Chapter II: Part 2

What a magnificent sentence--"from Thomas Jefferson to his friend John Adams!" Let us consider how great a space those men have filled in the world. Each has been the rallying point of simultaneously contending parties--each filled the highest office in the gift of the only free people existing, to relieve the sombre despotism of the civilized world.--Each has lived to see his early vows to the republic fulfilled; and their present good understanding affords us a delightful proof of the inestimable aphorism, that "a difference of opinion is not a difference of principle."

What are now John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, so recently the leading politicians of the day, the heads of mighty parties?--private citizens, wholly abstracted from the bustle of the times, and leaning on their good intentions, like Jacob on his staff, to offer up thanksgivings to the Most High for the benefits which He has been pleased to bestow upon their beloved country! Neither holds a court, or is courted with sinister views; for it is well understood that both have retired from the influence that might have attached itself to them;--but the trace of their footsteps are as blessed by a grateful people, and a good old age has come upon them in peace!

May we imitate the plainness and sincerity of this little sentence! What could ten thousand high-sounding titles add to the reputation, or contribute to the internal satisfaction of these sages? Yet we practise them and there are hundreds of little things among us, creatures of the moment--here to-day and gone to-morrow, and forgotten, who feel insulted if they are not called of men _honourable_, written at full length, as if the title made them so. I believe I never wrote this word, as prefixed to a man's name, but once, and think that, while I preserve my reason and sense of moral _honesty_, I never will write it again, to a fellow citizen.

It would not do any _harm_ if there was much more of this magnificent simplicity at the seat of government, where comfort is often sacrificed to form, and chilling etiquette keeps back from those in office the very persons that they ought to have familiar communication with. It is the yeomanry of the country, who are to carry to the chiefs of the government, the feelings and wishes of the nation: but they are frozen by the ceremony of their introduction to men in power--congressmen and others. It is hateful even to some who _seemingly_ exact it--because _it is "the rule."_ Why not abrogate the rule, and while impertinent intrusion is kept at a distance, receive honest worth on the level, as man should receive man? A little anecdote, which I have recently heard, may illustrate this remark--a certain gentleman, who now is a quaker, or at least conforms to many of their manners, a veteran of the revolution, and one of Mr. Monroe's earliest friends, having business at Washington, was specially sent for by the president, who had not seen him for more than forty years. The old man went to the president's house; he was met in the hall by the servants, who separately asked him for his cane, his coat, and his hat. The latter he would not part with, and it was intimated to him that he could not go into the president's room unless he dispossessed himself of it; but he observed, 'if he couldn't go in, he could go out,' and began to prepare for his departure. Then it was said, he might go in with his hat on, if he was willing in risk it! He was willing, and entered, and was received by the president as a true friend ought to be received; and they had a very interesting interview, grateful to one another. How much pleasure was nearly denied to Mr. Monroe for a matter of form!--for, if the sturdy old republican had once left the house, they never could have prevailed upon him to enter it again!

All _mere_ ceremonies are easy, and even in matters of the highest import, become mechanical to those accustomed to perform them daily--but are always irksome to those who never went through them--nor do they form any part of our habits of thinking and acting, as conformable to the nature of our institutions. I am apprehensive that they are on the increase, though well convinced that they are not desired by the president himself, and others that I could name. But they are _fashionable_; and it is easier to correct a positive vice than to do away an idle fashion. This fashion keeps no one from the presence of influential persons who has sinister designs to accomplish, but checks the warm flow of the blood with which an honest farmer or mechanic would meet his own elected rulers, and prevents that freedom of discussion by which truth is manifested. Let us all endeavour to imitate the simplicity and frankness of Jefferson--under this solemn assurance, that the further we are removed from this plainness, the greater is the danger of despotism. I am very far from being an enemy to what are called the elegancies of life, and am quite willing that, if a couple of dancing masters meet, they should bow to each other, "according to rule," for half an hour before they approached near enough to touch the tip of each other's finger, as the _sign_ of shaking hands! Let those enjoy it who can, and practice it who may--but it is not the _manner_ in which sincerity is shown, or good fellowship promoted. The homage of the heart, such as the republican will feel in reading the _text_ of this article, is worth more than all the forms of etiquette ever devised. It is as a rock in the midst of the sea--faction assails it in vain; it is _principle_ only that takes effect upon it. The tide of popularity may rise and fall, but the foundation is not to be shaken.

[_Niles' Reg._

_On the Importance of Manner._

To exasperate is not the way to convince: nor does asperity of language or of manner necessarily belong to the duty of plain dealing. So far otherwise, a scolding preacher, or a snarling reprover, betrays alike a gross ignorance of the philosophy of the human mind, and the absence of Christian meekness; and how zealous soever be his aim to do good, the provokingness of his manner will defeat the benevolence of his intentions.

The following remarks are from the pen of a man as distinguished for Christian piety as for superiour genius--the immortal Cowper. "No man" (says that _evangelical_ poet) "was ever scolded out of his sins. The heart, corrupt as it is, and because it is so, grows angry if it be not treated with some management and good manners, and scolds again. A surly mastiff will bear perhaps to be stroked, though he will growl under that operation, but if you touch him roughly, he will bite. There is no grace that the spirit of self can counterfeit with more success than that of zeal. A man thinks he is fighting for Christ, when he is fighting for his own notions. He thinks that he is skillfully searching the hearts of others, when he is only gratifying the malignity of his own, and charitably supposes his hearers destitute of all grace, that he may shine the more in his own eyes by comparison."

Nor is scolding, or ridicule either, the proper way to cure men of their religious prejudices: for, by inflaming their anger, it renders their prejudices the more stubborn and inveterate. It is no matter how absurd or even how monstrous their errors and prejudices; if you offend them by the grossness of your manner, there is little hope of your convincing them afterwards by the cogency of your reasoning.

The Baptist Missionaries in India, at the first insulted, as we are told, the superstition which they attacked, and ridiculed and reviled the Bramins in the streets, and at their festivals, when the passions of the blinded and besotted populace were most likely to be influenced. But experience taught those pious and apostolical men, that this was not the right way to make converts: for which reason, in 1805, they made a declaration of the great principles upon which they thought it their duty to act. "It is necessary," say they, "in our intercourse with the Hindoos, that, as far as we are able, we abstain from those things which would increase their prejudices against the gospel. Those parts of English manners which are most offensive to them should be kept out of sight; nor is it advisable at once to attack their prejudices, by exhibiting with acrimony, the sins of their gods; neither should we do violence to their images, nor interrupt their worship."

Now if this forbearance from every thing provoking, whether in language or manner, was expedient in dealing with the errors of the grossly idolatrous pagans, it is assuredly not less expedient for fellow Christians, in their treatment of the real or supposed religious errors of one another. Bitter revilings and contumelious denouncements always provoke, but never convince. If they are used instead of argument, they betray a conscious weakness; for it is much easier to revile and denounce than to argue. And furthermore, we are quite as apt to be furiously in the wrong, as to be furiously in the right: or even if we know ourselves to be right as to matter, we put ourselves in the wrong as to manner, if we make use of foul weapons rather than those which the armoury of reason supplies.

_Manner_ is to be carefully studied by every one, whether in a public or a private station, who undertakes to reclaim the vicious, or to convince the erring: for what would be beneficial if done in one manner, would be worse than labour lost, if done in another. A haughty, supercilious manner never wins, seldom convinces, and always disgusts; whereas that which indicates meekness and unmingled benevolence and compassion, rarely fails of some salutary impression; especially if suavity of manner be accompanied with force of reasoning, and a due regard be had to time, place, and circumstances.

No very long while ago, Mr. ----, an American clergyman, as distinguished for pious zeal as for eminent parts, was passing a river in a ferry boat, along with company of some distinction, among which was a military officer who repeatedly made use of profane language: Mr. ---- continued silent till they had landed, when taking him aside, he expostulated with him in such a moving manner, that the officer expressed his thanks, and his deep sorrow for the offence; but added withal: "_Sir, if you had reproved me before the company, I should have drawn my sword upon you._"

There are some who glory in it, that by their plain dealing they wound the pride of those they deal with. Peradventure with greater pride they do it. Often, we are so little aware of the obliquities of our own hearts, that we may be feeding and nourishing pride within ourselves whilst we are zealously aiming our blows at the pride of others. Our love of chiding, our coarse bluntness, which we fondly term an honest plain heartedness, or a warmth of zeal, may possibly spring from other motives than those of pure Christian benevolence.

EXTRACT FROM WILKINSON'S MEMOIRS.

_Sentiments of an Old Soldier._

Let those parents who are now training their children for the military profession, let those misguided patriots, who are inculcating principles of education subversive of the foundations of the republic, look at this picture of distress, taken from the life of a youth in a strange land, far removed from friends and relations, comingled with the dying and the dead, himself wounded, helpless, and expiring with agony, and then should political considerations fail of effect, I hope the feelings of affection, and the obligations of humanity, may induce them to discountenance the pursuits of war, and save their offspring from the seductions of the plume and the sword, for the more solid and useful avocations of civil life; by which alone peace and virtue, and the republic, can be preserved and perpetuated. A dupe during my whole life, to the prejudices I now reprobate, I speak from experience, and discharge a conscientious duty, when I warn my country against military enthusiasm, and the pride of arms; and against the arts and intrigues by which the yeomanry, the palladium of the republic, are depreciated, and standing armies and navies are encouraged. For what would it avail the citizens of the United States, if in a political frenzy, they should barter their rights and liberties for national renown? And who would exchange the blessings of freedom, for the repute of having eclipsed the whole human race in feats of valour and deeds of arms? This is a serious question! It affects the vital interests of every freeman; and the course of the government makes it proper and necessary, that these states should pause and reflect, before it be too late. We have escaped from one war with a crippled constitution; the next will probably destroy it; therefore let the motto of the state be--PEACE.

DR. FRANKLIN.

_Extracts from a letter of Mr. Jefferson, dated December 4th,
1818, respecting Dr. Franklin._

"Dr. Franklin had many political enemies, as every character must, which, with decision enough to have opinions, has energy and talent to give them effect on the feelings of the adversary opinion. These enmities were chiefly in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. In the former they were merely of the proprietary party: in the latter they did not commence till the revolution, and then sprung chiefly from personal animosities, which spreading by little and little, became at length of some extent. Dr. ---- was his principal calumniator; a man of much malignity, who, besides enlisting his whole family in the same hostility, was enabled, as the agent of Massachusetts with the British government, to infuse it into that state with considerable effect. Mr. Jay, Silas Deane, Mr. Laurens, his colleagues also, ever maintained towards him unlimited confidence and respect. That he would have waived the formal recognition of our independence, I never heard on any authority worthy notice. As to the fisheries, England was urgent to retain them exclusively, France neutral, and I believe that had they been ultimately made a _sine qua non_, our commissioners (Mr. Adams excepted) would have relinquished them rather than have broken off the treaty. To Mr. Adams' perseverance alone on that point, I have always understood we were indebted for their reservation. As to the charge of subservience to France, besides the evidence of his friendly colleagues before named, two years of my own service with him at Paris, daily visits, and the most friendly and confidential conversations, convince me it had not a shadow of foundation. He possessed the confidence of that government in the highest degree, insomuch that it may truly be said that they were more under his influence, than he under theirs. The fact is, that his temper was so amiable and conciliatory, his conduct so rational, never urging impossibilities, or even things unreasonably inconvenient to them; in short, so moderate and attentive to their difficulties, as well as our own, that what his enemies called subserviency, I saw was only that reasonable disposition, which, sensible that advantages are not all to be on one side, yielding what is just and liberal, is the more certain of obtaining liberality and justice.--Mutual confidence produces of course mutual influence, and this was all which subsisted between Dr. Franklin and the government of France.

"I subjoin a few anecdotes of Dr. Franklin, within my own knowledge.

"Our revolutionary process, as is well known, commenced by petitions, memorials, remonstrances, &c. from the old Congress. These were followed by a non-importation agreement, as a pacific instrument of coercion. While that was before us, and sundry exceptions, as of arms, ammunition &c. were moved from different quarters of the house, I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, and observed to him that I thought we should except books: that we ought not to exclude science, even coming from an enemy. He thought so too, and I proposed the exception, which was agreed to. Soon after it occurred that medicine should be excepted, and I suggested that also to the doctor. 'As to that,' said he, 'I will tell you a story. When I was in London, in such a year, there was a weekly club of physicians, of which Sir John Pringle was president, and I was invited by my friend Dr. Fothergill, to attend when convenient. Their rule was to propose a thesis one week, and discuss it the next. I happened there when the question to be considered was, Whether physicians had on the whole, done most good or harm? The young members, particularly, having discussed it very learnedly and eloquently till the subject was exhausted, one of them observed to Sir John Pringle, that, although it was not usual for the president to take part in a debate, yet they were desirous to know his opinion on the question. He said, they must first tell him whether, under the appellation of physicians, they meant to include _old women_; if they did, he thought they had done more good than harm; otherwise more harm than good.'

"The Confederation of the States, while on the carpet before the old Congress, was strenuously opposed by the smaller States, under the apprehension that they would be swallowed up by the larger ones. We were long engaged in the discussion; it produced great heats, much ill humour, and intemperate declarations from some members. Dr. Franklin at length brought the debate to a close with one of his little apologues. He observed, that 'at the time of the union of England and Scotland, the Duke of Argyle was most violently opposed to that measure, and among other things predicted that, as the whale had swallowed Jonas, so Scotland would be swallowed by England. However,' said the doctor, 'when Lord Bute came into the government, he soon brought into its administration so many of his countrymen, that it was found, in the event, that Jonas swallowed the whale.' This little story produced a general laugh, restored good humour, and the article of difficulty was passed.

"When Dr. Franklin went to France on his revolutionary mission, his eminence as a philosopher, his venerable appearance, and the cause on which he was sent, rendered him extremely popular; for all ranks and conditions of men there, entered warmly into the American interest. He was therefore feasted and invited to all the court parties. At these he sometimes met the old Duchess of Bourbon, who being a chess-player of about his force, they very generally played together. Happening once to put her king into _prise_, the Doctor took it. 'Ah,' says she, 'we do not take kings so.' 'We do in America,' said the doctor.

"At one of these parties, the Emperor Joseph II., then at Paris, _incog._ under the title of Count Falkenstein, was overlooking the game, in silence, while the company was engaged in animated conversations on the American question. 'How happens it, M. Le Comte,' said the Duchess 'that while we all feel so much interest in the cause of the Americans, you say nothing for them?' 'I am a king by trade,' said he.

"When the Declaration of Independence was under the consideration of Congress, there were two or three unlucky expressions in it, which gave offence to some members. The words 'Scotch and other auxiliaries,' excited the ire of a gentleman or two of that country. Severe strictures on the conduct of the British king, in negativing our repeated repeals of the law which permitted the importation of slaves, were disapproved by some southern gentlemen, whose reflections were not yet matured to the full abhorrence of that traffic. Although the offensive expressions were immediately yielded, these gentlemen continued their depredations on other parts of the instrument. I was sitting by Dr. Franklin, who perceived that I was not insensible to those mutilations. 'I have made it a rule,' said he, 'whenever in my power, to avoid becoming the draughtsman of papers to be reviewed by a public body. I took my lesson from an incident which I will relate to you. When I was a journeyman printer, one of my companions, an apprentice hatter, having served out his time, was about to open shop for himself. His first concern was to have a handsome sign-board, with a proper inscription. He composed it in these words:--'John Thompson, _Hatter_, _makes_ and _sells hats for ready money_,' with a figure of a hat subjoined. But he thought he would submit it to his friends for their amendments. The first he showed it to, thought the word '_hatter_' tautologous, because followed by the words 'makes hats,' which shew he was a hatter. It was struck out. The next observed that the word '_makes_' might as well be omitted, because his customers would not care who made the hats; if good and to their mind, they would buy, by whomsoever made. He struck it out. A third said, he thought the words '_for ready money_,' were useless, as it was not the custom of the place to sell on credit: every one who purchased expected to pay. They were parted with, and the inscription now stood, 'John Thompson sells hats.' '_Sells_ hats?' says his next friend; 'why nobody will expect you to give them away. What then is the use of that word?' It was stricken out, and '_hats_' followed it, the rather, as there was one painted on the board; so his inscription was reduced ultimately to 'John Thompson,' with the figure of a hat subjoined.'

"The Doctor told me, at Paris, the following anecdote of the Abbé Raynal.--He had a party to dine with him one day, at Passy, of whom one half were Americans, the other half French; among the last was the Abbé. During the dinner he got on his favourite theory of the degeneracy of animals, and even of man, in America, and urged it with his usual eloquence. The Doctor at length noticing the accidental stature and position of his guests, at table, 'Come,' said he, 'M. l'Abbé, let us try this question by the fact before us. We are here one half Americans, and one half French; and it happens that the Americans have placed themselves on one side of the table, and our French friends are on the other. Let both parties rise, and we will see on which side nature has degenerated.' It happened that his American guests were Carmichael, Harmer, Humphreys, and others of the finest stature and form; while those of the other side were remarkably diminutive, and the Abbé himself, particularly, was a mere shrimp. He parried the appeal however, by a complimentary admission of exceptions, among which the Doctor himself was a conspicuous one."

_An Act for the Appraisement of Estates taken in execution._

SECT. 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, That in all cases where lands, tenements or hereditaments, have been or hereafter shall be levied on, by virtue of any writ of _fieri facias_ or other writ of execution, and an inquest of twelve men summoned by the sheriff or coroner of any of the cities or counties agreeably to the existing laws of this commonwealth, shall find that the rents, issue, and profits of such property, are not sufficient, beyond all reprises, within the space of seven years to satisfy the damages and costs or the debt, interest and cost in such writ mentioned, it shall be the duty of the same inquest to value and appraise the said property. And in all cases where the defendant or defendants shall consent to a condemnation agreeable to an act entitled "a supplement to the act, entitled, An act for taking lands in execution for the payment of debts," passed on the sixth day of March, one thousand eight hundred and twenty, and in any case where an inquisition and condemnation of such estate as aforesaid shall not be deemed necessary in law, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or coroner of the proper county to summon an inquest of twelve good and lawful men of his bailiwick, who shall be under oath or affirmation, and shall receive the same pay as jurors are entitled to in similar cases, to value and appraise the same; and the sheriff or coroner shall make return of such valuation or appraisement, with the writ aforesaid, to the court from which the same issued, and which valuation or appraisement shall be conclusive in any future execution which may be levied on the same property; and in case any writ of _venditioni exponas_ or other writ shall issue for the sale of said lands, tenements or hereditaments, and the same cannot be sold at public vendue or outcry for two-thirds or more of such valuation or appraisement: that then and in such case the sheriff or coroner shall not make sale of the premises, but shall make return of the same accordingly to the court from which the execution process issued, and that thereupon all further proceedings for the sale of such lands, tenements or hereditaments, shall be stayed for one year from and after the return day of the _venditioni exponas_, or other writ for the sale of the premises: _Provided_, That the sheriff or coroner, shall not be entitled to poundage unless in those cases where a sale of the property shall take place.

SECT. 2. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_, That in all cases where lands, tenements or hereditaments, have been heretofore levied on and condemned in virtue of any writ of _fieri facias_, and in all cases where any lands, tenements or hereditaments, have been or hereafter shall be seized or levied on by virtue of any writ of _levari facias_, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or coroner, before exposing the said property to sale pursuant to any writ for that purpose issued, or in pursuance of such writ of _levari facias_, to summon twelve good and lawful men of his bailiwick, who, being first sworn or affirmed, shall make a true valuation or appraisement of the property aforesaid, and the same proceedings shall be had as is directed by the first section of this act.

SECT. 3. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_, That in all cases where a life estate, or for a term of years, in any lands, tenements, or hereditaments, have been or shall be seized and levied on by virtue of any writ of execution, it shall be the duty of the sheriff or coroner, before he shall proceed to advertise and sell the premises aforesaid, to summon an inquest of twelve good and lawful men of his bailiwick, who, being first duly sworn or affirmed, shall make a true valuation and appraisement of the same. And if such life estate, or for term of years as aforesaid, after having been advertised and offered for sale by public vendue or outcry, according to the laws of this commonwealth, cannot be sold for two thirds or more of the amount of the valuation and appraisement aforesaid, the sheriff or coroner shall make return accordingly; and thereupon all further proceedings for the sale of the said premises shall be stayed for one year from the return day of the said execution process.

SECT. 4. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_, That in all cases where personal property shall be taken in execution by virtue of any writ of _fieri facias_ issued out of any court of common pleas in this commonwealth, or by virtue of any execution issued by a justice of the peace, it shall be the duty of the sheriff, coroner, constable or other person, to whom such writ shall be directed, respectively, when it shall be requested by the debtor, to summon three respectable freeholders or citizens of the vicinage, who, being first duly sworn or affirmed by the said officer, shall value and appraise the personal property aforesaid, for which service they each shall be entitled to receive fifty cents per day; which valuation or appraisement, signed by the appraisers, together with a schedule of the property taken in execution, shall be annexed to the return of said writ. And in case said personal property, or any part thereof, cannot be sold for two thirds of the amount of said valuation or appraisement, at a public vendue of the same, of which notice shall be given to the plaintiff or plaintiffs, his, her or their agent or attorney, agreeably to the direction of the first section of this act, that then the sale of such property shall be stayed for the term of twelve months from that date: _Provided_, That the said defendant or defendants shall execute and deliver to the sheriff, coroner or constable, as the case may be, a bond, with one or more sufficient sureties, in a penalty double the amount of the said valuation or appraisement, conditioned for the faithful forthcoming and delivery of all and every part of the said personal property, upon the expiration of the said stay of execution, to the proper sheriff, coroner or constable, or his successor in office, in like good order and condition as when the same was so as aforesaid offered for sale, or other personal property equal in value and like good order, to be ascertained in the manner aforesaid; or in default thereof, for the payment of the amount of the appraisement or valuation, with interest and costs, or the amount of the debt, interest and cost, for which the levy was made. And upon the execution and delivery of such bond, the said personal property shall be returned and redelivered into the possession of the said defendant or defendants: _Provided also_, That nothing in this act contained, shall be construed to prevent any judgment creditor or creditors from having the property of any debtor or debtors exposed to sale, in the usual manner, at any time, and as often as he, she or they may think proper, after it may have once been exposed to sale as aforesaid, by paying all the costs which may accrue in consequence thereof, except the time which a sale may be effected, which cost shall be paid out of the proceeds of the sale as in other cases.

SECT. 5. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_, That this act shall be and continue in force for the term of one year and no longer.

MORTGAGES.

The Legislature of Pennsylvania, at their late session, passed
the following act relative to Mortgages.

SECT. 1. _Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in general assembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the authority of the same_, That from and after the first day of October next, all mortgages, or defeasible deeds in the nature of mortgages, made or to be made or executed for any lands, tenements or hereditaments within this commonwealth, shall have a priority according to the date of recording the same, without regard to the time of making or executing such deeds. And it shall be the duty of the recorder to endorse the time upon the mortgages or defeasible deeds when left for record, and to number the same according to the time they are left for record, and if two or more are left upon the same day, they shall have priority according to the time they are left at the office for record. And that no mortgage, or defeasible deed in the nature of a mortgage, shall be a lien until such mortgage or defeasible deed shall have been recorded, or left for record as aforesaid. _Provided_, That no mortgage given for the purchase money of the land so mortgaged shall be affected by the passage of this act, if the same be recorded within sixty days from the execution thereof.

SECT. 2. _And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid_, That the governor be, and he is hereby requested to cause this act to be published immediately after the passage of the same, in such newspapers and for such a length of time as he may think most proper for the information of the citizens of this commonwealth.

_Whimsical conflict._--It would be well for society, if all duellists were to find themselves in the same predicament as did the celebrated poet, Dr. Akenside, and a gentleman of the bar by the name of Ballow. A challenge had passed from the former--but they did not get into the field; for one would not consent to fight in the morning, and the other was equally determined not to do so in the evening! The one wished to fall in a blaze of glory, mingled with the brilliant rays of the rising sun, a very fanciful and poetic notion; and the other, with perhaps an equal degree of poetic feeling and imagination, thought the shades of eve more congenial with the work of death and the hour of dissolution. Whether serious or affected, the difference was perhaps a happy one for the lovers of literature, who might otherwise have lost the keen and inexpressible delight which ever flows from the perusal of Akenside's Pleasures of Imagination--a work which will charm and instruct mankind through every age, so long as learning, taste, and genius, shall have a votary or a favourite to relish so rich a banquet. The hand of blood, that had deprived the republic of letters of that incomparable poem, would have well deserved everlasting execration.

[_Plough Boy._

LAW-SUIT.

The longest law-suit ever heard of in England, or perhaps in the world, was between the heirs of Sir T. Talbot; Viscount Lisle, on the one part, and the heirs of Lord Berkeley on the other, respecting certain possessions not far from Wotton-under-Edge, in the county of Gloucester. The suit was commenced at the end of Edward IV. and was depending till the reign of James I. when a compromise took place, it having lasted above a hundred and twenty years.

THE CAMERONIANS.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Nov. 1819.

For the Cameronians, those relicks of the stern enthusiastic Covenanters--those resolute maintainers of the unblemished purity and rights of the reformed church--those dwellers on the misty mountain tops--I entertain the greatest respect and reverence. It was my lot to pass the early part of my life in the neighbourhood of their hill of worship--often in the company of their leading men, and most admired professors--and at all times in the society of a portion of their number. They had hovered for many years about the mountainous regions of the parish of Kirkmahoe, in Dumfries-shire; and as they began to confide in the kindness of their less rigid brethren, they commenced descending, step by step, from a large hill to a less, till they finally _swarmed_ on a small sterile mount, with a broomy glen at its foot, beside a little village, which one of their number named "Graceless Quarrelwood." Quarrelwood is a long straggling village, built in open hostility to regular lines, or the graceful curves of imaginary beauty. The cottages which compose it are scattered as if some wizard had dropt them down by random; and through the whole a streamlet winds, and a kind of road infinitely more crooked than the stream. This lane is fringed chiefly by old plum-trees, and seeks its way to the eastern extremity of the village, with a difficulty which a stranger will soon be sensible of, should he be so hardy as to endeavour to thread this Cameronian labyrinth. There is also a wide wilderness of gardens, hemmed in by strong walls of rough free-stone. It is a very defensible position; and, in case of retreat, the deep channels of two scanty streams present direct openings to the upland holds; and these are covered ways--for the brooks contrive to maintain as many stately trees and flourishing bushes on their steep and impassable banks, as would do honour to mightier streams. To this rural encampment several hundreds resorted weekly to hear their pastor's instructions; and at their great midsummer Festival of the Sacrament, several thousands usually assembled, many of them from distant parts, even from Fife and Banff. All around were objects to cherish their ancient spirit, and remind them of other days. The seat of their bitter persecutor, General Dalzell, was within two short miles--the grave of the cruel Laird of Lagg was visible from their mount; and in the church-yard of Dumfries, in the moors of Irongray, and the moorlands of Nithsdale, were buried, under broad and inscribed stones, some of the most renowned of the martyrs. With two of their preachers I had the pleasure of being acquainted; and I have also heard several of the western professors preach during the continuance of the sacramental holydays. Of their professors I shall endeavour to render some account. I still remember, with reverence, the thin long snowy hair and bald shining crown, and primitive look of the patriarchal Farely; and it is impossible I should ever forget the familiar and fervent eloquence of that delightful old pastor. Towards the close of his life, which was unusually long, he was accused of cheering his decaying spirits with other beverage than what cold brooks afforded. Of this infirmity I have heard some of the sternest of his flock speak with unlooked-for gentleness; and I believe none of his fellow-preachers chose to rebuke him for this indulgence, from a just dread of his powers for keen dry sarcasm. He was a great favourite with the Cameronian ladies, old and young, and his reputation with them was not at all diminished, by the renown he acquired by his ability in inflicting the discipline of his sect on fair trespassers.

Of John Curtis, the regular pastor of the flock, I do not remember so much as I do of Mr. Farely. He was a man unaffectedly pious, rather than eloquent, and was deservedly and warmly beloved. He adorned his discourses with that melodious tone which some call the Cameronian drawl, and which the pious Cowper complained of in the Conventicles. Each sentence has a kind of starting note; and I can discover remains of this old puritanical fashion in the eloquence of Wilberforce and also Lord Milton. It would require some constraint in a pious stranger to listen, without an inward smile at least, to this continually recurring chorus.--With a gifted preacher it is less ungraceful, for he contrives to make it tell in better time than an ordinary man--still it might be spared; but a very sensible divine told me, he dared as soon renounce predestination as part with the "twang;" it was as dear to his flock as the memory of Richard Cameron. John Curtis, for he abominated the prelatical designation of "Master," was not an unfrequent, or unwelcome guest at my father's house. His coming was a visitation, for it came over our mirth as a cloud. He invariably was invited on week days; Sunday was a day that had higher duties. His coming was the signal for seven children, I was one of them, to cease their play and pranks, and mix trembling with their mirth. We became as quiet as a brood of chickens, over which the hawk is hovering. Even the nuts or raisins which filled the pockets of this primitive person, and which he divided among us with many a clap on the head and benediction, failed to inspire confidence.

The chief revolution in the affairs of the Cameronians of Dumfriesshire, was effected at the death of John Curtis. They had been driven by persecution to preach on the mountains, and though persecution had ceased, on the mountains they remained. It was certainly a beautiful and impressive sight to see a congregation worshipping God on a mountain side or a wild glen; to see the upright pulpit-rows of bared, and white, and bald heads decently ranged around--and more extended ranks of beautiful women and active men drawn up in a regular confusion--the whole listening to the eloquence of my old friend Farely. This, with a clear day and a bright sun, must make an impression of devotion on the most obtuse intellect. But as the mason said of the wise man who sung, "Snow is beautiful in its season," "My certes," said he, "it was easy for him, with his lasses and his wine to sing so; had he been a poor free-stone mason, he would have sung another sang." For the weather seemed sometimes to inherit the rancour of the bloody Claverhouse, or the renowned chieftain of Lagg, to this persecuted race; and, instead of June giving one of her brightest and balmmiest days for the Sacrament, I have witnessed the heavy rain come down sans intermission for four stricken hours, as if ambitious to measure its mercies by the length of the "Action Sermon." By some this circumstance was hailed as a divine acknowledgment of their presence and influence; and after some very dry weather I have heard Mr. Farely turn a timely thunder shower to good account, by apostrophizing the Deity for his kindness to "this dry barren land." On another occasion--the morning was serene during the introductory discourse, and just as my friend Farely began to administer the sacrament, a huge black cloud sailed from the westward, and hung heavy and ominous over the congregation. Ere the ladies could raise their plaids, it descended perpendicular plump down, and the huge drops splashed off the bald crown of the preacher, in a manner that Kemble would have envied in acting King Lear. A Cameronian with an umbrella, at that time an unusual thing in the country, arose and stretched it over the Professor's head, regardless of himself. At this visible interposition between him and heaven, the preacher was wroth, and said audibly, "Take the Pope's cap off me," and his conduct was highly applauded.

To such a congregation, after the decease of John Curtis, my friend of the umbrella made a proposition to have a chapel erected. And I question much if a proposal to go to mass would have excited a stronger commotion--particularly among those whom the measure meant to protect--the old and infirm. He of the umbrella offered to subscribe largely himself, and promote the subscription among others, hinting that many of the members of the kirk favoured the cause, and would be glad of an opportunity to display it. The motion was well timed too, namely, at the close of one of those four-hours benedictions from a thunder cloud, which had urged its way through the broad bonnets and thick plaids of the most obstinate believers. I cannot enumerate to you all the bitter and brief exclamations of dismay and indignation which this proposal excited. The decided wrath of one old moorland dame I shall long remember, "Foul fall ye," said she, starting up and hurling her heavy clasped black print Bible at the proposer's head, "foul fall ye, ye deserve to be brained with the word ye hae abused;" and had he of the umbrella not caught this religious missile, as the Curtal fryar's dogs caught the outlaw's arrows, namely, as it flew, he might have been numbered with the martyrs. "Shall _we_," said she, "who were hounded like deer to the mountains, there to worship God in fear of evil men, shall _we_, whom he marvellously protected there, doubt his providence, and descend to keep yer coupled timber--yer covered cushions--and yer canopied, fringed, and painted prelatical pulpits--and yer walls of hewn stane--far frae me--fit places are they, not for the word, but for ye ken what;"--and so she sat down. The more sensible part reflecting, however, that the showers of spring were cold--that the winds of autumn were not always gentle--and that winter indulged them with various and dubious blessings, under the resemblance of snows and sleets, and sudden thaws, resolved, that the erection of a house of worship was a justifiable measure; and a house was accordingly built. But the eloquent dame of the moorlands introduced a salvo, by which the sacrament was directed to be administered in the open air, and so it still continues.

The religious festival of the sacrament is commenced after due private preparation by prayers of unwonted length, and the lonely broomy hollow where it is held, exhibits on Sabbath morn to a stranger a grand and solemn spectacle.

The last time I was present at this meeting I was invited to breakfast at the house of a respectable and recently converted member of the "Broken Remnant," a warm-hearted weaver, a man of rare conversation--ready wit, and cutting dry sarcasm. He was also as much celebrated for his poetry as the unrivalled productions of his loom. His birds-eye, his barley-pickle, his lowland plaiden, and fine linen, were the theme of praise among the young maids in danger of being married--and to their praise I add mine. I have proved his hospitality, and proved the labours of his loom. I sat down to an ample breakfast with this Cameronian worthy--his wife lively always, and once handsome--his two sons, inheriting their father's powers even to overflowing, and a solemn browed Cameronian from the borders of the moorlands. This family auxiliary undertook to pronounce a blessing on our good cheer; a serious trial of my patience and appetite. I endured his sermon for many minutes; it was in its nature controversial. He touched on the adventure at Drumclog, and addressed Providence in strong and familiar term anent the disaster at Bothwell Brig. I looked piteous but resigned, and the good housewife poured forth the tea. But then there came headings and hangings, and finings and confinings, and sad travels and sore tortures. The goodwife placed a plate of smoking savoury cake before him, but he was not to be tempted; he threw a passing curse or two on patronage, still he was distant from our day half a century at least. I looked with an imploring eye, and my entertainer closed his; but I could see by the sarcastic curl at the corners of his mouth that he was inwardly enjoying my misery. Once I stretched my hand, for I had half a mind, like the renowned and impatient good man of Drumbreg, on a time of similar trial, to seize my cup with a cry of "Ye have done brawly man," and cut short all explanation by falling to. I endured it to an end however, and an excellent breakfast enabled me to endure the infliction of a "return thanks," eminently curious and controversial. We then sallied forth to the preaching--the pastor had already commenced; it might be half past 9 o'clock. I was struck with the magnitude and repose of the congregation. Besides the sodded seats which held the oldest and most respectable members, the broom then, I think, in full bloom, with all its perfume about it, was bent down for many acres to form rural seats to Cameronian dames, and dames indeed of all persuasions.--There were many dressed in the latest fashion; the old simple mode of dress however prevailed. Though all shewed deep symptoms of devotion, and many of awe, the young women by no means confined their eyes, and many had bright ones, to the contemplation of the preacher. This festival always attracts an immense multitude, and though the Cameronians are the only communicants, all sects and denominations of Presbyterians crowd to the place, and occupy the vacant ground. I saw many of the Cameronians with whom I had a personal acquaintance, and a silent squeeze of the hand, or an acknowledgment, an austere one, of the eye, was all the recognition to be obtained. The list of offences and sects excluded from communication is extensive and curious--they call it "debarring"--Socinians, Arminians, Unitarians, Episcopalians, false teachers, promiscuous dancers, and playhouse frequenters. I cannot inflict the whole of this tremendous catalogue upon you. One prudent and warning exclusion I cannot omit to mention, namely, that of all wives who disobey their husbands.

In the green hedge-row lane, leading to the tent of the preacher, various stalls were established by persons who thought--as godliness was great gain, great gain was godliness. Here refreshments of all kinds, particularly liquid consolation, abounded, and one tent, rivalling in dimensions the tabernacle of the preacher, looked presumptuously down from the very crest of the hill on its more devout neighbour below. Here the owner of a neighbouring public house had established himself, and into this canvass mansion, in a moment of weakness, I was tempted to enter. I had sundry reasons for this piece of backsliding;--first, I had become wearied with the unexampled length and tediousness of the before-mentioned four hour's sermon; secondly, I was desirous to partake of either Ram-Jam, Mid-Row, or Pinkie, three denominations of ale, for which the landlord was become deservedly famous, and in the brewing of which, weak nerves, as well as a good head, had been doubtlessly consulted--and; thirdly and lastly, a dark-eyed damsel from the mountains wished for my private opinion anent the sinfulness of dancing, and to instruct me in a near road over the hills to her father's house, which stood in a remote glen on the stream of Ae. While deeply employed in taking a chart of this desart path, I could not avoid remarking with what particular gravity all were drinking, and many getting drunk. Consolation had been poured forth in no stinted tide, for a huge wall of empty vessels flanked the entrance. The proprietor of this house of call for the thirsty, was a ruddy carroty-headed rustic, who had contrived to draw down his cheeks for the occasion, in a manner unusually solemn. He sat apart busied, or apparently busied, with that chief of all sage books, the Young Man's Best Companion; while his daughter, as active a girl as ever chalked a score to a thirsty man, managed the business. But his mind had wandered into a long and studious calculation of the probable profit in his fermentations, and the Book, which was only put there as a decoy to the godly, was neglected. I contrived to withdraw it unperceived from before him, and for this feat I was rewarded by a grim smile from a broad bonneted son of Cameron, and a snuff from a tuphorn with a silver lid.

On returning to the meeting, the stars were beginning to glimmer, amongst the thin mist of the summer evening, and I could see groupes, already at some distance, of the spectators retiring home. Far differently demeaned themselves the pious remnant. They crowded round their preacher's tent after the repose of a brief intermission, and I left them enjoying a mysterious lecture on Permission, Predestination, Free Grace, The Elect, and Effectual Calling.

I am now, and I say it with sorrow, far removed from the society of those exemplary and pious people; and I heard, I confess, with something of an old Cameronian spirit and regret, that a proposition has been made to remove the meeting house into the neighbouring town of Dumfries. Of my old favourites, few I understand survive, and year after year lessens the number of those devout men who regularly passed my father's window on the Sabbath morn. Mr. Farely has long since been numbered with the blessed--and Jean Robson, a very singular and devout character, has also rested from her labour of instructing the youth of the Cameronians. She taught the writer of this imperfect account to read--the Bible, and the famed Prophecies of Alexander Peden. She tore the leaf from the Bible which said, "James, by the Grace of God, Defender of the Faith," and denounced the name of _Sunday_ as Popish, or what was worse, Prelatical, and caused us all to call it the Sabbath. She died 83 years old. She used to flog her scholars, and exclaim,--"Thou art an evil one--a worker of iniquity," while the tawse and tongue kept time and told sharply.

The Cameronians make few converts--few people are fond of inflicting on themselves willingly the penance of controversial prayers and interminable sermons. There is a falling off in the amount of the flock.--My friend, the weaver, became a convert from conviction. Another of the converts joined the cause in the decline of life, not without suspicion of discontent, because his gifts had been overlooked by the minister of the parish kirk, in a recent nomination of elders. He was fond of argument, and seemed not unwilling to admit the potent auxiliaries of sword and gun on behalf of the cause. On one occasion, he grew wroth with the ready wit of a neighbouring peasant, on the great litigated point of patronage--and seizing the readiest weapon of his wrath, a hazel hoop--for he was a cooper--exclaimed, "Reviler--retire--else I'll make your head saft with this rung." On another time, he became exasperated at the irreverent termination of an epigram on a tippling blacksmith, which was attributed to Burns, who then resided within sight--at Elisland.

On the last day,
When sober men to judgment rise,
Go drunken dog, lie still incog.
And dinna stir if ye be wise.

The honest Covenanter, after three days and three nights meditation, brought forth his expostulation with the mighty bard of Caledonia. It commenced thus--

Robert Burns ye were nae wise
To gie to Rodds sic an advice.