ran out, when my busi- ness was in such a condition that it would have been almost ruin to have abandoned it, andiwhen there had been no in- terchange-of sentiments between us, on which I could rely, for evidence that the feelings I had imbibed were reciprocated." "And you doubted their existence," said she, with an in- credulous smile. " -had hoped, when we parted, that you felt some interest for me," I continued. "I believe you did; but you were then a mere child. What assurance could I have that it would continue until -you were grown? But, if-it did, my discretion told me that your friends would not let you go to Kentucky with. me, considering it as- they, did,. a wild country . "And so," she remarked, ' when your pru- dence takes the seat of judgment-to sit in council over your love affairs, it is capable of weighing matters very delibe- rately, and of directing your-conduct very wisely?" ' While I have yet my self-possession," I replied, " yes. There is a, -time, in every man's love affairs, before he has gone too far, when he can restrain himself, if he has .fortitude enough. Some there are who are all passion and impulse, and know no restraint to their inclinations. Tlhe impetuosity of such men is like athe fire from a tar barrel-furious at first, but soon over. I claim to have as much feeling as they have; but I also claim the power,- in some. degree, to control it, when common sense told me it would be folly to indulge it. This folly,I was led to believe, I would show by hoping, after our first interview, that you would leave all your friends to go with me to Kentucky, and, under that impression, I could control my feelings. But now, when I believe that THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 253 that consideration imposes no bar, and I have yielded all constrainth my affections have so thoroughly-gone over to you, that you have become the light, and life of my existence. Were anything now to occur to break off our union, I believe I should go deranged." Poor fellow!"- said she, with a sort of mock compassion. "Well, you sha'n't go deranged. I will now go further in my confessions than I have done. It is some time-since my parents have believed that we would some day be united, and they wished me to exact of you, -as a condition, that you should come to Virginia to live, saying; if you loved-me as you ought,- you would do so. But I re- plied 'No. He relies, doubtless, on his business in Kentucky for a living, and must leave it if he comes to Virginia. I will not make any such condition." My heart was so full that I could only look at her without speaking.- "And," she continued, "there never was a time, from our first sepa- ration, when, if you had approached me respectfully, con- fidingly, and affectionately, I would not have agreed to go to Kentucky with you." Filled to overflowing before, the tears now ran down my cheeks, I clasped her in my arms, and could only say, "God bless you, V-,. Neither of us spoke for some time. Finally, I remarked, it was true that I had to rely upon my business in Kentucky for a support; but I would make this promise. If she would be content, for five years, to live inK:entucky, I would then lay the whole state of my affairs before her, and if- she was of opinion that we ought to leave Kentucky and come to Virginia, I would do so. "Well," she replied, "if you can, I shall be happy; if not, I will endeavor to be contented." We now retired to bed, I grudging the hours that we Should be separated. When we met next day, and were alone (the. old folks were very considerate, seldom interrupting us), I said to her, "Well, V, did you receive another lecture on caution?" "Oh no, she replied; "I told mamma of-your able defene, 22 page: 254-255[View Page 254-255] 254 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. and she said she believed you were a very sincere, clever fellow." During the day, Mrs. P--- was much with me. She sat and- chatted, with great interest for hours, and I confess with so much interest to me that I did not regret the loss of her daughter's society. After she left me, V came, a space of some fifteen minutes intervening. "You and ma," said she, " have had a long talk." "Ye8,"' I replied; "and with so much in- terest to me that I did not regret the time which she kept me from your society."- "Then you were equally pleased, for she is quite in raptures with you." An idea came across my mind which made me smile, which remarking, she asked me -what amused me. I answered, "I was about to reply to your remark by repeating a Western maxim, but thought it rather coarse - for the occasion.' "Oh, well," she ob- served," let me have it." "It is, c If you wish to catch the calf, you-must give the cow a nubbin.'" She seemed ex- ceedingly diverted, and said, "Then you have been feeding ma on nubbins, have you?". My business required my presence in Richmond; but be- fore going I was anxious to have the day for our wedding fixed, and urged thlat it might not be .needlessly delayed, as my business was suffering during my absence in:Kentucky. V- said she would consult her mamma, and let me know on my return. I went to Richmond, and was now anxious to bring to -a close the negotiation for the sale of one-third of Haphazard. But this could not then- be done. My bro- ther- J--- said, however, that he would advance me two thousand dollars upon it; which he did, and this answered my present necessities. I went to Tichenor, the carriage- maker, and ordered him to build me a very handsome car- riage. I set about hunting up a pair of horses, and acci- dentally found such exactly to suit my taste. They were of deep orange color, with flaxen manes and tails, sixteen hands THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 255 high, beautifully formed, and though remarkably well broken were very spirited. I could- not have been better suited. In all these arrangements I was aided by my friend (--, whose talent seemed peculiar for administering to his friends' comforts. He was himself very much in love with a young lady in Richmond, and had been so for several years; but some difficulties had occurred between him and his Dulcinea, which, as usual, had produced misunderstandings, and pre- vented their marriage. I determined to set to work to make things smooth, and finally succeeded. I now went to Norfolk to see my friends there. But one was wanting, whose smile had always given a burnish to all my enjoyments. My aged mother had died about a year before. Not being satisfied away from my beloved V , I soon returned to her, and was informed that she had fixed on a day unreasonably distant for our marriage. I protested against it, and by urgent entreaty got her to shorten it. I did not nanie having ordered a carriage and purchased 'the horses. I designed these as a surprise. V-- told me f she had seen my-friend Judge B since my departure, who had joked her about our engagement. "And you ad- mitted it?" said I. "No," she replied. c"I asked him if he thought I was wild enough to leave all my friends in Vir- ginia to go to Kentucky." "And what did he say?" "Oh," she replied, "I am afraid I should make you very vain if I were to tell you. The judge seems as muclh in love with you as"--here, stopping and smiling, I ended the sentence for her--" as I wish you to be. " "Yes," she replied; " he said I might well afford to go to Kentuck, or two tucks beyond Kentuck, with so clever a fellow." "' Well done ;for the judge; I must thank him for that; his good opinion is worth having." *It may be thought rather immodest in me to insert such a remark here; but my objectis- to state facts as nearly as they occurred, as I can recollect them. Were page: 256-257[View Page 256-257] 256 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. I to omit all remarks complimentary to myself, it would evi- dence a fastidiousness uncalled for, besides taking from the story much of its interest; and for one to be vain of remarks which are the ordinaryparlance of society, would show that he did not know how to value language at its current rate in the market.) It would be needless to detail the incidents which occurred between now and the time of our marriage. I was as happy as I could be with the conviction that I was beloved by a girl of exquisite beauty, as refined in her tastes as she was beautiful, whose reading seemed to have been as general as her years would admit of, and who seemed to have digested well all that she read. Her soft, confiding, affectionate disposition was the -jewel of her character. It was such as I have never seen surpassed in any human being -the whole surmounted by a stock of good, strong common sense, which pointed out to her the course of propriety, under all circumstances, and fitted her equally well for the palace or the cottage. During her life, I never saw her in any so- ciety where her soft, winning, and elegant manners would not have distinguished her. I never saw her overshadowed by a- superior, and withal she was without one particle of os- tentation. So winning were her manners, that even those who would have shone but for her presence, but whose lights were thereby darkened, loved her. I had to provide six bridesmen to match her six brides- maids. I wanted a private wedding; but the old folks would not hear of it; and on the wedding-day some twenty car- riages drove into the' yard; among the rest mine with my brother's family, with the following- motto on it: "Doubt, and fail." V was now dressed for the wedding, and we sat together some time before it took place. There was a happy sadness upon her countenance which was averse to conversation, I did not attempt to break in upon iti and we were required finally to go below and meet the parson., She THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 257 trembled like a- little bird; but soon we were down, and soon the happy knot was tied. Now my bliss was complete. How extraordinary is the capacity- of a country-house-for accommodation! That night seventy persons slept in the house, all in comfort; whereas in a city, it would have been thought difficult to accommodate twenty in it. CHAPTER L. DEPARTURE W"iH MY WJ1'S FOR KENTUCKY. AFTER remaining about a week, we took our departure for Petersburg and Richmond, partaking of the -good dinners and general hospitality of our friends in each. An event now occurred which cast a gloom over my otherwise unalloyed happiness. Miss L , to whom G--- was engaged, had persuaded him not to go to Kentucky, and consequently the sale of one-third of Haphazard, which I had considered cer- tain, now failed. This was truly unfortunate, for it was less the help which the money would bring us, upon which I relied for success, than G 's untiring energy and perseverance. He took hold of things with a determination to make them succeed, and this trait commanded success. Enthusiasm may overleap the mark, but no great enterprise was ever carried without it; and the phlegmatic man who has none, however capable he may be, is entirely unfit to stand at the helm of such an enterprise. - I felt a fear that we now wanted a -hand who could not be obtained, and that for want of the vigorous undying energy necessary to drive our Haphazard business forward as it required, some "screws would get loose." It will be generally fouind, I might say universally, that that business succeeds best where there is a 22* page: 258-259[View Page 258-259] 268 THE PILOT OFrHUMAN LIFE. driving of the business by the conductors, and not a driving of the conductors -by the business. The carriage should never run upon the horses' heels, but the horses be kept at such a gait as-to secure a tight trace; only then can the driver guide them with safety. Unfortunate as the event was, it could not be helped, and I had to yield to the unavoidable necessity of the case. But besides the loss of G 's aid, the loss of the purchase-money was a serious one; $13,333 would have made us easy, have given means to complete our works, and -have driven them on to good effect, but now I foresaw we were to be sorely cramped. My bro- ther had the offer of a loan of $5,000 for many years until certain heirs came of age. This he borrowed and loaned to us, as some compensation for the disappointment; but it was not enough to suffice for our wants. The prospect now made me gloomy, and the leaving of her friends made V so, when all my cheerfulness was needed to keep up her spirits. I rallied as best I could, however, and we finally took our departure for Kentucky, by way of Charlottesville, Staunton, the White Sulphur Springs, Kenawha and Maysville. Our first day's journey was in silence and gloom; V-- resting her head upon my -shoulder, while I supported her with my arm. I had been compelled to purchase a capacious, strong buggy, 'to aid in taking our baggage. - In this buggy we occasion- ally took shelter from the confinement of the -carriage, and the change was very agreeable. After leaving the White Sulphur Springs, the country became daily wilder, and gave a promise of meeting the full idea of the general under- standing in Virginia of what Kentucky then was, when we reached the Hawk's Nest, on New River, a point at which I had before tarried for hours to enjoy its romantically wild scenery; and the view from which is sublime toonie in a con- dition to enjoy it. Now, while I was -afraid of everything which would tend to increase the apprehensions of V- , it had lost all its charms for me. The rocky banks, or rather solid THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 259 perpendicular rocks from one to two thousand feet high- the foaming, bounding waters below-the otherwise wild and awful stillness which prevailed around--the dark channel of thedieparting waters, going off in the direction that we were traelling, looked to me frightful. As we descended the mount- ain, into the deep gloomy abyss below, the trees and vines -overhanging the road, and closing overhead, so as almost to exclude daylight, made it seem as if we were descending from the surface of the earth into Syms's Hole. Dear V she seemed to nestle closer and closer to me-as our road became darker, like a frightened partridge. I could not help wondering, if she could have foreseen this frightful wild- ness, would it not have staggered her resolution in regard to marrying me. But no, I am sure it would not; for, while she seemed awfully impressed with it, yet she seemed happy in having me as her protector, believing that no harm could befall her while I was near. Yet when we reached the mouth of Gauly, where it- empties into- the Kenawha, and had to stay all night in a miserable hovel there, my own heart sunk within me. We could go no further. It-was dark, and we had to put up at the most uncomfortable house that ever decent people entered. We' were put to sleep in a loft, the roof covered with clapboards, coming down within a few feet of our heads, the bed,as we evidently felt, filled with vermin, and we had no chance to escape. V--- asked me what she sould do, saying she could not sleep, and I saw she could not help weeping. I told her it was a most unfor- tunate thing we had been compelled to stop-here, but I could see no help for it. The proprietors seemed very rough, and I did not like to offend them, fpr they would as soon turn us out of doors as not. We had to endure it until morning; there was no avoiding it, but we were off as soonas we could see to drive. "Well, Mr. T ,' said V , surelythings are now at their worst; there can be no stage of society: below this?" I told her she had seen the worst; I would guaran. page: 260-261[View Page 260-261] 26p THE PILOT OF HUMAN. LIFE. tee she should never, during her life, sleep in such a hovel again, although there were some awfully rough and wild places all along the road to Maysville. ; CHAPTER LI. ARRIVAL AT RENAWHA---THE SALT BUSINESS-BEAUTIF UL COUNTRY IN KENTUCKY--CHARACTER OF KENTUCKIANS. WE soon came in sight of, the smoke of the Kenawha furnaces, which was very cheering. Here nature, in one of her most benevolent freaks, has seemed to try how far she could favor the, salt-makers. Here is salt water so strong that it will hardly dissolve any more salt; and coal right on the spot to manufacture it, with navigation at their doors. This would seem to be all that nature could have done; but, in boring to a very great depth, some of the wells penetrated a vein of hydrogen gas, which poured up in such a -stream as to furnish sufficient fuel to manufacture the salt; so that, in fact, the -maker has only to -clear the kettles, and barrel -it. It was a few years before the time I am now writing of, that I travelled from Maysville to Kenawha, in company with a Mr. Grant, a man of fine, natural god sense, with a very clear perception of the best adaptation of means to ends. He was a salt manufacturer, and the salt business was in a state of great depression, from the very excess of the advantages which -they possessed. They made an over- stock for the supply of the country'--the salt -became a drug, and all the manufacturers were embarrassed. Grant conceived the idea of forming a company to monopolize the business. Being joined by a Mr. Ruffner, and others, 4he agreed with all the salt-makers that, for a certain number of years, pro- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. vided they would each agree to diminish-their products a cer- tain percentage, allowing a given amount to be made in pro- portion to the capacity of the works, this company would buy it all at a given price per bushel. He also had arrangements for securing the purity of the salt, which had, until then, been very impure; he being considered the best salt-boiler who could boil up the greatest amount of " bitter water" in the salt, thereby making it weigh the heavier. This purify- ing process was much for the advantage of the public, and very necessary to the sale of the Kenawha salt, as the Zanes- ville was considered much purer, and would, on that account, be preferred to the extent that it could be had. Grant & Co. now appointed agents in all the western towns, and sent on supplies of salt, limiting the price to fifty cents per bushel, being about double what they gave. - The sales were enor- mous, and the profits in proportion. When this lease ran out, the lessees had made a very large fortune; the manufac- turers, jealous of their success, would not renew it, and again fell back into their old condition. Being again tired of this, after a while they rented to Hewit, Ruffner, & Co., with a re- sult of equal good fortune to them.: Mr. Hewit had married Mr. Grant's daughter, was a man of fine judgment, great enterprise, takes pride in recurring to his early days, -and showing how he has regularly ad- vanced. With this view he has hung up in his parlor, a few miles above Louisville, the painting of a raft iust in tfie act of landing at Louisville, upon which a friend of his and himself are seen in their shirt-sleeves, busily engaged in securing the raft which belongs to them. He points to this as his beginning in life. But. his friend, Whose likeness is very striking, being rather more aristocratic in his notions, I understand, does not feel complimented by being so exhi- bited. Now I confess I am of Hewit's school, and prefer to have been the maker of my, own fortune to having inherited it. Any simpleton may inherit a fortune; but it is an evi- page: 262-263[View Page 262-263] 262 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. dence of some mindc in a man who makes one. A man, to be sure, may make a fortune without much sense-if he has capital to start on. He may sit down in a corner, and act the usurer. , Or he may confine himself industriously to any one pursuit in which he may have been raised, the details of which he understands; and if he will deal altogether for cash, running no risks,-provided he sells for more' than he gives--sells enough to let the difference, after payment of all expenses, leave a surplus, and will continue to extend his business as this surplus will enable him to do it--it is very evident that such a man must make money, and that it would not require much mind to do it.. But at the end of a long life only could such a man hope that his accumu- lations would amount to what might be termed a fortune. Yet those gentlemen may be said by the force of intellect to have caught fortune as a Mexican would a mustang, har- nessed her, and driven her onward; Hewit especially, who is considered one of the most thriving and wealthy mer- chants of the West. We proceeded on our way to Maysville, stopping at some very rough houses, but nowhere at another Gauly. At Maysville, we found a pretty good hotel, and the town had somewhat the appearance of civilization., NowV 's spirits seemed to revive. Here we rested half a day. The next morning started for Lexington. On rising the bill back of Maysville, all nature seemed to have changed. There was nothing which could be called wilderness. An air of ele- gant civilization and improvement seemed to pervade the whole country, compared with which, we seemed from the Hawk'S Nest to have been travelling under ground, with here and there an exception, however, in the shape of a pleasant little town, and the country continued to improve in, beauty lag we progressed. The growth of timber in this -portion of Kentucky being chiefly the sugar-maple, buck- eye, hackberry, &c., trees of not large growth, and not very THEmPILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 263- thick upon the ground, the blue grass (greensward of Vir- ginia) springs up spontaneously, so that very little trouble is required to form the richest pastures, which are -so profit- able in grazing cattle that every man has his land fenced in, and the undergrowth cut out. This gives the semblance of immense and beautiful parks all along the road. And then the beautiful brick residences seen through the trees in the distance, built in cottage form, generally with a basement- story, the entrance by a flight of steps some eight or ten feet into a beautiful portico, and from thence into a hall or pas- sage so'me twelve feet wide, with a high, airy -pitch, and rooms on each side of it. The deep cornices of these cottage- like buildings evidence a good architectural taste; they are to a building what a handsome neck-dress is to a lady, they set her off to advantage, and are indispensable to a hand- some finish. Considering how important it is to the- finish- ing of a building with taste that a knowledge of architectu- ral proportions should exist, I wonder the science is not more generally cultivated. I think it ought to be a branch of study in all our schools; at least, so far as outward pro- portions go. As, for instance, the height which a one-story. building should be above the basement; a two-story build- ing; what proportions these two should bear-to each other and to the basement, and what ought to be the height of the basement the size of the house considered. Then the columns, theirs size in proportion to height, and the taper from base -to capital ; character of base and of capital. Sizet and shape of windows and doors; character of balusters; out- side and inside steps; character of cornice and depth. Best kind of roof and style of finish, all to make the most impos- ing display according to cost.. This whole subject, as far as necessary to- enable a gentleman of taste to -plan his own buildings, could be mastered in a time which would be hardly worth naming; and- the possession of the knowledge would stamp itself upon the improvements of any country page: 264-265[View Page 264-265] 264 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. where it existed. The style of a building typifies the cha- racter of the owner, in the absence of other evidence. Sup- pose we pass two farms, one with a building beautifully pro- portioned/the yard with handsomely gravelled walks, green, extensive grass-plots, neat iron railings upon a cut stone or brick basement, with large, handsome iron gates. The other equally as costly, perhaps a larger house, the eves close down upon the top of the upper windows; the windows low; panes of glass small; stories low; three of them, the first- but one step from the ground; yard small, without trees, no gravel, and inclosed with a board fence. Let any man view those two tenements, and he will estimate the taste and mental capacity of the owners about as he would the two residences. A very singular illustration of this idea occurred in Louisville some years ago. I was riding through the streets in company with Mrs. B-- and another lady in a carriage; we spoke of the tendency of a building to exhibit the traits of character of the owner, when, to ex- emplify it, several buildings were pointed out, and I was asked the character of the owners. One was a fine, finikin, gingerbread structure, extremely fantastic. I was asked who owned that. I answered, no man but one who kept'a toy-shop could build such a house as that. Mrs. B burst into a fit of laughter, and declared that the man who built it did keep a toy-shop. -But to return to my narrative. So unexpected was the appearance of the country now to V (for I had hardly yet learned to call her my wife), that she was in perfect rap- tures. "Oh, how beautiful!" said she, "'how beautiful! Why, Mr. T , do they sweep the woods here?" This, to some persons, may seem a traveller's tale; but it is lite- rally true, and I often afterwards reminded my wife of her having asked me if they swept the woods in Kentucky. The soil is a deep chocolate loam, based on limestone, and grass is its most profitable appropriation; The fine, fat, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 265 sleek cattle ranging:through the woods seem in: their heaven on earth. I learn that the Kentucky cattle are more prized in New York and -Philadelphia than those of Ohio. This must be on account of their being less fed on corn. Grass- fed beef is esteemed the sweetest. The habit among the graziers. is to cut their -corn a little. before it is ripe, so that it will yet ripen on the stalk when put into stacks, This they haul out into their woodland pastures, scatter over the ground, and the cattle feed upon it,fthus scattering manure over the land. - While in London, in 1849, I was alking with an En- glishman over Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park, I think, would be the better of more trees; but still it would -be difficult to -imagine a more beautiful place than they both are, to the extent of several hundred acres. This gentleman seemed very proud of these grounds, and asked me if we had anything like them in America. - I answered-: "yes," somewhat to his surprise. "As large?"- said he. "Yes," I remarked; , for one hundred-miles square,'or ten thousand times as large as his parks." cOh, you Americans deal on such a tremendous'scale in everything that we hardly kniow whether-you are in earnest .or quizzing us." I assured him that in Kentucky I could find a body of land equal to one hundred miles square, chiefly in grass,-as beautiful as those parks, and interspersed with trees still more rich and beautiful than his elms. , Why," said he, "my idea has always been that Kentucky was a wilderness." "In this idea," I replied, "you are- -not -singular. She has, until a few years past, been so considered even by her-parent State Virginia., Buts it is a very:erroneous idea. True, a-good deal of the State is yet in a wilderness condition,-as -is a good portion of Virginia--more of Virginia, than of Ken- tucky. -But one hundred miles square:in Kentucky can be found, superior to- the same extent, anywhere in England, with the exception that we have no such expensive castles as 23 page: 266-267[View Page 266-267] 266 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. you have., But our country residences in that region gene rally-are not inferior to yours in comfort, and I think are built in- better taste;" at " the 'which" he seemed surprised The de'ad fences are a drawhack to this beautiful portior of Kentucky. In time they will disappear, and I hope be replaced by the Osage orange hedge, which by experiment iJ found to answer well in our country. It can be obtained it four years from the seed, or in three from the slip, ant flowers magnificently. r I cannot imagine a more enchanting region than this would be with Bois d'arc, otherwise calleo the Osage orange hedge. The frost of our region, it is said does not injure it, although it is a native of a southern clime Beauty and, virtue are nearly allied in my mind. If I pas, a country dwelling, tastefully arranged and improved, I ne cessarily picture to myself its inmates as neat, tasty, refined and virtuous; -and- if so in one dwelling, the more so where this characteristic pervades a whole country. This region o Kentucky is now probably as populous as it will be -for a lon. time. The buildings erected upon it are too expensive to be -sustained by smaller farms than it is divided into. When . father dies, he generally could not divide his estate amont his -children. -The mansion-house without any farm woulR be more than the share of any one, and it would be of little value without the farm.-- The consequence is that the whole is generally sold. Some one of the family buys it, generally the most enterprising-member, he giving his bonds on some credit for the shares -of the rest, and they seek a home else where. The m'embers of most character will remain behind the effect of which will be to cause the population of thi., region to be continually increasing in intelligence. Wealtl necessarily, in time, procures refinement. The sons of cattle raisers, who are' measurably uneducated themselves, will be sent to college. These sons, in their young days, have beer accustomed to industry. , Before going to --school in the morning, and afterwards in the evening, they help their THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE.- 267 fathers to feed the cattle, and after supper retire to get their school-tasks. They are learning and practising the game of human life as they grow up. The fine points of a horse, a mule, a beef, of sheep; the best cropsto yield the greatest amount of food; best modes of cultivation; bestimplements; best means of preserving the fertility of the land-all these they hear constantly discussed, and withal -a' plentiful crop of politics, for Kentucky is emphatically the land of political excitement. With these -notions they go to college. They are more thoughtful than other boys; have less taste for frivolous amusements. Naturally courageous, they are- not aware that there is any merit in being so; are not ostenta- tious of it; not quarrelsome, but ever ready to vindicate their rights. They see the efforts of other boys to make a display; they see such is not the case with boys from their own State. They admire their own countrymen, and believe that whatever is Kentuckian is right, and whatever differs from it is wrong in manners and everything else. They acquire a manly, frank independence of character, which sometimes, by being carried too far, is called a Kentuckyism; but it is a vice which leans to virtue's; side. A gentleman from New York related to me an anecdote which strongly illustrated the Kentucky character. At a dinner-party, a Kentuckian was asked to drink wine. The wine to be drank, according to the' usage of the day, required that a colored glass should be used. But he took a clear glass; an acquaintance at his elbow pointed to the colored glass which ought to, be used, and so intimated to him; but he seemed not to heed him. This gentleman seemed dreadfully shocked at his friend's apparent want of a -knowledge of the usages of polite society; and, after he had drank, said to him that the etiquette of New York required that he should have used the other glass. The Kentuckian, smiling, but with perfect self-possession, rejoined, "But I have not been raised in New York." New Yqrker.-- "But page: 268-269[View Page 268-269] 68 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. still, do you not think it right to conform to our rules?'" Kentuckian.-" Where I am acquainted with them, and they are sensible and reasonable, I do; but where I think there is good reason to violate them, and I have not to act offensively by doing so, I prefer to violate them. The clear glass shows the natural color of the wine. My taste is in accordance with my imagination. Your colored glasses make the wine seem to me as if it had been taken from a copper kettle, or some metallic vessel, from which it had imbibed an impurity. To all your sensible fashions, sir, I will yield with pleasure-but not to this." This brought on a discus- sion upon etiquette. ANew Yorker.-" Do you not think every country has a right to establish its own laws of po- liteness?" Kentuckian.--" Oh, certainly." New Yorker.- "And that a disregard of them is disrespectful ?" Kentuck- ian. -"u If 'the disregard be wanton and without reason." New Yorker.-" But where a gentleman does not conform, he runs the hazard of being thought ignorant of the laws of etiquette. Kentuckian (laughing out).-" Which is just the fact with me." .Neiw Yorker (rather in an undertone). -"But you are not willing any one should know that?" Here Colonel S- called from the other end of the table (one or two seats being vacated near him) to the Kentuckian and his friend to come up and take them, which they did. "Come," said Colonel S5- to the Kentuckian, " we have no idea of Mr. N -'s monopolizing your com- pany;" who replied, "I do not know whether I have been more diverted, or Mr. N-.. more alarmed at our conversa- tion. -He is dreadfully afraid that it will be found out that I am not au fait in regard to the etiquette of your society." "Ah !" said Colonel S---, "how could he entertain such a fear ?" "Simply," replied the Kentuckian, "because I confessed my ignorance." "Ah, ah, well," said Colonel S--, that is a difficulty soon remedied ;" and commenced a lecture in which he was not interrupted. "But," said my informant, when he had finished, A the Kentuckian took up the question, and spoke so appropriately, so sensibly, so beautifully, that I began to think the man who was bright- in matters of etiquette was apt to be proportionally dull in everything else. He evidenced a perfect familiarity with the general conventional laws of elegant society, and would have shone at the court of St. James. But he had the most per- fect contempt for the frivolous and unmeaning portion of those rules. He was a man, a solid man," said my inform- ant, "before whom the dandies of fashion seemed the merest chaff conceivable." "Ah!" said I, "Old Kentuck to the bone. That is the man to govern men. He is worth a wagon-load of your bandbox fellows." I recollect an occurrence on board of a steam-boat between Richmond and Norfolk on a former trip to Virginia. A Kentuckian was on board not very fashionably dressed. As politics were running very high, I felt anxious to know how they were going. He and I agreed. I had previously learned from him that he had brought in a drove of hogs for sale. Major Smith, of Norfolk, paymaster in the army, an elegant and accomplished gentleman,- sat nearly opposite to us, and became interested in our conversation, so much so that he presently came round and asked me to introduce him.- Not knowing the Kentuckian's name, I said, without calling it, "Permit me, sir, to introduce you to Major Smith." Rising and taking the major's hand, "Hamilton, sir, is my name," said he; "I am happy to know you, sir." I left them now, and went on deck. In about an hour Major Smith joined me, and said, "R "-being ac- quainted with me from my boyhood, he always so called me-" that Kentuckian is one of the most intelligent and sensible fellows that I have seen for a long time. Who is he?" "I do not know," I replied, "except that he is a hog-drover. He told me at table that he was going to Nor- folk to learn' the price of hogs preparatory to taking down a page: 270-271[View Page 270-271] 270 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. drove." "A hog drover?" said Major Smith, with surprise. "Yes, a- hog-drover," I replied. "Why," rejoined the ma- jor,-"he has the manners, the intelligence, and the deport- ment of a gentleman." "And," said I, "doubtless, is one, his driving hogs to the contrary notwithstanding." These Western men are curious fellows. They care nothing about appearances. This man is probably the owner of an extensive farm, beautifully improved, and, if you were to visit him in Kentucky, would, perhaps, furnish you with the finest wines to be had in the New Orleans market. Those are hogs which he has probably fattened upon his own farm. It is customary there, when fattening beeves, to let two hogs follow a beef. He has possibly fattened two hundred and fifty beeves. These go into one field on one day, where they are fed; the next day they are driven to another, five hundred hogs being let into the field which they have left; and so on. These cattle go from day to day into a new field;- the hogs following the next. All the feeding which these hogs get is what the beeves leave behind, and both become very fat. The probability is that this man's son, or some confidential agent, has taken his beeves to Philadelphia or New York, and that, when they get home, they will have an aggregate of fifteen or sixteen thousand dollars. Take out about five thousand paid for stock-hogs and stock-cattle (for none of those graziers raise the cattle which they fatten, but buy them of small farmers, living where the range is freer And larger), and he will have about ten thousand dol- lars; the proceeds for the year of a farm of perhaps one thousand acres of grazing land. James Clay, a son of the Hon. Henry Clay, a man of fine mind, very much after the order of his father's, and 'who, if he had any political ambition, could acquire a position of the highest grade among our statesmen-who, however, has none, but a perfect contempt for popularity-told me that he once went to North Carolina with a drove of mules, raised, I pre. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 271 sume, on his own farm, and his name being Clay, he was asked if he was related to Henry Clay. He replied that he was Henry Clay's son; and it was with difficulty that he could obtain credence. Again I have wandered from my narrative; to return:- We proceeded on to Lexington, and, as we passed through the city, a very large green yard appeared on our left, and a large airy mansion in the centre; a young lady standing in the door, not near enough to distinguish her features, but I was pretty certain it was Miss "There, V--," said I, "is Miss ,with whom, about two years ago, I first visited Ashand, Mr. Clay's resi- dence. She is a beautiful, sweet girl; she took me out in her father's own carriage." Said V- , "I wonder you did not fall in love with her." 'Oh," I replied, "she was cog- nizant of that sad affair of mine, which did so much mis-' chief between you and me, or probably she would not have so favored me. She felt perfectly secure from being courted." "Oh, do not mention that to me any more," said V -- "I do not like to hear of it." We proceeded on to Frankfort, and, when on the top of the hill, just above, we felt the carriage careening to the right; I called suddenly to the driver to know what was the matter. He had fallen asleep, and was roused up just in time to save us from being precipitated over a steep of perhaps one hun- dred feet in height. Frankfort now appeared all before us in a hollow surrounded by hills. Such is its appearance that the idea strikes one that, with rafters long enough to meet from the adjacent hills to the centre, you might cover it all under one roof. page: 272-273[View Page 272-273] 272 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER LII. ARRIVAL AT FRANKFORT--REMOVAL TO HAPHAZARD- COAL BUSINESS. JUDGE Bibb, Mr. Crittenden, and my acquaintances gene- rally, calling to see V-- , and welcoming her, cheered her spirits very much, although nothing could compensate for the absence of her own near relatives. It is a dreary time with a young wife, when she goes into a far-off strange land, among those whom she never saw before, however kind they may be to her. She had been the pet of her family, and no one could fill the blank which their absence made. We put up temporarily at Weisiger's Hotel, until I could make the necessary arrangements for housekeeping. My long absence had interrupted my business a good deal; but still I found a vast amount to bring up, which occupied me not only during the day, but much of the night. I took my let- ters home from our office to answer at night, that I might be with V--- and she would copy as I would write. I found the Haphazard Branch had not yet commenced making money, but on my return the calls were heavy on me for further advances. The little supply which I had obtained in Virginia I had hoped would go to lessening accumulated arrearages, but it all seemed required for progressing im- provements. Hardly a week passed that I was not ealled upon for a further advance. I confess I began to feel ex- ceedingly uneasy. My income from my land business had been much lessened while I was absent, and my little stock on hand-was fast wasting away. I formed a determination on my first marriage to conceal nothing from my wife, and THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 273 conferred freely with her about my business. She finally suggested that we had better go to Haphazard; she thought my presence there must be necessary. I was convinced she was right--broke up our office in Frankfort, and moved down. The house we had built was a very large one, with plenty of room for both of our families, and as B 's wife was a sweet, well-bred, amiable woman, I had no apprehen- sions about any disagreement, and there was none. But still I would say to others, never attempt to live with two families in common in one house. Each family may be so well raised, and so amiable, that they could not disagree, or would not; but still, they would love each other better, if they had sepa-' rate establishments. Necessity, however, left us no choice. I now saw that we were evidently losing money by our distilleries. God seemed to have put his reprobation upon the business. Nothing went well with them, and we stopped: the largest, still continuing one and the steam-mill; but steam is a thing which should never- be touched except by those having a perfect acquaintance with it, and who are willing to devote themselves entirely to it; for, if it does not make money, it will lose it very fast; there is no middle ground; and when it does lose, the amount is frightful. A- deep gloom came over me; I feared that I saw "the shadows of coming events cast before." There was, however, a ray of hope let in-from the coal-mines; our first experiments had been profitable; and it was determined that B-- should go to New Orleans to make arrangements to try and get it into use among the planters, or sugar-makers. On his way down he met with a Mr. B---, a commission-merchant, who fur- nished many planters with their supplies. On opening our plans to Mr. B , he told B-- he thought they would do, and undertook to act as our agent in the business. This matter being arranged, B-- returned, and we proceeded to send down coal, offering it at fifty cents per barrel. As four barrels were equal to a cord of wood which was worth $3, page: 274-275[View Page 274-275] 274 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. there was an evident saving of fifty per cent., besides a great saving in the handling! The experiment was eminently suc- cessful. Mr. B---- sold every load we sent, before it arrived, and wrote to us that, if we could afford to send it for fifty cents per bushel, he could sell all that we could send him. We Were now the only shippers, except Judge McLean, who had opened a small vein opposite to Hawesville, at what is now Cannelton; This was not over half the thickness of ours, and we did not much fear the competition. If Mr. B was not mistaken in supposing he could -sell all that we could send down at fifty cents per barrel, our fortunes were made, for we could furnish any quantity which we could get boats to carry, and make from fifteen to twenty cents per barrel. I could see no reason why we could not send down two hundred* thousand barrels, making thereby thirty or forty thousand dollars. - Dame Fortune seemed at last not only to smile, but dis- posed to shower her favors upon us. So we proceeded to make our arrangements for the next year's work upon a very large scale. About the beginning of 1829, my wife blessed lme with a daughter-a beautiful child, which was an additional link to that affection, before already as strong as it well could be. And now afterwards, some time in February, occurred a difficulty with our distiller. The vile business seemed doomed to go wrong in every way. I found our distiller had been cheating, us, and charged him with it. This brought on a fist- fight, the only one I ever had been engaged in since I left school. He was a powerful man, over six feet high, and would have gotten the better of me, had we not been parted. My brother-in-law, Dr.? , being present, interposed, and I left the distillery with him, and went down to our office, pre- tending to be entirely pacified, and laughing heartily at the occurrence as a good joke. But as soon as I had thrown the Doctor off his guard, and got him to leave me, I returned to THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 275 the distillery with a tomahawk, determined to drive- the dis- tiller out. -But fortunately for me, he had gone, for he was -a desperate devil, and with his mash-stick would have been an- overmatch for me with my tomahawk. I now had the distillery closed, and the business stopped. The distiller threatened to sue me for violation of contract; but we com- promised by agreeing to leave it to arbitration. CHAPTER LIII. A DUEL. - IN this arbitration, occurred a difficulty which caused me so circumstantially to relate the above affair with the distil- ler, which otherwise would not have been worth naming. Mr. P. T , the most prominent lawyer in our district, -a man of naturally good heart, but of most ungovernable passion, was my adversary's lawyer; and in the course of his speech, spoke of the stratagem of Mr. T . When the argument was over, I remarked to him that he had used an expression which he must withdraw. "What expression?" said he. I replied he had accused me of stratagem in my dealings with the distiller. "I did not allude to you," he replied; "I meant your brother's stratagem of argument."- My brother was my lawyer in the case. "Ah! well," I replied, "I am glad to hear it." "But," he rejoined, "I am always responsible for what I say." About six months before this, when T and myself were taking some depositions, he had been needlessly harsh, as I thought, on my witness. I took him out to give him a friendly talk about it. His usual mode of proceeding in such cases was harsher than I was disposed to bear with; l h page: 276-277[View Page 276-277] 276 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. but he was so accustomed to it that he, did not think there was -any harm in it. We were neighbors, and I was anxious to keep on friendly terms with him. So I told- him, and thaAt- to this end more courtesy would be necessary on his part. He took this as a threat, and said he would not be threatened by any man. I told him, so far from its being designed as a threat, I designed by it to avoid any cause of quarrel if possible. - But, as I had missed my ob- ject, and to the public, if we did quarrel, there might be a semblance of my being in the wrong, I did not intend then to let him draw me into a quarrel; but at any other time, when he felt inclined to seek a quarrel with me, he should be gratified. - Thus we parted; and we both now were on the look-out for the slightest provocation. Under other cir- cumstances, I should not have deemed his remark sufficiently offensive to require me to call him to account for it, nor would he have refused to let his explanation stand. Seeing now that I had mistaken him, and although deter- mined not to take the -shadow of an insult from him (espe- cially as he held the whole country in dread, for when, in a passion-he lost all control of himself), I was still anxious to avoid a, quarrel if I could do so with credit. When he said, "I am always responsible for what I -say," I looked him earnestly in the face, and replied, "Mr. T-- , while I be- lieved you intended to insult me, I intended to call you to account for it. When I perceived my error, I was anxious that the difficulty should go no further. Your explanation was satisfactory, and under that explanation there is no need for you to hold yourself-accountable; there is nothing to be accounted for. Let me beg of you now to let- this matter stop where it is." He replied, he withdrew his explanation. I walked up to him with a'view to make a personal attack upon him, when my brother cried out, "Good God, R , you are not going to strike a lame man." I haited, and looked at him, and said, "I will not strike you, sir; nor will I chal- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 2" lenge you, abhorring 'duelling as I do, but nevertheless I will accept a challenge from you, and that you may not be without provocation for one, I tell you that I only now spare you in consideration of your lameness. Now challenge me if you dfare." Our friends jumped in between us; several taking hold of him, and several hold of me. To those who attempted to hold me, I remarked in the language of a man of whom I had read, who was in a similar predicament, One man can hold me; the balance of you go and hold Mr. T- ." In due time the challenge came, and was accepted to fight -as soon as I could provide myself with arms. I sent to Hardinsburg for a pair of pistols, said to be the best known of. But T-- had been before me. One friend then jumped on a steamboat, and went to Louisville, where he obtained a fine pair belonging to 31r. J. D. B-- . An- other went to New Madrid, where he knew there was a pair which Burr had had on the field with Hamilton. Both pairs were obtained, and so good were they that I did not regret failing to obtain those in Hardinsburg. I now fixed the day for the fight, accepting at ten paces back to back, whirl and fire between the words fire and three, the seconds to count deliberately one, two, three. T-- objected to standing back to back, as he was lame, and could not turn as quick as I could. I then waived that condition, and agreed to stand face to face. He having the advantage of Iz me in practice, I took time to make myself even with him, and soon found I, was a first-rate marksman, and heard that he was the same. The victory, then, would fall to himi who i could shoot quickest; therefore,' my efforts-were to learn to shoot quick. During the interim before fighting, I was Aiii daily engaged with B-- in settling up our business; and the evening before in making the final arrangements; B---- remarked, it was strange to see a man writing his will, and making such arrangements while yet in good health. A. 24 page: 278-279[View Page 278-279] 278 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. singular occurrence had happened a -few nights before; my wife in the middle of the night seemed terribly disturbed in her sleep, and groaned so much that I 'waked her.- "Oh!" said she, as she roused' up, "I have had such a frightful, terrible dream. I dreamed I was in a room full of black coffins.," "Why did you dream so?"I asked. "Oh! I do not know," she replied; "but- it. makes me feel very- unhappy." I remarked, "Dreams, you know, are always to be construed backwards." This incident, I confess, weighed- heavily on my spirits; not that I was at all superstitious; but it brought vividly to my view what would be the conse- quence if I should be shot, and not much better if I should shoot my adversary. A young wife, not yet a year married, and an infant daughter. Oh! if she only knew what was impending, what a premonition there would seem to be in that dream. Oh the night before our fight, our little daugh- ter was particularly cross, so much so that I said to V I felt so much in want of sleep that I must go up stairs iand take another bed. This, said V-- afterwards, was the first unkind act she had seen on my part, and it cut her to the heart: She had no idea how important sleep was to me at that time. a The next day we were to meet at a designated , point on the Indiana shore at eleven o'clock. When about to embark to cross over, Judge H-- , one of my seconds (each had. two, J. B. A - my ,other), asked me how I felt. I replied, ' Strangely indifferent; I can hardly real- ize that I am going to fight a duel." ' But," said he, "you must realize it, for there is but little time left now." I thenremlarked, "Before we go over, hang up a tape against that tree, and let me try my: hand." He objected, saying, "i If you make a bad shot, it will affect your spirits." "No," I replied, " it will not; hang- it up." It was done; at ten steps I took a shot, and cut the tape about half an inch be- low the black spot.- ",That will do," said he. Considering the probable dreadful result, to kill or be THE-lPILOT OF. HUMAN LIFTE. 279 killed, many would say it argued great want of feeling to go about such a business so calmly. But if the reader has ever been engaged in a duel, -has had time for reflection before it occurred, and' his conscience is at rest as to having used every- effort to avoid it, he will then see that the thing.,being inevitable, and his own safety depending on his shooting his adversary, no question arises in his mind which of the two to choose. Persons may-say, they would as soon be shot as to shoot an adversary. That was not my case; I very much preferred to shoot my adversary. And it was important to my success in doing so that the awful responsibility'of the act should be shut out from my mind as much as possible. I would not think of it -but in one way, that it was neces- sary to my own safety. I had no feeling of revenge to gra- tify, and when I went upon the ground I had no more animosity against T-- than against any other man on the ground.- :When we took our positions, and were asked if we -were ready, I answered, "No." I wished to see if my nerves were steady, and took aim at a lump -of snow on a wood-pile. Although there was snow up. on the ground, and it was dead of winter-February-yet I felt a warm glow and a suppleness of nerve which were extraordinary; If Pro- vidence .would take part with either party in a matter like this, I should think H had his support, for never was my touch so sensitive, my flesh so pliant, nor my aim so quick and accurate as at this lump of snow. - I felt as if I could put my ball just where, I pleased; and unfortunately for T-- there was a grease spot very visible just where I wished to aim. -Being -satisfied with my aim, I turned to the second who had asked if we were ready, .nd said, Now- I am ready." T-- was asked if he was ready, and, answering yes, the word fire. was given. Our fires were almost simultaneous, mine a little first. For a moment T --;stood erect, and, although my aim was good, I -began to think -I must' have ' page: 280-281[View Page 280-281] 280 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. missed him. But presently a black scowl came over his coun- tenance, he threw his pistol on the ground before him, and said: ' I am a dead man!" Now, all the feelings which had been strained up were relaxed, and my first impulse was to go, to his aid. But, as I advanced, his second, Mr. G---, called to me to keep my post; that Mr. T might wish another fire. I returned; but in a few moments his other second, Judge C:----, called out that Mr. T- -was satisfied. He would be unable to take another fire. My ball had en- tered just under his right nipple, passed through his body, and lodged in his left arm, without breaking the skin except where it entered. It was not supposed he could live twenty- four hours. But he did, and finally recovered; and although at first, for some time, we were not friendly, yet ultimately we made. -up and were good friends. And, what was singular, this shot'cured him of a chronic rheumatism of ten years' standing, and of his lameness. He said I was a first-rate surgeon, though rather a-rough operator. T was a sin- gular nan, one of violent passions; sorry for it when the passion was over; and used to tell his friends that he could not control himself, and that he was certain he would some day be killed; a correct prediction, for he was afterwards killed in the streets of Owensboro' by a man whom he had attacked. He was a man of fine -talents and fine qualities, away from 'his- ungovernable passions. To return, now I had to go home and break the matter to my wife. The idea of my having killed a man I knew would almost break her sensitive heart. So I concluded, until he died, I would pass it off for a slight wound. I asked her, on arriving at home, to go with me to her chamber. She looked in my face and said: "Why, Mr. T , you look dread- ful; what is the matter?" Nothing," I replied, "as things have turned out, but it might have been dreadful. I have just fought a duel." "Oh," said she, "are you hurt?" Not touched," I replied; but my adversary is slightly THE- PILOT Of HUMAN LIFE. 281 wounded." She fell upon my neck and sobbed, as though I had been shot. After a while, rising, she asked where he was shot, and who my adversary was. I replied, Mr. T---, who had received a flesh wound in the side. "Oh, heavens, Mr. T , suppose he should die?" I believed he would, but still did not wish her to think so then, yet thought it necessary to prepare her for the possibility. SoI replied: "Of that there is no danger. But if he should, he has brought the event upon his own head.: I did my best to avoid it. lie forced me into it ;" and I related to her the quarrel as it had occurred, and how I had struggled to avoid the result. She seemed satisfied, and said she hoped T would get well. The wound was such an one as I suppose would have killed ninety-nine men out of one hundred, for I am told by physicians that the space for an ounce ball cannot be found between the-point of entrance and of rest of this ball without cutting' the lungs and causing death, except'by supposing that the ball ranged around under the breast bone, pressing it out so as to leave room'between it and the lungs for the ball to pass. This, the physicians had no idea of, of course concluded he must die, and so informed me. I entertained no hope, and, of course, was seeking for con- solation in the unavoidable circumstances of the case. But he did not die so soon as was expected, and this gave me some hope. Each day added to this hope, until he was pro- nounced out of danger. Now I breathed freely, and a load of anxiety was taken from-my mind. - But what was my astonishment to learn now that he had sent for his seconds to challenge me again. I had been \i thanking my God for his recovery, and saving me the respon- sibility of his death. Now it was all- to go over again. I was rendered perfectly desperate; wrote, for my seconds, and named the mode in which I would-;fight if challenged again, rendering the escape of either a very doubtful matter. But my seconds and his both thought another fight "'con- 24* page: 282-283[View Page 282-283] 282 THE PILOi OF HUMAN LIFE. trary to all precedent, and he was dissuaded from sending the challenge. The man who finally killed him was a workman, a car- penter, not' particularly sensitive; but the event so preyed upon his conscience that he gradually pined away and died in about a year after, of no complaint but remorse. Would my case have been any better had it been my fate to kill him? Very doubtful. My brother's remark, though designed to prevent a fight, was a most unfortunate one; for, although T was a little lame, it did not impair his strength, and he was a full match for me. But for my brother's re- mark we would have had a fist fight, the company would pro- bably have parted us, and there it would have ended. What he meant for good, therefore, turned .out for evil. Now had such a board of arbitrators existed here-as I have designated heretofore in these memoirs, and the steps there suggested been taken, this duel might have been prevented. So much for that matter. This put a final close to the distilling business. The curse of God seemed to be upon it, and both distilleries now soon went to wreck. Here was a large sum of money entirely sunk. I felt some consolation in the reflection that, if we had been engaged in the abominable business, we had lost enough to punish- us for the sin, and that our account with Heaven was nearly balanced. But, as I before said, At that time it was not considered a discreditable business. s THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 283 CHAPTER LIV. /I SHPMENT OF COAL TO NEW ORLEANS. WE now made all arrangements for a tremendous business in coal, and so brilliant seemed the'prospect there- that the loss by the distilleries was thought but a trifle. We turned in to building boatsl at our steam-mill, turning out one a week; contracted with Judge Huston for all that he could build at. his mill on Sinking Creek; engaged other mills on Salt River, and, indeed, various points were all alive building boats for us. -All things moved on swimmingly, -so that, as soon as the water rose in the fall, our boats were loaded and dispatched with great energy. We Were in thed highest conceivable-spirits, imagin- ing we were making from one hundred and fifty to-two hun- dred dollars per day. But in the midst of our glee we received a letter from Mr. B -, saying that an unprecedented frost had occurred, which had killed the sugar-cane, and there would not be half a crop to grind. The planters, therefore, would not want the coal, and if they wanted it, they could not pay for it. That we must stop shipments, and draw no more drafts on him. This was a state of things beyond our calculation; entirely unforeseen. Never did fortune so suddenly change.- There seemed no ground of fear; no such frost had ocetirreAI for twenty years. The planters were anxious to get our coal- at fifty cents per barrel, and at this iprice we could make a for- tune. We had now some twenty or thirty boatloads on the way, and contracts for at least one hundred boats to be built, a great number of coal-diggers and boatmen engaged. What page: 284-285[View Page 284-285] 284 THE PILOT 'OF HUMAN LIFE. were we to do? Ruin stared us in the face. We sent mes- sengers, immediately around to all the owners of saw-mills with whom we had contracted, informing them of the disas- ter, whioh would make it impossible for us to -pay for their v boats, and asking them to cease building.- We arranged with our coal-diggers to dig as little as possible, only to load such boats as we -had- on hand, and I jumped upon a steam- boat, and went immediately to New Orleans. On my arrival there, -I found some twenty boats in port, and no demand for-the coal, which some of the- boatmen would have had sacrificed to pay their wages, but no i one wanted it, and-they could not sell it, My great fear now was that the boatmen, in order to enforce the payment of their wages, might put me in the calaboose, as they could' have done. I went around-among them, and told them not to be alarmed; that, in a few days, I would put all things to rights. Their expenses, however, were about forty dollars per day for hire, and eight dollars wharfage for each boat. Mr. B-- was frightened, would make no. ad- vances, and I had scarcely money- enough -in my pocket to pay my tavern expenses one week, with no knowledge where I could sell one bushel;oft coal, or raise a dollar. If ever a man had cause to despond, and give up, H think I had at this time. But -my determination was to fall with my colors flying, and never to despond until all was lost. When I retired to my room at night, I took a -calm review of all the difficulties which surrounded me, and the best means of-overcoming them. There was then no coal burnt in New Orleans in grates, except a little Cannel coal by a few Eng- lish houses. I determiped to try to bring it -into use; a hopeless chancel this, to make a market for coal already in port;; but there seemed no resource left. It was winter. ,Early in the morning - I went down 'to Richardson's hotel; first, however, ordering-a load of coal to be sent there imme- diately. It was very cold and chilly, and not half those who THE TIIOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 285 crowded in' to the hotel could get to the wood-fire:. -The cart appearing at the door, I asked permission of Mr. Rich- ardson to let me put a few lumps of coal upon-his fire, saying it should cost him nothing. With, some reluctance he consented. Soon the coal was in a blaze, and -soon the heat began to expand the crowd, until there was plenty of room for all. All were delighted,.and Richardson, smiling, said, "Well, I believe you may put me out that load of coal. What is the price?"' I answered four dollars:. Turn- ing to his barkeeper, he said, "Pay this gentleman four dol- lars." - Madame Sontag, Jenny Lind, and all the exquisite singers that-ever visited our land never furnished such sweet music as was to my ear, "Pay this gentleman four dollars." I now determined to go to one of the cotton-presses, and try there; so I ordered a load of coal to follow-me. After some time taken up in arguing with the owner of the press, in favor of the coal, and an offer to give him the first load, for nothing, provided he did-not like it well enough to order a second, he agreed I might try it. It had now arrived, and I directed the fireman to throw a few shovels full in among the wood, and only a few, until they became ignited, being fearfuleof choking and dampening the fire. Soon its effects were seen by the blowing off of the steam. Now the quantity was increased, and the wood and coal put in alternately. Presently the steam whistled from the safety- valve as it had never done before. H asked the owner what he thought of it; he replied he thought it would do, paid me for the load, and -ordered several more. I now began to feel confident that I could make a market for all our coal, and started up to see the boatmen; but on my way saw the tow-boat "-Livingston" taking in wood. -I went on boar'd, and proposed to her captain (Morrison) to try coal. He did not know how it would answer: Hagreed he might takb on one hundred barrels, and if he did- not- ue page: 286-287[View Page 286-287] 286 THE PILOT OF HUMAN iIFE. it, he should not p:ay for it. He replied he had to take in some ballast, and would give me the same price for four hundred barrels of coal that he would have to pay for so much ball t. "Agreed," said I; '"but if you burn the coal, you shall (pay me fifty cents- per barrel for it ;" and he ac- ceded- to, my proposition. - -The tow-boat. accordingly went up to one of- the coal boats, took on .four hundred barrels; and to seethe trial properly made, Hgot on - board of her to go to the Baize. I directed the firemen how to use it, and -with the same result-as ,at the cotton-press. Captain Mor- rison was perfectly astonished at the effect, and after running down several miles, "put about,' and returned to New Or- leans to let the agent and owners know how finely the coal answered, to get them to make a contract. They came on board,-and ewe nt down some miles, when all seemed highly gratified with the experiment; but made no contract for -the present. They paid -me, however, for the coal. I now had over two hundred dollars, and on returning to the boat from which I was delivering, found carts there loading for the cotton-press. I went among -the boatmen, related my success, distributed two hundred dollars of the money I had received among themn and cheered them, up as well as I could. I went to our commission-merchant B--, ex- plained .what I had done, depicted the brilliant prospects which, I thought, were dawning, and which would be re- alized, as soon as the value of coal could be made known, and inspired him with such, confidence as to procure an advance sufficient to pay off all the boatmen. Now my fears of the calaboose were allayed, and my confidence of ultimate success greatly strengthened; I went about the city to the cotton-presses, saw-mills, foundries, smith-shops, etc., en- deavoring to induce them to use- the coal, and succeeded to a great extent, except with the smiths and foundries, who said it-had too much, sulphur in it. But it now began to come into use very rapidly as ordinary fuel, and the tow- THE PIIOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 2-87 boat u Livingston"- was a- regular customer, taking several hundred barrels every trip. All the other tow-boats, eight in number, had'contracts for wood, and therefore- could: not burn coal; but a new one, called' the - "Shark," expected down from Cincinnati daily, had no such contract, and I was promised her custom. But in the mean time the shrimps. were eating the calking out of. the bottoms of the coal- boats; they were beginning to leak, and it was necessary to provide a place of deposit for the coal. ' This was also neces- sary in order to supply the tow-boats quickly, time being very important to them. The process of taking the coal from the flat-boats was very slow; besides causing danger to the boats. So I rented a river lot from a Mr. Banks, and erected a wharf upon it out of. old boats, upon which I deposited the coal, and along-side of which the tow-boats could come for it. The delivery now, by means of wheelbarrows,. was very easy and rapid. The "Shark" at length' arrived, and made trial of it. Capt. Wood, her commander, was- much -pleased, and changed his furnaces to- use it exclusively. He came along-side of the wharf, and took in eleven hundred barrels at one time. Now I felt that ha;d, recovered from the loss of the sugar-planting interest, and was upon my leg/s again; and with the prospects before me, I could safelyorder a re- sumption-of shipments from our coal-mines-which I did ac- cordingly, informing B' of what I had done, and urging him to forward me coal as fast as he could. The boatrmen who returned to Kentucky, and who0 on their arrival in New Orleans, said' there was no chance for selling, had a great opinion of my fertility of :resource, and said-I had accomplish- ed wonders; that they did not believe any. other living man could have done,as miuch.- A letter-from B- - atthis time said that myefforts -had inspired the boatmen with such confidence. that he must inform me of it, and, proceeded to relate the accounts which they brought, I now: had-- great page: 288-289[View Page 288-289] 288 THE PILOT OF HUMANrLITE. cause of congratulation.--l Had I, on my arrival, been broken down in spirits by the gloomy aspect of things, and sold out the coal for what -it would have throught, it- would not have paid the 1hire of [the hands.; indeed, it would have brought almost nothing. -But my maxim, -'-that it costs no- more -to die fighting, than to be conquered unresistinmgly,' determined me to struggle to the last- and that struggle had brought us out B--'s confidence was restored, he agreed;to resume his aeceptance-of our bills, and- away we went ahead again. CHA PTE LV. DINE WITH MR. C LAY AT JUDGE PORTER'S-A PICTURE OF REAL LIFE. ON going- one:day, to B- -'s office, I found there a .note from Judge Porter, inviting me to dine with Mr. Clay, and a few friends at-As house the- next day. I had not seen the judges and- was-not aware that he knew I was in town; indeed, I had not wished to-see him, or any other acquaint- ance.) fortmy concern was so great for our situation, and my exertions such -among coalmen, as to soil my clothes, give mee a careworn:ilook, andd unfitme for company^ Now, how- ever, it .wasdifferent; my careworn appearance was all-gone. I-had a triumphant buoyancy of spirit, which made me feel ready to enjoy any company. How few men there are who have realized- the difference between their feelings in pros- perity' and adversity! One is not the same man at all in the two cases. .I had occasion to note it during this short period of,my adversity, H had a-few acquaintances in New Orleans, who, being aware of .my embarrassed condition, and- afraid, I suppose, that I might a-sk favors of them} became so reserved THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 289 that T dropped their,acquaiintance. Adversity is a school where man learns human nature; Many a man, is a' good friend while he can live upon you; ho;, the moment you are overtaken by misfortune, will desert[ you, and be-the first to grind you with' the heel of oppression.- You may have done him a hundred favors, your friendship and confidence may have gone so far as- to create a doubt ' hether you were not-lacking in -good sense to trust anyman so far; b ut the day comes when misfortune overtakes you:; he now sees that he can make no further use of you; according to all human calculation, you must sink; your acquaintance is no longer of any value to him, and he must get Rlear of you. At first you observe only a lack of cordiality, you are' hurt at it, but do not notice it., .This disappoints him, -for he -expe&cted -you to be- offended and -to give- him cause for an open breach;.. but being aware of it, you determine to leave -to his 'own conscience his punishment.- You- still preserve the even tenor of your- course,; taking no notice of his treatment. Still believing you. cannot stand under the weight-upon you, he becomes colder -andcolder, and ceases to invite youlto his house. You still do not note it. Some friend sitting witi him, drinking a- social glass of wine, and smoking a- cigar, says, "I observe Y and yourself- are not as s-ciable as for- merly; have you had any difference?"- X(puff, puff, puff with his cigar) makes no reply. Z I will'call the ques- tioner. Z.-, ',Ah, perhaps some nmatter whlch it will not do to name." X.--Puff puiff, puff-noreply. This passes off. Next -day says Z to A, -^What is the cause of difference be- tween X and Y?" observing, '- I never see . Y at X's house; I asked X yesterday what was the .cause, but he gave me -no answer.", LA.-"-X would endure a-good deal before he would say, anything :to injure any one with whom- he had beei' on such intimate terms for so great a iength of time as with Y.; Z.--- Yes, he is a prudent mnian, and would rather" suffer an injury in silence than:tell on an old friend."'--: .-- 'Iima- 25' page: 290-291[View Page 290-291] 290 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. gine, then, you have somze idea of what'it is?' X.-"No; have you?" "A.-A"lNo, not exactly; but inadvertently X dropped ,an, expression by-which Hjudge that Y is in his debt/' Z.-"Ah, yes, yes, that must'be it." And so it goes, from one to another, secretly injuring Y, who is not aware of it- who has been the benefactor of X, and to whom X is in fact indebted--and who has Ioved him as a brother, conferring every favor upon him which' partiality or affection could suggest, but who is now sorely suffering from the effects of- X's conduct. X, aware that some explanation would be expected by the public, puts on the magnanimous man! No! he will not tell.! he will bear his injuries. in silence sooner than make known his cause of offence against one who had' once been a friend! Having nothing which he could com- plain of, he is willing others should believe that he refrains from complaining from motives of tnagnanimity! But he gradually becomes cooler and cooler towards Y, who, now borne down by misfortune,-:is careworn, almost heart- broken, at the clouds which hagB over his wife and daugh- ters, for, whom his heart -bleeds, and makes him feel every slight most keenly, while he cares nothing/-for himself. X sees all this- -iever invites them to his house. His friends, with whom he is in daily association, catching, as by con- tagion, Ihis example; Y, living in another town, is not in- vited by them when -he visits X'sltown; X, so far from show- ing any feeling, is rather gratified that Y is thus kept-out of the society where -he would likely meet him, and hopes to see him-sink deeper and deeper, until he will be overwhelmed by an obscurity-from which he can never escape. Then X will feel safe. There is a cold, phlegmatic disregard of the feeliags- and happiness of others, which would enable him to see the best friend he had on earth ruined without a pang, provided that friend might be ]troublesome if he were sus- tained; the recollection of former favors is all forgotten; all amount to nothing; and now that he has started to put down . THE PILOT OF -HUMAN LCFn. 291 Y, he must do it. Y is not aware of the injury he is suffer- ing. No one tells him; but the poison of X is secretly spreading; while X himself pretends to a regard in fact for Y, he lets his poison work; and at-last, when it has got well going, then he pretends he is sorry for it, and to the mutual friends of the two would be considered a slandered man if accused of acting unfairly, or even ungenerously. Oh! if Heaven takes cognizance of such matters, surely there can be no deeper crime than X has committed! Ingratitude is not only a great sin, but a mean sin-the meanest of all sins. But Y unexpectedly begins to recover. His indefatigable energy has enabled him to escape from the ruins of the fabric which X has been instrumental in bring- ing down upon him. Eventually, he comes out most pros- perously, becomes independent and rich. Now, X's position becomes embarrassing. Y has steadily avoided -any resent- ment of his conduct. X is aware he has no cause to com. plain of Y, and having so long slighted and neglected him, and still being unable to 6voke Y to any act of defence which would justify him in an open breach, Y observing his uniform self-possession and civil course, the position of X is anything but enviable. Circumstances were brought to my mind, by events which I was relating, which caused me to tarry by the :way to give this picture-a very faint, moonlight sketch of an actual reality which I have seen in my passage through life. The object of this memoir is to picture life as it is, and to show it in all its phases; hence, this being one of them, it was proper to show it up as I have done. ' To continue my narrative. I went -the next day to a livery-stable to hire a hack to take me down to, Judge Porter's. There I found a Mr. Tfendersona,: rich sugar- planter, who had come for the same purpose, and -althougi we were unacquainted, we joined in hiring a liak.. I found this gentleman afterwards a valuable friend. I ascertained page: 292-293[View Page 292-293] 292 THE PILOT OF HUMA[N LIFE. that he was an intimate friend of Mr. Clay's. On our waj down we had a good deal of conversation. Our views on po litical and -all other subjects seeming to agree; we formed a, close a friendship as so short a ride would admit of, and one who had seen us at Judge Porter's would have imagined wo had been many years acquainted. Of course -we had intro duced ourselves to each other. We were among the lates arrivals. We found Mr. Clay and some half dozen other before us. He (Mr. Clay) seemed glad to see me, ane treated me with marked attention. We had met often since our first interview, but nothing material having occurred have not noticed it. To return to the dinner. There were several gentlemel of distinguished wit from New Orleans, and I have seldor seen, if ever, a more brilliant display of it. But conspicr ously above all others shone Judge Porter. He was pa excellence the master-spirit of the company, in a miscellh neous running fire, and I thik the most elegant, accon plished, and intellectual gen an that I ever met witl There was no reaching after o0oing out of his way fc smart things; they were the spontAneous growth of the soi He never said a bitter thing. He never wounded any man, feelings. But there was a beauty, brilliancy, ripeness, an mellowness in all his wit and conversation which was trul delightful. Mr. Clay's artillery was rather too heavy to l used in a little warfare like this. Occasionally he woul give a shot which would tell like a fash of lightning. Bi Judge -Porter seemed to 'have the beauty of the rainbo always about him. On-our return home, my companion asked me what thought of the comparative merits of Mr. Clay and Judl Porter. I answered, as a politician and statesman, I thougl Mr. Clay had no equal; and I had never seen the equal Judge Porter as an :elegant gentleman of general inform tion, classic literature, and beautiful wit. A: rare exprc THE PILOT OF HUNAN LIFE. 293 sion, beautfiul, for wit; and his was almost the only: wit which might be emphatically termed beautiful. Iy com- panion agreed with me as to the characteristics I had named.. It will be found that one great man generally fills the public eye at a time. There is always- one who is -pre- eminent, and the leading ,trait in that one is firmness; a firmness based upon the conviction that he, is right. Such a man, when inferior in intellect, will overtop others. Hence the extraordinary popularity of GeneralJackson. Mr. Clay, had much of this same characteristic, but General Jackson always thought his friends -were right, and sided with them against the world; and, hence, they sided with him- against the world.' Mr. Clay made the interest of his country his polar star, and- where the interest of. his friends Came-in conflict with it, the balance in favor of hiss country always preponderated. In consgquepe, that portion of the voters who had office in view, and who could not hope to obtain it but from pure merit if Mr, Clay- was elected-, generally sided against him. These may be said to comprise about ten for every office, or an aggregate of at least half a million, and no man can be elected without them.. As nine-tenths, how- ever, must be disappointed, and cannot hope that the offices will be vacated while the same party remains in power, they become malecontents, and many of them join: the opposite party. But their influence and the influence of other office- seekers were always opposed to Mr. Clay hence, although universally acknowledged by his party to be entitled to it, he never reached the Presidency.- Mr. Webster, as a profound constitutional lawyer, was certainly Mr. Clay's superior. fHe, was much the :more learned man of, the- two. ' His mind was richly stored with the lore of other men. He knew better what, the law was than Mr. Clay did; but Mr. Clay knew better w hat, it ought to be, than Mr. Webster. 25* page: 294-295[View Page 294-295] 294 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. Examine the journals of our national legislation, and Mr. Clay will be found the author of most of our great leading measures; Mr. Webster of very few. Mr. Clay had the genius to originate; Mr. Webster the power to judge. CHAPTER LVI. QUALITIES NECESSARY TO MAKE A GREAT MAN. WHLE the public mind is filled by one or two great men, there may be others of equal talent who cannot show them- selves; they grow up under the shade of those who have pre- ceded them, and never reach the sunshine of public favor until those who have it are off the stage. This thing of becoming great requires, first, talents; secondly, good and popular manners; thirdly, firmness and consistency; fourthly, prestige. The latter sometimes carries a man up who would otherwise have remained in obscurity. Louis Napoleon I consider an example of this kind; and I could, I think, name another across the channel; but as there has not been quite time enough to determine, I will refrain for the present. In 1849, I thought, while in London, that I saw indica- tions that the Times newspaper had determined to advance -the fortunes of this gentleman. It asked what were his opin- ions on certain- measures, said the public had a right to know the policy which he intended to sustain, &c. going on as rather forcing him to show his hand. At this time, it seemed a matter of very little consequence to the public what his opinions were. A Indeed, I believe the public never thought about him. But the Times kept up its fire, rather seeming occasionally to take part against him, but in such a manner as to enhance his consequence; by this means drew THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 295 the public eye to him, and has finally succeeded in manufac- turing him into a great man. How far he will sustain him- self time will show. I venture to predict, not very long.* In our country, party sometimes undertakes to make a great man, and an- awful botch they do make of it. - Men of true dignity and worth shrink back. They will not touch, taste, or handle the unclean thing. They see that, to reach the Presidency, they must consent to a course which their judgment condemns, and therefore they prefer a private sta- tion. True greatness is based on conscious rectitude and virtue. Those qualities are at the bottom of all true elo- quence. They give a power, an energy, and sweeping mas- tery to their language, which those who are less conscious of being right cannot stand up against. But for reasons named, such men now have no inducement to come upon the public stage, and therefore . I leave- the reader to fill the blank. CHAPTER LVII. CORRUPTION IN OUR GOVERNMENT AND THE REMEDY. A QUESTION now presents itself to the mind. With the door closed to the advancement of virtue-with the tendency * This was written about the 1st December, and read by a friend on the 4th December,- 1852. On the 6th, a steamer from England arrived, bringing intelligence of D'Israeli's having been detected in a shameful plagiarism in his oration upon the character of the Duke of Wellington. I had named to this friend that D'Israeli was the man I alluded to. When D'Israeli's budget came up, it was found want- ing in support, and the ministry to which he was attached. fell. This note was shown to this friend, who added, in the MS., "this is true"- signing his name; which is, however, here erased. 4 page: 296-297[View Page 296-297] 296 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. to corruption becoming daily stronger-with an admission that the maxims of our forefathers are correct-that our "government is founded upon the virtue and intelligence of the people, and is only to be preserved at the price of eternal vigilance"-when we see the whole nation- governed by a party-drill, looking only to the success of party, and to the spoils of office as the reward of victory,-what are we to ex- pect? If our forefathers were not wrong in regard to itg foundation, our government cannot last under such a condi- tion of things. This is truly matter of deep concern for the reflecting patriot. While we are yet safe, or do not feel the evil upon us, the alarm will be given in vain. That danger which is but in the distance will not be realized by the people. It is hard to tell what we lose by bad legislation. Our country is so full of resources that it will flourish under the worst possible management, and if we could keep clear/of the dry-rot of corruption, all we lose by bad management, however great, would be comparatively as flothing; but when the public functionaries become corrupt, then there is no hope- for us. We have an example in the government of Spain of the helpless condition to which a country may be reduced by the want of honesty in its public officers. But a short time back, Spain was the most powerful nation in Europe. Now- she may be considered the weakest. This is attributable to the corruption of the morals of her public men, the effdet of which disseminated itself gradu- ally among her population, until at last the whole became so impregnated with the poison that none could be relied on to collect the revenue of the country; not one-half of which, I presume, now reaches the public treasury; and of ten millions -of dollars estimated to be collected in Cuba 'an- nually, hardly two millions are paid over to the government. And there is no remedy for this. If honest -men exist, they cannot make themselves known; and if they could, their honesty would be-an obstacle to their promotion. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 297 Look to Mexico, and the South American States gene- rally. They present a picture of the condition into which we must probably fall, unless this evil can -be -stayed. I am aware that, while everything is so prosperous as it now seems to be with us (I write in 1852), all pretended apprehensions for the public safety will be set down as croaking. But it may be well to examine into this subject a little before we come to this conclusion. It is the part of wisdom to fip an evil in the bud; if we are satisfied that it- exists. Let, us begin by asking the question, Does corruption exist in our government? I answer, it does, and to a very great extent, as I will proceed to prove. No great measure is ever- pro- posed to Congress, in the passage of which individuals are interested, thatthere is not a powerful lobby influence set to work to carry it; and by various modes of indirection this influence is all-powerful. This is an interference with the just legislation of the country. It is a planting of the seeds of corruption. - But this is a very small matter. The great evil lies in the operation of political parties. Each in turn, as it is successful, turns out its opponents, and appoints its friends, not according to merit, but according to his political influence. The best trained officers, whose experience is invaluable to the people, are turned out, and others substituted for them, who are entirely unqualified, under the plea that it is just that there should be rotation in office. If so, justice would require that all the people should have their turn; and -to give each man one term during his lifetime would require that the tenure should be reduced to about a week, and there would be a continual coming in and going out. Can -it be said that this is a wise basis for a government to be framed upon? But I will be answered, "This is carrying the thing to extremes. No one ever thought of such a thing." Then the term does not express the doctrine. Rotation means every man in turn. Yet the partisans mean: that it shall page: 298-299[View Page 298-299] 298 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. only apply to the " elect," not to the mass of the people. But if the people understood it, they would not-submit to it a moment. I was cognizant of -the acts of one of those elect once- in Europe. A commissioner (homme deplace), a man who acts as pilot and city historian to, strangers, asked me, in Paris, if I would settle the account of one of our public functionaries, who had forgotten to pay his bill! And this functionary was seen drunk and staggering in the streets. -He went to Berlin, where he was seen by an, acquaintance of mine, who found him in a very ill-humor because the Prus- , sians did not speak English, and he did not understand the court language of Europe. He was there also intoxicated; and being asked by this gentleman what he intended to do in Berlin, he answered profanely, "I intend to talk English, by G-d." "Do,". said the gentleman. "Stick to that, and you will get on finely." This was not a solitary appoint- ment. There were many such. Now of what use were they to our country? The object of a functionary is to repre- sent our government at foreign courts, to guard our interests, extend our commerce, and engender good, feelings towards our country. Could such a man do this? Could the ap- pointing power have believed he could do it?- No. Then why was he appointed? Answer: Because he had been a brawl- ing' politician, and it was necessary to reward him. For- tunate for our country it would have been if, after he had received the outfit,- he had been dismissed, paid the year's salary, and bid to go his way, and save his country the dis- grace of attempting to represent her at a foreign court. Compare our early representatives, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, with such a man as this, and what an awful falling off is there! Is this not evidence of corruption of the most dangerous kind? Although this is a strong case, it is, ne- vertheless, a type of the effect of party struggles, and of the necessity for rewarding partisans for partisan services. This thing .will not grow better until its cause is removed. The THE PILOT OF HU,MAN LIFE. 299- whole doctrine of rotation in office is ridiculous. No man has a right to office but from his merit.- The offices were created not to be filled by partisans, but by men most compe- tent to do the people'swork; and the longer they are in, the more perfect becomes their knowledge of their duties, and the more valuable their services- to the- country. This -doc- trine of rotation in office is gotten up to reward partisans; and it is a well-known fact that, on the eve of every Presi- dential election, there is a systematic levy made upon all the officers in our custom-houses, of a certain percentageof their wages, to raise money to retain their party in power-; -an-d if the party is retained, any officer who has refused to furnish his quota to the corruption fund is turned out of office. Now, imagine a poor honest man, with a large family -de- pendent upon his salary for support, being-offered the alter- native of losing it, or of doing what his conscience abhors!: Better far were it for the people if Congress would appro. priate one million of dollars, to be termed the Corruption Fuind, to be paid over to the successful party, or rather the party in power, to be used to keep itself there, provided at this expense we could obtain absolution for our public officers from molestation by either party, and general appointments according to merit. ' The present system is but legal robbery. A man must be rewarded for his partisan services, but the party has no money to reward him with, except that which attaches to office; the party to be rewarded must be appointed to--an office for which he is entirely incompetent, in order that he may get the salary , and the interests of his country, to the amount of millions, must be put under his- charge, and those millions put in jeopardy, or sacrificed in older that the salary of a few thousands may be paid to this partisan. This, too, is but one branch of the evil. When two parties are arrayed against each other, with the spoils of -offie in view as the reward of success, one, must condemn -the mea- page: 300-301[View Page 300-301] 300 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. sures of the other, be they good or bad. Thus, if one hap- pen to adopt a policy calculated, generally, to advance the nation's interests, the other assails it; if successful, puts it down and adopts an opposite one, however injurious to the country. But, nevertheless, the country prospers. We have no standing armies to maintain, no public debt to weigh us down, no church tithes to pay to a government religion. No landlord and tenant system. None of the expenses of a royal establishment. No taxes to government except what every man willingly pays in the shape of impost duties. No tax-gatherers to annoy us. A rich country, cheap lands, extensive commerce. Why, you cannot burden-such a coun- try, so that it will not prosper; especially with millions of gold coming from California annually to pay off foreign balances, created by the excess of our imports over our exports. Again, an advantage which we have over most other coun- tries, I might say all except England, is the unrestrained range of genius. And of England we have the advantage here, because, in England; patronage is in some measure essential to the success of almost anything. If I am told that the same is the case here, I reply, not to the same extent. And what may not the mind of man accomplish when not only free to exercise its own powers, but to obtain all the lights which can be shed by others? I answer, any end of which the human intellect is capable. Hence, most of the grand discoveries of the age have been of American invention; and, hence, they are most perfect in whatever calls for the display of genius without expe- rience. And, when time and circumstances give experience, then will we excel in all. But notwithstanding our unlimited resources for prosperity may enable us to flourish under the most ill-advised legisla- tion, yet with judicious legislation how different would our condition be! Some of our errors I have heretofore pointed THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 301 out. Many others I could, but it would delay me too long in coming to my object, which is to offer a means to remove the poison of corruption, which, like the dry-rot, is now at- tacking the heart of our government. A plan for thispurpose I once submitted to a distinguished Senator in Congress, who, being pleased with it, said he would offer. a resolution in the Senate, proposing a change in the Constitution of the United States to embrace it. But some time afterwards he wrote me that, after conferring with members, he was sorry to say that an opinion prevailed that no amendment to the Federal Constitution would ever be made henceforth. Now, if this be so, it is' a melancholy circumstance, for it must be evident that no human wisdom could, at the first effort, embrace perfection in framing a government like ours, without any model to go by, except that of the little Swiss Republic, as a skeleton plan. In considering the Federal Constitution as framed, the wonder is, not that it should have a fault, but that it should have so few. See a country rising suddenly into existence, larger than all Europe, and possessed by less than four millions of people, who undertake to frame a government which shall admit of unlimited extension, and capable of embracing under its care hundreds of millions of people; is it a wonder that time should show some flaws? Is it not a wonder, on the contrary, that time should not have shown more? And as shown, and clearly made evident, is it not the part of wisdom to correct them? I know that it is right we should have great reverence for the work of our forefathers, and only undertake to change it- upon the clearest evidence that it is faulty, and that the change will correct the fault, and cannot by possibility lead us into greater evil. The mode prescribed for making any changes in our Constitution is a perfect safeguard against the adoption of any unwise amenmen t, for it must be so evidently desir- able in the first place as to obtain a majority of two-thirds of 26 page: 302-303[View Page 302-303] 302. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the votes of Congress to-propose it" to the States, and then the votes of two-thirds of. the States before it, can be passed. This:insures such a thorough sifting bythe States, ofall the merits of the proposed change, that it is very certain not to pass unless it has merit. - But, should it pass-and be found not to work well, itlcould be easily repealed, unless of a cha- racter ta enlist patronage to retain it. Such is not the cha- racter -of the proposed amendment.; On the contrary, it proposes taking patronage from the government; and here lies the difficultyof having the amendment,proposed. Those in power must have a pure patriotism indeed to propose clip- ping their own wings for theircountry's good. Such things might have been looked for among our revolutionary fathers, but hardly now without a condition which should leave the incumbents in the full possession of -their power as long as they were :likely to hold: it. This would, probably, not ex-- tend beyond the year 1860. The leading and influential members will probably, by that time, be too old to hope for much from the patronage of the government, and would be glad, as they descended into the -grave; to know that the canker-worm which was gnawing upon the vitals of their country was about to be rooted- out. Indeed there are few of them, who, if they believed there was any real danger, -would -not yield their private interests for their country's good; but it is wonderful how men's private interests darken their perceptions of any evil to their country from gratifying them. Not being satisfied to let this matter rest, notwithstanding the opinion expressed by the first friend to whom I submitted it,:which -was done three years ago, I, last year, submitted it to Mr. Clay, and received the following answer:- - A-SHAND, 13th Aov. 1-851. 'DEAR SIR: I received your two favors, with the essay which you have prepared on the subject of an amendment of THE PILOT- OF HMA-N -LIE. 003 the Constitution. of the United States. I will take it with me to Washington, and give it awconsideration corresponding with the-importance of- the object, and my high respect; for you. But I can hardly hold out the expectation, with any certainty of my moving in the, matter, owing to the state of my health. It- has been delicate- throughout the present summer} and, although somewhat improved, remains in such a state as to have made -me seriously hesitate about returning to W-ashington. Unless it should-'improve much- more, I shall-be unfit for much labor. With great respect, I am- Your friend and ob't serv't, H. -CLAY- R T , Esq. But the Almighty has been pleased to take from his coun- try this able leader, whoie indorsement of any plan- would have given confidence to it' I fondly hoped for his opinion, but disease took possession-of- him, and he- never had it in * his power to give it. I have concluded, therefore, to-record the plan -in my memoirs, frommwhich it can -be taken if deemed of any value. It is as follows :-- A Proposition to alter the Constitutiono of the Unite States, by creating a Fourth Esotate} to be denominated the SNa- tional Council. SE, -1. To be composed of one-third the number of mem- bers that-there are electors of President .and Vice-President of the United States, so as to give- one member -too-the small- est State, and be distributed among- the States in the same proportions as -the electors are. iW WShen -the electors to which each: State is entitled are, divided by threes the-- overplus shall be:made into one -aggregate list, and numbered from the top downward. Numbers corresponding to those shall be iplaced in- a box, .and. one drawn. out, the: Stat repre- page: 304-305[View Page 304-305] 304 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. senting which, shall be entitled to a Councilman, as shall those States which represent each third number therefrom:. SEC. 2. The term of service to be five years -after the first term, but one-fifth to go out annually, and their vacancies to be filled as created. SEC. 3. To be elected as Senators are, by the several States. - SEC. 4. No member to bew eligible to any office, in the gift of the government, under two years after he has ceased to be a Councilman. SEC. 5. This Council shall assemble annually at the seat of government, ten days before the meeting of. Congress, and shall be organized on the plan of the Congressional House of Representatives, with all its rules and regulations, except that the Speaker shall be denominated President; but all the other needful officers shall be the same, and-with similar allowances for incidental expenses. SEa. 6. When once organized, the same officers to con- tinue in office until others are appointed, so that there shall be no interregnum, but new elections will be held each year. SEC. 7. The salaries of the members shall be each one-fifth that of the President of the United Staties, and mileage of members of Congress, payable by the Treasurer of the United States to the order of the President of the Council, countersigned by the clerk, in favor of the respective mem- bers. SEC. 8. The sessions of the Council shall continue during the sessions of Congress, and as much longer as the business before them may require; provided, however, they shall not be required to sit over eight months in the year, unless Con- gress continues longer in session. SEC. -9. All members, Ex-Presidents excepted, shall be charged with their absent time one two-hundredth part of their annual salary per day. SEC. 10. All Ex-Presidents shall be ex-oficia members of THE PILOT OF BUMAN, LIFE. 305 this Council for life, and no deduction shall be- made from their salaries for lost time.' SEC. 11. Congress may, for distinguished services, annu- ally appoint one person a member of this Council, until the number reaches ten; may fill vacancies occurring in this number from time to time; and may remove such appointees at pleasure for cause shown. SEC. 12. The several States may remove their appointees at pleasure, by the vote of a majority of both Houses on joint ballot. Powers and Duties of the National Council. SEC. 13. This Council shall have the power, which the President now has, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, of appointing all the heads of departments, as now constituted-to wit: The Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Secretary of theNavy, Secretary of the Interior, Postmaster-General, and Attorney- General; -as well as the heads of any other departments ,which may be hereafter created. SEC. 14. All officers of the government shall be classed under one of the aforesaid departments as now existing, or under others as they may be hereafter created; and -each head of department, when appointed, shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make all appointments to fill the offices appertaining to his depart- ment, and without consultation with, or influence -from the- President. SEC. 15. If any head of department, on coming into office for the first time, shall deem it advisable not to reappoint the incumbents, but to fill the offices with aew appointees, he shall give his reasons in writing to -the oficers removed, ;if they require it; and shall not appoint any- of his own kin- dred, nor the kindred -of any, Councilman, -in: either -case nearer than cousins. - But after the offices are filled the first 26* page: 306-307[View Page 306-307] 806 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. time, under this amendment, then the incumbents can only be removed by the President, or by impeachment, but -the heads of department will be reappointed at the coming in of each new administration. SEC. 16. -The President' alone shall have power to remove from office after the first appointment, as aforesaid, and no person so removed shall be reappointed while that President is in office. - His'power shall extend to the removal of the heads of departments, as well as all their subordinate officers; but whenever he shall do so, he shall furnish the removed officer with his reasons in writing therefor, if by such officer he shall-be required so to do; and in case the President shall undertake to remove more than one incumbent successively from any one office, the National Council shall have power to veto- such removal, if they think proper, by resolution of a majority of their body, disapproving of said removal; and, provided that any head of department,-who may be removed by the President, may appeal to the Council, and if two- thirds of that body sustain his appeal, he shall be reinstated. SEC. 17. Although the President shall have power to re- move' such officers, the Council, or heads of department, as hereinbefore provided, shall, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, fill the vacancies, the power of appoint- ment by the President ceasing henceforth. SEC. 18. Besides the foregoing powers, the National Coun- cil shall have authority to decide all questions between con- testing candidates for seats in-Congress, either in the House of Representatives or the Senate; and if a question of ex- pulsion shall be made in either House of Congress, it shall be tried and decided in the National Council., SEC. 19. Should either House of Congress fail to organize within ten days of the commencement of the session, the National Council shall appoint the necessary officers, and cause a temporary organization, which shall continue until the same can be permanently done by the Houses themselves; THEPILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 307 and after such temporary organization, it shalI not be lawful for either House to spend more than one day in each week in endeavoring to form a permanent organization. SEC. 20. Should Congress at any time rise without pass- ing the necessary appropriation bills for the support of go- vernment, the National Council shall have power to continue in force the bills of the previous year, until Congress shall act upon the subject and pass other bills. SEc. 21. The National Council shall have power to settle all disputes and questions of jurisdiction which may arise between the several departments of the government, be- tween two or more States, and. between the States and the Federal -Government. SEC. 22. The National Council shall investigate and ad- judicate all claims against Congress, or the General Govern- ment; and its decision shall be final and conclusive. SEC. 23. Congress may, by resolution, refer any matter to this Council for investigation and adjudication, or report, by bill or otherwise; and it shall be the duty of the Council to adjudicate, or report, in conformity to the resolutions of Congress. SEc. 24.. Congress may, if it deems proper, at any time, ask the opinion of this Council upon any subject; and it shall be given accordingly. SEC. 25. It shall not be lawful for the' President, or any other person or persons, to communicate or talk with any member or members of this Council, or with any of the heads of departments, in regard to their appointments, nor to this Council in regard to any matter which may be before. them, or may come up for their deliberation, except by written commu- nication addressed to the Council in session; and the President, or any other person offending against this prohibition, or any member of the Council, or heads of department, allowing it, shall be fined in the penalty of one hundred dollars: one-half payable, to the informer, and the other half to the page: 308-309[View Page 308-309] 308 THOR PILOT- O HUMAN LIFE. government for each and every such offence. And it shall be lawful for any one suspecting such prohibited conversa- tion or commuuicatioi to call upon any member of the Councii or head of department, to testify in regard to the same, before any court of law; provided, however, his testi- mony ,shall not implicate himself, and provided, neverthe- less, the Council may invite information, as may the heads of department, in which case there will be no penalty in' curred. , Now let us consider the character of this Council, and its adaptation to the ends for which it is designed:-- -SEo. 1. This plan of representation is as unobjectionable as that of electors of President and Vice-President of the United Stated. SEC. 2. Term of service five years, changing one-fifth an- nually. This is to avoid such a change as would interfere with the business. : SEo., 3. :Mode of election as unexceptionable as that of Einators.- SEC. 4. To prevent a wish by their official acts, to elec- tioneer for any other office. SEc. 5. Meeting ten days in advance of Congress, de- signed to have business in preparation for Congress. SEC. 6. To avoid such difficulties as occurred in Congress in 1849-50. SEC e 7. -That,: in case, from changes in the value of money, it shall be deemed: proper to change the President' salary, it may also/carry the same change with the Council, and not leave the Council in anyway dependent on Congress. SEC. 8.. Noa remark needed. :- . ' . SEO. 9. Ditto. SEi. 10. Our Presidents, when they leave office, generally do so poor; it is right to provide an asyluam for them. SEc. 1.1. To enable Congress to reward merit. k SEa. 12. To insure that the Councilmen' do: not fdrget * q*. THE PILOT O ' OP UMAN -LI aF. 309 that 'they are representatives. of the States, and are bound-to. look to their interests. ' SEC. 13. This strikes at the'root of corruption, and re- moves the cause, which is patronage. When the appointing power'no longer remains with the President, and"he ban no longer reward his partisans, there will be-no motive but pare patriotism for adhering thaty man. "Measures, not men"- Mr. Monroe's motto-will then be acted on. But, I may be asked, if you deprive the President of' the power of appointment, do you" not also deprive him of the commanding authority necessary to 'an energetic administira- tion of the government? I answer, no; and refer to the com- manders of our army and navy as evidence that-I am right. When a post-captain goes on board of a ship'to which he has been newly appointed, his first step is t'o" feel his ship," as the term is,- He calls all his officers and men to quarters, and gives out'his commands, sees that they are properly obeyed, and gives the necessary instructions for the correction of any errors which he may discover. WThen he has done this, he 'eels thatu he is at home on his ship, and sany breach of dis- cipline is punished by bringing the offender to -a court- nartial, and dismissing him if found guilty. This was bund sufficient to preserve- the best discipline among the Officers ;- and neither in the army nor navy has it ever been bund that there was any want of efficiency because the' ,ommanders had hot the appointment of their subordinates. Yhy should it be more so-with the President? ' He is not inder the necessity of calling a court-martial. iIf one of he officers of government is found wanting in his implicit bedience to the President's willy the President's orders will, t once, dismiss him. He has not odly the command- and uthority of a: naval commander, but is absolute in his com- iand as to, all subordinate offi6ers. He needs no- inerven- ig court-martial; his word is sufficient.- He hais all the ower which he now has, except' that of :appointment; and page: 310-311[View Page 310-311] 810 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. a good President is very much annoyed by this power; he would rather be without it. - To be -sure, as to the heads of department, who may-be removed, they have the right to appeal to the Council, and, if two-thirds believe he has been improperly removed, hewill be reinstated. This is deemed necessary to prevent removals by the President in conse- quence of a non-conformity to his will in regard to subordi- nate appointments which the President might take occasion to have indirectly made known to the heads of department. But the power of the President to remove will always in- sure from the heads of department a respectful deference to his wishes; -nevertheless, they will be left measurably in- dependent, enough so not to be used by the President for any corrupt purpose. Now let us imagine a man wishing office under govern- ment, and willing to lend himself to the election of any presidential candidate to obtain it; also, presume such can- didate willing to bargain for his official influence to bestow it--what are his chances of reward? tHe devotes himself heart and -soul to the election, and now comes forward for his office. How will the President go about to obtain it? He dare not speak to any Secretary on the subject; and he must displace some body to -make a vacancy. Then he has to' give his reasons in writing for this displacement. He might have none. But, suppose he had, and creates a-va- cancy. The head of department to which it belonged could not be approached by him on the subject of filling it; and, if it could be done by indirection, which would be very diffi- cult without incurring the penalties of the law, the -Secretary might not be willing to lend himself as a tool. Taking the thing altogether, it might be set down as an absolutely impracticable task for the President to accomplish; and, certainly, no sane man would exert himself, with a view to reward, when the attaining of it was so- extremely doubtful, if niot impossible. But, of:what avail would be the influ- e THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. 3" ence of a few, if by great pains they could be rewarded? Less than rewards for thousands would be of no avail. -It may be therefore set down as a settled matter that we have got clear of the patronage of the President. Now, like the dent in a turtle's egg, this power of patron- age, if driven from one point, will show itself -in another. You cannot annihilate it; and the question now is, Have we lessened the evil by removing the power from the President to the Council-? Let us examine this question. Here are some seven heads of department, to be appointed by one hundred Councilmen. Suppose a. sufficient influence could swerve those Councilmen from their duty; where is this in- fluence to come from? The salary attached to the office of Councilman makes it more desirable than any in the gift, even of themselves, and none could come from any other source; but they are prohibited from holding any office under the government until they have for two years ceased to be Councilmen; therefore they have no inducement, on their own account, to act corruptly. But suppose they would do it for their friends, with a view that the Secretaries should appoint their own relatives to office?. This,.by the terms of this amendment, is prohibited to nearer relatives than cou- sins; and it is hardly probable that the Council could be so corrupt as'to bargain for the benefit of cousins, even if there were no legal penalty against conversing on the subject. So that branch of the subject may be considered at rest. Suppose, however, their strong political prejudices should incline them only to appoint partisans; and those, with an understanding that they, in turn, should appoint,-partisans under them? By the terms of- this amendment, the suJbor- dinate appointees hold over after their first appointment, and can only be removed by the. President for cause shown. This could not be done to any extent; indeed, so small would be the hope of reward that it would enlist no partisans. And could the Council be induced to swerve from integrity for *I page: 312-313[View Page 312-313] 312 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. the sake of benefiting friends with the offices which they had the- power- to fill, there would be but one for each fifteen of them -and the one-fifteenth of a chance for serving a friend would. hardly suffice as an equivalent for their integrity, especially as they might themselves be removed for it by their respective States. Upon the whole, there would be no sufficient inducement to go astray. But now the Secretaries and Postmaster-General might use their patronage for party purposes. To what end? There could be no commitment by them to partisans, be- cause it would be impossible for them to know that they would be appointed; and they could only fill such vacancies as the President might create for good cause. Again, having the filling of the offices in their respective departments, they would be more responsible than now for their good conduct. They would appoint none except for their integrity, capacity, and honesty; and brawling, purchasable politicians are not of this sort. But suppose the checks are not perfect, though I believe they are, are they not more so than no checks at all? Now the empire is, in a measure, set up for sale by the Praetorian Guards, and no condition of things could well be worse. SEa. 14. Included in Sec. 13. SEC. 15. No comment needed. SEC. 16. This supposes a case where the President might. be contumacious, and determined to force the head of de- partment to fill the 'office to suit him, and is intended to provide against it. SEC. 17. No comment needed. SEC. 18. A very important duty. Contests for seats in Congress, when -party feeling runs high, are very apt to re- sult in favor of the strongest political party, without regard to justice, and ought to be decided by some other tribunal than Congress. Questions of expulsion, for -the same reason, should be settled by another tribunal. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 313 SEC. 19. This would have obviated the alarming condition of things existing in 1849 and 1850, prior to the Compro- mise, and would prevent a recurrence. SEC. 20. This has been several times very near occurring, and should be provided against. Such a tribunal is wanting. SEC. 21. Some of the States, and among the rest Virginia, are not satisfied that the Supreme Court should settle such questions, and want a State-rights tribunal which this is. Sea. 22. This would annually save the" government mil- lions, and leave Congress half its time for legislation which is now engaged in investigating claims. SEc. 23. This would enlighten Congress very much,- and relieve it of a vast amount of drudgery. It would enable Congress to embrace subjects of great importance, which it now has not time to reach, in regard to the promotion of agriculture, the sciences, railroad to California, etc. SEC. 24. Necessary to avoid intrigue. Some may object to the expense of this tribunal. This I think it hardly worth replying to, for; besides the fact that in guarding the government against fraud, it would save more than its cost, its general tendency to banish corrup- tion gives it a value not to be measured by dollars and cents. . Should it have the effect of banishing corruption, then political contests will assume a healthy character. Parties there always will be, and for the good of the country ought to be; but when plunder is no longer the object, the contest will be based on principle, and their- efforts will be for the good of the country.. In regard to the chances for good appointments,-relatively, by the Council and the President, we have seen that, by the President, they are not good, for the -reasons named, and could not be worse by the Council. But the Council is com- posed of men from every State in the Unif, and its mem- bers would be apt to know of all the talent in the country, 27 page: 314-315[View Page 314-315] 314 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. wherever it might exist. Their chance to make good ap- pointmeats, compared with that of the President, would be in proportion to the greater range of their information. New, what would be the objection to this alteration? The plan thrown out is only a general one, subject to amend- ment before it is adopted; and, doubtless, in its details sus- ceptible of great -improvement. But, in attempting to im- prove it, let-us beware lest we injure it, and fail in some of its essential objects. The inhibition to all communication by the Council or heads of department with others in regard to appointments may seem to cut them off from important sources of information, but they are only prohibited from having private conversations; they may call to their aid openly any persons they may wish to consult, or ask in- formation in writing. The quiet which this change would give to the country, the rest from political struggle, would be productive in many ways of infinite good. It would be apparent, then, to the patriot philosopher, that there was an -inducement for his labor. He would think and write for his country, because her ears would be open. The clouds, which now obscure truth, would vanish. Party drill would not direct the understandings of men, nor shut out light. Now, of what avail would it be to offer to the consideration of Congress the most manifestly beneficial measures for the country? If from the minority, it would not be listened to; if-from the majority, it would perhaps be laid over for the more important matter of President-making. Look back for ten years, and point out any one great public measure, which has not been passed with a view to political effect, except the- Compromise measures. -It may be objected that the- high salaries of the Council- men would -attract all the talent of the country, and leave not enough to conduit with advantage the legislation of Congress. I answer this objection thus: It is deemed necessary to THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 315 make the office of Councilman one of such honor and profit, that there would be no inducement on the part of its mem- bers to intrigue for any other. As to its attracting the ta- lent of the country, that, I admit, it would do; but, when in full operation, and the political atmosphere became purified by its operations, -then would the virtuous latent talent of the country begin to show itself. Inducwment for corrupt intrigue being banished, the mass of the population could not be moved to support any man except from merit. Now, in order to obtain votes, offices are promised to prominent men in case of the success of a certain party. This. produces a violent effort to get in the men who will make those pro- mises. Men of real- worth an: integrity will not do it-; hence they, except perhaps in a small proportion of Cases, are not elected-but they who will bid for the votes are. Banish this corrupting influence, and the-latter class will soon be banished from Congress, and their places be filled by men of worth and talent. And instead of that paucity of talent which seems now to prevail thrFughout the country, a rich harvest would come forth, which now shrinks back from public life. As before said, the mass of intelligence in mur country is greater than it ever was--though there are ewer brilliant stars seen in the political firmament. The ,eason is obvious. No true greatness can exist without virtue, Lnd virtue will not generally seek employment under a cor- upt, government. I do not say such is universally the ase. I know many worthy- instances to the contrary, there the parties have worth and weight of character suffi- ient to carry them in, despite of all the intrigues against hem. But their honesty and virtue are very great impedi- ments to their advancement. There is a species of corruption prevalent at Washington, hich may seem beyond the reach of the proposed remedy. his is the influence exercised by what are termed borers page: 316-317[View Page 316-317] 316 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. upon Congress; Those are lobby members, who give fine dinners and suppers-and, as some assert, go further, to carry their private claims, and even the general measures of Con- gress. The reference to this Council for decision of all claims against the government would cut off the first class. Congress would then cease to have the adjudication of such. But man -are interestIs in public measures, ihich they would incur great expense to carry. It has been recently stated, by the London Standard, at present the ministerial organ of the British government, as a fact well known in England; that eighty thousand pounds sterling ($400,000) had been forwarded from that country, and expended in Washington, to aid in passing the tariff act of 1846. The United States Gazette says: "The time has been when such a discovery would have lashed the country into indignant rage; it now excites a smile-and is forgotten." Only think of the daring impudence of a foreign country-to send four hundred thousand -dollars into ours, to corrupt its rulers and control its polit, to suit its own purposes-! The only mode of reaching such an evil, which I can think of, is to purify the political atmosphere, as I think will be done by the proposed amendment, and bring into power men who could not be approached on such a subject. And such men too would devise means for the punishment of those detected in such a purpose, as would effectually guard against it. , THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 317 CHAPTER LVIII. CIBING DOWN'"-'COAL ADVENTURES CONTINUED. to ELL, I must now doff the Statesman, and return again to the man of business--rather a shock I fear to the reader, for we have a natural aversion to descending. This, however, is unavoidable from the character of these memoirs. My own history is a mere incident-a vine pole--to sustain foliage and flowers of much more importance. My p. se is not to write the history of my life for the value o e rest alone that there is in it, but for the lesson it contins for the reader; and hence, whatever is suggested as I pro- gress, which I think may be of value, or teach -a moral, I stop by the way-side, to- philosophize and talk about. This may relate to the value of time, of money, how to cure a scolding wife, or correct the corruptions of a government; it matters not what may be the subject, if the events which I am relating suggest it, there I take hold of it, and run it out as long as I think there is interest or value in doing so. Hence there will often be found very abrupt changes, and such as may seem in bad taste; but, if the reader will bear with it until he gets through, I venture to say, when he takes a retrospect, he will find he has been entrapped into reading some dry disquisitions, which he would otherwise have passed over, but which, upon reading, he will see it was important he should understand, and be very glad that be has been so cheated. It is not' the events of private life alone which I propose to scan, but to correct-whatever abuses I may think exist in our government, or whatever errors there may be in its policy, according to my concep- 27* page: 318-319[View Page 318-319] 318 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. tion; and, although I shall undertake no regular disquisition on this subject, I shall here and there, as occasion offers, venture to give my views en passant. To return then to my coal adventures. Things were now going on swimmingly, and the prospect of a brilliant fortune Iy^biyre me. Never were my spirits so buoyed and tri- umphail:: The whole city was beginning to uIwioal, al- though :the cart-load it did not count much in compari- son with what the tow-boats would take. Judging by the eC o?- ption of the two that were now using it, they would e on an average four hundred barrels each per day, -whid would be two hundred dollars for each boat, or six- teefihundred dollars per day for all the boats if they used i '?which we would make not less than three hundred, Cl:r one hundred thousand per annum, if we had no cometition, :of which there then seemed no immediate pros- pect-: a. But-the planters' demand and the city demand would pro- bably eqtifall the competition we had -any right to fear; therefore thiy next year was full of hope, and even this pro- mised a rich reward. But how vain are all human calcula- tions! The occurring of a frost to destroy the sugar-cane, when we thought we had that market sure, was a most ex- traordinary event. But now came another still more un- looked for. The "Shark," on her last trip from the Balize, took out her grates for burning coal, and replaced those for burning wood; the captain saying the coal fires were so hot that they burnt out his boilers. I -endeavored to reason with him against it; assuring him that it must have been the collection of sediment in- his boilers-as boilers could not burn from any heat with water in contact with the in- side. But ,this was an at'tack upon the engineer. It was his duty to see that the boilers were kept clean, and to get clear of the charge upon the coal, it must be put on the engineer. This the engineer would not allow, of course, and THE PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. 319 hence the use of coal must be abandoned by the "Shark." This precluded all chance of bringing the other boats into the use of it when -their wood contracts should end. The "Livingston" was an old boat, with cylinder boilers, and was near being laid up because she was ceasing to make money when she took to the use of coal, and if she could not useit she could -ot run at all. We) therefore, retained her cus- tom as a matter of necessity. But we had renewed opera- tions at Bonharbor on a very large scale, and were then shipping at the rate of a boat-load per day. The expense was enormous, and without a full demand forthe coal could not be borne. I was now receiving twice-as much as I had a demand for, and ilbecame necessary to find storage for it; shelter from the sun and rain, which not only turned it into slack, but caused a great hazard of spontaneous combustion. My father had once a very large body of coal destroyed by spontaneous combustion. I became daily more and more alarmed for fear ours would take fire; so I proceeded to -erect a very large shelter to cover it, out of the planks of old boats which I had broken up: and to cap the climax 'the city council were proceeding to take measures to stop the burning of coal in the cotton-presses, upon the ground that-the smoke was a nuisance. I could sell no more to the cotton-presses. The fates seemed against us. I wrote back now to stop opera- tions again but before it could be done ninety-seven boat- loads in all had been shipped this season. After remaining until July, and the yellow fever was beginning to make its appearance, I made a sweeping sale of the coal on hand at twenty cents per barrel. After winding up with our com- mission-merchant, it seemed probable that we would fall in his debt some seven thousand dollars when his acceptances for us all became due; so I gave him our acceptances for two thousand and five thousand dollars at four months, but with blank dates to be filled up when he found it necessary to use them, at which tim e we-were to be notified of the fact. page: 320-321[View Page 320-321] 320 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. I now took my departure for home, very much dispirited at the result of the season's operations; for we were not only short the said $7000, but also all the resources which we could raise at home. It was a most disastrous year's work. But, on taking a calm review, while I saw an extraordinary combination of events against us, the old adage, that it is a long lane which has no turn, seemed to apply in our case; and I was not disposed to abandon the effort. It was not very probable that there would occur another frost to destroy the sugar-cane, and, if not, we would have the market of the planters. The investigations of science could be made to reach the difficulty about burning out the boilers, and all could perhaps be put right again. Blscd is he who holds out to the end, thought I; so we picked our flints, and deter- mined to try again. This difficulty-about the boilers, I thought, could surely be removed,'as could the nonsensical notion of the council about the smoke being a nuisance to the city; and now to my imagination the sky seemed bright- ening again. But our resources at home were lamentably low, and it was with great difficulty we could raise the means to prepare for another year's work. We went on, however, to exercise our financial skill, and use our credit to the best advantage. CHAPTER LIX. GLOOM HANGS OVER US-WRECKERS APPEAR- DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHP. AN idea had gotten out that we had sustained immense- losses, and all who had means in our hands became alarmed. The pressure came in from all quarters, and we were sorely beset. I received, by the hands of Richard Anderson, a let. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 321 ter from his father, who lived on the borders of Mead and Breckenridge Counties, about fifty miles distant, saying that B. H--- and G. P-- were there, and that H--- had induced P--. to revoke my power of attorney in regard to the 32,400 acre tract, and record the revocation in Hardins- burg. On reading it, I remarked, "And still the vultures come; they think they already scent my dead carcass in the breeze, and hasten to feed upon it." I ordered my horse, and after a little while was on my way to Captain A--'s. The captain was a man of great integrity of character; despised treachery and meanness of all kinds; was himself a faithful friend and agent. Never was a man more disap- pointed than H-- was in supposing he would get the captain to join in a conspiracy against me. I asked his son, who was a true ,C chip-of the old block," toinform me what had passed. He answered that H had come to his father's with UP , and told his father that I wasin P---'s debt, and had received large sums of money from the purchasers of the 32,400 acre tract; that it was reported I was broken, or would be; and that? for his own safety, had deemed it advisable to revoke my power of attorney, and appoint him (H ) agent in my stead; that P.-- wished him, Captain A--, to join in the agency with- H--, who, never doubting Captain A 's willingness to join in ruining a friend, said that I had never paid? but $1100. Captain A remained silent, but proceeded to his desk, brought forth a map of the sur- vey laid off into lots, and laid it out before P--. . Here, Mr.? ," said Captain A-- , "is a map of your land; those lots painted yellow are what have been sold; very little of the money has been collected; all-of which has- passed through my hands. The surveyor's bills and other expenses have been great, besides over $1300 in taxes, and if Mr. T-- has paid you $1100, the survey must be in debt to page: 322-323[View Page 322-323] 322 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. him." This was -perfectly astounding to? ,who had been led to believe that I had received a vast amount of money. Captain A- , turning to H--- , said, "No, -r. H-----, I will not join or have anything to do with you in this dirty business. What assurance, sir, could I have that you would not serve me as you have Mr. T-- ? I shall, sir, immediately send to inform him of what has been done, and I guarantee he will be here as quick as his horse can bring him." This produced great consternation, and P-- saw at once that he had done wrong, in disgust quit the whole business, and posted off home by way of Louisville. H also returned home. On my arrival, both were gone. It was night, and my horse required rest. In the morning, I determined to set out for Louisville. Before I got off, I received & letter from home inclosing a bank notice of a draft given to B ,of New Orleans, due in five days. TUis was one of those given to meet a problematical balance, and which, when used, was to be dated so as to give us four months' notice, and we were to have immediate advice of it. But we had had no notice. Our credit, however, had not been yet injured in Louisville. I proceeded on there in hopes of finding? , who had, however, taken a steam- boat for Virginia. While in Louisville, I made a negotia- tion to meet said draft, and wrote to HI that I should meet him at Hardinsburg Court, when he must be prepared to make good his charges against me, or abide the conse-, quences. I returned home, had P----'s account made out, showing that he was in debt to me instead of my being in debt to him ; met H at Hardinsburg, and demanded a meeting before mutual friends. Joseph Allen, the clerk, Judge Huston, John S. Chapman, and several others were present. Upon exhibiting my account, and- asking H what he had to say, a scene occurred which cannot be de- tailed here. Suffice it to say, all present were satisfied with THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 323 me and my conduct. As soon as possible, I proceeded to Virginia to meet? . I exhibited my accounts, and demanded a settlement.? ,I presume, is a brave man; I saw nothing to the contrary. But he was sensible that he had been awfully misled by H ,and had done me injus- tice. Not being prepared to admit or deny my account, he proposed submitting it to his friend, Walter Runn, in Ken- tucky, and to any one that I would name. It was, accord- ingly, so submitted, and? 's arbitrator said that my yielding up the trade I had made with Mason, which I was not authorized to make, and which, therefore, should have been placed to my own account, but which, turning out to be a very profitable arrangement, I had from a sense of deli- cacy put to the credit of the -survey, was a rare instance of faithful agency--such as he had never -been able to obtain. Upon examining my accounts, he promptly allowed me the balance I claimed. Thus I was released fromi this trouble- some business; and I think it afterwards proved almost a total loss to P-- -. The history of this case shows the advantage of a- man's acting with great promptitude and determination when un- justly assailed. Repel the assault, and " carry the war into Africa immediately." Thereby you become, instead of the assailed, the assailing party. My experience through life has satisfied me of the value of this rule. I had now tri- umphantly vindicated- myself, and felt satisfied; whereas, -the least "shaking in the wind," or hesitation, would have proved most disastrous. This H-- was at the time my lawyer, which made his treachery doubly disgraceful. Al- though at first very much excited against P---, reflection satisfied me that he was not to blame. Having his fears excited by H-- , his first course was very natural. But, when he found his error, he should have come to see me, and have corrected it. Soon after the $2000 draft, came the other for $5000. page: 324-325[View Page 324-325] 324 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. :1 This, B - went to Louisville, and made a negotiation to meet. We were now, for the time being, free again; and proceeded with our arrangements for the next year's busi- ness. But we had to work with a heavy load upon us, and under great difficulties, for our losses, the'previous year, had left us little more than our credit to go upon. Nevertheless, I felt a great hope that success yet awaited us, dark as mat- ters then were. We accordingly proceeded vigorously to work for the new campaign, and shipped a large quantity of coal; I proceeded to New Orleans to dispose of it, with a confidence that no -frost would occur thiq year, and that science would repair the injury, supposed tl have been done to the business, by the alleged burning out of the "Shark's" boilers. But the finger of fate seemed against the business. The planters did not buy coal, and the ships objected to the use of it on account of the smoke, so that the tow-boats would not use it. The- result was .another losing year. I still had confidence, to, use a western expression, that "there was money in the business;" but it would require the closest and most vigilant attention at home and abroad. We had, during the year, sold a portion of our interest to a gentleman who was to be connected with us next- year, and who, having come out,' was living at B-- 's. I returned; B-- and myself dissolved partnership; he and the other party rented the mines, and carried on the business another year, but with a similar result. This gentleman complain- ing that our dissolution had injured him, he was released from half his contract. B--- and myself now found all the partnership resources sunk by our losses, leaving a large debt for me to pay, over and above. All the partnership property was valued, and I agreed to take it at B --'s valuation-setting forth debts due by the firm, which I was to pay as an equivalent. But, after all the resources of the firm were exhausted, still a large amount remained due, which absorbed all my private commissions and resources, THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 325 and left me nothing but the said property, encumbered with an original debt for most of its cost, and the debt which I had assumed for the firm. John Jacob Astor, as I have once hereinbefore said, re- marked, that it took harder work to make the first thousand dollars, than it did one hundred thousand afterwards. And now, but for being reduced to begin without this first thou- sand dollars, I would, have been inclined to yield everything to be free; but that could not be done, so I determined to begin anew, and try what virtue there was in acting under the motto ( never to give up the ship." CHAPTER LX. AN OFFER TO ENGAGE IN BUSINESS IN WASHNGTON CITY. AT this time, T. G---, who had made a large fortune, sent me an offer to join him in business, as he understood B- - and myself had dissolved; proposing, if I would settle in Washington, to guarantee rhe five thousand-dollars per annum, and my family expenses, but that I should have half the profits, be they what they might, and he believed they would go to ten thousand dollars. Now, could I have been clear of all debt, and have yielded up all my property, I would willingly have done it to have accepted this offer; but I could not. And had I gone to Washington, encumbered as I was, I should have had our debts to follow me, and no certain sale of ay property in Kentucky. But I concluded to go on to see about it, and wrote to R -- to meet me there to settle up accounts. 28 page: 326-327[View Page 326-327] 26 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. CHAPTER LXI. PURCHASE OF D. R--- S ESTATE. ONE of the representatives, who was also executor, met me and Judge B--, who was another executor, and a member of Congress. I presented my accounts and closed, and requested them to appoint another agent, as I had de- termined to come to Washington to live. R--- proposed to sell out to me. I informed him, if I purchased, it must be at a price to justify my giving up the offer I had. The end was, I bargained for the whole estate on long credits, and returned to Kentucky. I had now temporarily a respite, for I could, by sales of the purchased property, raise means to stay our creditors. My plan was, whenever I got any money, to pay off a part of every pressing debt, thus showing that I had them in view, and would pay as fast as I could. This, in a measure, prevented suits, but not altogether. Some could not wait, and some were not disposed to do so; for they could see no reason why a man who had so much property should not at once sell it off and pay his debts, not reflecting that I could not sell, except as I got offers, and that in a wild country, however much you may be disposed to make sacrifices to meet your engagements, you cannot do it. A tract of land worth ten thousand dollars may be sold at auction and not bring one thdhsaid. Again, if I sacrificed the property I purchased, at a ruinous rate, I would have no means left to pay for this property. These considerations made it, in my eyes, seem morally wrong to make such a sacrifice; while, at the same time, to owe debts and hold property seemed THE-PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE. 327 equally wrong. My utmost efforts were used to make sales; but in a new country you cannot, as aforesaid, force sales; you must await the gradual demand. My position was ex- tremely painful. I felt conscious - that I would condemn another man, in any apparent condition, who didnopayto the last dollar; and yet if I paid to the last dollar, by sacri- ficing my property for what it would bring, I should leave a number unpaid, and my family in hopeless poverty. I should then be cursed by those who were left hopeless, as much as I was now blamed by those who wereonly deferred. I regretted that I had not accepted the offer made me, and gone to Washington under all the disadvantages, for there I would have been able to calculate on a certain amount periodically, which, by being used to pay my debts, would have stayed our creditors, whereas I could not now count upon any certain income; it must all depend upon my sales, and they upon the whims of purchasers. I was extremely unhappy. It was one of those cases-in which fortitude was of little use. airy own feelings were what I had to contend with. I was not satisfied- with not paying off my debts, although, if I determined to do so at any sacrifice, I must still leave many unpaid. After fully weighing the whole matter, I determined to pursue the course which my judgment told me was right, and trust to the future to repair all the injury which my credit might in the mean time sustain. I had had a claim put into my hands, against the general government, which the ow ner of had for a long time tried in vain to obtain. nry usual success in such-matters induced him to apply-to me. The claim had'been rejected on grounds technical; w hile, in m y judgm ent; it ought to have been allowed; being substantially- such as had been allowed though literally differing. I w rote a letter to- a gentleman in Washington, setting forth the nature of the claim, in a plain and simple manner, with its justice as eviden t-as I page: 328-329[View Page 328-329] 328 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. could make it appear. It was a case for the decision of the Secretary of the Treasury. I asked him to take my letter to the Secretary, and urge what additional arguments might suggest themselves to him. He did so, the claim was allowed, and soon checks came on of about ten thousand dollars for my client's portion, and three thousand for mine. This three thousand, by being judiciously parcelled out and paid, helped me very muQh. My late partner, B , was now appointed Clerk of the Chancery Court, in Louisville, and not being willing that a matter of dollars and cents should interrupt the goof feel- ings which ought to exist between us, I wrote to him, agree- ing to- assume the payment of all the debts of the firm my- self, taking the property of the firm, and releasing him. I made a barter of some property which I had for eigh- teen hundred acres of land on Green River, and sold this to a gentleman who had become possessed of two of my bonds to R , and with this sale and other means paid them off. I purchased half of a coal-mine at Cannelton, in Indiana, for $5600, paying down $600, and renting my interest, so that it paid the remaining instalments; but afterwards I enabled the owner of the other half to sell it for more than he could have otherwise got for the whole. Among the various pur- chases I made was one of a tract of land in contest with General Taylor, late President of the United States. This I recovered. But a short time ipreviously, I had discovered an irregularity in the authentication of Taylor's deed, upon which his title depended. It was sold for nine thousand dollars. This and my other operations went far towards paying off my main debts, except those to R -. I now sold another tract for five thousand, and made nu- merous sales of smaller amount, which still helped to lighten my load. I was continually buying and selling; my minute acquaintance with the country enabled me to make great bargains, and by so dealing I was enabled to pay off debts TIE PILOT OF o UM AN LIFE. 329 faster than I could have done to have let them alone, and paid out what little money I had, for my credit was good, and often I could buy without money. As an instance, I will relate a case: I met, during a winter at Frankfort, with Gen. L. T. Dade, of Virginia, going down to settle near Paducah. I proposed to him to settle in Daviess, and buy a tract of land of Mr. W--- of 1600 acres, a very fin tract. Gen. D-- said he only Wanted 500 acres. I told him Mr. W would probably sell 500, and I went to see him. He said he would only sell the whole. His price wase six dollars per acre. I asked him what time he would give. te replied, "If you will take it you shall have it at six annual instalments with interest." I told him I would take it, and a deed and bonds were drawn accordingly. I now told Gen. D--- he could have 500 acres on the same terms. He agreed to go and see it. A lr. G---, a man of wealthq proposed to take half the balance-in other words, to go in with me jointly. I agreed to-i, my main object being to get Gen. D as a settler. Still I saw there was a speculation in the property, but I was not certain that I could realize upon it in time to meet the payments, and while -- 's debt was not yet paid off I was willing to avoid any heavy responsibilities which I was not sure would pay. On Gen. D----'s seeing the property, he wanted half; but G--- would not agree to it without an advance of $2 66 per acre, which Gen. D--- paid. And nowG--- offered me one thousand dollars profit for my whole interests which I agreed to take. Thus, by an effort to befriend a man, I made $1000, and got a citizen, which was my main object, who afterwards aided a- good deal in populating the ounty. I have perhaps been a little tedious in thus detailing those trades, but it is done-to show the commencement of the second epoch in m y history, and how I rose after falling the first time. Those are but samples; a vast number of such from time to time occurred. 28* page: 330-331[View Page 330-331] O - THE PILOT -OF HUMAN LIPFE. C .HAPTER LXII. FEAR FOR CONGRESS--BARGAIN WITH' T. G FOR A TEXAS ADVENTURE-A HORRID BEAR STORY-MEXICAN RECORDS; BEST MODE EXTANT-CONTRAST WITH THE ENGLISH. IN 1835, Mr.- T , having been a candidate for Con- ess against the Hon. A. G. H , withdrew, and I took s place. - H had for a long time represented the dis- ict, and beaten all his opponents. I felt, however, an clination to measure swords with him, and became a can- date. At the same time, Mr. R , of Muhlenburg, also Whig, became a candidate. We- had a meeting, and settled e matter by his withdrawing. The incidents of an elec- meering campaign in Kentucky are so amusing that I ould like to, introduce some of them here; but my pub- :her informs me that I have already carried the work to o great a size for ready sale, so that I must now close it as on as I can, and with only notice of prominent events- I arned by becoming a ecandidate much which I was ignorant before. To many I became endeared for life by their irm and zealous efforts for me; and justice to the magna- mity of T----, with whom I had fought a duel, requires e to say that he- was -among my warmest friends. But of y own politics I reeived a very lukewarm support from me in other counties, who, for reasons of their own, pre- rred the -defeat of their party to my election.- I, conse- tently, lost the election by one hundred and fifty votes. out eight thousand-with, however, a very -evident demon- - ration that I could carry it the next time if I offered. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 331 tI was considered at the head of the democratic party in Kentucky, and- was a very imposing speaker with an electioneering tact which few men possessed. Some of my friends, in a public meeting after the election, nominated me as a candidate for the next race; ET resigned. But in consequence of R 's handsome con- duct towards me, I now thought it due -to him to offer him the field; which, though he had not yet agreed to take, I ex- peted he would, and so I declined the nomination. offered without an opponent, and served one term; hen my brother succeeded him, and served three% after which his own business required his withdrawal. Soon after the election was over, T. G , ofRichmond, arrived at my house, and proposed to m-e some joint Texas speculations-the revolution having then -broken out in Texas. The. suggestion struck my fancy, and terms were soon agreed upon;. he- agreeing to furnish the money if I would lay it out. He took my family to Virginia, and I proceeded to New Orleans.- Stopping at Natchez on my way down, I witnessed a most horrible scene. I lodged upon the second floor of the hotel; my room opening - upon a gallery on the inner court or yard. I heard suddenly a terrific screams from a child, and immediately one still more so from a woman. Running out, I beheld two -enormous bears chained together, one of wh'lh had- the chitld down, and the mother on the back of the bear trying to get it off. There was no weapon in m y room but a shovel. I picked it up., ran down with- all speed, and struck the bear across the eyes with the edge of it. T his m ade' him loosen h-s hold of the child with his teeth for a moment; I now dealt him as heavy a blow across the nose as I couldi and but for his being unwilling to loosen his hold upon the hild, he would have sprung at m e; bu t I noticed hew as chained to th e other b ea r and on his first m ovement towards me, I should have sprung out of his way. I continued to belabor- him page: 332-333[View Page 332-333] 92 TlME PttOT OP HUMAN LIFE. with -the shovels to keep him from" biting the child, which was bleeding, however, from the wounds already inflicted; but although he' seemed annoyed by my blows, he would not release th6 child, and the poor mother, with the mostfrantic fearlessness, was all the time endeavoring to extricate it from his grasp. That the other bear did not take hold of her, ' and tear her to pieces, was a wonder. Presently; however, a gentleman came running out with a pistol, placed the muz- zle near the beards ear, and lodged the contents in his head. The bear fell, and the mother recovered her child-, but it was mortally wounded. - The. bear had inserted its teeth in the child's back to a mortal depth, and it died that evening. The waitings: of the mother all night right under my room were truly. distressing. - These two bears had:been brought in by a countryman to sell to the hotel-keeper, and left loose in the yard while he went into the house to make a bargain. While so left, see- ing the child in the yard, they -ran after and caught it-a piece of darelessness on the part of the owner which was unpardonable. While stopping here, I met a Texan having for sale land- claims to the amount of -about three hundred thousand acres. These he proposed to sell to me at-very low rates. They were grants of a ":league-- and labor" in each patent, com- prising about four mthousand five hundred acres. Upon ex- amining'them, they seemed to me a good-purchase, provided the lands were equal-to description, being upon and about Lake Cadoe. I agreed I would-go and examine them, and inquire into the tiles, and, if satisfied with regard toboth, I would take them I accordingly proceeded to Natchitoohes, bought me a horse, proceeded -to Fort Jessup, where I found ayoung officer', a relative, who accompanied me, and we also fell itn with: Col. H--, of Louisville, an old acquaintance, having in company with him a friend of his from Maryland. We went on to Nacogdoches, where the land-office was kept, THE PILOT OF oUMAIBN I. 333 and here I prcured a copy of the Mexican land-laws printed in English, and proceeded to study them. I found that the Governments of COoahuila and Texas, being combined, were authorized to issue grants anywhere not within twentyleagues of a foreign State. The design of the Mexican Gover nment was to preserve an unsettled belt twenty leagues wide be- tween themselves and their :neighbors, The grant, how- ever,-which I came to examine into were within this belt, and, consequently, void. A brother of the g entleman whom I had seen in Natchez and his partner resided inNacogdo- ches, and I bad a letter to him. I asked him, in regard to this matter, what explanation there was of it. He seemed struck with it as a new idea; but at last remarked, "Oh! that is a restriction which has been deemed needless, and-is disregarded." - But," said I, "the authority tos issue the grant is the law. That law does not give the authority to go within this' boundary, and if this law has not been changed the grant is without authority." A good many others were with us, and so anxious to deal in those claims that they did it, my objection to the conrary notwih, standing; and I believe all-have lost them. Hwished also, to examine their records to see if there was any mode of -ascertaining whether the land offered had been sold, or mortgaged to any one else. -Here I found the Spanish system -a beautiful one--one, which, our-legislators muight adopt to advantage. When a grant is issued by the government, a duplicate is lkept-and -lodged in the record! office; both 'opiesrare numbered with the-:same number. Wben the grantee sells, he m akes the transfer on theoriginal grant, and this: transfer .must be copied -on the-duplicate 'which is lodged in the record-offic e before it is good. If part: of a tract is sid , he original grant is surrendered, and two new ones obtained for the-tw o-part% or th ree, ot four, as the case may be; a nd the sam e rul e is observed throughout so that there is no possibility of a man's selln g thesame land page: 334-335[View Page 334-335] 134 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. twice, or mortgagig the title without its being made to appear. There is no record-book; the records are kept in bundles and numbered, so that, when a man comes into the office with his deed, the clerk, by examining the number, can find the duplicate in the office in a moment. While in Glasgow, in 1849, I was one evening walking home with a gentleman,- who, pointing to a lot, said: "There is a late purchase of mine, which cost me 7000 besides the transfer." "Besides' the transfer?" said I, being somewhat surprised that he should name an item which, in the United States, would not amount to more than five dollars. What is the cost of transfer?" 300/" he replied, " or near $1500." Why; for what is this? not the mere writing of a deed?" "Oh, no!" he answered a but for the searches and investi- gations necessary to ascertain that there has been no other transfer of the title." In Great Britain, they have not, or had not some years ago, any record of titles. It may be possibly changed of late. Only see here what a tax there is on every transfer of titles. Why is this? It cannot be that they cannot devise a better plan. But a better plan would not suit the lawyers. This Mexican plan would cut off all this expense. The usual plan in the United States of recording all deeds and mortgages enables a man, if he will search every court of record where it would be legal to record the deed, to come at the condition of the title. But it requires a vast amount of labor. In Kentucky, a late law requires that to each recorded deed a wide margin shall be left, and, whenever a transfer is recorded, reference shall be had to the original title, and the transfer noted in Athe margin with a reference to the page of record. This, if the clerks do their duty,is a valuable improvement on the old plan. Yet a clerk may be negligent; you never feel perfectly assured that he has not been so. But in the Mexican plan there can be no mis- take, and it is consequently the best. Referring again to the Engalish plan, I had Occasion, whle in England, to note. the fact that law with everyhing apper- taining to it, is nore expensive by tenfold than in this coun- try, and is purposely kept so'by the lawyers. The aristcracy- of that country are generally understood to be its oppressors. Not so. The lawyers and the courts are. They claim tha t iustice is mo r e certain theresthan in any other country. So it may be when you reach it. -But it is an exemplification of the fable of the fox dividing -the cheese between the monkey and the cat. The fox keeps biting alternately one piece and the other in order to have them exactly even, until, when he hasjustly balanced them very little is left for either. CHAP TE R LX IIi. TEXAN LOAN-.ADVENTURES IN TEXAS. -HAVING satisfied myself that the titles to the land I cam e to examine were not good, I returned to Natchez and an- nulled my contract. I -now proeeded to New Orleans, where I found the Texan comm issioners,'Alessrs. Austin, A rcher, and Wharton, en - deavoring to raise a loan to aid in carrying on the w ar. But no no one would. listen to them , because : they cam e from no acredited government, D r. Archer was an old acquaintance of m ine, and getting into conversation with him -I w as in- duced to believe some advantageous arrangement could b e made, and named the subject to M r. T, i . C , of C in - cinnati, and together w e prepared th e pla n of a -loan fo r tw o hundred thousand dollars, bearing eigh t pe r c ent. p er annum interest, bu t redeemable in land at fifty c ents per acre, in page: 336-337[View Page 336-337] 336 TIE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. sections of six hundred and forty acres, with priority of loca- tion. This- plan was submitted to the commissioners, and accepted by them ; ten per cent. to be paid in on subscribing, and the balance at the option of the subscribers on the rati- fication of the conditions by the Convention. I took half of the whole loan, C forty, thousand dollars, and the balance was taken in smaller parcels. Colonel W. F. G--, one of the subscribers, went off to Washington, in Texas, where the convention was in session, to get the arrangement ratified. I remained a while longer in -New Orleans, and while there a gentleman proposed a joint speculation with me; hee to furnish forty thousand dollars, and I to do the business. I agreed, and in about two weeks we made ten thousand dol- lars ; I one-half. I now went on to Washington, in Texas,- also. On my road there, I met with an appeal written from St. Antonio, by Captain Travis,who was then besieged in the Alamo by Santa Anna, which was one of the most thril- ling I ever read. He stated that he had but one hundred and sixty men, and was besieged by several thousand; that he would fight as long as he could, but that he must neces- sarily be conquered if not soon relieved; that they were not afraid to die for their country if necessary, but implored aid. - On the road to Washington, passed within five miles of a camp of: Indians, said to-be hostile. On arriving at Washington, Dr. N and others in company, I found Colonel a very despondent about the loan. He said he had no hope of getting it ratified. That, I said, was bad news. "'However, colonel,' said I, "men with halters about -their necks are not in a humor to talk about loans, and their ratification will be of very little avail to us if they -are conquered. Let us, therefore, first render them what aid we can by clerking for them, while they are framing their constitution ;and when that is done, and they have an organized government, it will be then time enough TEE PILOT O HUIMAN LTr. 37 to talk about the loan.") embersto talk about the loan." ventI was introduced to mlost of the members f the seem onvention and, among the rest, to General Rushim who seemed to e a ading member.- I remarked to 'him that Colonel G--- and myself had a heavy stake de- pendent on the successof Texas, and, in clerking or any other way, if we could render them any aid, we would beglad to do it. He said we could aid them very much and the proceedings of the Convention durin the day were brought to us to copy at night, which work w e regularly executed. he rowd was so great in Washington, and the accommo- dation so small, that I had to find lodging on a co in a room filled with Mexican prisoners; not a very comfortable place as may be imagined, and rendered still less so by an event which will be presently mentioned. Various efforts were made in the onsome means taken to relieve Travis. I wa s even proposed that they should- adjourn and all go to his rescue; but that was voted-down as a hopeless m easure. At last news came that they were all massacred; Mrs. Travis and a negro sea being the only two who escaped alive. T he siege waswith. stood for an uncommon length of time, considering the dis- parity of forces engaged. But Travis's men were a choice set; the famous David Crocket w as among th e numb er; and every rifle shot brought its man . Santa Ann a final saw thathis m en were fast diminishing b the alor and de shots of this haWl-b.- . the valor and dead .shots offi m en, while he was making no sen- ^ ble impression o n t hem; f r, aordi report, e nee the commencement ,Z. g to -repo0rt, be had, sine-, thc oneneement of the siege , lo st eleven hundred m en, a nd h ey were said to b e well provided in the Alamo with provisions. Ammu nition was runn ing ta Anna probably did not k now that . 1e no w 'rt his army into three reliefs , and deter;ned e to vdep up a-con- inual fire upon the fort night and day . Th e force ,- ,- g as barely sufficient to man the fort; h e c oul d n ot d ivide is nd consequently, could give them no relief. 29 oxe2. eo tt page: 338-339[View Page 338-339] 338 TBF: PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. After the assault had continued several days and nights, Travis's men became so exhausted and worn down-and probably his ammunition was giving out-that the feeble resistance encouraged Santa Anna to attempt to storm the fort. So he mustered a force for the forlorn hope, ordered them forward, placed behind them a larger force with fixed bayonets to drive them in, and leave them no retreat. They, therefore, crowded into the fort, and it was a death-struggle, hand to hand, between perhaps one hundred men on one side, and two thousand on the other. Of course such a struggle could not last long. Every Texan, except Mrs. Travis and her servant, was massacred.- Mrs. Travis was respected. This news threw a gloom over the Convention and every- body. A- braver and more valiant band-never faced an enemy. Now the Mexicans might be expected upon Wash- ington at any time, and the constitution was not yet half finished. It is singular that no videts or spies were kept out beyond the distance of a few miles to give warning of their coming. A strange apathy was prevalent throughout Texas as to danger from the Mexicans. To take reasonable precautions to guard against danger seemed to be construed into timidity. Had Santa Anna possessed one particle of enterprise, he might with the greatest ease have captured the whole Convention and all the attendants upon it. They went on with their work deliberately until they finished it, although 'there werealmost nightly alarms of the Mexicans' approach. One night, as in a dream, I heard a voice calling me, but I was so sound asleep that I could not wake. The door was barred so that no one could get in. Presently there was a light rapping on the side of the- house, and a voice in a smothered tone called to me, "' Col. T--., Col. T--, in the name of God, wake up, and come to the door!" I now awoke, and unbarred the door, and found Dr. N-- there. "Dress," said he, as quick as you can, and come out." "What's the matter?'"I replied. "Come out," said he, TIE PILOT OF HUMAN LIE. 39 "'and I wil tell you; don't ask me, before you come out." I hunted up my clothes, put them on as soon as I could, and went out. I found the whole town, including the Con den. tion, in the streets. "What means this?"I asked. "The Mexicans are upon us'" replied a citizen. "Where?" sai I. "Two of our spies have come in} reorin ...rid c. of two mex I e reportin, te appear. ance of two Mexican spies about two miles off. The army is doubtless close at hand." Our party proposed that we should cross the river. On the other bank was a swamp, and to stay a night in it would be as dangerous s ato en- counter the Mexicans. This objection I named, and that it -would never do for us to go whileothrs remained. "Ica swim, I remarked, "and if the Mexic ans come, and there is no help for it, I will plunge into the river, and swim over, but I had rather wait until we have some certain evidence of their coming." After waiting sevral hours, and they did not make their appeaance I retired to my room, and lay down. upon m cot with my clothes on, designing to keep awake, and listen for "com ing events. "But I fell asleep, and did not awake until next morning. The succeeding night, while the Con- vention was yet in session, a member rose, and moved for an inquiry into a conspiracy, the character of which it was horrible to contemplate, the knowledge of which h ad just reached him; and, if true, no time should be lost-in taking the conspirators into custody , for the danger was im mediate. It c/mtemplated the massacre of all the Mexican prisoners ;hen in their possession, which would entail everlasting dis- ; race upon the country. A terrible sensation wa s produced b y t his announcement, ith seconds to th e motion from every quarter of the A member of the Convention rose, and' ackno wledged that was at the head of the conspiracy) which he intended to page: 340-341[View Page 340-341] :0 THE PILOT OF HUMAN L IFE. rry out to avenge the massacre of Travis and his men, but at he would abandon it. What a condition of things! Had this conspiracy not een discovered, as the massacre was to have taken place at ight, I imagined, as I was sleeping among the prisoners, I could have shared their fate. When the constitution was framed, the Mexicans not waving made their appearance, Col. Rusk (now Gen. Rusk, )f the United States Senate) came to me, and said, Well, 1ol. T- -, you and Col. G---- have labored for us faith- /uliy, and we feel inclined to do what we can for you about this loan." "'If agreeable, colonel," said I, "I would like to address your Convention on the subject." "Very well," he remarked; he would, in the morning, offer a resolution granting me leave; which being done, I ad- dressed them, stating that I understood discontent existed, which I wished to avoid; that, on the appearanceof the commissioners in New Orleans to obtain a loan, the idea was considered preposterous by most prudent men. "A few of us, however, with adeep sympathy for a young and gallant peo- ple, unrestrained by considerations of caution and prudence, which perhaps should have been the part of wisdom, believed that Texas would succeed in her struggle, and so believing, doubted not we should get paid. We were asked, where was the government from which those commissioners came accredited? We were toldthere was none! We answered, we cared not. Where there was the high-toned chivalry which could induce some twenty thousand citizens to en- counter a nation of eight millions of people who had enticed the Texans to settle that country under the constitution of 1824, and afterwards withdrawn it from them, leaving them then not freemen, but the subjects of a despotism, thereby forcing them to leave the country if they were unwilling to submit to such a government ;--I ay, when we saw this evidence of their bravery, we could -not doubt- that all the THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 341 usual accompaniments of such qualities existed, and that when their government was framed they would ratify the arrangement. I have steadily adhered to this opinion, and am still confident in it. If I err, it is in violation of the general rules which govern human character. But it is to our interest that you should be satisfied. I ask you to look to the circumstances under which we made the loan} and do us the justice which you may think our confidence in you merits. If you think the terms we obtained of you are hard, I ask of you to authorize and direct your executive to give us lands at the prices, and upon terms that we could obtain them from individuals at, whenever circumstances may en- able them to close the contract. This you cannot consider hard, because if we had our money we could make purchases on those terms." The vote was taken, the proposition agreed to without a dissenting voice, and a resolution of the Convention was en- tered up accordingly, as will be seen by reference to its pro- ceedings. The Convention now proceeded to close their session, but were not a little hurried in it by a report that the Mexicans were near. The President and his cabinet, with myself, Colonel G --, Dr. N- - and others, took our departure for Harrisburg, the balance of the members to their homes or the army. On our way we were accompanied by the servant of Cap- tain Travis, before mentioned. Anxious to get the particulars of the massacre, I endeavored to get into conversation with him. But so stupefied was he by what he had witnessed, so absorbed in his melancholy at the loss of his master and all his friends, that he only answered in the shortest way such questions as I asked him, from which I chiefly gained the information I have heretofore related. Whether it was on this journey or before that we heard of the capture of Fanning and his brigade, I do not recollect. 29* page: 342-343[View Page 342-343] [2 THE PILOT OF- HUMAN LIFE. He was on his march towards Goliad with four hundred men, when suddenly, in a sort of basin, he was surrounded by two thousand Mexican cavalry, and ordered to surrender. Two thousand Mexican infantry he would have encountered without hesitation; but his men were chiefly armed with rifles without bayonets, and he was unprepared to resist an attack of horse. After some negotiation, and a solemn stipulation for the safety of his men, he surrendered. They were marched to and kept, I think, at Labodeyear, generally pro- nounced Labordee. Here they were kept half starved for a long time, until so wasted and worn down that they were supposed to be incapable of any effective resistance. They were one morning marched out in single file, a file of infantry at the side of each man, and after getting to a certain point were halted, and each file, with the muzzle of his gun to his victim's breast, fired and killed almost every man. Nevertheless, some two or three escaped to tell the tale. After two days' travel we reached Harrisburg, a little vil- lage on Buffalo Bayou. In about a week, the army of Santa Anna reached Fort Bend, on the Brazos, about thirty miles from Harrisburg. General Houston was on this side of the Brazos, about thirty miles from Santa Anna, and also about thirty miles from Harrisburg; the three points forming an equilateral triangle. The President and cabinet were in daily session upon the affairs of the State, and, as I was deeply interested in all they did, I often was allowed to be present at their conferences, 'and advised freely with the members separately. My, attend- ance was only to await their leisure to act upon my business. The usual apathy in regard to danger from the Mexicans also prevailed here, although they had evidence at the Alamo and Labordee that the Mexicans made an indiscriminate slaughter of their foes. Here we remained over a week, within one day's march of the Mexicans, and, as far as I THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 343 knew, no videts or guards out further than a mile or two I never went to bed but with an apprehension that w would be attacked before day. Apprehension perhapst is not the right word to express my meaning) for I had caught the usual apathy prevalent in the country; and, although it seemed reasonable that such a thing might occur at any time yet I, like the balance, had become careless about it: Santa Anna and Houston seemed to stand eyeing each other like two game-cocks, neither willing to make the first flutter. Often, when I would be sitting out in the common upon a log, and a distant rolling of smothered thunder would come from towards Fort Bend, I would imagine it the artillery of the two armies. At last General Rusk said to me that the cabinet wished to settle this loan business with me, and asked what terms we could agree on. I asked him what was the current price of lands; at what price could they' be bought. Everybody nearly was now running away from the Mexicans, leaving their lands, and were offering them freely at twelve and a half cents per acre. "Ah !" said the colonel, " that won't do." I do not ask it," said I , "although it is very evident, if we had our money, that we could buy at those rates. But I am willing to pay double." Now few persons are willing to take into consideration "altered cases." Had General Houston encountered Santa Anna and whipped him, and in consequence land had risen to a dollar or two dollars per acre, I would, by the terms of my accepted offer to the Convention, have been compelled to allow those prices. But when, on the other hand, Santa Anna is driving everything before him, and land falls to twelve and a half cents p er cr the case is altered, the sacrifice is too great the contract can- not be complied with. But I proposed to allow double the current prices, and give twenty five cents. "Well,' said Colonel Rusk, is there no way to compromise this matter? page: 344-345[View Page 344-345] " . THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. What will you relinquish your contract for? Say you take land at fifty cents per-acre for what you have paid in, and let go the balance." I replied I would take 135,000 acres. This was objected to as being unreasonable. But,- on dis- cussing the subject, and my showing the advantages which the contract gave me-being clearly more than double my demand, and which I could not be deprived of without a flagrant breach of faith on the part of Texas-my proposi- tion was agreed to. But it was afterwards-as will be seeh -after having been solemnly signed by the. President and every member of his cabinet, finally repudiated. CHAPTER LXIV. PPOINTED GENERAL AGENT FOR TEXAS--EMPOWERED TO PROCURE A WAR LOCOMOTIVE. COLONEL RUSK remarked that the cabinet were desirous not to disagree with me, for they were anxious to get me to act as their general agent in the United States, and asked me to make my terms as reasonable as I could afford. I answered that, if I lowered them beyond this mark, I should think I was taking less than in justice I was entitled to. After a day or two, we closed a compromise on these terms, and I was appointed general agent in the United States for Texas, with power to appoint four secretaries to reside in different parts of the Union, and also with power to appoint all local agents. This arrangement gave great credit to Texas; so much so that I purchased a cargo of provisions, then lying in Gal- veston Bay, for a very moderate advance on cost, payable by THlE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 315 an order on the treasury out of any moneys coming into it. And, indeed, for those orders I could buy anything at par. By the terms of the compromise the form of the scrip, which was to be issued as soon as it could be printed and signed, was laid down. The President asked me if I could not raise them two thousand dollars. I replied, I had it not with me, but if he would issue me the scrip for that amount, with authority to locate it, I had a friend present-from whom I could get it. He accordingly issued it, and I went down with Dr. N- from whom I got the moneys and located one section on Galves. ton Island, where the city of Galveston now stands. I made the survey with a pocket compass, prepared the field notes, and got Dr. N- -to go with them to Harrisburg to get the grant signed, while I remained at Lynchburg, opposite San Jacinto. But, on his way, the road touched upon a bend of the bayou, the only point where it did touch it, and at this point he saw the smoke of a steamboat coming down. He awaited its approach, and found the cabinet all on board. In anticipation of the coming of the -Mexicans, this steamer had been kept with steam up always ready to move at a moment's warning; and, finally, some of the advaned spies of the Mexicans were seen on the tongue of land in the forks of the bayou, just at Harrisburg . Then the cabinet, in no small hurry, made their escape on the boat. Had Dr. N not met it just where he did, he would havegone on to Bar- risburg, and fallen into the hands of the Mexicans. On their arrival, bythe request of the President, I proceeded on to the United States to ommence my functions and forward on supplies. I will- here name a machine which I suggested, and ob- tained authority from the executive to have constructed in the United States. It was a steam war locomotive. The prairies of Texas are generally very level, and in summer very hard. A locomotive could be constructed to run upon page: 346-347[View Page 346-347] 346 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. them with great facility. The plan was to have the wheels about ten feet high, and to run about twelve feet apart, with a light frame of iron rods on the outside within which to set bales of cotton; this frame reaching down near to the ground to protect the locomotive against the balls of the enemy. The hinder axle was to be pivoted into a coupling so as to be steered, by a rudder or steering-wheel. The engine upon a substantial framework resting chiefly on the axle of the fore-wheels, but enough of it below not to make the centre of gravity go, above the axle. Room sufficient to be left aft for- the hind-wheels to turn with facility, and to contain some twenty men. The steersmen (two) to stand in front behind cotton bales, with loopholes to look through, and by means of a wheel and rope to guide the car. This car to act as a moving fort, to be drawn by horses when not used in battle, and only to be used on a level firm prairie, to which the Texan army could-retreat whenever overpowered and this locomotive using rosin and tar, with a little coal or wood for fuel, of which it could carry enough for an hour's operation, would now be let loose upon the enemy, and run over his army. Had not the war terminated as soon as it did, this experiment would have been tried. It would take but a few hours to throw up a semicircular breastwork behind, which it could be protected from the cannon balls of the enemy while at rest, and when in motion it would be a rare accident if one would hit it; and, if it did, the encasement of cotton would probably protect it. Dr. N -- and myself pow took our departure for the Sabine, our direction being chiefly by the points of the com- pass, there being then few paths, hardly any roads; we car- ried -our- rovisions in our saddle-bags, and slept out in the prairie under a tree. The day was cloudy; we had to guess at our 'direction as best we could. The next morning was the same, and after travelling about ten miles we saw a house. We concluded we would go there and get our break- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 347 fast. On arriving there, we found ourselves upon a road, and inquired where we were, when we learned we were within ten miles of Lynchburg, the point we started from the day before, having travelled thirty miles, and gained ten. While eating breakfast, I sat with my face to the open door, looking towards th 3 San Jacinto, and saw, at a distance, some horsemen coming towards us in great haste. I was the only one who saw them, and doubted whether they might not be Mexicans, but concluded to say nothing until I could distinguish. Presently, however, I discovered the American hat--as contradistinguished from the low-crowned Mexican; soon Colonel T---- and some friends rode up, and told us that the Mexicans were at San Jacinto, were crossing their cavalry over the river, and would soon be scouring the country on this side. We did not tarry much longer for our breakfast, but saddled our horses with all convenient speed, and proceeded on the road to the forks of the Trinity, only a few hours' ride. - Here I learned there was a great crowd collected, waiting to cross, and expressed my belief to Colonel T-- that we could not get over. "Oh yes, sir," said he; "I own the ferry-boat; there will be no difficulty." "That is of little consequence," I replied. "When men's lives are in danger, they have no regard for the rights of property." And so we found it. Colonel T- was of as little conse. quence as any other man. Upon being informed that the Mexicans were crossing the San Jacinto, it created a terrible panic. I asked for the people to be called together. There were several hundred, with wagons, carryalls, and all sorts of vehicles. I proposed that those should :be drawn round in a circle to make a breastwork of to keep off the cavalry --that the company be organized, and a commander be ap- pointed. But each was for getting away--none cared about organizing. "Sauve qut peut!"' was the watchword. In the course of the evening, Colonel T-- managed to get our party over. , page: 348-349[View Page 348-349] 348 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. We travelled on until we came to a house, which seemed to be full of men. "'There," said a Texan, who was of our party, 'are--a gang of Tories; those fellows will join the Mexicans, if they have a chance. They are determinedto do anything to save their property. " How do you know?" I- asked. "Oh," -said he, "we have all such duly reported to us. Now," he continued, "we must lodge to-night under the 'lone tree;' we will not take that direction, but travel square off from it, until we get out of sight of those fellows, because, if the Mexicans cross the Trinity, and reach here to-night, those fellows will put them on our track." So we travelled on at right angles to the course we intended to take, until it became too dark for us to be seen from said house, and then we changed our course for the "lone tree," about five miles off. The " lone tree" is the only one in its neighborhood for a great distance, and hence its name. Our saddles formed our pillows, together with our saddle-bags; our saddle-blankets our beds, and our cloaks our covering. We kindled -a little fire, and made a hearty supper of some biscuits and bacon which we had prepared. C H APTER LXV . AN AWKWARD QUANDARY-BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO-IN- TERVIEW WITH SANTA ANNA AND ALMONTE--MEET TWO MEN WHO ESCAPED FROM FANNING'S MASSACRE. THE next morning we proceeded on towards the Natchez, at the great crossing, and about ten o'clock met a company of horsemen, coming in great haste from towards that point. We asked them why they were in such. a hurry. They an- swered that "the country between the Natchez, and the Sa- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE 349 349 bine was flled with Mexicans and Indians, destroying every. thing, and putting to the sword all who came in their way." Well," we remarked, " they would not better themselves much by the course they were going, fpor we were endeavor- ing to esape from the Mexicans who were. behind us." Having possessed ourselves of each other's information, we held a council of War as to what we should do. One who pretended to be well acquainted with the country proposed that we should head the Nathez, a distance, as he proposed to go, of about four hundred miles out of our way, thereby crossing in the rear of the Mexicans and Indians.- I repied, I would rather go for the sea-coast, and trust tofinding some vessels, or some means of crossing Sabine Bay, and, all agree- ing with me we struck off for the mouth of the Natchez, where, to my surprise and pleasure, I found an. old neighbor of mine from Kentucky, the owner of the property. - Of course, I fared as well as he could make me; but there were about six hundred people congregated here, witl but one boat to take them off, and no place to land them within ten miles-all the lands between the Natchez and Sabne being swamp. This boat carried twenty at a time, and made one trip a day. It did not lessen the number; more arrived than leparted. There was here, however, a post and rail lot, vhich could be made a safeguard against the'attack of ea alry; they had a two-pounder cannon, and the women cut P their flannel petticoats to make cartridg e c oers, while e m en ' busied themselves in nioulding rifle bullets to make irtridges' of--putting a bout one hundred bu llets in a ear-- idge. This would have been a destructive little gu n, had ere been occasion to - use it. MJ any -thrilling scenes oc. rred here during the few days that I stayed; b ut I am ad- mnished that this memoir is alread y too long--I cannot te them. About the t hird day after my arriv al, new s ne that Housto n had had a battle with Santa-Anna at a J acinto, and killed or taken prisoners his Whole army. so. ; page: 350-351[View Page 350-351] TE PILOT OF UMAN -LIFE. Iss0a aam new f^ now that things would assume a etermined to return for new instructious, and was soon on ay wayba aquaintane, and I met him General :Rouston was an old acquaintac with a greatdeal of pleasure. He was flat on his back from a with a g^ ^o ^ eonteoonfte battle-field wound which he had received. I went out on th re battled to see, the scene of the figh. he Mexicans h o buwere kll lay still unburied, about si hundred in number o buz lay still unburied re , abnd not much smell, which I thought ,Vds were about; and not m y , a strange. -But -this climate is not so putrefying as ours. strange.- - s a A... . Coloue1l^ I I was introduced to Santa Anna an olonelmonte both-prisoners. Santa Anna is a small man-would P- bably weigh one: hundred and forty pounds; of pale om pleYion; self possessedr ad, I would judge, not wanting in couragex Colonel Almonte is a well-educated, well-bred gen- tleman, but seems tobe-half Indian. Thebattle-ry tSan aeinto was, i Remember the Alamo!" "Remem her Labor- Jdee and the poor Mexicans, as they were about to be cut down, would raise their hands, and cry out, "Me no Alamo! Ie no Labordee t. - Santa Anna had been so unchecked in his course until now, that he seemed to have no apprehension of the result: The first day that Houston encamped before him he had but half his army with him, presuming that Houston had but half his aos the commander taen the road for the Sabine and Gen. Cos, the command of the other portion, did not arrive until the next day, when of te other PO Ana the batle ourred. Houston being asked b Santa Anna thy he di not attack him on the first day, as hewould have had but half the force to encounter, Houston answered, a he did not wish to make two bites of a cherry." Col. Rusk then acting as Secretary at War, deserved more Col. reditfo, then part e took in this battle than he has re- cevedin fact and s, greater him credlit for being. Ger. Quitman (then Captain) arrived with a company G e O Q u t a THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIM E. 3 51 while I was at San Jacinto. There was great indignation felt against Santa Anna for the affairs of the Alamo and Labordee, and it was difficult to save his life. But Houston and Rusk were opposed to executing him, and Gen. Quit- man and myself did what little we could to sustain them by arguing that he could be executed at any time, -and he was a good trump to hold in any negotiation. Col. Wall, one of Santa Anna's officers (some called him BalD, came in with a flag of truce to see Santa Anna while I was at San Jacinto. He was, I think, a Frenchman-a large, strongiy- built, bold, determined-looking man. Standifig with Cos upon a little platform projecting from the second story of a small house, in which Cos was confined, and looking. around upon the handful of tents which covered the Texans: "Where," said he to Cos, "are the men who conquered you?", "I ere they are," said Cos. " What! Not these?" said Wall. " Yes," rejoined Cos. "Then," said Wall, "you were all a d-d set'of cowards." "If you think you can do better," said Cos, "{come and try it, and" * * * * * * * * * The sentence will be remembered by those who were present, but cannot be finished here. I now was prepared to proceed to New Orleans, and the President came to me to say that great excitement had been created in consequence of his having issued to me the grant for a section of land on' Galveston Island, and he wished to see if it ,ould not on some terms be annulled. I replied that I had assigned half of it to Dr. N , who had gone with it to the United States. The President seemed uneasy, and said he only wanted it suspended temporarily, until things became more calm and settled, and that he would then reissue it. This I thought a timid dodging of responsibility; but, as he very earnestly urged it, I gave him my obligation to suspend the grant for the present, upon condition that it should be reissued hereafter without injury to my rights. This the President used to allay excitement for the' time page: 352-353[View Page 352-353] 352 THE PILOT OF, HUMAN LIFE. being, and a sale was afterwards made, by the Government of Texas, of a league of land covering the very ground which had been sold to me. This was to me very extraordi- nary, because it was evident the government had no right to sell it. This was done some time after I had left Texas. I took a steamboat now to go to the mouth of the Brazos, to get passage to New Orleans. On the same boat was Col. Almonte, going down to Galveston. We had become well acquainted, and I said to him on the passage: "Colonel, I have a curiosity to ask you a question, but fear it may be considered unkind, and perhaps impertinent; I do not ask it with any other view than- simply to gain information: Were you surprised by- Houston? or how else are we to account for the result of this battle?" "No, sir," he replied, a we were not surprised in the ordinary sense of the word; we were not taken unawares, but-we were surprised at the mode of attack. We had no expectation that Houston would attempt to storm our camp; we presumed he would fight in the ordinary way; we expected a regular battle, within good musket-shot-; but when his men had discharged their loads, they did not stop to reload (they were then very near our little bush breastwork), but clubbed their guns and mounted our works. Our men had fired, and had not time to reload. Your men Were stronger than ours, and in a hand-to-hand fight we could do-nothing. Your men, too, were armed with bowie-knives, and when in close contact, where the musket was useless, the knife was used with deadly effect. Besides which," he continued, {Cyour men came on with a reck- lessness of consequences which we had been unused to; the same mode of attack upon a European army would have resulted in the same way." (Here he was mistaken, however; European bayonets could not have been penetrated -in this way.) "Again," said he, "you have different men for soldiers; you had hardly a man in the ranks of your army that we would not consider capable of making an officer in , rE Pa OT OF IUIVAN LTE. You Americnsto rrcans, too, do not value lifei it seemsto count nothin i the chances of a battle,- o From I wena lp the Brazos to Colunbia, vessel being ready to sail, and from Columbia ] went ouI to a M. IBeaske, r elh ; an nbia olWet out t t -r. Be/ds, on Caney Creek. On my Way therea lthea o-sh de a 1 very genteel looking young h a, whose clothes seemed threadbare and tattered, his shoes worn out, 'nd withal he was, the most we-worn' Sad, melancholyrnoou. ing young man that I hadeverseen. iewassitting onY a log, and I thought iM possible he might be some deranged thdy. Iasked M". Bell if he knewwho he wa nged "thaD he wa J--replied , a son of Governor D f F lorida: He is one of two or three Only ho esaped fro Fanning's massacre." IaskedMr Bell to send for him, and introducem me to im, which he did. I told him I was an old acquaint. ance of his father', was going directly toNew Orleans, and, if he was willing, would talke him, With e asented w th O't 81 apparent feeling) weS metH assented with- out any apparent feeling, Wen, with me to the boat at Co- /uibia, and, as general agent for Texas, I gave him an order o" one of the stores in Columba forwha he needed. I think, however, he on] a pairofshoes My r dersdwe e received as readily as the cash. issnbiles s eesed al I Anfed. badwjt,,, fouetrifihundred. Heof haitessed the massacre of his brother and frhd f his companionsa before related, and, -lre the servant of Travis his feebings seeme d llde adened by the recollection of the scene. 9 He Was otat nil disposed ^ h ^ ^ee. Il h f el - en Id'aend by , to talk, or tell of his adventures, but by repeated question. ings I extracted the amiepeated -m^ ^ question. ngs I extracted the main points of his adventure. They F'er trlsthiing; but-IUr Te- oere trul thrilling; t am warnted by mypublisher to lose, as I am already beyond the lt s assigned m so annot relate them. While sittingin theabi there cames a. the door another oung man, about, in the same con- ion. When D--- saw him, his eyes bghten s didn "y.II yes bri htde^ ^ " as did is young man's, and they Jhnth MPrang into eac : othe arms. Why John said th e new-comer , Why, ohn' rephed 80* 'e 'e page: 354-355[View Page 354-355] 354 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. IYD--. It- was John H2-, of :ennsylvania, who had escaped from the massacre with D-. They had traelled together for a time, but, being pursued by the Mexicans, they separated, and each supposed the other had been kille, until they met here. I must relate one of H---s adven- tures, asmuch pressed as I am for room: From one of the deserted -houses at which they stopped in the course of-their escape H--- was followed by a large black dog. When pursued by the Mexicans, in order to escape from them he plunged into an extensive cypress pond, which proved to be deep, and he swam for hs life to get out of sight-but re- joicing-in its being-so deep that the Mexicans could not fol- low him. When he had gone far enough in among the cypress treesnotto be seen from the shore, finding a cypress- knee projecting out of the water, he hung upon it to rest himself. The blacl- dog bad followed him, and when he stopped the dog kept swimming round and round him, hav- ing no place to rest, upon, when all of a sudden he was seized by something in the water which jerked him under H- s had no doubt this was an alligator, with which all the large ponds in that country abound, andhe now felt, that he had an enemy to dread in the water as dangerous as the Mexicans, and as soon as night began'todthrow her mantle over nature, he swam ashore, and pursued his course, guided by the stars, uutil he reached the steamboat at Columbia. I gave him a similar order to'that which I had given D - , and proposed to bring him on also, all at the expense of the Texan Government-. We -descended to , and there took passage on a schooner bound for New Orleans, commanded by Captain, afterwards Commodore, Moor, on, board- of which was the suicide I have heretofore named-an intimate friend, and an old neighbor of: Governor- D---; who seemed to have known John from his birth, and to have the feeling of a brother for him. le -now took especial' charge of him. THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 855 But -D relapsed into his torpid state again very soon, and so continued until he reached New -Orleans, wherew: parted, and I doubt whether he is now-aware that he ever saw me. H-- had lost no relatives, and was more cheer- ful. He has once since called to see me, as I understand, but I was not at home. CHAPTER LXVI. I NOW UNDERTAKE MY DUTIES AS GENERAL AGENT FOR 'TEXAS. - UPON receiving my appointment, I was apprised that the Executive believed that the resident agent in New Orleans should be removed, and this very unpleasant duty I ex- pected to have to perform. But, upon examining into his accounts, I could see nothing to justify discontent. He seemed not only to have been faithful, but to have allowed his devotion to Texas to carry him to an imprudent extent in advancing for her, and Hso wrote the President. I now prepared a check-book for the use of. the govern- ment, or whoever was authorized to draw money from the treasury, with one-half the page margin, upon which was to be entered every order given upon the treasury, and for what purpose, with number, date, and amount; the assets in; the treasury being entered on the other side. If this book had been properly used, deducting the orders from the assets at the bottom of every page, and carrying the balance forward, the:: condition of the treasury would have always appeared; and a similar book, printed with the bonds of the govern- ment, having a similar margin, would have shown every bond issued, for what amount, how much it realized, and how page: 356-357[View Page 356-357] 56 HE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. much was deposited in the? treasury--thus showing at a glance the total indebtedness of Texas, and the amount in her treasury. I now sold of my Texas contract twenty thousand acres of the scrip which the government had contracted -to issue to me, my obligation being given that the same should be de- livered within twelve months, for which I received a check on the Canal Bank for ten thousand dollars. I had sent on the form -of scrip printed, as agreed upon in our contract, exactly, letter for letter, and soon expected to receive it signed.- The whole amount due me under this arrangement would have sold for-about thirty-eight thousand dollars, if I had sold the' balance at the same rate, which there would have been no difficulty in doing, could I have obtained the scrip. Finding no means-at the disposal of Texas in New Orleans, and some very much wanting, I deposited half of what I had received with the resident agent for her use, to be reimbursed out of the first assets- coming into my hands, an abundance of which, I had no doubt, could be- created out 0of the re- sources which I expected would be put at my disposal. Texas was now one of the richest States on the Continent, if she would properly husband her resources; and, as I ex- pected 'the sales of her land-scrip Would be made under my agency, itwas my intention to have such method observed in doing it as I hoped would soon provide all the means she needed. -Our scrip, however; was first^ to be sent to us; but, in lieu of the scrip bargained for, a form came which was in no way conformable tow contract. The loan-holders met to consider it, determined that it was not the form bargained for, and they would not receive it. Ii -the mean time, being accidentally at a broker's one day, I there saw a parcel of Texas scrip- being made out to be sold by another agent, onew whom the government wished me to appoint when the former incumbent was removed, as THE PILOT OF HUMAN FE. 35 they expected would be the case- but I gave myreasons for Viewing the sending of this rip to. another agent as a violation of good faith-bcause Hunderstood all the trans- actions of this kind were to pass through my ands; but, if not a violation of good faith, at least an evidence of a want of confidence I so informed the President of Texas, and Vie nown to him the t of mae known to hi m tha a proper respect for myself would forbid y-holding the office of generol agent under such circumstances, and that he must appoint another by the st Julya then thirty daysof;f ntil which time I wouldserve, and no longer. I now went to the agent with whom I had deposited the $5000, and withdre 000 of it, the bala orew $mo ^ the balance lhaving been mostly spent. The s of July arrioed nd the s cri hmad not come. any Whic h ha p ur aed the le'u e of ld aund te omy vestonocation came over anupon conferring with me, and seeing the nature of m y-claim , he agreed we should malgamate make a jointstock company of i and sell out Thisevy was utimatel done T. G reen, Win . R. Johnson and '= , - V anot LeaiJones being appointedtrustees; myinterest, with those claimingunder me, being two hundred thdusand dollars, or er cent. to (gol. Gre yh. Sales w ere Subsequently rendered m e t o the amount of n e m illion four hundred thousand .,dollars, for only a part f the property., Som e sh are s w ere - sold in t he United rate% and .the m o ne y receive a, t he rat e of ifteen hundred )l iars pershare, being 50 p ere.0 on th e original -ealuation, )Uld - h ave reali zed m ine atrth is rat my:whole adven- iaaa)aajiameage 6su 'Ut-stock-' This' waa ultin, company of it -and ge.11, out v1 page: 358-359[View Page 358-359] THE PILOT OF uI^ mJl De l, ture, presuming Texas had complied with her land-contract, would have been over ninety thousand dollars; and when I left New Orleans I presumed she would. -CHAPTER LXVIIL THE BEGINNING OF TROUBLE AGAIN. Y prospects no w seemed so good that I ventured to pur- chase a tr-at of land alonegside of Bonharbor, which I wante - in order -to command the whole, coal-field there. For this I gave twentythousand dollars, and cramped my- self to make the first payment, confident that-l would soon be in ample resources, and easy again BUt in this I was- mistaken. , Fortune Was not yet tired of her pranks with me. Before I go further, I will stop to narrate two little incidents, each, however, then so common as perhaps to be hardly worth a, place -here, 'About eleven O'clock, one night, while -in bed in my-hotel, in New Orleans, I heard a hurried rushing through thepassage under me of some per- Sons who entered a room just below, in which a boarder-was asleep. He, frightened, bounced out of bed, c rying, ; What's the matter?"The intruders answered, ,Get outfrom here, d--nyou, if: you don't want to fight."- The boarder, see- ing from their frantiecmauner that something desperate was on foot, jumped out into the passage in his nighctlohes, an& the intruders -shut the door and locked it. Presently, some police-.oficers made their appearance, and after a short par- ley with the intruders, got them to surrender, and took them to jail. It seems- they were two sons of planters on the coast, who had come, to New-Orleans for-a frolic, armed with bowie lknges, which hadl cost them a gooa deal: aud which they could not afford to keep idle. So one of them managed to get into a quarrel with the barkeeper of the hotel, and without any provocation killed him. He -was afterwards tried, and cleared of course, for no man is hung in -New Orleans who has plenty of money. The other incident was: Having taken passage on the steamboat "Levant," a new and very strong one, she started on her voyage in the night, and just above New Orleans ran into another loaded with cotton, and so damaged, her that she sank, but not before the , Levant" towed her ashore. The engineer did not stop her engine, or let off the steam by the safety-valve, so that, while sinking, her engines were still going, and thus continued, even until they were under- water, and the effect of their working under such circum- stances seemed to me like the strangling of some great beast who was making a death-struggle for breath. Despite of all my efforts, I could not obtain my scrip from Texas within the limit of my contract with the purchaser of the twenty thousand acres, and had now to return him his ten thousand dollars, with 8 per cent. interest. The United States Bank had just gone out of existence, and a heavy moneyed crisis was overhanging the country, which became, a year or two after, the most severe which we have ever experienced. It was not an easy matter then to raise eleven or twelve thousand dollars. Double the sum could have been more easily raised at any other time. Besides which, my pay- ments for the purchase of Ross's estate were now bearing hard upon me, as well as the balance of the purchase-money for the land I had bought for twenty thousand dollars, on which I had paid five thousand dollars, making, in all, some thirty-five or forty thousand dollars. All my efforts to obtain a share of my dividends from Galveston were fruitless. - On sending an agent, many years afterwards, to inquire into the matter, he informed me that payment had been made} not in page: 360-361[View Page 360-361] 360 THE PILOT- OF HUMAN LIFE. money, but by sinking-stock' at from one thousand to two thousand dollars per share, the -latter being five hundred dol- lars higher than ,the stock ever reached. Not being where I could sell my stock, and my agent in Virginia not being willing to sell at' the apparent sacrifice-then necessary, he held on, and finally I sold- all to about ten shares (except four, which had been previously sold at fifteen hundred dol- lars per share) for one hundred and fifty dollars -per share; and also except six shares, which I exchanged for a tract of two thousand acres of land on the Ohio River. By collect- ing-the six thousand dollars, and making otherwise a great effort, I -managed to- pay off the. ten thousand dollars and interest. I now determined to offer-a heavy premium to get clear of -the twenty thousand dollars purchase,- upon which I had paid five thousand dollars; For that purpose, I appointed a friend to confer with my creditor, and the best terms he could obtain was the forfeit of the five thousand dollars paid, and the payment of seven thousand dollars more, upon time, with interest. I At this- time, there was such a stringeocy in- the money-market that nothing -ould self. I -could not -force oWf the estate I had bought, even for the balance, after deducting the twelve thousandr dollars. - So I concluded it was best to accede to it. I had now this seven thousand dollars, and the debt to Boss, about twelve thousand- dollars, unpaid, to carry, besides many smaller debts,.which I had postponed payipg when T went to Texas, and which I now could not pay. ' r T PLoT OF BUA- LfE 361 a "T * " M .^861 C HAPTER X Ti HET7ILDR EFFleEC Ti UPON MYW ' AT this tie,-I os oeofm hildren, which caused my wife great distresslIy own sorrows I forgot in hers. Soon after a second, then a tirdthen a four th, all wi the course of a few years myife ei allostdi tae wina th griefand beoming a mere skeleton. was so affacted with concern for her. that s paralyzed as far -as misfortune cold Para e me. I could hardly leave my house a n hour ithhou fear of Some, dreadful event. Creditors e Va'a h "I coould.* not help it. My if eal'- bled more than anythinr, ,'... Wife.-,health trou bled"emor"k h 'o Iyth , i, n U agtend to nthing else. With' land il7 oul sate to -oo over one hundred -thousand acres-- ol tratet among W thich afterwards sold, one , I for' fiftyfi lve m oghic I' thirty five thousand dollarS -nother fo twelvan e:d t: fourth for. six? thousanddollars:..! have been n want of ten dollars;' and would have esteelmed it a Special favor ifsome man wOulld have loaned-it to me r Tbis i the Mneessa ry co equeceof living near, or having t de dy o Your finan ualpon; a small country *own- -they .knewmy res . c ? mre, and ot, know'ho w far my d ebts migtiswallow them [Y credit Was doubtful; and IWuldaskup e. I had moiey due me in the Count y of, mntolena ,1 as-sowe land' which persons ,r e anMik tao . ani -Ad page: 362-363[View Page 362-363] 362 TA -rLnTOT OF HUMAN LIFE. mu-st have -money. - I could not live without it. I wenit there to sell and collect - . - On. thp iseeond night, a messenger came for me, with information that rmay daughter Florence was dying with the t croup.' I hastened hiome, and found her in. the agonies of. t death; the doctor by, but unable to do anything. - 'I sug gested -toKim to open her windpipe by cutting from the out- side, and-to pu'- in a quill, but'he thought it would be use- less. - - Hhad a strong notion to do i"t myself,. but if useless I could not bear to' out- my poor- child.- -I- named this subse- qtUently: t an t-eminent,.physipcian in Philadelphia, who said that, if Ihad done--so, I might- very possibly 'have- saved my ohild'life- - . : ; -t -- . - :. She -died, however, and my wife's grief may be imagined, A ehronia'melancholy norw settled upon her. Sh'e took ing -: interest in anything,i and I very -much; feared'she- would lose s her'senses. t Something I 'saw must be -done-to arouse her frdm/,thisI eondition,:andt I t determined Ito awakei her fears for my own- health; So I took my penknife, and stuck it -into my 'gums;-from whieh- a streaa of' blood came forth, Hran to :the:back- door, and let it bleed upon-the steps.- One of thae servants- eeing me ;came running fro the kitchen very ' ,2 ,- n se....' m 'am much'-frightenced, and asked what: was ithe 'matter. - I told lier not to:talk; so loud, she- would -frighteti- her mistress. Still the blood ran very-freely, and the girl ran up' to inform my wif:ife who came do- in very great alarm, and sent for thBe doctor.-: Sheinquired what was the matter; 1 to;d her- I hoped! nothifig serious, that it- would soon be over. -She asked if I was bleeding at the lungs- I told herI- hoped Presettly the- doctor ceame, by which time the- bleeding had' nearly ceased. : -The doctor was evidently alarmed- and commenced asking me questions.' I asked to go to bed, feel- ing. weak, as I: pretended Ias taken to mi chamber, and askedrmywife' tand; all others to leave the room, -which they tE tPTLOT H -, ad;d my wife evIdet beiieingthh adsometig d- ful to communicate, w hich t didh no&wish her to hear] When th were :asked' the- doetor:to pen the' deor ; ked -l, to,-. he^ there- were e - O- Iid I I did son andsaid sinkingin;0 such a o eto Js, , ,!1 .0-found 4 iaree children .thatl am afraid,a Swill : lose her'. Seses:u lesS can aroiUse her,from it; I havl ee b'ognded t: aaiteus. Ih coner- for myself in order to effect, nbjeed awat e if. it were abeedlng oat: te lungs, ahd causea by mo deep anxiety forthe health .ofmy Wife',- ;' -.- .-.... . to:the apothecaryts for Sucyh med:.::e?d Onf ofthe:serts ' it .ere aneatual-bleedin,S no: ... -, would reqmre e , telhug any wng ife:t -: ' - He did sO, asn '"S..: '.e as asp. Blereplied it B (bt o * S thea . pu^ ere th we: .-and . ' uld -ree-e frdm iu ' ,- --:Y - p care; that m aection proceeded:from ^, wthi dro Weif possible; therefore, that notYiQpn-." t 'tU e:- Which would excite., .,', must be to me ,m -o r.nu eveytins -uto cheerae. \to n e, but e a, charging me- ^to beasguiet as. possibe for a Iurandnenmighge nP..i When he'was gone, my^whifg)u^ ^Ahn e- -a e the hand, and'said, r'1 " '-Obeddste, o m-urned* the o* , ' - eo.,a ' take4hem. ik n. sed, h!n :;a,: '-[ ' page: 364-365[View Page 364-365] p LoTN'IYR "to, be feeble ' lay my moe fome," I fegrueafor a -week o'ket e 1own upon-the bed whenever I was in the house i kept her aowuupoataliBha ,e -doctor occasionallY, to see e h ansUxedtyh-wife that I was doing very well, and woula soon ife thftt o aneroostitutionally), bein as g ood healthas ever, withno danger c ons ifI-could be kept cheerful; but to let my mind, if possible, e,1i eNever dicl auynetr be clear of disturbance or concrn amuse me but harder than she did to sem hee r ful, toamus me, bu it required a great effort. She wou in my absen e indulge in proportion ssh oul restrain herself when I Waf pte- sent, but her grief now found vent in tears. I oUll often omet butpn her unepectedly and find her wiping her eyes. cotneupher Iunexrpectel,an I -fro gre This wasa good sign; there is nt muh daer fromrif affecteari- per, .te . s. She Bible then teffected person stur. e grief. -H er thoughts now took a religious tunh nion' but she Complained to me that ^ her const ant c iopa on ::-^ , that her prayers wihes feared she could not obtain religio tat ou join seemed fitless She thou ght, perhapS, if she would i the church, s -o as t have a more free communion with its members,it might ai-d her; nd under my dvice she did so I took her to Lousville, where, amo o intimate a- quaintances, she was cheered, ad improved a good deal But on returninghome, shebegan to relae; a was under the necessityof haing ther atta, which alar m effect. her very mUich iad, eventually' with'a similar gooffect- her .cry much ^ , ^r an ities awake for moe I believed that, if I could eep r anxieties a o ong enough, she would begin to frget her on srrows- To this end, it would be necessa for me t be always with her; allow her no opportity:to indulge her elsch;was but while at home I could not do this off. long asoIwas ott ,of bed, sormematter of business Wula call me off. Sould Ie to the Tar Sprngs with her. Bu er ould be out amoIg my a cquaintances, and she haa- none, she staYe& much in her Cottage a!ue' ani was again sinking bacu. t -concluded to arouse her; and told her Iwdull walk outone THE PIL OT-OF, HUMAN LIFE. 865 night for half an- hour. - I found an empty cottage, and lay down upon a bed. Here I lay an hour, when my wife sent our servant to inquire for me. The servant returned,-saying no one had seen me. She believed I had had another attack, and had fallen somewhere unseen.} She mourned and lamented aloud-; so much so as to draw all the company to her, and set them hunting over the premises for meo with their lamps. I pretended to- be awaked by the noise, and came- out, say- ing, I had lain down and inadvertently gone; to leep, -We returned home, and, to keep with her, it was necessary Ito travel, for, as before said, I could not do it at home. .So I ordered our driver to have the carriage ready next day; told my wife that important business called me to Butler-County, and she must go with me. Accordingly she packed up and we started. My design was to stop Cat the houses, which, from appearance, would afford the worst accommodations, with a view to engage my wife's mind with existing troubles toexpel the effects of the past. But it seemed to me the worse the house looked the -better was- the accommodation. If there was but one bed in the house, it would be newly sheeted and given up to us, and the occupants would seek some other lodging. Their nicest milk and butter, light hot biscuits, ham, eggs, and chickens, with hot coffee, would come on, which, after a fatiguing day's ride, would be very much relished. Indeed, taking the appetite for the :season- ing, no- hotel in New York or Philadelphia can furnishsuch a supper as one will get by stopping; at any country house on the road-side in Kentucky, where they do not keep tavern. If you- stop at a house, where they pretend to take in 'travel. lers, they will probably, aim to give you a risen loaf, which is, however, as heavy Was sead; butters which having been bought is stale and dirty; coffee not cleared, &c. I would advise-any city--man, who wants really to enjoy good eating, to take a travel in the wildest parts of Virginia- and Ken- page: 366-367[View Page 366-367] 366 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. tueky, and never stop at a tavern or house of public enter- tainm'ent. When-we-were ready to start in the morning, I would ask for-my bill. "Nothing!" would be the reply; "we charge nothing." I would insist on paying, but to no effect. This, however, was not always the case. Sometimes they would take pay, but- they were very moderate. The kindness of these people is very great. There -is nothing which 'they will not- do-o administer to your comfott if they happen to take a fancy to you, which they are very apt to do if you are affable and kind to them, put on no airs, and pretend to no superiority. If you do, they are apt to make you feel the evil of it, as I heard- a man relate a case of a dandyish pre- tender.' The host was asked who he was, and replied, if Oh, some ten cent piece trying to pass himself off for a- ninepence., The kindness of these people had the effect which I hoped real -hardship would have on mry wife., It enlisted her in- terest for, and made her talk with them. They -believe that -all misfortunes are visitations of God for an object, and they bow- in resignation to them. Their resignation is remarkable, and my wife, after stopping at one of those houses where there was a very motherly old lady who showed her much kindness and talked to- her -about her troubles, said to me when we departed next day: , Mr. T--, this class of peo- ple are the chosen of God. That old lady has given me more consolation, administered to me more comfort, than all the learned men I have met with. She is a true and sincere Christian, and believes as implicitly in the guardian care of Christ as any son does in that of his father. She has almost made me ashamed of my want of fortitude, and sensible that tamacting in a rebellious spirit. I told her how you were affected, and the cause of it. And she said 'Yes, and he will go next; the Almighty will not have his will resisted with impunity, At first he visits uLs with misfortunes to humble THE PILOT or HUIMAN L .. our hearts to fit us for heaen fore chaste whom he l'eth. -Butif td ' lebalteneth ' bow loveth. But ifj instead of becoming humbled, w prove o be st..t,. then I, ^ .^ ['* ^ " rov l st/nate, then he gets-angry, and brings m isfortune down heavily upon us until he breaks our rebellious spiri; then, when humbled, if we ask for mercy throg Christ he i nter- cedes for us and obtains us forgiveness. OhIwould gve the world ii I had tha Woman's religious faithr Nothing would o me henseem mis fom rtune." "w ' li "yo u Wil have i0. No ,ern sincerely desire itas -you do without obtaining t y".e , , . - earnestly desaire it, and I h, she rej (ied, , I do most earng d r i, and I am determined I will repine no more. I see ii s wrong. i knor ie is Wrong. Do you think, if I won't grieveany more, you will get well ; y dear wife," I replied, ,I feel almost wellow seig, you so improved." , h,then, from this time I am changed woman' she continuedand soshe was. SheSeemed toshake off the past, finally got into gooa spiri and( as cheerful agi- hi stat'e -of dspritsabd lheerful again. This stateof things lasted about two years, during which period I could attend to no businessi and ev erything went wrong with me. I became reckless) and y 'c e concltded I was going to ruin They sued me from all ey sid m- ftofa all- quarters, and sold m- un my prope yrty , until nearly every lot I had in Owensbor' was gone, and Ioned more than half the vacant property in the town. Butthanks to the merciful aws'of Kentucky, they- require property, whensold under execution, to be Valued; and, if it does n0 b ring two-third F^^ri^ ^^^fitdesnot bi of its value, i-may beredreemed in twelve months, by paying ^^;^ sr? V'^u^r^8 ten per cent. per annum interest on the amoun, of sae. It fort unately happened that the year hadn0 run out; HenP to my desk, took out $1800 worth of notes, and carried -hem to a er: -- who was ' sor;of bankera inother Words, shaver; asked him to discount them, for me :wh i h did by paying me $1200for them. With this I redeemed the lots which had been, sold. But S-- had bought my notes to an am Sount exceeding- $b4000) -to pay,-which Z sold page: 368-369[View Page 368-369] 68 THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFL im aitract of 300 acres of land, with liberty to redeem it most, singular mau- n two years. This Mr. S---- was a mos t singular man. t the verytime he would shaveme at the rate of thirty- three and third per cent. on other -men's notes, he would lend me money at six per cent. if would promise to pay him on a certain day. I sometimes o0uld not Kno that could return it on any certain day, but bleeved^I C i That won't do," he would say; "if I let it go at six per cent., I must cknow, that Iwill get it on a certain day then I can make my own moeyed arrangement to suit; but, ido am disappointed, I must disappoint others, and that won't do you know ." And sometimes, when it would be impossible to foresee thatI could return the money by a given day, I would have to furnish other men's notes, and be shaved at the rate of from twenty to twenty-five, and thirty-three per cent. The reason was he kept his money always moving in this way, and,- rather than let it lie idle, he would lend it at sixper cent., provided he could command it again when he needed it. He had confidene that I would not violate a promise, and would always lend me if Iwould promise to return it o n a day he would name. ue would also indorse for me',at bank, without any onsideration. But when I had a note to shave, he would cut me to te bone. He was a strange compound of generosity andcloseness. He was very fond of telling of an ocurrence between us many years before. Calling to me in the street, he said:"Mr. T-- look here. Inthat settlement of ours, I cheated myself out of a dollar." Iwaspassing rapidly on, but, turning my head as I walked forward, replied: Keep it, keep it; you are fairly entitled to it; you have cheated one of the sharpest fellows :in the country; you have done what no ather man eonladdo." 'e was willing to take the rebuke for the com- pliment-to his sagacity which it contained My:wife's health being now improved, I found myself more at liberty, with much nedfor the energetic employ- TiE E PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 369 ment of all my powers. I owned a large quantity of the most valuable property in the county, which I had in -vain endeavored to sell. I had advertised in Louisville, but the stringency existing in the moiney-market had reduced every- thing to the lowest mark, and the sales of my town lots was evidence of the sacrifice I might expect if I forced a sale at auction;- for these lots which I redeemed had- not- sold -for :one-tenth, part of what -I afterwards sold. sote of them at, aid some property which I bought in, and- which - had been sold for debts due to me, went-at a similar sacrifice, -although I never sued where I -thought there was ^a probability of my obtaining payment ultimately without it. At the very time that my family were in their deepest afflictions, and when every one was suing X me, I had almost as much due to me as I owed; but my mind was not -in a condition to prepare for bringing suits, and, if it had been, I felt so keenly the pressure on myself by being sued- that I could not-.bear to sue- others:. -During that time I would willingly have surrendered to trustees all I was- worth- which would have paid my debts ten times over--if I could have found men to act, and if they could have sold so as to relieve me. But neither could be done. 'In a frantic moodi one day, I remarked to a gentleman that I would sell any- thing I had, for almost any price. - What,"- said I, "will you give me for such a piece of propedrty?" (town lots.) "I will give you," said he, " one hundred dollars per acre." The- boundary included twenty-four half-acre town lots. I told him I did not sell- town lots by the acre., Some time after this, again expressing my anxiety to sell-.' Oh," said he, you don't want to sell; did I not offer you one' hun- dred dollars per acre for such a boundary?" "Yes,' I remarked; "I did not want to sell quite so bad as,:to take that:price." -I afterwards soldr a portion of the same pro- perty, so that one -acre realized me all which hen offered for the twelve. While a man is in debt, and the -publie expect page: 370-371[View Page 370-371] 370 THE -PILOT OF HUMAN UFE. his property-to be sacrificedi he cannot sell; -all expect to get better bargains. from the sheriff than he will give. They stand by like, wreckers, awaiting the stranding of the chip, * when they: will -pick up the cargo. .Under -these circum- stances, I sold Haphazard at a subsequent period for thirteen thousand-dollars, one thousand acres of the best land in the county, on the-Ohio River, one and a half miles from Owens- boroe', with a, very large dwelling-house) the portico to which cost seven hundred dollars, and the mere buildings on which were worth more than half the money. In one month after buying it, the owner would not have taken thirty thousand dollars for it, and I was considered an, inconsiderate, impe- tuous man for making such -a sale. A gentleman in my company one day said, laughingly, "When you take it into your head that you must have money .-.you will have it at any sacrifice"--and instanced the -sale' of Haphazard. "That," said I, " is the idea entertained by those not cog- nizant of the circumstances.? I had offered Haphazard for a long time at twenty thousand dollars--I could not get it. I tried to sell for less, but no offer could be had better than the -one I took; and now all are surprised that I should have tAken it. So goes the world. If a man owes a debt, and does not pay it, he is of course bloamed; but if he make a ruinous sacrifice-why he is a booby. The only plan to avoid such strictures is to keep out of debt. This sale, however, was made some time after the period to which I have brought up my memoirs. In .1842, the tariff was raised; -an energetic impulse was immediately given to the manufacturing business. I owned the Bonharbor coal-mines, and two thousand acres of land, beginning about two miles below Owensboro^, possessing great- advantages for -manufacturing. I /was anxious to enlist some one to engage with me in establishing a small woollen factory, for jeans and linseys, and for this purpose sent on a proposition eastward. It happened that such an TaE PI-OT O HvMAN LIFE. 3. 371 establishment had. -been sold out, and the machinery pur- chased by a gentleman who belived it was of the best kind; and heragreed to furnish the machinery, if IX would furnish the engine and building. Tihe bargainwas closed. With town lots, and land, I could by lumbei- and obtain labor, when I could n6t sell themfor mone. I had an engine, and soon I had - the building ready , which was illedgwith the ma6hinery that had been forwarded from the east. W commenced operations. under the management- of man who was sent out by my eastern partner. But afterruning some time, he failed to mak the turn-out he had promised, and we parted,. I noproceeded to the residence of one in whom I had great confiden e, and:-engaged him to take charge of the factory. On his arrival, and examining the machinery, he said it was behind the times would not doat all, and he would not undertake with it. I asked him what changes would be needed. e'said about two thousand' dollars' worth w ould 'require to be changed, - Iwrote the gentleman who had sent it that he must either provide good machinery, or-i -w:uld ' I went to Louis ville, m ad e arrangements to raise the to th ousand d ollars, and sent the new ma nager to Philadelphia' to btain it. In the m ean time, I purchased out my p artner. m On tthe arrival of the new machinery, everything we nt well, and th e new manager Undertook to furnish a ll th e l abor against capital and the establishment, and to divide profits. N ow we moved on s wimmingly. Our goods were the best In M et andOur ds the m. es in m arket , an d were8sought for by al who s aw them. Bu we h ad n o otton-machiner y to manufactu re our warps, and were compelled to have thos e mad e in Lexingto n Paying twenty cents per pund for hem, hen, if e had ifte e ma'hinery, w e oould hav e manufactured hem afor ten. Thi s would no- d o. --- m u st have, the cotton, machinery. In the m eanie, had bee n 'using ev ery effort to attract thecustom oeaboats f o al, a nd t page: 372-373[View Page 372-373] 372- THE PILOT OF HUMAN. LIFE. success. We were selling a good deal, and things wore a cheerful and promising aspect. About this time, a Mr. B--, of Henderson, and several lawyers, who were attending court at Owensboro', went to Bonharbor to -see my establishment. -I -at the same time had sent them'an invitation to spend the evening with me. When they came, they told me they had been down and were very much pleased., B said he could not see what was to prevent my making a -fortune. I answered, nothing but one to make it with; that I was too much cramped for mo- ney. B-- was a man of great resources, and -from this commenced a negotiation which resulted in a sale of half the property. - The conditions-were that he was to pay me fifty- five thousand dollars, within a fraction, to be laid out. in improvements on the property; putting thereby this sum against the property, although I considered it worth- twice as much. -But I wished to be out of debt at any sacrifice. I told B that I must withdraw fifteen thousand dollars to pay my debts. To this he objected, as less than fifty-five thousand dollars would- not do for our purposes, and he pro- posed lending me for five years the extra fifteen thousand dollars, to which -I agreed, and so we closed the contract; he giving me his acceptances for seventy thousand dollars, which -I placed in the several banks at Louisville for collec- tion. I now proceeded to " clear the decks," in sailors' phrase, of all my debts, but found -I had under-estimated them a little, and a small amount remained, which, under the circumstances, it was more-difficult to manage, as I was now apparently full of money. However, I got on now very well. Here it isnecessary to stop, or else go on to fillHanother vol- ume. That cannot be done for the present, and so I will here close sly memoirs, having carried them to the making and losing- of a Ifortune, and the making of another; for, besides Bonharbor, I owned a vast amount of property in THE PILOT Of HU MAN LIFE. 0 the State in various portions of it, which I had been unable to sell, having, subsequently to the time I an now writing of sold what lay in one county for thirty-five thousand dollars and having n indenite amount elsewhere, a- leas suie noral ize my proposition, but which it is unnecessary to name. page: 374-375[View Page 374-375] 37.4 THE PILOT' OF HUMAN LIFE. REVIE-W. I DESIRE now to take a short review, marking the epochs in my history, and the causes of the great events of my life. It- will be seen that, so -long as I kept my affairs within my own so that m own ye could be upon what I was Adoing, I went on regularly, upward until my income reached seven or eight thousand dollars per annum. , But so soon as our business expanded until it became necessary to employ agents,' although well planned, and upon a basis which in all human probability promised success, it then commenced losing, and so continued until a greater portion of what had been previously made was- sunk. - This was the legitimate consequence of causes which operate alike under almost all circumstances, and similar results- may ,be ex- pected from similar causes wherever they exist. The next step was the coal business. Here the loss was not attributable to any cause but an act of Providence. No prudence, no human foresight could have prevented it. We made an experimental shipment of coal, which turned out well. Our commission-merchant informed us that, if we could'afford to sell coal for fifty cents per barrei he could "all that we could send. Facts otherwise corroborated s merchant's statement, for coal -at fifty cents did not cost two-thirds as much as wood, and why should the planters not; save oxthird of the cost of their fuel? The conclu- sion was clear- that we must make money in proportion to the coal which we would send down. We of course bent all T Pt :Heo o UMANL . L75 our energies to send what we-could. Bt n even occurred to blast our prospects as unexpected as woul have been aned earthquake to sink all our coal-mines: to wid, a fros, whic destroyed th e after is had pene ha t whid no occurred before for wenth ye r and hich, hI believe, ha among the towp-boats, and we again reneed our s hipments, a belief that the hea of the al aue the boilers to bur n out induced the tow-boats andon it; and here wa-s second great disaster whioh almost prostrated us and ahiha was beyond the power ofmS o fdesee. :Determined ta die wih our colorsting, howev er; believ- bing thak we ould no t rar Snh e frost and that theidaea aoet seurnin ouw oe boilers w ouldn be deemlno nsensical by ner season, we mqu I an other 6truggl, ania shipped acon- Bu the plan ters Would no it buy, ncasptaina of shipb woul no employ the tow-bOats whih buTnedth coal becauser the smoke blackened their sails. e were now:ercl done for, anddissolved partership. a After thisl went tomy original busin recoveredithe ground, t he d in-. b,. :t e s, t ros d r adlWyc go to raydues on mylown and the orm's nacs, three oart. tne :ost of wion remained unrai;-2he irm's, being alf of what I held; my inerest being three-fofrh, and .-.- one-fourth--and also n other debt ofz ie And-., undertaken tO , .:: ^ , d rhc ^l hae stagger under fo :, co uoa .tat:. olQld nhardle- ^ such sacrifices as ..l. ^ve, ..h g ten uexee maoelyI begun to eme and winh most of the -properiy which' I had. sOarued bwilh s . of over qunettonsod a :,: 'ut the .:ante would nor oP verQ-the, d"U tur s which rducnedmed to make page: 376-377[View Page 376-377] - DE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. trchase amounting to twenty thousand ; and the Govern- tt of Texas, failing to carry out its contract, now again Dlved me'in embarrassments which it took a long time to recover, from. By my Galveston speculation I nominally e something. But, taking- the whole adventure, and all consequences, it would have been far better for me if I never seen Texas. iHad I not been embarrassed so as tie me at home, but had gone East at the time that Gal- veston stock was ranging so high, and sold out,I might probably have realized fifty thousand dollars by it. But I could not go. T. G , I think, must have realized that amount from my operations for him, which was pretty well, on an outlay of some ten or-twelve thousand dollars. Republics are said to be ungrateful. Outrs -has certainly not been so. But as it regards Texas, no man, in herearly history, did more for her than I did. Hsubscribed half the first loan, and more than any one else of the second, which served to give her credit, and was the cause of her obtaining subsequent loans, which she -probably could not otherwise have done. She repudiated the terms of the loan compro- mise refusing to issue scrip in conformity to it, and thereby forced me, under most disastrous circumstances, to reimburse money which I had. sold a- part of. it for, and to sell out my interest in the balance for what I could get. The pretext, I understand, was,Athat I had deserted them as their general agent. v How much justice there was in this may be seen from, the fact that I was authorized to live in Kentucky, and to employ four secretaries, at a salary of one thousand dollars each, one in New Orleans, and three in the Eastern cities. My own salary was not fixed, but I under- stood that it was to be liberal. What object now could I have had in deserting them except for very trong provoca- tion? None. Andhad not ordinary self respect rendered it necessary, kshould have taken great pride in serving her; and had my plans, as laid down and sent to her govern- THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. 377 ment, been observed in regard to her finances she would have avoided the confusion which resulted in countless loss to her. I do not blame the people of Texas; but there were those whose interest it was to get me out of the way; they caused the government to do -an act which was disrespectful to me,, and, had I borne with it, otherswould have followed,. until;, if I had been tame enough to submit to them} I would have been! unceremoniously 'removed. That plea was- made be- cause there was no better.- By a long struggle, however, I recovered, and ultimately reached a point of independence, nominally; but with my moneyed means pledged for -a new- enterprise, the history of which will be given at a future day, together with the ba- lance- of my history. to the, present time, including adven- tures-in Europe during the revolutionary struggles there with many interesting and thrilling incidents. ' From what the young reader has seen in these memoirs, he will learn, so far as money-making is concerned, not to leave a business which is doing well for onewbich holds out a pro- mise of doing better; for, however brilliant the prospect may be, and certain the apparent result, yet our coal adventures prove that uncertainty attends- all human projects. ., He will find, again, that to become pecuniarily embar- rassed is one of the greatest bars to his success He is then travelling on the-road- of life. up to his knees in mire. I had ample evidence of this in my father's history, and there was nothing which I was more firmly resolved upon, in my outset in life, than to avoid the same error; but accidental circumstances placed me in a position where, before I was aware of it, I found myself embarrassed, and- then,- from time to time, I had to make further adventures in order'to get out,- which prolonged this embarrassment for a great pe- riod, entailing upon me - mortifications which no ultimate suc- cess could compensate for. A man may havey at a very low 32* page: 378-379[View Page 378-379] A l 378 " THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIFE. valuation, one hundred thousand dollars' worth of land, in a thinly settled part of Kentucky, and if he owes ten thao sand dollars of debt, which presses him, he cannot pay, it, unless accident throws purchasers in his way; and if tit is known that he is pressed for money, the lessa is his chance to sell, because those who, have money wait with a hope of buying under the sheriff's hammer. At one period of my history, while trying to sell 'a certain piece of property which I offered very low, one gentleman proposed toanother to join and buy it, as it was certainly a very great bargain; to which the other answered, "-So it is; but let us hold off a while, and we will get it on still better terms, for I will be compelled to sell it." The other fearing, however, that be- fore I was compelled to sell some one else might buy, and hearing that, in the face of T---'s reputed embarrassment, he'had purchased another -piece of property, concluded there must be some. mistake - about it, he purchased the property on his' own account, and was immediately offered largely more for -it. The other was not only greatly disappointed, but, from particular circumstances, it was so desirable to him, that, had I not been compelled to sell, as he supposed, and had he not believed the sheriff would do the work for me, he would have given- almost any price -sooner than have lost it. I doubt not he has since seen many an hour of painful re- gret at his folly, and I can but wish him the good fortune to have those pains piled upon him mountain high. Like the Romans, when besieged, although in a starving condition, they threw some stale bread over the battlements to deceive their enemies, so I, to produce an effect, and because I got it on long time, at a very low: price, purchased the aforesaid property at thB period -of my greatest embarrassment, and it had -the desired effect. Persons ate apt to fret at what they consider a course of oppression, by those who have -money. I :never; do tso. Every man's money is his own. He has a right to use it THE PILOT Io HUMAN-LI- . r. 381 as he pleases; and to expect himto use iin anyway b . or his awn advantage is to expect unreasonable things of human nature. But, when he sets his trap for his felloW mau, and gets caught in it himself} there is no very great harm in our being delighted at it; and} should it ever be the fate of such a man to be overtaken by misfortune, he ought not to be surprisedif we-do not cry ourselvesto death through sympathy forhim, nor lend him a helping hand 'o get out. He who'stands ready to prey upon the world mus t not from that world expect anything but the deepest gratification at all the misfortunes which may overtake him. While he has money; this world will be obsequiOus tohiim But let him beware of wantingvit; then he sinksas: with: a milstone around his neck. Whereas, he who has pursued a different course through life, and been kind to others, will find this kindness returned-to him with interest; andif a fewulture await his demise with impatience, to prey upon his carease- and som e would begin before the breath is out of his body, saying to the-poor fellow, who cries, " aWa it, I am not dead yet, in - the language of the Irish cartmanh who was hurry ing-a cholera subjeet, am0ng others, into his cart, to bury him, "An' faith, youi needn't be so over-particular' about a few moments: "Y et the massjare not of this kind.: The mass of human nature have a sympathetic feelingforthose who are kind. While I have felt the hand of the oppressor most sorely in m y misfortunes I have aso had cause ofgra- titude for the friendly feeling of others, w ith th consolation now that I hope I, am beyond the reach of misfortune, of not bein g Soured against the world, and-with on ly a feeling of comp assion towards those wh o would have crushed meif he y eould; antld thereby haveimade mon ey ou o f m e; sav- ing a nd excepting , ho wever, on e single case, where I c onfes s my ordinary charity fails m e, and which shall be the -subj eet of an especial n otice at - a f uture t ime. e. F, page: 380-381[View Page 380-381] s I H... ' ATER LXIX. OCHANE 0SJEUOTAR--AEIYr BE REQOMMENDED. No, reader, rst a whiae; take up your hat, alk out, take. te coo1lair, and prep;re your, mind' for an odd transi- tion from a matter of feeing to one for deep thought. Of the readeru ho has accompanied me thus far, I now: ask it, the reader may ask. I answer, because the subject I wish considereAdis presumed to have been exhusted, to be thread- bare, worn out; ;and the mind, after reaading lighter matter, will ta with loating from the dry disquisition ofasuch a subject as -fre trade and protection. The:very. heading of the chapter s- enough to makethe reader t hrow down thhe book, rand cryh maercy i But, stop! Do not .decide too h astily. I ak ahim to make an experiment--to read a few pages, andif he:a does not' find- hs interest growing as 'he progresses, then I am content that he shall drop the book. And let him drop a it where he may, I venture tosay, he will not consider his itime lost. The, arguments contained therein are- chiefly the-result of actual experience, and of facts noted at homo and ahbroad. There is information and interest in te facts, if they contain no argument. And to divest the subject of the dryness presumed to be unavoid- ably icident to it, I have- adopted the analytical process, where bygone aspect: of the subject isdisoussed at a time, thereby not overloading the. mind with the necessity for any effdrt to co prehend it; the dialogue' style saving the reader that trouble. This, I apprehend,is the only mode by which theyoung reader can be made clearly to compre- THE, PILOT OP HUMAN LIFE ; 381 hend a subject upon which the ablest politicians and ti-* soundest thinkers have differed. But where truth exists 1t can be found by the sincere and candid investigator. A man who reads as a partisan, to find a flaw in all arguments against his party, and who will admit no fair deductions ex- cept such as favor his wishes, had as well not read -at all for he can learn nothing by reading. But the candid inves. tigatorif not convinced, will at least, I opine, find that which will set him to thinking. This subject is so exten- sive in its range, that an ingenious speaker on either side can find matter enough to sustain him, and bewilder any but a logical thinker on the other side. Truth, therefore, is only to be found by taking one branch of the subject at a time, and discussing that until it is -exhausted--then a -second, and so on. If, in this way, justice be done to both sides, and an equal amount of talent be enlisted, the result will be very apt to show where the truth lies. But canany man who has a leaning to one, side of any uestion do full justic e o te ther, in such a discussion? I think it very doubtful. I can only say that I have collected with great care all the arguments which I have ever heard used in favor of free trade. If I have omitted any, I will undertake to answer such as any standard respectable journal in our country may think worthy a place in itscolumns, and which journal containing it may be sent me, post-paid, to Owens- boro, Kentucky. This will be a: means of eliiting truth, whether it shall turn out to be on one sideor thther; and if, in my effort to convince others, I shall fail, but be convinced .myself, I promise candidly to acknowledge it. It is a subject which vitally concerns the welfare'of the nation and the community at large should understand it. By this means they may be made todo so. I aving, in :the previous part of jhia journal, touched upon other measures of national poliy, that of free trade and protection seemed of right to demand a place with , page: 382-383[View Page 382-383] 382 - THE PILOT OF HUMAN LIIE. them for the benefit of the young; politician, who will here find it discussed under all the aspects in which the author has seen it presented;- and ifthe reader will master what is here given, he will understand the subject at least as well as the author, and without fatigue: of mind to comprehend it. OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. THE RELTIVE ADVNTAGS OF THE FREE- TRADE AND PROTE'LV SYSTEMS ANALYTiCLL DICU8SED IN A D'ALoaGUE BE'lWESN REE TRADER AND ]PROTECTIONIST. L Credit for the =isteincprosperigy of theco t attriluted, to free trade. ' - F.--Well] friend P X see, from-thelast quarter's return of imports ollected, that. our treasury is in an overowing condition--never was it more flourishing. Commerce and agriculture, too, seem to be equally thriving. L abor is bear- inga fine price, property rising in value. - Never have I known our country in a more p rosperous condition, and this toounder our free trade policy, which you protectionists so P.-I am glad, friend F., thatyou seem in a humor for talking on this subject, and as, to you, all signs seem to sus- tain the policy offree trade, you will no doubt be willing to enter calmly and'dispassionately into a consideraion of that policy . I profess to desire that policywhiheis for our coun. try's g od--I believe yodo uppose now we agree to take:up this subjeot With a- view to ascertain -the truth, and lot With a s view to m eredcontroversy;let us endeavor, ashfar as oU r n atu'res wpil a dmit of it to be eandid, m agnan imously on each side admit ou r errors if satisfied of them -an d give fu ll redit to each other' arguments. As . ,' page: 384-385[View Page 384-385] 384 - OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. !F.-A-greed! I Ikno*w the power of party feeling, and how prone we are, in listening to the arguments of. opponents, to seek merely to controvert, and not for the truth. But your tone and 'manner-- indicate a sineere -desire for learning -the truth, ad I assure you I am in - search of it, and although sincerely of opinion that free trade is the policy of wisdom and of -justice,-"and that any trammelling"of the intercourse between nations by what- you call protection is not only a narrow and unjust policy; but it is in part taxing one por- tion of our people for the benefit of another- an offensive policy wlhich I do not think the enlightened people of the United States ever will submit to--a policy which, in our age of progresswill soon- be looked hback upon' as monstfous, and the wonder will be that enlightened men ever 'could have been fouUnd. to favor it; nevertheless, I am disposed to give full credit to your'patriotism and sincerity, and I will most willingly hear all you have to say in its favor, and promise to give full credit to any argument you may bring forward. ' S'o let us hear what you have:to say. -P.-To0begin, and follow you backwards Hwould say- If- you are-disposed to settle the question by the names of enlightened men who have favored- the two policies, I think Ie'an outweigh you. From Washington down to Andrew Jackson, every--President has warmly recommended-the pro- tection of home industry, the fostering Bf domestic manufac- tures, anadif any one'of our Presidents has been preeminently markied for emphatically- reommending it more than any other, if has been General Jackson. - -BaXt of the mein now on the "political theatre, ClayI, Web- ster, Fillmore, rwin, Clayton, &c., where do ot find their equals on your side who sustainTfreetrade against piroection? And, siri- take any State in ithe Union, except South 'Carolina, and Hthnk if you will be candid, you will allow the weight ofjtatent is-against you.- Butthis i Unot argument-I only say so mulch ine 'reply to your 'rerark :about Ithe opinions of OUi COUNTRY's GOOD. 8385 enlightened men. Iwill now return and follow you from the beginning through., CY , t II. T-he tendcy of free trade to eteMd the demnandfor ' our products. The present condition of our country furnishes, I. admit an argument apparently- in your favor, because itis by the fruit that we should judge the tree, and there certainlyis this time a great appearance of prosperity;-and I am willing to give the credit to -free -tradeuness I can show that it belongs to other causes In 1847-8, the famine in Ireland and short crop in England, there being no redundancyin Europe, gave an immense demand for our breadstuffsand caused a great influx of capital- upon us. This raised the price of all agriulrtuail products, and so completely- drained us that the succeeding crops have notyet brought down the prices -again to their usual mark. This is, to i n some de- gree, owing to the settlement of California, which has aided in giving a market for ur breadstuiffs." Another reason is that the temporary prosperity caused by7the:events named has given a renewed impulse to railadimprovements, d raw ing off hands- from being producers -of breadstuffs, 'nd by their consumption furnishing a market Another caise, the highpnriceof breadstuffs, drew off labor from the culture sf tobacco, 'nd by causing a short crop produed -a highprioe in that article which in: turncaused a withdrawal-of labor from breadstufs, and tended te keep them -up. Phese are the causes which, give us an apparent temp prosp indeed a real prosperityi except so far as it is being marred by the effects of -free trade. But that the free tiade system has no agency in pro luqingit; I can plainly show If the free trade s ystem has lad an agen y int producing it it am t bea beca^setha ystem has so far extended our foreign demand forthe pro.. 83 -. W t page: 386-387[View Page 386-387] 386 OUR Co0UNRY's GOOD. ducts of -our country as to have given increased demand for home labor,.and have returned a corresponding reward in money. Now is such the fact? So far from it that, although England during the last year has imported of grain of all kinds about seventy-two millions of bushels, only about six and a half millions went from the United States, being not half a bushel each for every farmer in our coun- try. Iso a market for half a bushel each to our farmers a sufficient boon for destroying our own manufactories? Let us see what is the actual gain. Suppose the grain which was exported brought 20 cents per bushel more than that which was not; after deducting all charges, this would be a gain: of ten -cents to every farmer, as compensation to him for breaking down his manufactories at home. Would you call this an equivalent for throwing hundreds of thousands of men and women out of employment, and for giving up our market for manufactures, to England, to which our own manufacturers ought to be entitled? - , -But you take our export of breadstuffs only; there is our cotton, -tobacco, and other products, altogether reaching perhaps to one hundred and fifty millions of dollars. P.-LItake breadstuffs only, because that class of exports and provisions are alone affected by the free trade system; all other demands were the same heretofore as now, and are taxed in the same way-I mean eSsentially. -Tobacco is taxed about seventy-two cents per pound nbw, and was taxed, no more heretofore. Cotton is not taxed, and has not been for a long time--not since the competition of our own manufacturers, produced by, home protection, became :so close that the English government saw that every weight carriea by their manufacturing interest must be thrown off to give their -manufacturers an :advantage over ours. To this protection is the cotton-planter indebted for- the repeal of the tax on cotton in England; -and to the same protec- tion continued to 1846 are our agriculturists- indebted for OUR COUNTRY'S -GOOD. 387 the repeal -of; the corn and navigation laws, because every year our -manufacturers were trenching upon the custom of theirs. .. --Do I understand you then to say that the heavier we tax England, the more we incline her to take the tax from us? P.--Not the more we :incline her, but the more we force her. As to any inclination of England to favor us or to do anything except for her own interest, in her intercourse with us, he-must be green indeed who can believe it. The United States furnish a -better market for England than any other country on earth-almost equal to all her other mar- kets. SAnd she would make us believe that of late she has imbibed a great love for us;- but it is the, love which the wolf has for the lamb. It is mathematically demonstrable that the repeal of the tax on cotton, as well as of the corn. and navigation laws, has been forced on England by the protection which we gave -to our own manufacturers. Let England sufficiently prostrate them, and she can then rein- state her corn-laws and cotton tax. P.-You. tell me we only exported last year to England six and a half millions of bushels of grain. Why, are you- not mistaken, when you say she imported seventy-two mil- lions? P.--I have not seen an offieial report on the subject, and I venture the statement upon the authority of -the, news- ' papers, but I presume it to be correct, as I know France, the countries -on the Baltic, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea, can undersell us; and, unless in case of, short crops in: Europe, we can have no reliance on supplying England with breadstuffs. And in fact,. of average years, England can nearly supply herself, and wants very little from abroad. - F.-According to-your view, then, the repeal of the corn- laws ofIEngland was of no advantage to us., page: 388-389[View Page 388-389] 388 OUR COUNTRY-S GOOD. P.-.About the same advantage .which a man's corn-crib is to his hogs, where ho can afford but a nubbin as day to each, barely' enough to keep life in them, but enough to keep them always squealing about the pen; whereas, if they had not .this: nubbin to hope for, they would go into, the woods, rely on themselves; and get fat upon roots and the mast. In a word, the repeal of the .English corn-laws has held out a false hope to us, which never has, and never can be realized, because, if there -is any demand to supply; the inhabitants of the Baltic, Mediterranean, and Black Sea countries are nearer than we, are, can sooner; meet the de- mand, and can do it cheaper. The repeal of the corn-laws is of no value to us whatever. If I could have my way, I would prefer that they should be re-enacted to-morrow, as then we would not be deceived by a shadow as now, where there is' no good really resulting. i.;-But are you not mistaken about those people being able to undersell us in England, we having so boundless'an extent of fertile country, and land so cheap--whereas their country is represented to be very poor, and the land very high. Labor is cheap, to be. sure; but does that balance our greater fertility of soil, and cheapness of land? P.--There is no arguing against facts. You ImayL find reasons why it ought not to be so, but they fail against facts; it is so: beyond all doubt. In 1849, I crossed the German Ocean, from' Edinburgh to Hamburg, With a Scotch merchant, going there to buy wheat.. On the day after his arrival, he informed me he had .purchased a cargo, of first quality, to be shipped from Memmel to Glasgow, at a cost of twenty-nine-shillings sterling per quarter of eight bushels, being about eighty cents per bushel. At the same time wheat was worth more than this price in New York, Labor and living-are very cheap in those grain-furnishing coun- tries, and -overbalance our cheaper and richer .land. Of this you may form some idea from the following fasct: met OUR COUNTRY'S COOD; 389 in Prussia with very intelligent American officer who had been 'sent 'to- Sweden- to examine the various specimens -of iron there, with a/ view to obtain the best for making artil- lery. r He told me lthat he had- obtained very good board-in the interior of Sweden, I think, for one dollar: and a' half per week. If- board can be had, which an Amerioan officer would call good, for one dollar and a half per. week, what ought to be the cost of a common laborer's fare? -And. what then the wages when those laborers hardly ever use' meat at all, but live on potatoes and other vegetables? It is true, the country, taking the whole continent, is naturally very poor-it is, two-thirds of it,-based-on a bed of gravel; but it is so highly manured, and so minutely cultivated, that, poor as it is naturally, it produces more than our rich land on an average. - "I. The beneficial effects of free trade on commerce. /'.--Then you would give up the foreign market for our breadstuffs, and destroy our commerce? What would be. come of our commerce, if we ;were to have this trade cutoff? 'P.-Whatever commerce we have now, we had before the repeal of the corn-laws; and the same we would have, very nearly, if they were re-enacted. But what does it amount to? All the ships necessary to transport six and a half mil- lions of bushels of grain, if our ships did it at all, and made six trips a year, it would not give employment to one hun- dred ships. But it ig not to be presumed, if the -corn-laws were reinstiated, that it would destroy all this commerce. England requires a certain amount of food, whether :her corn-laws existor not. It is true that the cheaper food .is, the more -of it will be consumed , but the facts, as at present existing, show thatfany-such increase inures very little -to our- benefit, and if half were- left,-it would only throw fifty ships out-of employment, and these would find more than an 33* page: 390-391[View Page 390-391] )0 9OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. equivalent- business in transporting breadstuffs and pro- sions from New Orleans to the manufacturing States, provided our Manufaetures were to receive the protection ~essary to put them all in full operation again. Give such protection and I would not exchange then the market, which would be ereated for the/ agriculturist by the little tate pf Rhode Island, for all the demand of Great Britain which we can supply. 'F.-I confess I cannot see how you can make that out. P.-,Thus: there are probably fifty thousand manufac- ture in Rhode Island, when their factories are all in opera- tioqn. These will consume in bread ten bushels of grain each per annum; they will consume half a pound of meat per day lb. is the estimate in the West), say 200 Ibs. in Rhode Island per annum. The estimate is that it takes 10 bushels of grain to make 100 lbs. of meat; so that in meat each hand would consume 20 bushels grain, and in'bread 10 bushels, making 80, or one million five hundred thousand bushels which they would require. Now, stop one-half of the factories, as I presume is now very nearly the case. You tumrn 25,000 manufacturers in -Rhode IWland into agricultu- ritst; these will, on an average, each produce 200 bushels of grain n (in the West, 800 is common); here would be five nillions of bushels produced, which, if the manufacturers had other employment, would not be, and is a market to that extent lost to the agriculturist elsewhere, besides what the producers consume, which, added to said 5,000,000, make 6,500,000, equal to the whole-English demand. But Rhode Island has not one-tenth of all the manufacturers of the United states.- And then bear in mind, if you stop the fac- tories, you stop the miners who supply them with fuel, and in the iron region the orediggers, and various dependents of all kinds, ramified beyond the conception of almost any man. It would be very safe to say that, by a proper protec- tion, we should create a market ten times as great as that OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 391 estimated for Rhode Island, and ten times that we have now with England for breadstuffs. And we would not lose the market- which we- have with England, for it is dire necessity which- has made her repeal her-corn-laws;- it was necessary to sustain her manufacturers. And while, by protecting our own manufacturers, we -should matke a home market equal to ten times that which we find in- England, we should 'be no worse off in regard to that market. IV. The injustice of taxing the balance of the community to sustain the manufacturer, a exemplfied -by lr e Mb. 2)ude' Forty Bale Speech. --I think you largely-overeqtimate the market to be reated by our manufacturers, even if protected to the utmost extent of their wishes. But does not this word protection 3arry injustice on its very face,? What does it -mean but that the balance of the community shall submit- to be taxed y the manufacturers, in order to enable those manufacturers o sustain a competition with foreigners, which they cannot lo without this tax. Now is there not something-unreason- ,ble in the very nature of the demand?- I think, when we tave already submitted to this tax beyond' the necessity of he -revenue for twenty or thirty years, to help those manu- ceturers. along, if they cannot now stand alone, they ought fall. I think- Mr. MaDuffe, of South Carolina-: in his peech, known as the Forty-Bale Speech, most triumphantly sposed the operation of the tariff, and I do not think any an has ever, to my satisfaction, answered that speech. P.--I forget the grounds he took in that speech. : m.- Why they-were-that,hif we levied a taxr on the con- I imer to sustain the manufacturer, it is no better than to it your hands into the pocket of the consumer, and rob mf:)f this tax to pay it to the manufacturer. And he il- strated it thus: Suppose A ships forty bales of cotton to page: 392-393[View Page 392-393] 392 - OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. England, and lays out the proceeds in goods, which he brings back, and the government charges one-fourth of those goods, or 25 per cent., tariff-is the government not taking one-fourth of his cotton from him, or ten bales to put in the pockets of the manufacturer, in order to enable him to compete with the English manufacturers? P.-The advantage your party have of ours in the argu- ment on this question is that all your positions are super- ficially plausible, and admit of being so imposingly presented that the delusion is very strong, and taken in without an effort of the mind-whereas the refutation requires a power of thought, which every man is not capable of- -F.-A generous admission. Be assured the stronger the truth, the more easily itis fseen; and where an effort of the mind 'is necessary to controvert apparent Tacts, it is strong evidence that the apparent facts are true facts. -P L-Yes, I recollect an old gentleman whose son, after returning from college, undertook to refute the old man's previously fixed notion that the' sun revolved around the earth, and to prove to him that the earth revolved around the sun once a year, and turned round upon its own axis every twenty-four hours. The old; man jumped up out of his chair, seized his cane, and would have laid it well upon his son's back if he had not escaped, the old man crying out to him--"And this is the college nonsense you have been learning, is -it? Don't I see 'the sun rise every morning, pass over my head, and set at night? and don't I see every- thing standing as straight up on the earth at night as in the day? and would not everything tumble off if the earth were to turn round? This is the nonsense I have been paying my money for you to learn, is it?"Now, the old man's notions were certainly more palpably comprehensible than his son's-and took much less thought but you will not con- tend, therefore, that they were the most correct; and yet I e OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 393 think I can show that the old man was as near right as Mr. McDuifie. There is a certain revenue required .by our government for its support. This must be raised by a tariff on goods imported, or by a direct tax. As every man voluntarily pays his part of the tax who buys the goods,- as the tariff has to be added to the price paid in England for the goods, this is found more agreeable and simple than to send the tax-gatherer into every man's house.. Now, when Mr. MoDuffie sold his forty bales, and bought goods with the proceeds, say $2000 worth, on his arrival in the United States he had to pay $500 duty. This he added to the price of thegoods, making ihe amount $2500, for which with charges and profits he sold them, and he did not lose a dollar; all that he could complain of was the tariff which he had to pay on so much of the goods as he used himself, aid he had no right to com- plain of this, unless in this way he paid more than he would have had to pay by direct taxation for the support of govern- ment. If more revenue was raised by the tariff than was necessary for the support of government, then of the excess he had a right to complain, and of no more. Now let us suppose that twenty per cent. would suffice for the support of government, but, that thirty would be required to give sufficient protection to our manufacturers. In this case, Mr. MeDuffie would be aggrieved ten per cent. unless he was otherwise benefited to a greater amount. To determine this, I will endeavor to make out an account current. We will suppose Mr. McDuffie a planter, raising 500 bales of 5001bs. each, and working one hundred hands; and that, in his family, he consumes annually $3000 worth of foreign-goods. By his view he pays an unjust tax of ten per cent., or $300 per annum. But by paying this tax he keeps all our facto- ries going, and keeps in employment, at least, two hundred thousand manufacturers, say one-third of all who would other- wise be thrown out, and have to engage in agriculture. page: 394-395[View Page 394-395] 394 OURn COUNTRY's GOOD. These 200,000 men would on an average in the West, where they probably would go, raise 500 bushels of grain each, besides what they would consume. This would be one hun- dred millions of bushels. Besides which, they are now sup- porting themselves, and are not customers as before to the farmer; giving a demand for thirty bushels each, or six millions of bushels, equal to the market, within a fraction, which we now find with England; besides the one hundred millions to spare, which must find a market somewhere. Where will you find it? It comes in at any rate to compete with the general surplus, causes a glut, and-brings down the whole produce of the country in price. But say one-third of those manufacturers only would engage in the cultivation of the soil, which would suffice for the effect I claim as to the products; all must eat. The consequence will be that the labor employed in raising breadstuffs will seek other employ- ment, and much of it go to raising cotton; when down comes the price of cotton. Now, to be exceedingly reason- able, I will presume avery small effect; say that the bring- ing of this labor from manufacturing into agriculture will cause only a decline of half a cent per pound. I really be- lieve it would be two cents per pound, but say half a cent. This is two dollars and a half per bale, or $1250 which he loses byfailing to protect the manufacturers, while to protect them it only cost $300, leaving a clear balance against him of $950. And this is on the supposition that the tariff is all added to the price of- the goods, and is -so much lost to the consumer; But experience proves such not to be the fact. When a tariff is laid, the increased price in the goods is, perhaps, half the amount of increased tariff for the first year. - But every year this price diminishes, and in a few years the goods so tariffed become cheaper than before the tariff was laid. This ia the result of the competition created by protection. I do not venture this as a mere opinion; it is history; the archives of our country will prove it to be the OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 395 fact. And I venture to say that, hut for the home compe- tition created by the fostering of our own manufacturers, we would at this time be paying to England, for everything we get of her, a price much greater than we are paying, which would equal double the tariff our manufacturers ask for. V. The justice of the ad valorem principle discussed. F.-What do they ask for-what tariff will satisfy them? P.-They ask an increase which would not be felt; the nation in twelve months could find everything as cheap as it is now. They ask only fair playin their own market. They want a small addition; but they more need guarding against fraud than they do an increase of the tariff. The ad valo- rem system of levying duty seems to be equitable, but it is not so. It is a system which generates corruption to an enormous extent, because the invoice of the importer is, in general, the guide as to value. It is so invariably, unless the appraisers are able to detect fraud, and it is not once in twenty times that the appraiser is so accurate a judge as to know the value; and the invoice has- to be taken as the guide. This invoice is made out at from 833 per cent. to fifty per cent. under the actual cost of, the goods to enter them by, and a different invoice is sent to. sell by. That the importer has to swear to the invoice amounts to nothing. If our own citizens are too scrupulous to perjure themselves, there are foreign tools enough who will do it. Our own citizens generally will not; hence most of the foreign goods are now sent by the foreign manufacturers to resident agents here, whose scruples are not in' their way. - These agents have now almost monopolized the importing business, driving our own honest merchants out of it. I went in April, 1849, to England, in the Canada," with one hundred and sixty-three passengers, of which number about one hundred were resi- page: 396-397[View Page 396-397] 396 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. dent agents in New York of foreign manufacturers, and I recollect of but one single native American importing mer- chant among -the passengers. These agents, who mnake fraudulent entries of their goods, can afford to sell them to our own merchants cheaper than they can import them: "We are thus not only cheated out of our revenue, but have a set of foreign factors to displace our own honest merchants; not only taking the6 bread from our manufacturers, but from our honest merchants too. This is abominable!' F.--Well, what remedy would you propose? P.--I would agree upon an ad valorem duty, as a basis for a specific duty. -Fix any duty deemed reasonable by existing values; then by those values fix a specific-duty on every' species of goods. So many cents per square yard upon cottons, woollens, silks, etc., of certain weights and fine- ness, etc.; so much on pig-iron, bar-iron, railroad-iron, etc. I' --then there will be but little room for fraud, and then the home- manufacturer will have a fair chance, but- not under the present system. Some difficulty will exist in fixing a specific duty by the ad valorem principle.* You must range everything; into classes, and, in doing so, the -ad valorem principle will, necessarily, in some degree, be varied from; but the variance will be occasional only, whereas by the ad valorem plan there is fraud throughout. The bribery offered for perjury by the ad valorem system is enough to banish everything like morality or honesty-from the importing * There is such, a similarity between the ground- taken by Mr. Fillmore in his messages of 1851 and 1852, and those taken here, as probably to induce the belief that one was taken from the other. But those viewsgwere published in the St. Louis Journal of Decem- ber, 1851. Of course, they could cnt have been taken from Mr. Fill- more's message, and, of course, he could have had no access to this communication. , OUA COUNTRY'S GOOD. 397 merchant. It is bad policy; it isintroducing the dry-rot of corruption into all the- transactions of the country. VI. The'wisdomof free trade evidenced by the absence of al resrictions to commerce among the States of our Union, and theirgreatprosperity. F--There is one view of this question which I have never seen answered, and which is an argument of facts against theory. The several States of this Union enjoy freetrade among each other, and they are all prosperous and happy. If the principle be good at all, it would hold good among those States. Now, do you contend that those States would be more prosperous or happy, by the introduction of impe- diments to free trade among them? P.--The manufacturers of our country give to our agri- culturists the entire supplying of; their wants; they are of the same family, and their dealings are necessary for each other's benefit, except where foreigners can undersell them. This cannot be done in the heavy products of the soil, though it can in manufactures. The object of protection is to foster manufactures, so as to give our agriculturists a market at home, which shall be all their own, and to save us from being drained of our money by foreign countries. This is, from our geographical position, as far as it concerns the feeding of our manufacturers, a necessary consequence, and protection is therefore needless. But, while we buy a great amount of manufactures from England, she buys nine- tenths of her provisions from the tcontinent of Europe. - The cases are not at all parallel. VII. Mr. Walker's-estimates of th effect of free trade. F.-You seemto have made this subject a study; I on- fess T-am not prepared to mneet all your arguments but; I 34 page: 398-399[View Page 398-399] 398 OUR COUNTRY'S -OOD, / will hunt up Mr. Walker'sreport, and it perhaps will furnish me with answers. There is-no subject where -more can -be said on both sides than this one on the tariff. P.-As to Mr. Walker, if we are to estimate him by the truth of his prognostics in regard to the effect-of his polioy on our exports,-I should suppose his authority would be of little weight. Such was his sanguine view of the-effects of reduc- ing the tariff in 1846, that he estimated our exports in con- sequence thereof as follows, viz.: for 1848, $222,289,352; 1849, $329j959,993; 1850, $488,445,046. Whereas our actual exports-were for those several years $132,934,121; $132,666,955; $134,900,565. In 1847, they were more, on account of the famine in Ireland; but for the last three years, notwithstanding the high price of cotton, there has been no material increase, but,- on the contrary, as compared with our population, a falling off. Of what value then are the estimates of a man who shows himself so utterly ignorant of the effects of his own policy upon the trade of our country? I admit- there is much to be said on both sides; but there are some self-evident propositions, which, I think you will admit, are conclusive in favor of such a tariff as will main- tain our home manufacturers in fair competition with the foreign. 1. As the object of free trade is to find a market for our produce where we obtain our supplies; if we can make that -market at home, there is no reason why we should not obtain our supplies at home, if to be had on as advantageous terms as abroad. I think I have heretofore shown that a reasonable specific tariff will enable us to do this. 2. By making a market at home, which we do by with- drawing a portion of our redundant farming population from that pursuit, and putting them to manufacturing, we create a market which is- all our own, the supplying of which be- longs to ourselves, and where foreigners cannot interfere with us. F But, while our consumption of near two hundred -oUR COUNTRY'S . OOD39 millions of foreign goods gives England the means of buy- ing seventy odd -millions of, dollars' worth-- of breadstuffs, we only get the supplIying of six millions five hundred thousand dollars' worth of this. Encourage our own manu- facturers, and they will furnish a corresponding market to you- for breadstuffs, which will be all our own, and not six millions and five hundred thousand dollars of it. 3. Accidental circumstances will occasionally give us a high price abroad for our breadstuffs. This stimulates us to extravagance that year, and the habit then acquired is continued, so that we consume a vast amount of foreign goods over what our exports will pay for, as-this year this excess is, I see, estimated to amount to over thirty millions of dollars; and thus, periodically, about every twelve or fifteen years, we have a crash, which spreads ruin over our whole country. If we dealt at home, this could not happen, for, however extravagant an individual might be, his money being spent at home remains in the country, and no suche crash could occur. He may fail, but his failure does mot affect the country. 4.-- Home manufactures give employment to a vast amount of labor which otherwise would be idle, as' to- women and children, and their earnings add vastly to the national wealth.*- - * In illustration of this fact, I will relate an incident of travel. Many years since, travelling in the County-of Henderson in the State of Kentucky, I stayed, all night near a place called , Harp's Real," from the sticking of a robber's head upon a pole at the foirks of a road there, after the robber had-been shot. My host was a Mr. M--. Here I saw all his children at night picking cotton from the seed, except one, who was spinning on the spin- ning-wheel. This was- a primitive condition of things, which I had not seen since I was a child. ,Upon inquiry, I found that each had picked about two ounces of cotton each night; this made about three-fourths of a pound per week; cotton- bei'g eight cents per- '"' v page: 400-401[View Page 400-401] 40.0. OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. These- four classes of facts you cannot deny. But you are tired of tthe subjectj no doubt, and we will- drop it. I go to-morrow to --- County; if you are not engaged, I have a spare eat in-my byuggy; the journey will; be a pleasant one, and I think you. will be gratified by- the trip; will -you. go? - F.-Yes, with pleasure. Vill. The effect of free trade vpon the undeveloped re- sources-of our country. NEXT-DAY.-SCENE IN THE WILDERNESS IN'-- COUNTY, - - A FIW, MTT, FROM THE DHO. P.-What have you here-iron ore? P.-Yes, we will alight, and examine i t. About a month pound, this would have been- one cent per night, had the raising of the cotton 'oest nothing. The spin ning met with about an equal ewad. To me it seemed an utter waste of labor, and I so stated o Mr. M- , telling him that he could for one cent buy all the cotton which any of -his family could pick of an evening. "Per- haps you may," he replied; " -that, -however, is- not my way of calculating. JI need so many yards- of cotton for my family-my boys can- raise this cotton-my daughters can spin and weave it, and I do not'feel the cost. I raise my own coowS," continued Mr. M--- , , and tan their hides for leather--and my boys make our shoes; $my sheep furnish wool, which my family card, spin, and weave into cloth, and make. into clothes, and they knit our socks and stockings; and our hats and bonnets too we could make, but as yetdo not. Now, stranger," :continued. the old man, ' when a man can make all he wants at home, and has something to spare to sell, Hguess he is doing pretty weL I have money lent out to many of my neighbors, who thik I: am a fool for my way. of get- ting along--and may-b]e I am;. but I -want all my children to be fools Uike me, and- make all at home they can; then they will, be always independent4 and -can hold up their heads againsJt the -world." Now, thought 'I, here--is a. case, an :extreme one to be sure, as- strong illustrative 0f the realpolicy of a government to arive at national wealth'as can be given.- !, OfUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 401 ago, I got a neighbor to come with me here and bring a boy of fifteen years of 'age, who from eleven o'clock until an hour by sun dug up this ore, estimated to be at least two tons. It is very rich and pure; -has been analyzed, and reported to yield sixty-five per cent. -of iron. The regular vein is two feet thick, and over it is ball ore, about sit inches thick. I am satisfied, from the work of this boy, that an able grown man could dig five tons in a day. - F.'--Why, it ought to be exceedingly valuable. Why do you not have it worked? P.-I-will answer you that query on our return home. Let us now continue our ride (entering the buggy and driving on).- Observe, now, as we go along, you will see this ore on all the hills over which we pass. -- P.-.Yes, I see;- from the signs I would judge there was a great quantity here. But what is this in the hill-side here? -A coal-bank? (Driving up to it.) ,P.-'Now get'- down, and let us go in -and examine it (alighting). F.-GoLds! What a sight-what splendid coal! You seem just to have opened it. Why do you not work it? -And is it through all those surrounding hills'? -P.--Yes, sir.: And here in this valley, of about fifty acres, you might set fifty foundries, factories, or establish- ments of any kind, for working which coal is required, and they would have a- never-ending supply of coal. -F.-Well, is this coal, and the iron ore you showed me also, not each v6ry valuable? How far are they apart? P.-About two miles; but they may possibly be found together in some of those hills.- As to their value, I cannot speak, except by reference-to such property which I have seen in Scotland.: Near Glasgow; a 'hoblemanv owns an iron ore-bank, from which he allows three large -iron furnaces to supply' themselves at two shillings and sixpence per ton*. I estimate that 'the vein of iron which I slowed you will 34* page: 402-403[View Page 402-403] 402 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. yield one ton and a half to the square yard, which, at the price aforesaid, would be. about eighty cents per square yard, or four thousand dollars per acre. I was at the Monkwear- mouth coal-mines in England, from which they raised coal eighteen hundred feet, from a vein only six inches thicker than this. That land could not be purchased for, a thousand pounds an, acre ($5000). I was at coal-mines in Saxony, at Zwacow, where the vein was very thick, where a sale had been made but a short time before at fifty-four thousand dollars per acre. i F.--Well, but this ought to be valuable here; is it not? P.-On the Ohio, a few miles from; us, some, small sales have been made, equalling about sixteen hundred dollars per acre, for supplying steamboats. But I have seen one single iron establishment in Newcastle-upon-Tyne which consumed more coal than all the steamboats use from this yard just named, which is about one thousand bushels daily. And the Monkwearmouth coal-pits deliver about twenty-five thousand bushels per day from a depth of eighteen hundred feet. Here our railroads run into the pit, and the cars are. loaded by the men who dig, the coal. Let iron establish- ments, to a sufficient extent, or cotton factories, be erected, and, in comparison with the demand for them, the steamboat demand would hardly be worth noticing. F.-Why, are they not established? P.-I will explain as we return. Nowp, besides iron and coal, there is here potter's clay for making earthenware, fire- clay, the best building rock, and every material which manu- facturers can ask, all standing idle. But it is getting late. Let us return to our lodging-house, on our way home, and we will talk ,about this matter. F.-.You told me you had seen railroad iron on its way to Pittsburg, to be laid on the railroads there, which was im- ported from England. How isitpossible that they can bring railroad iron 8000 miles across the Qcean, thence 2000 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 403 miles up the Mississippi and Ohio, paying freights, charges, duties, and insurance, and undersell such advantages as you have here? P.-That is a very natural question, and it was to make you ask that question that I was induced to ask you to take this ride with me. And I will endeavor to answer it. The requisites for manufacturing to advantage are:- 1st. A market. 2d. Material. 3d. Capital. 4th. Labor. 5th. Cheap living. 6th. Experience.--The first we have at our doors; the second and fifth also. The third we have not. The fourth will always follow the balance, because, if we had it not at home, it would take but twenty days to get. it from abroad; but we have it in abundance at home, The sixth is the result of time, and naturally follows upon a con- tinuance of the other five in uninterrupted combination for a long period. Capital, of all the ingredients, is the most essential for success; to be sure, capital is of no use without the balance. But the balance are. of no use without capital. Capital is the substratum. Now where does capital come from? It is in the hands of men noted generally for their caution, and:who only let it go for investment where expel rience shows it is sure to return- a certain percentage annu- ally. It will not do. to tell such men, when a depression occurs in the market which cuts off dividends-"Oh, this is but temporary; have patience, and in a year or two there will be a reaction, when you will more than regain all that you are now losing." This is allnonsense to them. They want their dividends, and if they do0not get them regularly, they will sell out their stock, and thus they add to the very evil they complain of. In England the judicious manage thus; A joint-stock company is created. By the best cal- culations its dividends will be 7t1 per cent., but capitaiists are satisfied with 5. If 71 are made, 2i are laid by as a safety-fund, and, invested in government stocks, and 5 are divided. While things move smoothly, the 71 continue to page: 404-405[View Page 404-405] 404 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. be made, and the safety-fund rapidly increases. But in time markets become depressed, and the business is unprofitable, yields nothing. But the dividends continue regularly the same to the shareholders, who are paid their five per cent. out of the safety-fund, and, unless the low prices continue an unusual time, this safety-fund suffices to bridge over them, and the capitalist rests content to continue his funds in the investment. There seldom happens in England one of those explosions so common with us every twelve or fifteen years, when our imports have for a period of years so far overbalanced our exports. that the difference has to be sent off in specie, finally producing such a collapse as to ruin almost the whole coun- try. No such can occur in England, being the chief manu- facturer for the balance of the world; the balance of the world, who do not protect sufficiently their own manufac- turers, are tributary to her, and her capital is always on the increase. But her railroad manias do sometimes bring her into difficulties. In 1849, an explosion of this kind occurred. A manr by the name of Hudson, who obtained the name of Railroad King from the influence which he had obtained, had years before got the control of some important railroad which was profitable, and paid ten per cent. He urged that its extension would add to its profit, and he would guarantee ten per cent. as far as he was allowed to extend it. He was accordingly empowered to do so, and invited capital on those terms. It came in to any required extent, and the roads were extended accordingly, and an extravagance of expendi- ture indulged in, until finally they would not pay ten per cent. To declare this fact would have blown up Hudson. So he determined to continue declaring the ten per cent., and paid it out of the capital stock, hoping for an improvement. But this improvement did not come, and, finally, the whole affair necessarily became exposed; but not before Hudson, OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 405 by his apparent extraordinary talent for making railroads yield good dividends, had obtained the control of almost every railroad in England. And, consequently, when the crash came, it showed the bankruptcy of almost every road under his control. Great, of course, were the confusion and temporary distress created, But the indebtedness was from one resident to another, not to foreigners; there was none the less money in the country. It had only changed hands, and the same was there to give. a new impulse to business in a new form. The sufferers sunk under the waters, a bubble or two showed where they had gone down; but the general prosperity floated on, there was no less depth of water. But with us, when such an event happens, the water has been evaporated, the channel has become dry, and we are left upon sand-bars to await the coming wet season. -This is a condition to which we are now fast verging, and to which no prudent government would ever subject the country, for nothing is easier than to avoid it. F-.-But if the substratum of manufacturing is capital, and we have it not, would we not be legislating in vain to force a system upon our country which it had no foundation for, and consequently was not prepared for? P.-I would make a foundation, sir. If the nature of the ground is too sandy or boggy to be built on without aid, I would drive down piles, until I made a solid foundation. If you have a city lot, favorably situated for commerce, and' of great value for warehouses, but which is marshy, and not suitable for building on, will you therefore abandon it, when an outlay of ten thousand dollars will make a foundation, and build a warehouse which would be worth fifty thousand dollars? The capital can be created, sir, very easily. Give a wise protection to our manufactures, such as we have-here- tofore had, but make the duties specific) so as to avoid fraud. Give some assurance that this protection will be permanent,. and you will find that capital will go rapidly into manufac- r , page: 406-407[View Page 406-407] 406 OtR COUNTRY'S GOOD. turing, and the millions which we annually send abroad will stay at home. Only think. In England, the very ore which you have just seen would bring four thousand dollars per acre, at the rates Hhave named, to be manufactured into iron to send across the ocean, and two thousand miles up stream to sell to us, when we too ship them bread and meat to feed the manufacturers on. While this ore, and the coal close by it, lie measurably valueless, when all that is needed to make it worth as much as it is in Scotland is to pass such laws as to induce the same capitalists who manufacture it there to send that capital and the hands who make it there across the ocean, and make it here. It would take them but twenty days to come, and the workmen would not lose their knowledge by crossing the ocean. The mere passage of a wise law will accomplish all this. Yes, sir! The American people, if they could obtain such a law on no other terms, would find it a cheap purchase to give five hundred millions of dollars for it; that would be but thirty millions per annum, and we are now annually going in debt over this amount, which in that event would be saved. There is no fiction in this. It is all plain, palpable matter- of-fact. F.--Provided we are willing to tax ourselves sufficiently to do it. P.-Well, let us see what this tax would amount to. I will take yourself, for instance. What would be your part of this tax? Of the suit you wear, what is the cost of what is imported? F.-Why, my coat about $30, pants $10, vest $5. The balance, I presume, was made at home. b)h! my cloak $40, which I have not on, P.-- ery well, $45, and you do not wear out on an ave- rage over one suit a year. The cloak on an average will last four years. So add $10, making $55. Say the re- quired duty -to support government, which you now pay, is OUR COUNTsRYS GOOD. 407 twenty per cent.; ten, more is all we ask; this would be $5 50. Now, sir, would you grudge $5 50 per annum to see such a change created as would be by a wiser tariff, which should start up factories in all our coal-fields, and bring all our iron ore into value? With the same capital invested here, there is no reason why our coal and iron ore should not be worth as much as it is in England. And it is the coal and iron ore of England which is the basis of her wealth and power. We have ten times as much as she has, and by a policy similar to that which has given her this power and wealth, we could in time overtop her tenfold in both. But as it is, we are mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for her. All the wealth of California, which right- fully ought to be ours, and ought to be spent at home, among our own manufacturers, who can as well supply their wants as England, only comes among us for a day, then to be shipped off to that country, for which our commercial cities are mere agencies, collecting and sending to that country all our wealth as fast as we accumulate it. Oh, it is too bad, too bad! And all because our citizens, taking-you as a sample, are unwilling to pay $5 50 per annum to prevent it. Yes, if a missionary to the Hindoos, to the Sandwich Islands, to any foreign land, asks you 'for $5 50, to aid in his mission, your purse is open to him. If some straggling foreigner, pretending to have been ship- wrecked, asks you for $5 50, you are ready to give it to him. But if you are pointed to magnificent founderies, furnaces, cotton-factories, all standing still, and going to ruin, and thousands and tens of thousands of your own fellow- citizens thrown out of employment thereby; if it is made apparent to you that the yielding of this $5 50 per annum will aggrandize your country, make her independent, pros- perous, and powerful; all this is nothing in the scale against the $5 50. For all sorts of outlandish purposes, your pocket page: 408-409[View Page 408-409] 8 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. open, but you have no bowels of compassion for your own Duntry-. K This $5 50, too, is allowing the heaviest tax you claim. say, even for the first year, it would be but the half, and ia a year or two after, nothing. And then what benefits rise! Let one of those manufacturing establishments arise vhere they may, they make a market for all 'the neighbor- lood. Your corn, your hay, pork, butter, eggs, chickens, fire for your hands, wagons and teams, all at good prices, naking the whole country cheerful and happy. Are those onsiderations--is your interest in them, not worth $5 50 per year even if it, were to be all lost, and no other advan- tage to arise? F.-Why, I think you're losing that calm mood with which you set out, and which you promised to preserve in order to a dispassionate discussion of this subject, with a view to elicit truth. Declamation, you know, is not argu- ent It is the judgment, and not the feelings, which we are now appealing tot -P.-Perhaps I am more excited by the subject than I ought to be; but, really, it is hard, when I see, as I believe, such a magnificent promise for our country by very reason- able protection-to home industry on the one hand, and ruin so inevitable on the other; and the first to be obtained at so- small a temporary sacrifice-indeed, no sacrifice at all; it is hard, I say, not to be excited. But I will try to avoid it, because I wish you to have all the advantage of your coolest judgment in the discussion of this subject. For, I see, you are so fixed inm your opinions that proof, strong as Holy Writ,will be required to shake. them; nor do wish to shake them, except by evidence too powerful to be withstood. I desire you to bring forward every possible objection to pro- teetion, and every argument in favor of free trade. ] am myself convinced that -protection is for our advantage . If you can show me that it is not, I wish you to do so, promis- OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 409 ing you, most faithfully, that no prejudice or pride ofopinion shall interpose to prevent my seeing and acknowledging -the truth of any fact which you give me evidence of. All I ask is similar magnanimity on your part.. r--If I could be- satisfied that this inequality in trade between England and ourselves was really as you say, and that it was to continue, I am ready to admit I would not be satisfied with- it. But you admit you do not speak from official information, but from newspaper report.- Now, Mr. Webster makes the imports of 1850 about $178,000,000, and exports about $152,000,000. There is but a difference of $26,000,000--no t a matter to be scared about. P.-Mr. Webster, I presume, includes, in our exports, spe- cie, which has gone out to the amount of about $20,000,000 for the last half year. If as much the previous half year, which I do not recollect, there would be a total of excess of -imports over exports of about $66,000,000, leaving out specie. It is more probable Mr. Webster speaks, as I am sure he does, of the trade of last year. My remarks apply to the estimate for this year. F.-But you are taking the wrong road. We came in the other fork. P.--It is but a little out of the way to go -by a Mr. K.-----s, whose family I wish you to see. This man is rather delicate for out-door work; his wife quite a neat, tidy wo- man, and he has four very pretty daughters and a son. Until three years ago, he was exceedingly poor, could hardly feed and clothe his family decently until the erection of the cotton-factory which I will show you to-morrow. He there got employment for himself and all his family. He got four dollars per week, his son and -daughters each two dollars at the start. Soon he was found so handy as a folder that his wages were raised to six dollars per week. His sons' were increased as pressmen, to four dollars, and his daugh- ters became expert weavers, and made three dollars per week. 35 . page: 410-411[View Page 410-411] "O OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. Here -Wi entft'4wo dollars per week for the family, and a cottage found them. The old lady did the cooking, house- work, etc., the girls at night did their washing, and the son, then, cut up the wood. But here is the house. We will call for a drink of water. "Good-morning, Mr. K--. All well?" "Yes, tolerably. Will you not get down?" "No, I thank you; we want a drink of your fine water. (The son goes for it.) Well, how do you get on nowadays?" "Oh, poor enough. 'Tis mighty hard making a living out of the ground for a large family, and four of 'em grown daughters, who can't help any. When will the factory start again?" "I cannot tell. English goods are now selling so low in our market that they have stopped about one-third of all our factories, and I cannot tell when we can start again." "Well, I am mighty sorry, for there have been hard times with us since the factory stopped. But why-can't we make goods as cheap as the English? It seems to me we ought to do it." P.--.We could with a little protection. But it requires a little-and this gentleman's part of the tax would be five dollars, and fifty cents, which he says he is not willing to pay to keep up this-establishment. "Why," said one of the pretty girls, "my good sir, do agree to it, and I will pay your part of the tax; 'twill only take two weeks of my wages." EF.-My dear Miss, if it depended on me, you should have the protection to-morrow; but I am only one out of a million. "Oh!" exclaimed the old lady; "well, sir, we will all give a month's wages." "Yes," said another pretty daughter, "two months, three months, and, if all will do so, as I reckon they will, we can make up the tax ourselves." F.--Come,P --, it's time we were getting home; let's drive on.. P.-Good-by, Mr. K--. I am sorry we cannot stay longer. OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 4" F.-Confound you, P--! This is taking foul hold. P.-I wanted to show'you, by the change in fortunes of this amiable family, by the stopping of the , factory, the amount of distress caused thereby to-all thee operatives thrown out of employment. And I ask you now, in candor, does this offer no argument in favor of protecting our home industry? F.--Yes, sir.. All your arguments put together were not half so 'strong as that of those pretty girls. Curse their little hearts, to talk to me about paying my part of the-tax! P.--Now, sir, reflect! By a protection which, to you, at the highest figures you claim yourself, would only be five dollars and fifty cents to you, you would give prosperity and happiness to hundreds of thousands of your own countrymen and women such as you -have just seen. By refusing it, you leave them in poverty, and transfer that help to English operatives. But while, for the sake of argument, I admit that -you will pay five dollars and fifty cents tax, which is not the fact, I show conclusively, as in the McDuffie case, that, by paying five dollars and fifty cents out of one pocket, you cause over twenty dollars to be put into the other--yes, sir, and most sincerely do I believe, one hundred dollars- if you are engaged in any sort of enterprise, or have any interest in the general prosperity of the country. IX. Effects of free trade on the value of land. F.--There is a fine flock of sheep. Does your country suit sheep? P.---Yes, very well. But the uncertainty of demand for wool has caused farmers to devote-. themselves otherwise. I see in Michigan they estimate their flocks at a million and a half, and in Ohio at six millions, and gradually the business will become a largeone. Why should it not? InEnfgland, they raise grat flocks upon land which costs 100, ori $500 2 page: 412-413[View Page 412-413] "2 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. per acre. Why can we not raise them here on land which can- be had for one-fiftieth part of that' sum? And why should not this,wool be manufactured :at home? Take all the expoise of sending it to a foreign market, and bringing back the goods which it makes, the charges will amount on an-average to a quarter of a dollar per sheep, over what they would be if manufactured at'home, saving freights, commis- sions, profits, insurance, drayage, storage, &c., saying no- thing of the import duty. This ought to go into the pocket of the farmer. And if one acre of land will sustain ten sheep, here is a loss of $2 50 per aere, so appropriated, equivalent to the interest on $40, which sum. per acre' is thus lot, so-far as .the land isappropriated to sheep raising. - F.-Oh, nonsense I $40, indeed I / 'P.--. AU the measure of value, whichwe have for anything, is the income which it will bring; that which will bring $6 is whrth $100, and that which will bring $2 50-is worth $40. If any man will cause-an acre of my land to yield me $2 50 more than it did before, he has, therefore, increased its value $40.-. Give usa -tariff, sir, and-this wool will find a market at home, and this $2 50 per acre per annum be saved, be- sides t nncre ased wealth resulting from the- increased value given to.-t wool by being manufactured. My knowledge in- regard'" to this increased value of lwool is limited, but of cotton I know that, taking the article of sheetings and shirtings, the increased value is- about two and? a half for one; -take fiaer fabrics, and the increase is in proportion. One hundred hands will, of the former, manufacture five bales a day, or fifteen hundred per annum. It will take three' hundred hands to grow the samne gotton.'- Now, our cotton Hexports are estimated at $70,000,000 per annum. Manufacture it, and the same would be worth in coarse goods $175,00,000.- And less than half the additional- number of hands required to grow it will give one hundred and fifty per cent.' of additional value to it by manufacturing it.- y OUR COUNTRY'S' GOOD. 413 'F.--Andi why is not this sufficient inducement without- a tariff, or any increase, to cause our manufactories 't6 flourish'? ' ' P.--Because capital and skill are requisite to aid in mannu facturing, which cannot lie obtained without permaanent and ample protection.- Give this protection, andt you bring th capital and skill;. with sufficient inducement, it remains; and when fixed an-ddisciplined, it then becomes-profitable; and then competition brings down the price of. goods; but with an unstable policy, no matter what may seem to be the- in- ducement, eapital will not be attracted, for five per cent. cer- tain, is better than ten per cent. uncertain;. A specific duty is certain, but an ad valorem is uncertain, the latter being as variant as the conscience of -importers. -The time-will come, at- some future day, when the political philosopher, looking back and seeing that America produced three-fourths of all the cotton of all the world, and nearly all that-is goodd that she had food at herdoors, which she shipped abroad to feed the manufacturersof this cotton, when thersame;mouths could have been brought to the eotton aid the food, to con- sume both by a wise policy, saving two freights across the ocean, and commission and- profits indefinite, this philosopher will ask, How was this? what kind of men could have governed America to have suffered such a state of things? But the men who did it will not be there to answer; or else, perhaps, unable to -bear the shame of so apparent: a folly, they might feel inclined to- adpt Lord Oastlereagh's;plan, when the simple view by Bonaparte of the follyof his adminis- tration made it so manifest that, from remorse anda-aiortifica- tion, he cut his throat. We have the mnaterials and- the labor, to make everything we want. MMaking- all w:; want, we must- be-always :in a- prosperouscionditio, cheerful and .appy.'- Our gold would remain -among .us. . Oui cotton crop and tobacco, to -the amount of seventy millions, would:- badding to our .Wealth page: 414-415[View Page 414-415] "4 OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. instead of to the wealth 6f England.- We -would have a coasting trade and home -commerce- greater, in extent infi- nitely, than all our foreign commerce. Railroads and im- provements of all kinds would go rapidly forward, our lands would rise in value, awd our -produce would all find a ready and rich market at home. -But this would not cut off our foreign commerce. Other countries must and-will have our cotton and tobacco; but, if we favor home industry and give it the preference over the foreign, instead of our picking the crumbs from foreign tables, they must be. satisfied with the crumbs from ours. We- ask of our government only rea- sonable iprotection;- but let that be specific, specific, specific. And then no country on earth can vie with-us. If we want evidence, of the beneficial effets/ of -protection, look to the result of- the- tariffs of 1832 and 1842. A prosperity imme- diately followed as manifest -and palpable as that change which- is produced by a rich coat of manure:upon a worn-out farm. :To the farmer, we would say:- In what manner have your interests been advanced by the free trade policy? By it Mr. Walker told you, and he is the- great free trade apostle, that your exports would be rapid- ly increased annually, Until, in 1850,- they, - would reach $488,000,000; Hassuch been the-fact? Most certdinly it has not. On the contrary, in proportionto population, from 1848 inclusive, to the present time, our exports: have been diminishing. Last year, instead -of -$488,000,000, they amounted to only a little over $134,000,000. You have then gained nothing. by, reducing the tariff in 1846. The cotfbn-planter we would ask-what :have you gained? -You have, -by shutting up numerous manufactories, turned at least two hundred thousand manfuiers and their de- pendents into agriculturists, and ltherebyg thrown more com- petition -against yourselves, lowering thereby theprice of your cotton in, consequence of over-production. /x OUR COUNTRY'S GOOD. 415 To the common laborer we would say-- what have you gained'? By stopping the factories, iron furnaces, and other ,establishments, you are thrown out of employment, and the bread taken- from your families. Of our country we -would ask-what has. been gained by repealing the tariff of 1842, and establishing that of 1846? We. would answer-you have 'C gained a loss" of sixty mil- lions of dollars per annum;. You have been feeding foreign. ers with the bread which of right ought to belong to our own countrymen. As before said, and it cannot be'too often repeated, we have given up a, certain home market, created by our manu- facture rs, with the calculation -that we would thereby create i greater foreign market for our agricultural products. But n the latter we have been-deceived. Ourforeign demand las not increased. We have taken foreign manufactures to in immense amount, calculating that to a corresponding imount would be the demand for our products. But in his we have been deceived; for foreigners have supplied he manufacturers with food, who have taken our home narket for manufactures. While this hoine market has ,een forfeited,. We have thrown more producers into compe- ition with the farmer and- planter, and by a double;procesa 'een guilty of a suicidal policy. P . n .' THE END. ' / page: 416-417 (Advertisement) [View Page 416-417 (Advertisement) ] CATALOGUE OF VALUABI E BOOK-S, PUBLISHED BY LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO., :.(SUCCESSORS TO GRIGG, ELLIOT & CO.) NO. 14 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHLADELPHAI% CONSISTING OF A LARGE ASSORTMENT OF Bibles, Prayer-Books, Commentaries, Standard Poets, MEDICAL, THEOLOGICAL AND MSCELLANEO US WORKS, ETC., PARTICULSARLY SUITABLE FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES. FOR SALE B#i BOOKSELLERS AND COUNTRY MERCHANTS GENERALLY THROUGH- OUT -THE UNITED STATES. THE BfST ,IMOST COMPLETE FAMLY COMMENTARY. The Comprehensive, Commentary on the Holy Bible; ,ONTAINING . 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CYRUS MASON, D. D., : a THOS. M'AULEY, D. D., d, JOHN WOODBRIDGE, D, D., # " # THOS. DEWITT, D. D.,- Dutch Ref. E. W. BALDWIN, D. D., . " Rev. I., M. M-KREBS, " Presbyterian " Rev. ERSKINE MASON, * Rev. J. S. SPENCER, , , Brooklyn. EZRA STILES ELY, D. D., Stated Clerk of Gen. Assem. of Presbyterian Church. JOHN M'DOWELL, D. D., Permanent U * " '4 JOHN BRECKENRIDGE, CoiTespondmg Secretary of Assembly's Board of Elductioa SAMUEL B. WYIE, D. D., Pastor of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. N. LORD, D. D., President of Dartmouth College. . JOSHUA BATES, D. D., President of Middlebury College. H. HUMPHREY, D-D., "D Amherst College. E. D. GRIFFIN, D. V., * Williamstown College. J. WHEELER, D. D., University of Vermont, at Burlington. J, xL MATTHEWS, D. D., New York City University. GEORGE E. PIERCE, D. D., ' Western Reserve College, Ohio. Rev. Dr. BROWN, " Jefferson College, Penn. "EONARD WOODS, D. D., Professor of Theology, Andover Seminary. THOS. H. SKINNER, D D., D. -Sac. Rhet. " Rev. 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The work appears to be executed wile judgment, fidelity, and care; and will furnish a rich treasure of scriptural knowledge to the Biblical student, and to the teachers of Sabbath-Schools and Bible Classes. A. ALEXANDER, D. D. ---A.... . -. Ae u v lV. %A j Uv lU llU ln. dBArC: ameaniso to t ar 3iiblt. In one super-royal volume. DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY .THE FAMLY BIBLE, OR IIENRY'S, SCOTT'S, CLARKE'S, GILL'S, OR OTHER COMMLETARIES: CONTAININO . 1. A new, full, and complete Concordance; Illustrated with monumental, traditional, and oriental engravings, founded on Butterworth's, with Cruden's definitions; forming, it is believed, on nmany accounts, a more valuable work than either Bdtterworth, Cruden, or any other similar book in the language. The value of a Concordance is now generally understood; and those who have used one, con- sider it indispensable in Connection with the Bible. 2. A Guide to the Reading and Study of the Bible; being Carpenter's valuable BibliCal Companion, lately published-in London, containing a complete history of the Bible, and forming a most excellent introduction to its study. It embraces-the evn deices of Christianity, Jewish antiquities, manners, customs, arts, natural history, &c., of the Bible, with notes and engravings added.. 3. Complete Biographies of Henry, by Williams; Scott, by his son; Doddridge, by Orton; with sketches of the lives and characters, and notices of the workm, of the writers on the Scriptures who are quoted in the Commentary, living and dead, American and foreig . This part of the volume not only affor!s a large quatity of interesting and useful reading for pious families, but will also be a source of gratification to all those who are in the habit of ceonsult- ing the Commenfary; every one naturally feoling a desire to know some partictflars of the lives and characters of those whose opinions he seeks. 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The whole forms a desirable and necessary fund of instruction for the use not only of clergayen and Sabbath-school teachers, but also for families When the great amount of matter it must contain is considered, it will be deemed exceedingly cheap. "I have examined ' The Companion to the Bible,'and have been surprised to find so much inform- atlon introduced into a volume of so moderate a size. It contains a library of sacred -knowledge and criticism. It will be useful to ministers who own large libraries. and cannot fail to be an Wyaluable help to every reader of the ible.'" HENRY MORRIS, Pastor of Congregational Church, Vermont. The above work can be h ad .in several styles of binding. Price varying from $1 75 to $5 00., Q page: 420 (Advertisement) -421 (Advertisement) [View Page 420 (Advertisement) -421 (Advertisement) ] "PPINCOTT, GRIAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, In one super-royal volume. 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The publishers are enabled to select from several collections lately pnblished in London, the proprietor of one of which says that "seve- ral distinguished travellers, have afforded hint the use of nearly Three Hundred Orngnal Sketches" of Scripture places, made upon the spot. "The land of Palestine, It is well known, abounds in scenes of the most picturesque Ibeauty. Syria comprehends the anowy heights of Lebanon, and the majestic ruins of Tadmor and Baalbec." The above work can be had in varlous styles of binding. Price from $1 50 to $5 00. THE ILLUSTRATED CONCORDANCE, In one volume, royal 8vo. A new, fall, and complete Concordance; illustrated with monumental, traditional, and oriental engravings, founded on Butterworth's, with Cruden's definitions; forming, it is believed, on many accounts, a more valuable work than either Butterworth, Cruden, or any other similar book in the language. The value of a Concordance is now generally understood; and those who have used one, con- sider it indispensable in connection with the Bible. Some of the many advantages the Illustrated Ooncdance has over all the others, are, that it contains near two hundtred appropriate engraving: it is printed on fine white paper, with beautiful large type. L-rr1l14%V 1, uLti il U sCO 's78 L'UBLTSATIONS.O! "PPINCOTT'S EDITION'OF BAGSTER'S COMPREHENSIVE BIBLE, In order to develope the peculiar nature of the Comprehensive Bible, it will only be necessary to embrace its more promineis features. 1st. The SACRED TEXT is that of the Authorized Version, and is pnnted from the edition cor- rected and improved by Dr. Blaney, which, from its accuracy, is considered the standard edition. 2d. The VARIOUS READINGS are faithfully printed from the edition of Dr. Blaney, inclusive of the translation of the proper names, without the addition or diminution of one. 3d. In the CHRONOLOGY, great care has been taken to fix the date of the particular transae. tions, which has seldom been done with any degree of exactness in any former edition of the Bible. 4th. The NOTES are exclusively philological and explanatory, and are not tinctured with senti- ments of- any sect or party, They are selected from the most emnient Biblical critics aidl com- mentators. It is hoped that this edition of the Holy Bible will be found to contain the essence of Biblical research and criticism, that lies dispersed through'an immense number of volumes. Such is the nature and design of this edition of the Sacred Volume, which, from the various objects it embraces. the freedom of its pages from all sectarian peculiarities, and the beauty, plain- ness, and correctness of the typography, that it cannot fail of proving acceptable and useful to Christians of every denomination. In-addition to the usual references to parallel passages, which are quite full and numerous, the student has all the marginal readings, together with 3 rich selection of Piioloyicat, Critical, Rasto. rical, Geographical, and other valuable notes and remarks, which explain and illustrate the sacred text. Besides the general introduction, containing valuable essays on the genuineness, authenticity, and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, and other topics of interest, there are introductory and con- cluding remarks to each book-a table of the contents of the Bible, by wich the diferent portions are so arranged as to read in an historical order. Arranged at the top of each page is the period in which the prominent events of sacred history took place. The calculations are made for the year of the world before and after Christ, Julian Period, the year of the Olympiad, the year of the. building of Rome, and other notations of time. At the close is inserted a Chronological Index of the Bible, according to the computation of Arch, bishop Ussher. Also, a full and valuable index of the subjects contained in the Old and New Testa- ments, with a careful analysis andarrangenlent of texts under their appropriate subjects. Mr. Greenfield, the editor of this work, and for some time previous to his death the superintend- ent of the editorial department of the British and Foreign Bible Society, was a most extrsordinary man. In editing the Comprehensive Bible, his varied and extensive learning was called into suc- cessful exercise, and appears in happy combination with sincer, piety and a sound judlgment. The Editor of the Christian Observer, alluding to this work, in an obituary notice of its author, speaks of it as a work of "prodigious labour and research, at once exhibiting his varied talents aid pro found erudition." "PPINCOTT'S EDITErN OF THE OXFORD QUARTO BIBLE, The Publishers have spared neither care nor expense in their edition of the Bible; it is printed Mn the finest white vellum paper, with large and beautiful type, and bound in thte most substantial mand splendid manner, in the following styles: Velvet, with richly gilt ornaments; Turkey super extra, with gilt clasps; and in numerous others, to smut the taste of the most fastidious. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. In our opinion, the Christian public generally will feel under great obli tions to the publishers ,f this work for the beautiful taste, arrangesent, and delicate neatness with which they have -rt it out. The intrinsic m erit of the Bible recommends it self; it needs no tinsel ornhlment to hav1e ts sacre pages. In this edition every superfluous orna nle t hts been avoided and 'we have pro - 'ented us a perfectly chaste specimen of the Bible, without note o com lllent. It appears to be jus vhat is needed in every family-' the unsophisticated wort of Go..' "The size is quarto, pnnted with beautiful type, on white sized vellum paper of the finest texture n (d most beautiful surface , The publishers seem to have been solicitous t o nMa;e a perfectly niqu e book, and they avsuccessflly. We truacomlihe that a iber l community will afford them ample remuneration f r" all the expense and outlay they t have necessa ul incurred in its publication t- is a standhrd hBble. 'The -t isbers are Messrs. Lippincott, Grambo & Co., No. 14 North Fourth street, Ph;lxaWI "A beautiful quarto edition of the Bible, by L., G. & Co othing on exceed the t in ar less Lad beauty: the paper is of the finest texture, and th-e whole execution is exceedin2ly neat o illustrations or ornamental type are ed I'hose who prefe r a Bible e xecuted in perfe-t sitl- itg, yet ele-gance of style, w ithout adornment, will probably never find one more to their t o" A- .Vz* page: 422 (Advertisement) -423 (Advertisement) [View Page 422 (Advertisement) -423 (Advertisement) ] LlI'iPPINUUT' , UPliAIDbU & JU. - ruiD U ltAIIuJL o. "PPINCOTT'S EDITIONS OF THE HOLY BIBLE. SIX DIFFERENT SIZES. Printed in the best manner, with beautiful type, on the finest sized paper, and bound in the most splendid and substantial styles. Warranted to be correct, and equal to the best English editions, at much less price. To be had with or without plates; the publishers having supplied themselves with over fifty steel engravings, by the first artists. Baxter's Comprehensive Bible, Royal quarto, containing the various readings and marginal notes; disquisitions on the genuineness, authenticity, and inspiration of the Holy Scriptures; introductory and concluding remarks to each book; philological and explanatory notes; table ot contents, arranged in historical order; a chro- nological index, and various other matter; forwing a suitable book for the study of clergymen, Sabbath-school teachers, and students. In neat plain binding, from $4 00 to $5 00. -In Turkey morocco, extra, gilt edges, from $8 00 to $12 00. -In do., with splendid plates. $10 00 to 815 00. -In do., bevelled side, gilt clasps and illu- minations, $15 00 to $25 00. The Oxford Quarto Bible, Without note or commeant, universally admitted to be the most beautiful Bible extant. In neat plain binling, from $4 00 to $5 00. -In Turkey morocco, extra, gilt edges, $8 00 to $12 00t - In do., with steel engravings, $10 00 to $15 00.-In do., clasps, &c., with plates and illumnina tions, $15 00 to $25 00. - In rich velvet, with gilt ornaments, $25 00 to $50 00. Crown Octavo Bible, Printed with large clear type, making a most convenient hand Bible for family use. In neat plain binding, from 75 cents to $1 50. - In English Turkey morocco, gilt edges, $1 00 to 12 00. - In do., imitation, &c., $1 50 to 03 00.- In do., clasps, &c., $2 50 to $5 00.-Ta rich velvet, with gilt ornaments, $5 00 to #10 00. The Sunday-School Teacher's Polyglot Bible, with Maps, &c., In neat plain biuling, from 60 cents to $1 00. -In imitation gilt edge, $1 00 to $1 50. -In Turkey; super extra, $1 75 to 82 25.-In do. do., with clasps, $2 50 to $3 75.-In velvet, rich gilt oran ments, $3 50 to $8 00. The Oxford 18mo., or Pew Bible, In neat plain binding, from 50 cents to $1 00.-In imitation gilt edge, $1 00 to $1 50.-InTurkey super extra, $1 75 to $2 25. --In do. do., with clasps, $2 50 to 83 75.-In velvet, rich gilt orna ments, $3 O to $8 00. Agate 32mo. Bible, Printed with larger type than any other small or pocket edition extant. In neat plain binding, from 50 cents to $1 00.- In tucks, or pocket-book style, 75 cents to 81 00.- In roan, imitation gilt edge, $1 00 to $1 50.-In Turkey, super extra, $1 00 to $2 00.-In do. de gilt clasps, $2 50 to 63 50.-In velvet, with rich gilt ornainents, $3 00 to $7 00. 32mo. Diamond Pocket Bible; The neatest, smallest, and cheapest edition of the Bible published In neat plain binding, from 30 to 50 cents. -In tucks, or pocket-book style, 60 cents to $1 00.- In roan, imitation gilt edge, 75 cents to $1 25.-In Turkey, super extra, $1 00 to $1 50.-I- do. do gilt clasps, $1 50 to $2 CO.- In velvet, with richly gilt ornaments, $2 50 to $6 00. CONSTANTLY'ON HAND, A erge assortment of EI(BLES, bound in the most splendid and costiy styles with gold and silve1 ornaments, suitable for preseitation; ranging in price from $10 00 to $100 00. A liberal discount made to JBookselolers and Agents by the Publishers. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE; rHE BIBLE, THEOLOGY, RXJLIGIOUS BIOGRAPHY, ALL RELIGIONS; of., DoTieiONA A d" , "IASTICAL HSTORY, ANLP lISSIONS. E04+t. -e. on all Religious Subject, and Companion to the Bible; ..t , Rank of Refcrpl- .Q rnar,,wi, Fuiited hy Rev. J. Newton Brown. "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. Lippincott's Standard Editions of THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. IN SIX DIFFERENT SIZES, ILLUSTRATED WITH A NUMBER OF STEEL PLATES AND ILLUMNATIONS. O0MPREHENDING THE MOST VARIED AND SPLENDID ASSORTMENT IN THI UNITED STATES. THE ILLUMNATED OCTAVO PRAYER-BOOK, Printed in seventeen different colours of ink, and illustrated with a number of Steel Plates and Illuminations; making one of the most splendid books published. To be had in any variety of the most superb binding, ranging in prices. In Turkey, super extra, from $5 00 to $8 00.--In do. do., with clasps, $6 00 to $10 00.-In do. do., bevelled and panelled edges, $8 00 to $15 00.- In velvet, richly ornamented, $12 00 to $20 00. 8vo. In neat plain binding, from $1 50 to 2 00. - In imitation gilt edge, $2 00 to $3 00. -In Turkey, super extra, $2 50 to $4 50.-In do. do., with clasps, $3 00 to $5 00:--In velvet, richly gilt orna ment, $5 00 to $12 00. 16mo. Printed throughout with large and elegant type. In neat plain binding, from 75 cents to 1 50. -In Turkey morocco, extra, with plates, $1 75 to $3 00. -In do. do., with plates, clasps, &c., $2 50 to $5 00.- In velvet, with richly gilt ornaments, $4 00 to $9 00. 18mo. In neat plain binding, from 25 to 75 cents. -In Turkey morocco, with plates, $1 25 to $2 00.-In velvet, with richly gilt ornaments, $3 00 to $8 00. 32mo. A beautiful Pocket Edition, with large type. In neat plain binding, from 50 cents to I1 00.-In roan, imitation gilt edge, 75 cents to $1 50.--In Turkey, super extra, $1 25 to $2 00. --In do. do., gilt clasps, $2 00 to $3 00. -In velvet, with richly gilt ornaments, $3 00 to $7 00. 32mo., Pearl type. In plain binding, from 25 to 37 1-2 cents.-Roan, 37 1-2 to 50 cents. -Imitation Turkey, 50 cents to $1 00. -Turkey, super extra, with gilt edge, $1 00 to $1 50. -Pocket-book style, 60 to 75 cents. PROPER LESSONS. 18mo. A BEAUTIF1Lt EDITION, WITH LARGE TYE. In neat plain binding, from 50 c nts to $1 00.-In roan, imitation gilt edge, 75 cents to $1 50.--In Turkey, super extra, $1 50 to $2 00.-In do. do., gilt clasps, $2 50 to $3 00.-In velvet, with richly gilt ornaments, $3 00 to $7 00. THE BIBLE AND PRAYER-BOOK. In one neat and portable'volume. 32mo., in neat plain binding, from 75 cents to $1 00.-In imitation Turkey, $1 00 to $1 50.--In Turkey, super extra, $1 50 to $2.50. 18mo, in large type, plain, $1 75 to $2 50.-In imitation, $1 00 to $1 75.-In Turkey, super extra, $1 75 to $3 00. Also, with clasps, velvet, &c. &c. The Errors of Modern Infidelity Illustrated and Refuted. BY S. M. SCHMUOIER, A. M.. In one volume, 12mo.; cloth. Just published. We cannot but regard this work in whatever light we view it in reference to its design, as one of the most masterly productions of the age, and fitted to uproot one of the most fondly cherished and dangerous of all ancient or nmodlern errors. God must bless such a work, armed with his own truth, and doing fierce and successful battle against black infidelity, which would bring His Majesty an1 Wi w l,".'I rr td t t l, ri n- ' ;l . nfl rtlm'n rlelc,-r flra, .tlml tin I a*ni nnnihilrrilnti , A h .g .Pttalfot page: 424 (Advertisement) -425 (Advertisement) [View Page 424 (Advertisement) -425 (Advertisement) ] dIfe Cihrgqhi of nmerira: CONSISTING OF NECDOTES ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE CHARACTER OF MNISTERS OF RELI- GION IN THE UNITED STATES. BY JOSEPH BELCHER, D. D., Editor of "The Complete Works of Andrew Fuller," "Robert Hall," &c. "This very interesting and instructive collection of pleasing and solemn remembrances of many Dms men, illustrates the character of the day in which they lived, and defines the men more early than very elaborate essays." - Baltimore American. "We regard the collection as highly interesting, and judiciously made."- Presbyterian. JOSEPHUS'S (FLAVIUS) WORKS, FAMLY EDITION. BY THE LATE WTT T.TAMV1 WHSTON, A. I. FROM THE LAST LONDON EDITION, COMPLETE. ie volume, beautifully illustrated with Steel Plates, and the only readable edition published in this country. s a matter of course, every family in our cov'ntry has a copy of the Holy Bible; and as the pre- nrption is that the greater portion often consult its pages, we take the liberty of saying to all those it do, that the perusal of the writings of Josephus will be found very interesting and instructive. All those who wish to possess a beautiful and correct copy of this valuable work, would do well purchase this edition. It is for sale at all the principal bookstores in the United States, and by country merchants generally in, the Southern and Western States. Also, the above work in two volumes. BURDER'S VILLAGE SERMONS; Or, 101 Plain and Short Discourses on the Principal Doctrines of the Gospel. TENDED FOR THE USE OF FAMLIES, SUNDAY-SCIOOLS, OR COMPANIES ASSIM- BLED FOR RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION IN COUNTRY VILLAGES. BY GEORGE BURDER. which is added to each' Sermon, a Short Prayer, with some General Prayers for Families, Schools, &c., at the end of the work. COMPLETE IN ON E VOHUMfE, OCTAVO. 'hese sermons, which are characterized by a beautiful simplicity, the entire absence of contro- rsy, and a true evangelical spirit, have gone through many and large editions, and been translated o several of the continental languages. "They have also been the honoured means not only of averting many individuals, but also of introducing the Gospel into districts, and even into parish irches, where before it was comparatively unknown." This work fully deserves the immortality it has attained." 'his is a fine library edition of this invaluable work; and when we say that it should be found in possession of every family, we only'reiterate the sentiments and sincere wishes of all who take eep interest in the eternal welfare of mankind. FAMLY PRAYERS AND HYMNS, ADAPTED TO FAMLY WORSHP, AND 'ABLES FOR THE REGULAR READING OF THE SCRIPTURES. By Rev. S. . W INCHESTER, A. M., e Pastor of the Sixth Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia; and the Presbyterian Church as Natchez, Miss. "'I NU'."l'T, UbAA lltSU d UW.'S PUB lCdUA Tl'lUNa. SPLENDID LIBRARY EDITIONS. ILLUSTRATED STANDARD POETS. ELEGANTLY PRINTED, ON FINE PAPER, AND UNIFORM IN SIZE AND STYE: T'he following Editions of Standard British Poets are illustrated with numerous Steel Engravings, and may be had in all Varieties of binding.. BYRON'S WORKS. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. INCLUDING ALL HS SUPPRESSED AND ATTRIBUTED POEMS; WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. This edition has been carefully compared with the recent London edition of Mr. Murray, and made complete by the addition of more than fifty pages of poems heretofore unpublished in Eng- land. Among these there are a numbersthat have never appeared in any American edition; and the publishers believe they are warranted in saying that this is tie most complete edition of Lord Byroh's Poetical Works ever published in the United States. ff portiiam olrkB of Abrc+ Rmans+ Complete in one volume,. octavo; with seven beautiful Engravings. This is a new and complete edition, with a splendid engraved likeness of Mrs. Hemans, on steel, and contains all the Poems in the last London and American editions. With a Critical Preface by Mr. Thatcher, of Boston. "As no work in the English language can be commended with more confidence, it will argue bad taste in a female in this country to be without a complete edition of the writings of one who was an honour to her sex and to humanity, and whose productions, from first to last, contain no syllable calculated to call a blush to the cheek of modesty and virtue. There is, moreover, in Mrs. Hemans's poetry, a moral purity and a religious feeling which commend it, in an especial manner, to the dis- criminating reader. No parent or guardian will be under the necessityof imposing restrictions with regard to the free perusal of every production emanating from this gifted woman. There breathes throughout the whole a most eminent exemption from impropriety of thought or diction; and there is at times a pensiveness of tone, a winning sadness in her more serious compositions, which tells of a soul which has been lifted from tihe contemplation of terrestrial things, to divine communings with beings of a purer world." MLTON, YOUNG, GRAY, BEATTIE, AND COLLINS'S POETICAL WORKS. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. WITH SIX BEAtTITFUL ENGRAVINGS. Cluptr mi jljnunu't mron n t imnrtiral Wturks. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. tncluding two hundred and fifty Letters, and sundry Poems of Cowper, never before published in this country; and of Thomson a new and interesting Memoir, and upwards of twenty new Poems, for the first time printed from his own Manuscripts, taken from a late Edition of the Aldine Poets, now publishing in London. WITH SEVEN BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. The distinguished Professor Silliman, speaking of this edition, observes: "I am as much gratified by the elegance and fine taste of your edition, as by the noble tribute of genius and moral xcel- lence which these delightful authors have left for all future generations; and Cowper, espially, is not less conspicuous as a-true Christian, moralist and teacher, than as a poet of great power and exquisite taste." page: 426 (Advertisement) -427 (Advertisement) [View Page 426 (Advertisement) -427 (Advertisement) ] HE POETICAL WORKS OF ROGERS, CAMPBELL, MONTGOMERY, "AMB, AND KIRKE WHTE. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. WITH SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. The beauty, correctness, and convenience of this favourite edition of these standard authors are o well known, that it is scarcely necessary to add a word in its favour. It is only necessary to say, hat the publishers have now issued an illustrated edition, which greatly enhances its former value. [he engram ngs are excellent and well selected. It is the best library edition extant. CRABBE, HEBER, AND POLLOK'S POETICAL WORKS. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME, OCTAVO. WITH'SIX BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVINGS. A writer in the Boston Traveller holds the following language with reference to these valuable editions:- , Mr. Editor:--I wish, without any idea of puffing, to say a word or two upon the ' Library of English Poets' that is now published at Philadelphia, by Lippindott, Grambo & Co. It is certainly, taking into consideration the elegant manner in which it is printed, and the reasonable price at which it is afforded to purchasers, the best edition-of the modem British Poets that has ever been published in this country. Each volumne is an octavo of about 500 pages, double columns, stereo- typed. and accompanied with fine engavmgs and biographical sketches; and most of them are reprinted from Galignani's French edition. As to its valuerwe need only mention that it contains the entire works of Montgomely, Gray, Benttie, Collins, Byron, Cowper, Thomson, Milton, Young, Rogers, Campbell, Lamb, Hemans, Heber, Kirke Whiite, Crabbe, the Miscellaneous Works of Gold- smith, and other masters of the lyre. Thle publishers are doing a great service by their publication, and their volumes are almost in as great demand as the fashionable novels of the day; and they deserve to be so: for they are certainly printed in a style superior to that in which we have before had the Works of the English Poets." No library can be considered complete without a copy of the above beautiful and cheap editions of the English Poets; and persons ordering all or any of them, will please say Lippincott, Grambo & Co.'s illustrated editions.- A COMPLETE Xirftionar nf ^ntial tonatWion: COMPRISING THE MOST EXCELLENT AND APPROPRIATE PASSAGES IN THE OLD BRITISI POETS.; WITH CHOICE AND COPIOUS SELEC- TIONS FROM THE BEST MODERN BRITISH AND AMERICAN POETS. EDITED BY SARAH JOSEPHA HAALE. As nightingales do upon glow-worms feed, So poets live upon the living light / Of Nature and of Beauty. Baily's Festus. Beautifully illustrated with Engravings. In one super-royal octavo volume, in various bindings. The publishers extract, from the many highly complimentary notices of the above valuable and beautiful work, the following: "We have at last a volume of Poetical Quotations worthy of the name. It contains nearly six hundred octavo pages, carefully and tastefully selected from all -the home and foreign authors of celebrity. It is invaluable to a writer, while to the ordinary reader, it presents every subject at a glance."- Godey's Lad' s Book. ' The lan or idea of Ars. Hale's work is felicitous. It is one for which her fine taste, her orderly habits of nind, and her long occupation witih literature, has given her peculiar facilities; and tho- roughly has she accomplishedl her task in the work before us. --Sartaut's Magazine. '"It is a choice collection of poetical extracts from every English and American author worth wruaing, from the days of Chaucer to the present time." -Wtushinton Union. "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. THE DIAMOND EDITION OF BYRON. THE POETICAL WORKS OF LORD BYRON, WITH A SKETCH OFP IS LIFE. COMPLETE IN ONE NEAT DUODECIMO VOLUME, WITH STEEL PLATES. The type of this edition is so perfect, and it is printed with so much care, on fine white paper, that it can be read with as much ease as most of the larger editions. This work is to be had iA plain and superb binding, making a beautiful volume for a gift. "The Poetical Works of Lord Byron, complete in one volume published by L., G. & Co., Phila. delphia. We hazard nothing in saying that, take it altogether, th is the most elegant work ever issued from the Amerincan press. "1 In a single volume, not larger than an ordinary duedecimo, the publishers- have embraced the whole of Lord Byron's Poems, usually printed in ten or twelve volumes; and,what is iore remark- able, have done it with a type so clear and distinct, that, notwithstanding its necessarily small size, it nay be read with the utmost facility, even by failing eyes. The book is stereotyped; and never have we seen a finer specimen of that art. Everything about it is perfect-the paper, the print- ilg. the binding, all correspond with each other; and it is embellished with two fine engravings, well worthy the companionship in which they are placed. '*T lhls will make a beautiful Christmas present. "We extract the above from Godey's Lady's Book. The notice itself, we are given to understand. is written by Mrs. Hale. "4 We have to add our commendation in favour of this beautiful volume, a copy of which has been sent us by tihe publishers. The admirers of the noble bard wlfl feel obliged to the enterprise w)iicl -Ias promptedt the publishers to dare a conlpetition with the numerous editions of Ids-works already in circulation; anda we shall be surprised if this convenienlt travelling edition does not in a great degree super-sede the use of the large octave works, which have little advantage in size and openness of type, and are much inferior in the qualities of portability and lightness.".- Intelliqencer. THE DIAMOND EDITION OF MOORE. (CORRESPONDING WITH BYRON.) THE POETICAL WORKS OF THOMAS IMOORE, COLLECTED BY HMSELF. COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. Tnis work is published uniform with Byron, from the last London edition, and is the most com- plete printed in the country. THE DIAMOND EDITION OF SHAKSPEARE, (COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUXME,) UNIFORM WITH BYRON AND MOORE. THE ABOVE WORKS CAN BE HAD IN SEVERAL VARIETIES OF BINDING. GOLDSMTH'S ANIMATED NATURE. IN TWO VOLUMES, OCTAVO. BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED WITH 385 PLATES.- CONTATNING A HSTORY OF THE EARTH, ANIMALS, BIRDS, AND FISHES; FORMNG THE MOST COMPLETE NATURAL HSTORY EVER PUBLISHED. This is a work that should be in the library of every family, .having been written by one of the most talented authors in the English lanrguage. "Goldsmith can never be made obsolete while delicate genius, exquisite feeling, fine invention, 'he most harmonious metre, and thl happiest diction, are at all valued." BIGLAND'S NATURAL HSTORY Of Animals, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects. Illustrated with numerous and beautiful Engraw mgs. By JOHN BIGLAND, author of a "'View of the World.' " 1 etters on lThnitarsal Historv A. C' mnlete in I vnl. 12ni page: 428 (Advertisement) -429 (Advertisement) [View Page 428 (Advertisement) -429 (Advertisement) ] THE POWER AND PROGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. THE UNITED STATES; Its Power and Progress. BY GUTTT,AtlVME TELL POUSSIN, "ATE MNISTER OF THE REPUBLIC OF FRANCE TO THE UNITED STATES. FIRST AMERICAN, FROM THE THRD PARIS EDITION. TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY EDMOND L. DU BARRY, M. D., SURGEON U. S. NAVY. In one large octavo volume. SCHOOLCRAFT'S GREAT NATIONAL WORK ON THE INDIAN TRIBES OF THE UNITED STATES. WITH BEAUTIFUL AND ACCURATE COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS. HSTORICAL AND STATISTICAL INFORMATION RESPECTIN' THE HSTORY, CONDITION AND PROSPECTS OF THE Ubaun Qrib of t1t aIiibttatog COLLECTED AND PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, PER ACT OF MARCH 3,1847, BY HEENRYT R. SCHOOLBRAFPT LL,.D. ILLUSTRATED BY S. EASTMAN, CAPT.'U. S. A. PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF CONGRESS. THE AMERICAN GARDENER'S CATLENDAR, ADAPTED TO THE CLIMATE AND SEASONS OF THE UNITED STATES. Containing a complete account of all the work necessary to be done in the Kitchen Garden, Fruit Garden Orchard, Vineyard, Nursery, Pleasure-Ground, Flower Garden, Green-house, Hot-house, and Forcing Frames, for every month in the year; with ample Practical Directions for performing the same. Also, general as well as minute instructions for laying out or erecting each and every of the above departments, according to moder taste and the most approved plans; the Ornamental Planting of Pleasure Grounds, in the ancient and modern style; the cultivation of Thorn Quicks, and other plants suitable for Live Hedges, with the best methods of making them, &c. To which are annexe catalogues of Kitchen Garden Plants and Herbs; Aromatic, Pot, and Sweet Herbs; Medicinal Plants, and the most important Grapes, &c tused in rural economy; with the soil best adapted .o their cultivation. Together with a copious Index to the body of the work. BY BERNARD M'MAHON. Tenth Edition, greatly improved. In one volume, octavo. I THE USEFUL AND THE BEAUTIFUL; OH DOMESTIG AND MORAL DUTIES NECESSARY TO SOCIAL HAPPINESS, BEAilUTIFTULLY ILLUSTRATED. 1 Rfmn. sarare cloth. Price 50 and 75 cents. LlrurtICOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. THE FARMER'S AND PLANTER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA. armrW' aug nwlauir' atiqrlopin nUf taral fairs. BY CU'THiERT W. JOHNSON. ADAPTED TO THE UNITED STATES BY GOUVERNEUR EMERSON. Illustrated by seventeen beautiful Engravings of Cattle, Hones, Sheep, the varieties of Wheat, Barley, Oats, Grasses, the Weeds of Agriculture, &c.; besides nunierous Engav- ings on wood of the most important implements of Agriculture, &c. This standard work contains the latest and best information upon all subjects connected with fliming, and appertaining to the country; treating of the great'crops of grain, hay, cotton, hemp, tobacco, rice, sugar, &c. &c.; of horses and mules; of cattle, with minute particulars relating to cheese and butter-making; of fowls, including a description of capon-making, with drawingsof the instruments employed; of bees, and the Russian and other systems of managing bees and con- structing hives. Long articles on 'the uses and preparation of bones, lime, guano, and all sorts of animal, mineral, and vegetable substances employed as mimanures. Descriptions of the most approved ploughs, harrows, threshers, and every other agricultural machine and implement; of fruit and shade trees, forest trees, and shrubs; of weeds, and ajl kinds of flies, and destructive worms and insects, and the best means of getting rid of them; together with a thousand other matters relating to rural life, about which information is so constantly desired by all residents of the country. r: 'IN-ONE LARGE OCTAVO VOLUME. MASON'S FARRIER--FARMERS' EDITION. 'Price, 62 cents. THE PRACTICAL FARRIER; FOR FARMERS: COMPRISING A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE NOBLE AND USEUL ANIMAL, THE HORSE; WITH MODES OF MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE. TO WHCH IS ADDED, A PRIZE ESSAY ON MULES: AND AN APPENDIX Containing Recipes for Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves, Sheep, Dogs, Swine, &c. &c. BY ROlCHAILD MiASON, 1. D., Formerly of Surry County, Virginia. In one volume, 12mo.; bound in cloth, gilt. MASON'S FARRIER AND STUD-BOOK-NEWEDITION. THE GENTLEMAN'S NEW POCKET FARRIER: COMPRISING A GENERAL DBSCRIPTloN OF TrE NOBLE AND USEFUL ANIMAL, TH HORS E; WITr MODES OF MANAGEMENT IN ALL CASES, AND TREATMENT IN DISEASE. 3B 3aZo AaRID aaAsozw, m .., Formerly of Surr County, Virginia. 'to which is added, A PRIZE ESSAi ON MULES; and AN APPENDIX, containing Recipes to Diseases of Horses, Oxen, Cows, Calves,'Sheep,-Dogs, Swine, &c. &o.; with Annals of the Turf, American Stud-Book, Rules for Training, Racing,&o WITH A SUPPLEMENT, ,onpritiu5 an Essay on Domestic Animals, especially the Hore; with Remarks on Treatment a. Breeding; together with Trotting and RaCing Tables, show mg the best tim6 on record at one two,three and four mile heats; Pedigrees of Winning Horses, since. 1839, and of the motn celebrated Stallions and Mares; with useful Calving and Lambng Tables. By J. S. SIINNER,Editor now Qf thf Farmeres Librarnv Now vs , V.... page: 430 (Advertisement) -431 (Advertisement) [View Page 430 (Advertisement) -431 (Advertisement) ] "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. HNDS'S FARRIERY AND STUD-BOOK-NEW EDITION. FARRIERY, TAUGHT ON A NEW AND EASY PLAN: BEING t 'utit nn tt ROmmt o atunt3 nf tjI 3trst; ith Instructions to the Shoeing Smith, Farner, and Groom; preceded by a Popular Description or te Animal Functions in Health, and how these are to be restored when disordered. BY JOHN HNDS, VETERINARY SURGEON. With considerable Additions and Improvements, particularly adapted to this country, BY THOMAS M. SMTH, Veterinary Surgeon, and Member of the London Veterinary Medical Society. WIT1H A SUPPLE;MENT, BY J. S. SKINNER. The publishers have received numerous flattering notices of the great practical value of these works. The distinguished editor of the American Farmer, speaking bf them, observes:--"We cannot too highly reconudend these books, and therefore advise every owner of a horse to obtain them" "There are receipts in those books that show how Founder may be cured, and the traveller puTn su his journey the next day by giving a tablespoonful ofalum. Ths was got fro Dr. P. Thornt ol Montpelier, Rappahannock county, Virguia, as founded on his own observation in severl The constant demand for Mason's and Hinds's Farrier has induced the publishers, Messrs. Lip- LincottGrambo & Co., to put forth new eitiots,with a 'uppleet' of 100 pages,by J. S. Skinner En. 4We should have sought to render an acceptable service to our agricultural readers, by giving a chapter from the Suvplement, 'On the Relations between Man and the Domestic Animals. espe- ciallpr from the orse, and e Obliations they impose or the one on 'The Form of Animals ;' but that either one of them would over-un the space here allotted to such subjects." ",ists of Medicines, and other articles which ought to be at hand abshout every training and livery stable, and every Farmer's and Breeder's establishment, will be fouad in these valuable works Y TO CARPENTERS AND MECHANICS. Just Published. A NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION OF THE CARPENTER'S NEW GUIDE, BEINGQ A COMPLETE BOOK OF INES FOR APENTRTBT 3 ANJlD JOXX TINNY; 1reating fully on Practical Geometry, Saffit's Brick and Plaster Groins, Niches of every dewription, Sky-lights, Lines for Roofs and Domes; with a great variety of Designs for Roofs, Trussed Girders, Floors, Domes, Bndges. &e., Angle Bars for Shop Fronts, Ac., and Raking Mouldings. ALSO X Additional Plans for various Stair-Cases, with the Lines for producing the Face and Falling Mould never before published. and greatly superor to those given in a former edition of this worl BY WILLIAM JOHNSON, ARCHTECT, OF PHLADELPHL. 'h whole founded oi true Geometrical Pnrinclples; the Theory and Practice well explined and mullg exemplified, on eighty-three copper plates, including solme Observations and Catculatons on ;be Strength of Timber BY PETER NICHOLSON ,. &mtMW 4 "The Carpenter and Jouer's Assistant,' "The Student's instructor w ne LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO'S PUBLICATIONS. A DICTIONARY OF SELECT AND POPULAR QUOTATIONS, WHCH ARE IN DAILY USE. TAKEN FROM THE LATIN, FRENCH, GREEK, SPANISH AND ITALIAN LANGUAGES. Together with a copious Collection of Law -Maxims and Law Terms, translated into English, with Illustrations, Historical and Idiomatic. NEW AMERICAN EDITION, CORRECTED, WITH ADDITIONS. One volume, 12mo. This volume comprises a copious collection of legal and other terms which are in common use, with English translations and historical illustrations; and we should judge its author had surely een to a great "Feast of Languages," and stole all the scraps. A work of this character should have an extensive sale, as it entirely obviates a serious difficulty in which most readers are involved by the frequent occurrence of Latin, Greek, and French passages, which we suppose are introduced by authors for a mere show of learning--a difficulty very perplexing to readers in general. This "Dictionary of Quotations," concerning which too much cannot be said in its favour, effectually removes the difficulty, and gives the reader an advantage over the author; for we believe a majority are themselves ignorant of the meaning of the terms they employ. Very few truly learned authors will insult their readers by introducing Latin or French quotations in their writings, when "plain English" will do as well; but we will not enlarge on this point. If the book is useful to those unacquainted with other languages, it is no less valuable to the classically educated as a book of reference, and answers all the purposes of a Lexicon- indeed, on many accounts, it is better. It saves the trouble of tumbling over the larger volumes, to which every one, and especially those engaged in the legal profession, re verv often subjected. It should have a place in every library in the country. RUSCHENBERGER'S NATURAL HSTORY', COMPLETE, WITH NEW GLOSSARY. (We Alimentf of Maturatl Boigtrq, EMBRACING ZOOLOGY. BOTANY AND GEOLOGY: FOR SCHOOLS, COLLEGES AND FAMLIES. BY W. S. W . a9 W US ON EB E GOE, Zs. D. IN TWO VOLUMES. WITH NEARLY ONE THOUSAND ILLUSTRATIONS, AND A COPIOUS GLOSSARY. VoL L contains Vertebrate Animals. Vol. II. contains Intervertebrate Animals, Botany. and Geolog, A Beautiful and Valuable Presentation Book. THE POET'S OFFERI N G. EDITED BY MRS. HALE. With a Portrait of the Editress, a Splendid Illuminated 'ltle-Page, and Twelve Beautiful Engw- ings by Sartain. Bound in rich Turkey Morocco, and Extra Oloth, Gilt Edge. J To those who wish to make a present that will never lose its value, this will be found the mo0t desirable Gift-Book ever published. "We commend it to all who desire to present a friend with a volume not only very beautiful, but of solid intrinsic value."-Washington Union. 'A perfect treasury of the thoughts and fancies of the best English and American Poets. The paper and printing are beautiful, and 'the binding rich, elegant, and substantial; the most sensible and attractive of hll the elegant gift-books we have seen."--E ventin Bulletin. ' I'he publishers deserve the thanks of the public for so happy a thought, so well executed. The earavings are by the best artists, and the other portions of the work correspond in elegance."-. "There is no book of selections so diversified and appropriate within our knowledge.".- Pem lvtrn It is ne of the most valuable as well as elegant books ever published in this country."-- God' "I is the most beautiful and the most useful offerin ever bestowed nn the nnhA Non mniiohMsi page: 432 (Advertisement) -433 (Advertisement) [View Page 432 (Advertisement) -433 (Advertisement) ] "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLXATIONSW. e. THE YOUNG DOMNICAN; OR, THE MYSTERIES OF THE INQUISITION, AND OTHER SECRET SOCIETIES OF SPAIN. BY M. V. DE rFRTIAT.. WITH HSTORICAL NOTES, BY M, MANUEL DE CUENDIAS TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH. ILLUSTRATED WITH TWENTY SPLENDID ENGRAVINGS BY FRENCH ARTISTS One volume, octavo. SAY'S POLITICAL ECONOMY. A TREATISE ON POLITICAL ECONOMY; Or, The Production, Distribution and Consumption of Wealth. BY JEAN BALPTISTE SAY. FIFTH AMERICAN EDITION, WiTH ADDITIONAL NOTES, BY C. C. BIDDLE, EsQ. In one volume, octavo. It would be beneficial to our country if all those who are aspiring to office, were required by their constituents to be familiar with the pages of Say. The distinguished biographer of the author, in noticing this work, observes: "Happily for science he commenced'that study which forms the basis of his admirable Treatise on Political Economy; a work which not -only improved under his hand with every successive edition, but has been translated into most of the European languages." The Editor of the North American Review, speaking of Say, observes, that "he is the most popular, and perhaps the most able writer on Political Economy, since the time of Smith." "AURENCE STERNE'S WORKS, WITH A LIFE OF THE AUTHOR: WRITTEN BY HMSELF. WITH SEVEN BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS, ENGRAVED BY GILBERT AND GHON, FROM DESIGNS BY DARLEY. One volume, octavo; cloth, gilt. To commend or to criticise Sterne's Works, in this age of the world, would be all " wasteful and extravagant excess." Uncle Toby-Corporal Trim-the Widow--Le Fevre-Poor Maria-the Captive-even the Dead Asgs,-this is all we have to say of Sterne; and in the memory of these characters, histories, and sketches, a thousand follies and worse than follies are forgotten. The volume is a very-handsome one. THE MEXICAN WAR AND ITS HEROES, BEING A COMPLETE HSTORY OF THE MEXICAN WAR, EMBRACING ALL THE OPERATIONS UNDER GENERALS TAYOR AND SCOTT.- WITlt A BIOGRAPHY OF THE OFFICERS. ALSO, AN ACCOUNT OF THE CONQUEST OF CALIFORNIA AND NEW MEXICO, Inder tien. Kearvn Cols. Doniphan and Fremont. Together with Numerous Anecdotes of the War, and Personal Adventures of the Officers. Illustrated with Accurate DArt;*A t a n d T ... ; r. t m 1 UA, l "PPINCOTT, GRAMBlO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. NEW AND COMPLETE COOK-BOOK. THE PRACTICAL COOK-BOOK, CONTAININQ UPWARDS OF OE THOUSA ND EG3CJ3EXPTS, Consisting of Directios for Selecting, Preparing, and Cooking all kinds of Meats, Fish, Poultry, mad GamT;. Soups, Broths, Vegetables, and Salads. Also, ror making all kinds of Plain and F:nmy Breads, Pastes, Puddings, Cakes, Creams, Ices, Jellies, Preserves, Marma- lades, &c. &c. &c. Together with various Miscellaneous Recipes, and numerous Preparations for Invalids. BY MRS. BLISS. In one volume, 12mo. tr0 t u atrmjgnt; or, (^ VI-iiL Mm. BY J. B. JONES, AUTHOR OF "WILD WESTERN SCENES," "THE WESTERN MERCHANT," o. ILLUSTRATED WITH TEN ENGRAVINGS. In one volume, 12mo. CALIFORNIA AND OREGON; OR, SIGHTS IN THE GOLD REGION, AND SCENES BY THE WAY, BY THEODORE T. JOHNSON. WITH NOTES, BY HON. SAMUEL R. THURSTON, Delegate to Congress from that Teritorr. With numerous Plates and Ilaps. AUNT PHLLIS'S CABIN; OR, SOUTHERN LIFE AS IT IS. BY MRS. MARY a. EASTMAN. PRICE, 50 AND 75 CENTS. This volume presents a picture of Southern Life, taken at different points of view from the one occupied by the authoress of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." The writer, being a native of the South, is fa- miliar with the many varied aspects assumed by domestic servitude in that sunny region, and there. fore feels competent to give pictures of " Southern Life, as -it is." Pledged to no clique or party, and free from the pressure of any and all extraneous influences, she has written her book with a view to its truthfulness; and the public at the North, as well as at the South, will find in " Aunt Phillis's Cabin" not the listorted picture of an interested painter, but the faithful transcript of a Dnguerreotypistt. WHAT IS CHURCH HSTORY? t VINDICATION OF THE IDEA OF HSTORICAL DEVELOPMENTS / BY PHLIP SOHAF, TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN. In one volume. t9mn page: 434 (Advertisement) -435 (Advertisement) [View Page 434 (Advertisement) -435 (Advertisement) ] LiPk1COTT, GRAMiO & CO.'8 I ltI4 . , . .mllmi ," DO D'S D LETURES A ;DISCOURSES TO YOUiNG MEN,-' ILLUST1ATED BY NUMEROUS-HGALTY IN'EESTING ANECDOTES. bYr[^ W"^n T ;ritLiaMii -DODi L D b . ..... CHA eSLA1N IN 1-DINART TO 1tI8 MAJKSTY ' Oi':G. 7H THRt . RI. ' : . . FIRT AMERICAN EToImO, NWITH NG V -: I' * ron$ volume, 18 . 4 HE IRIS: A NORIGLA L SO UVENIR. With ,Contyibun 4 aos fromthe First Wrirs in the Country. I=ik'.O "DYt por. JO-][ S. RAlq'T; With Splendid Illuminations and Se- EngiC vuj. .i ound ii Turkey Morocco and rich Papier Mache Iinding. IN -ONE VOL BUME, Q OTAVO. Its contents are entirely original. Among the contributors are names well known in the republio of letters; such as Mr. Boker, Mr. Stddard, Prof. Moffat, Edith May, Mrs. Sigourney, Caroline May, rs. Kinney, Mrs. Butler, Mr. Pease, Mrs. Swift, Mr, Van Bibber, Rev. Charles T. Brooks, Mrs. Dorr, Erastu . Ellawoh, Miss E W. Barnes, Mra. Williams, Mar Young, Dr. Gardette, Alice Carey, Phebe Carey, AugustaB Brownwe Hion Browne;s t Eutis, Margaret Junkin, Maria J. B. Browne, Miss Starr, Mrs. Brotherson, Kate Campben, &c. I ( mut frou a tin OR, HOLY THOUGHTS UPON SACRED SUBJECTS. BY OCLERGYp N OF OTHE bi-tSTOP AL, UtOCiH EDITED BY THOMAS WYATT, A. M. In one volume, 12mo. WITH SEVEN; BEAUTiLrIFUL STEtE ENGRAVI3NGS. The contents of this work are chiefly br clergymen of the Episcopal Church. AMonS. the con- tributor: will be found the names of the Right Rev. Bishop Potter, Bishop Hopkins, Bishop Smith, Bishop Johns, and Bishop Doane; and the Rev. Drs. H. V D. Jo nl Coleman, and Butler; Rev. G. T. Bedell, M'Cabe,gilsby, &c The illustrations are rich aid exquiitely wroght engravings upon tre following subjects:-"Samuel before Eli". t Peter and John healing the Lame Man," "The Resurrection of Christ," "Joseph sold by his Brethren," "The Tables of the Law," "Christ's Agony if the Garde," and"The: Flight into Eigpt"These ugects, ith .miy 6ti n 'i p ro and verge, are ably treated thrbughout the work. -ANCIENT CHRISTIANITY EXEMPLIikED In the Privfte; Domestic Seocial, and Civil Life of the Primitive Ch1stiaits, and in the Original Ins;tituions, 0lices, P ,O-t di.: fa9i L ees, idtesiof tho Churtcatwp i . e' ^ BY REWY LYMAN COJiEMAN D. DP. Q . , LO:NZ:-P O'W] R S;:Or/ The; W REgolatori. ;A : O!ANE ES O i ENTUCKty YiOUN DED, Q t PACT 8. BY;. . A ., Y ES X..W EXR, ES SQ. ; .' .,- - . , , *.sIs TWO -VOIUMC&. . - . . - The scenes, characrs, and incidents in these vomnes have been eopied from natur, and iifre eal life. They am reproepted as takin place at that period n the histor of Kentucky, when the Indian,driven, after manya hard-fought field, from his farit hntirownld,wa uzcceeded by a rndiad aitoredrpoptetiq ttedied wdesl^ee se^d seas less saagu than ed th rd n t ey ad ut poeses a ou and gra phi vpe, ands podced, vernterestnl g roaance,wLh ;P6Iy us'e triking portrnitof: the t"ies he desribes - A PRACTICAL TREATISE 'O BUNSI NE$S .;. OR ,' HOW TO GET, SAVE, SPEND, GIVE,: -ND, AND'EQUE'ATH-MiONEY ' WITH AN INQUIRY INTO THE CHANCES OF SUCCSS AN) CArTES' OF FAILUBRE lNBUSINESS. BY, E D WIN T., F'R EED L Y . ; Also, Prize Essas, Statstics, Miscellanies, and nunier6is 'riatelters froii successful and , . dis tinguished business men-; 2mno., cloth. Price Oiie Dollar. The'oBjeet of thi treatise isfdurfold:. Fitfthe elevation on tt businie ciharactr, and t define cea'ly, the limitswithinwhi'h itis not onlypropeT but obligattoy to get money. Seoondly'to lay dqwi the principles which nust be obserYedto insure success, pndwhat must be oided to-escape failure. Thirdly, t jgive the mode of .anagemoet in certaiA, poiinent pursuitsadopted by the- most successful, from which men in all kinds of business may derive profitable hints. 'iourthlyto afford a work of solid interestto those who read without expectatin fpeciuniary benefit. : A MANUAL OiF POhLITENESS COM3PRISIXO TUB PRINCIPLES OF E"tQUEITE ANDO IUES OF BEHAVIOUR IN GENTEEL SOCI;TY, FOR PErSQINSOP BOTH R1RS.: 18imo., with Plates. - ' Boo kof Politeness. -TH1 -GENT'EMAN AND^-AD ' t BOOK OF POLITENESS AND :PROPRIETY OF DiEPORTMEN DEDICATED - T THE 'YOUTH' :F BOTH SEEaS. - ' -DY "- " '-B" M:VA:DrA Vi-E iiLarART ': -: ;"- . '.--:" '-' . r Taiislated from th Sixth Pa^i E Iadgpdt; Im h Fi fth AInIr i.an i:.ditln. ,- .... One volume, i18mo. TH: ANTE LUYANS; Or, The World Dtd y. B A-r5 iM 'uf' H wI r ' I WeS page: 436 (Advertisement) -437 (Advertisement) [View Page 436 (Advertisement) -437 (Advertisement) ] "r, A n AAW , JrL A - W , U JlU^ 9 ff S u. -0s5 . r o JIUJAI . JLuLrs iS. Bennett's. (Rev. John) Letters to'a Young, Lady, N A VARIETY OF SUBJECTS CALCULATED TO IMPROVE THE HEART, TO FORM THE MANNERS, A,ND ENLIGHTE:EN THE UNDERSTANDING. "That our daughters may be as polshed corners of the temple." The publishers sincerely hope {for the happiness of mankind) that a copy of this valuable little Drk will be found the companion of every young lady, as much of the happiness of every family pends on theproper cultivation -of the female mind. THE DAUGHTER'S-OWN BOOK: OR, PRACTICAL HNIS FROM A FATHER TO HS DAUGHm'It One volume; 18mo. This is one of tpgdmost prattical and truly 'iluable treatises on the culture and discipline of the male mind, whieh has hitherto been published ii this country; and the publishers are very con& nt from the gtrat demad -for this invaluable little work, thaf ere long it wil be found, in the )rary of every young lady. THE AMERICAN CHESTERFIELD: }r, "Youth's Guide to the Way to Wealth, Honour, and Distinction," &c. 18mo. CONTAINING ALSO A COMPLETE TBEATISE ON THE ART OF C]ABVING. "WP moeteordilly recommend the American Chesterfield to general attention; but to young raons paticularly, as one of the best work. of the kind that has ever been published in this untry. It cannot be too highly appreciated, nor its perusal be tmproductive of satisfaction and efulnesL" SENECA'S MORALS. BY WAY OF ABSTRACT TO WHCH IS ADDED, :A DISCOURSE UNDER THE TITLE OF AN AFTER-THOUGHT. BY S IR R O G 'E R OTR A N G E, KN T. A newi fine edition; one volmae, 18mo.' & oppy of this valuable little work shoultd be- found in every family library. NEW SONG-BOOK. (rigp DiUnt!rm nnal te terul ongitlr; BING A CHOICE COLLECTION OF THE MOST FASHONABLE SONGS, MANY OF WHCH "-,^ . ;: ' . '"' SARE ORIGINAL. I.- In one volume, 18meo . - Great care was taken, in the selection, to admit no song that contained. in the slightist degre. y indelicate or improper allusions; and with great propriety it may claim the title of "The Par- ir n-Book, or Sogser. The immortal Shakspeare observes- * The man that hath not music in himself, Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils." ROBOTHAM'S POCKET FRENCH DICTIONARY, LiPPIXCOTT, -OERAM'iO & CO.'S: PUBLItOATIONS. THE LIFEAND 'OPiNiONS OF TRISTRAMvSHANDY'-GENTEMAN. COMPRISING THB H 0UMOROa S ADVrlX'UxE 06P UNCLE TOBY AND CORPORAL TRIM. BST I. LSTERNE. Beautifully Illustrated by Darley, Stitched, A SENTIMENTAL'JOURNEY. BY L. S,TEBRNE. nllustrated as above by Darleye Stitched, The beauties of this author are so well known, and his errors in style and eapres!o leW and hr between, that one reads with renewed delight his delicate turns, &c. THE LIFE' OF'GENERAL JCK-SON, Wi:H A T FTK NESS OF TE{ OLD u ERO. One volume, 18mo. "FE OF?AU'L J ONE S:. Inone Volume, 12mo. WITH 'ONE . HUND'RED ILLUSTRATION s BY JAMES HAMLTON. 'the work is compiled from his original journals and correspondence, and includes an aeeount of bhi services in the American Revolution, and in the war between the Russians and Turks in the Black Sia. There' is scarcely any Naval Hero, of any ange, who combined in his charate'r so much of the adventurous, skilful and daring, as Paul Jones., The incidents of his life are .almost ag start ling and absorbing as those of romance. His achievements during the American Revolution--the fight between the Bon Homme Richard and Serapis, the most desperate naval action on record- and the alaim into which, with so small a force, he threw the coasts of Egland'andd Stland-a ire matters comparatively well known to Americans; but tie incidents of his subsequent career have been veiled in obscurity, which is dissipated by this biography. A book like this, narrating the actions of such a mani, ought to meet with an extensive sale, and become as popular as Robinson Crusoe in fiction, or Weems's Life of Marion and Wasbington, and similar books, in fact,. It con- tais 400 paeshas a handsome portrait and medallion likeness of Joes, and i-iliusatd with numerous original wood engraviiou of naval scenes and distinguished men With whom ho was {ailitar. - -- - - -' . f THE GREEK EXILEI Or, A Narrative of the Captivity and Escape' of, Christophonis Plato Castis, DURING THE -MASSACRt 'ON THE ISJLAND POF SCI'b : Y THE TURK TOGETHER WITH VARIOUS ADV'ENTURES IN GREECE AND AD ERICCA. WRI TTEiN BY H HM 8EIFP Author of -an Essay on the Ancieiint a' Modern Greek Languages; Interpretation of the Attribute - of the Principal Fabulous Deities; The Jewish. Miden of Scio's Gitadel; and , Y he Getreek 3^y in-ihe Sunt a-S ooL - s, '. One volume, 12mo... ... ,. TH-E-, YO^ UNG -C H-OR IS T-ER; a CoUecton otNewi and Beautiful Tanes, adapted to the use of Sabbath-Sc olsi, rm eief tO, most distingiished composers; together with many of the author's compomiuona I' nTmT1l Wi t S f i' irirT 0a^-WI page: 438 (Advertisement) -439 (Advertisement) [View Page 438 (Advertisement) -439 (Advertisement) ] GAhCMP LIFE OF A VOLUNTEER k Campaign in Mexico; Or, A Glimpse at Life in Camp. BY "ONE WHQ HAS SEEN THE ELEPHANT." Xift of dtnnal 3atai a aqhrl COMPRISING A NARRATIVE OF EVENTS CONNECTED WITH HS PROFESSIONAL CAREER, AND AUTHENTIC INCIDENTS OF HS EARLY YEARS. BY J. REESE FRY AND R. T. CONRAD. With an original and accurate Portrait, and eleven elegant Illustrations, by Darleoy In one handsome 12mo. volume. "It is by far the fullest and most interesting-biography of General Taylor that we have ever een." -Richmod (Wi ) Cronkice. "On the whole, we are satisfied that this volume is the most correct and comprehensive one yet ublished." - Hunt's Merchants' Magaine. "The superiority of this edition over the ephemeral pubiications of the day consists in fuller and more authentic accounts of his family, his early life, and Indian wars. The narrative of his pro. ceedings in Mexico is drawn Dartly from reliable private letters, but chiefly from his own official correspondence." "It forms a cheap, substantial, and attractive volume, and one which should be read at the fire side of every family who desire a faithful and true life of the Old General." GENERAL TAYOR AND HS STAFF: Comprising Memoirs of Generals Taylor, Worth, Wool, and Butler; Cols. May, Cross,Clay, Hardin, Yell, Hays, and other distinguished Officers attached to General Taylor's Army. Interspersed with NUMEROUS ANECDOTES OF THE MEXICAN WAR, md Personal Adventures of the Officer. Compiled from Public Documents and Private Corm- spondence. With ACCURATE PORTRAITS, AND 0Q'J iR BEAO'lauL ILLUSTRATIONS. In one volume, 12mo.' GENERAL SCOTT AND HS STAFF: Comprising Memoirs of Generals Scott, Twiggs, Smith, Quitman, Shields, Pillow, Lane, Cadwalader Patterson, andi'ierce; Cols. Childs,Riley, Harney, and Butler; and other distinguished officers attached to General Scott's Army. TOGETHER WITH Notices of General Keany, Col. Doniphan, Col. Fremont, and other officers distinguished in the Conquest of California and New Mexico; and Personal Adventues of the Officers. Com- piled from Public Documents and Private Correspondence. With I CCURATE PORTRAITS, AND OTHER BEAUTIFUL ILLUSTRATIONS. In one volume, 12mo. TH E FA-M ILYT D E NT IST IACLUDING THE SURGICAL, MEDICAL ANI MECHANICAL TREATMENT OF THE TEETH. mntf ated 'with tfhirty-one langravingf By CHARLES A. DU BOUCHET, M. Di, Dental Surgeon. ; f- ' , , -* ., "PPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. 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