De Bow's Review/Volume 13/Number 3/Editorial and Literary Department

Now that this subject is again receiving the attention at the South which it deserves, and is about to be brought before the Planters’ Convention in Macon, Georgia, in October, and the Merchants’ Convention, Baltimore, in December, we cannot refrain from inserting the following appropriate remarks from Mr. Bayler, who has taken the lead in the matter:

“The absolute necessity of the success of this cause at the South, has long become a fixed impression upon the public mind. The evils of the present system, and its inevitable results, have awakened apprehensions of the deepest character in the Southern breast. The mighty torrent which is sweeping over us, with as desolating an effect as the English commerce in India, has been met by the friends of Southern prosperity, heretofore, without success. They have been overborne by the surges of the resistless torrent, and instead of doing good have formed examples to retard others. The onward march, however, of the commercial power of the North, and England at the South, and the concentration of our trade, money and power at Liverpool and New- York, has once again aroused the attention of the South, and she is again in an attitude of revolt against the ‘Government of Trade,’ now termed omnipotent. In this critical juncture, before despairing, or adopting rash modes of resistance, it is well that our course should be marked by common sense, caution, and firmness.

“One thing is evident, that unless something is done the future of the South will be that of Ireland. She must inevitably become a mere province to sustain the commercial and manufacturing cupidity of others.

“The South loses annually on her exports from 15 to 20 pet cent. of their value, in unnecessary charges and expenses. (The per cent. naturally incident to a regular and properly organized trade is not included.) She pays on her imports from 20 to 100 per cent. enhanced valuation, (the consequence of a circuitous transportation.) Without going into detail, it is sufficient to state, that though her productions are of the very richest character, with cheap slave labor, yet her annual expenses are very nearly equal to the value of her produce, leaving it a very uncertain question, whether, in a series of years, she is acquiring capital or becoming involved in debt. With a balance of produce (in original value) in her favor, the balance of trade (indicated by exchange) is against her.

We are favored by J. B. Gladney, Esq., with a copy of the charter of the company, and with the report upon its general objects, which was made in the Legislature of Alabama, and which has been published in one of the numbers of the Cotton Plant. We are firmly convinced of the propriety of the South’s trading on her own account. All middle-men—like tariffs and restrictions, are pro tanto obstacles to trade. They are bridges, and often very dilapidated ones, over which produce must pass to the consumer. Why bridges at all, when the current is not ankle deep? Why New-York and Liverpool, when we can have Rotterdam at once? Why this “pent up Utica,” when the whole continent is ours? Mr. Gladney says:

We thank General Rusk, of Texas, for a copy of his very laborious and able report upon the subject. There is much in it that we would extract; in fact we must do it hereafter. Such documents have a national interest. General Rusk is an advocate for Southern steamers to Europe—to South America, and to Mexico. His report is strongly in their favor, and in giving his aid to the Collins’ steamers he distinctly announces the condition that the South is to receive equal favor in her enterprises of the same sort. But is she prepared to enter upon any, and can promises of the kind be relied upon from the North? At least, we shall see.


 * Between New-York and Bremen, via Southampton.

†Between New-York and Havre, via Southampton or Cowes.

‡Between New-York and Liverpool.

§Between New-York, Havana, New-Orleans, and Chagres; New-York and Chagres, direct; New-York and Chagres, touching at Kingston; and between New-Orleans and Chagres, direct.

‖Between Panama and Astoria, via San Diego, Monterey, San Francisco, and Umpqua city.


 * Between Charleston and Havana, via Savannah and Key West.

The steamers of the Collins’ line are some six feet deeper than the custom-house rule for calculating tonnage embraced in the calculation, which makes their actual tonnage about twenty-five per cent. more than their registered tonnage, demanded in the table.—Mr. Collins’ report.

The Pacific Mail Steamship Company has besides, in the Pacific, seven steamers of different tonnage, but aggregating near five thousand tons. They transport the mail only when exigencies make its transportation by them necessary or expedient.—Mr. Aspinwall’s report.

We intend, in our next, a paper upon the subject, illustrated by a diagram, which will speak with good effect to the people of the whole country, and exhibit the miserable policy of doleing out a few thousand dollars for opening the navigation of the greatest river upon earth—an “inland sea,” which drains an empire equal to that of the Ptolemies and the Antonines. We have faith that this paper will receive its proper consideration in the next Congress, and that the Southwest will obtain all that it fairly has earned, in material aid and countenance.

Judge Catron, of the Supreme Court, thus sums up the penalties of this act, which the “higher law” men go about teaching, in their Uncle Tom’s Cabins, pulpits, schools, and rostrums, is opposed to all godliness, and despicably wicked. The Bible, the Constitution of the United States, the Union itself, are old-fashioned contrivances to perpetuate wrong. Away with them all, and let us go to school to the Stowes, the Tappans, the Beechers.—Thersites rather than Nestor! Barabbas rather than Christ!

The act of 1850 declares:

1st. That any person who shall, knowingly and willingly, obstruct, hinder, or prevent such claimant, his agent, or attorney, or any person or persons, lawfully assisting him, her, or them, from arresting such fugitive, either with or without process;

Or 2d. Shall rescue, or attempt to rescue, such fugitive, when arrested, from the custody of the claimant, his agent, or attorney, or from the custody of any other person or persons lawfully assisting;

Or 3d. Shall aid, abet, or assist the person owing service, directly or indirectly, to escape from such claimant, his agent, or attorney, or other person or persons legally assisting;

Or 4th. Shall harbor or conceal such fugitive, so as to prevent his recovery and arrest, after notice or knowledge of the fact that such person was a fugitive; the person so offending, in either of the cases specified, shall be subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and imprisonment not exceeding six months, on conviction by indictment. Secondly, that the person thus offending shall forfeit and pay, by way of civil damages, to the party injured by such illegal conduct, the sum of one thousand dollars for each fugitive lost by reason of such conduct, to be recovered by action of debt.

Since the publication of our article in the July number of the Review, we have received a copy of the very able Remonstrance of the Company to the Congress of the United States, and the equally able Memorial from the same quarter. These documents are understood to be the productions of Mr. Burwell, of Virginia, who has been an active advocate of the interests of the route, and in this he deserves the favor of the whole country. Whatever may be the fate of the enterprise now, it is bound eventually to triumph. In some shape the United States will have the right of transit across Tehuantepec, and Mexico may rest assured of that.

There is to be a great Commercial Convention of all the Southern and Southwestern Slates held in, in December next, and preparations on a large scale ara to be made for the meeting. All of the states and cities interested are invited to send delegates, and we trust they will. It is fifteen years since the South has met in Convention upon the subject of promoting her foreign and interstate trade. Success to the movement now. We open our pages to its discussions, and will have a good deal ourselves to say upon it before December.

The Georgia Fairs are to be held at Macon in October, and will, as usual, be largely attended. The Cotton Planters’ Convention convenes there at that time.

Preparations are being made for the South-Carolina Fair at Charleston, in November, on a scale of great brilliancy. Senator Soulé delivers the address.

New-Orleans talks of a Southern and Western Exhibition of Agricultural and Manufacturing products in that city in February, 1853.

The American Institute, New-York, opens its great annual Fair in October, and a Crystal Palace and a World’s Fair are things which are to be, and that very soon.

Truly this is an age of Fairs and Conventions. They are the fulcrums on which Archimedean levers are moving the world.

We have here compiled from authentic materials, the debates and proceedings in the Seventh Congress of the United States; to which is added an appendix, containing important state papers and public documents, and all the laws of a public nature. To the whole is supplied a copious index. To the historiographer and the politician, these volumes are of great value. At some future time they will so referred to and noticed more in detail.

This book contains, to use the words of the title-page, which are sufficiently descriptive of the contents of the work, all the rules for conducting business in Congress; Jefferson’s Manual, and the Citizens’ Manual, including a concise system of rules of order, founded on congressional proceedings; with copious notes and marginal references, explaining the rules and the authority therefor, designed to economize time and secure uniformity in the proceedings of all deliberative assemblies, and also to meet the wants of every private citizen who desires to understand the right way to transact public business. The book is well adapted to answering the objects of its publication.

That this work of Lamartine’s is written with spirit, and contains much matter that is highly interesting, even those who do not admire the style and manner of the author, must admit. Whether, however, it can stand the test of criticism, and be approved as veritable history, is much more questionable. The habits of composition which distinguish Lamartine, and the characteristics of his mind, are not such as give assurances of a trustworthy historian. He paints too much, and colors too highly, rather like the romance-writer than like the grave composer of mere history. Yet has he made a very readable book, and one that will be perused by many with delight.

This is a home book, and treats on home subjects. Domestic happiness, considered in the light of the various family relations, is the theme which is discussed; and it is discussed in an able, pleasing, and successful manner.

The volume before us forms one of Lippincott’s Cabinet Histories of the States. It is well and pleasingly written. There is one objection to the book, which seems to us a serious one. The history purports to be brought down to the present time; but only eight pages out of the 332 are devoted to that part of it which belongs to the present century. The narrative, moreover, is wholly confined to the progress of events. We find in it nothing of natural history, of geology, geography, agriculture, etc. This is to be regretted. What is done, however, is well done.

These books are two of the series in course of preparation and publication by that graceful and natural writer, Mr. Jacob Abbott. They are intended for the young; and are well calculated to please the minds of such as love to acquire information by instructive reading.

There is no need of any eulogy of the writings of Walter Scott. They are well known already to fame: and posterity will not willingly let them die. Price, per part, each containing a novel, 50 cents.

There is no magazine published in America of its kind which can compare with this of the enterprising Harpers. It contains the best articles of the foreign reviews, and much well-digested general intelligence. Price $3 a year.

9.—Other Serial Publication—a.) The American Whig Review for July, 1852; b.) The Democratic Review for June; c.) The Knickerbocker for June and July; d.) The New-Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal for July; e.) The Bankers’ Magazine and Statistical Register for July; f.) Hunt’s Merchants’ Magazine and Commercial Review for July; g.) The Western Journal and Civilian for June; h.) The Southern Literary Messenger for June; i.) The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil for June; j.) Appleton’s Mechanics’ Magazine and Engineers’ Journal for July; k.) The Southern and Western Masonic Miscellany for June; l.) The Western Medical News and Cancer Journal, Vol. 1, No. 1, of the new series; m.) The Bleak House, No. 4, by Charles Dickens; n.) Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution, No. 23, Harper & Brothers and J. C. Morgan; o.) London Labor and London Poor, Part 19—Harper & Brothers and J. C. Morgan; p.) The Literary World of July 3, and July 10; q.) The Soil of the South for July; r.) The Musical World and Journal of the Fine Arts, July 1, 1852; s.) The Journal of Agriculture for June 16; t.) United States Economist, etc. for May; u.) Morton’s Literary Gazette, Vol. 2, No. 6, for June; v.) American Railroad Journal for June 19 and 26, and July 3 and 10. These serials contain the ordinary amount of appropriate matter. Most of them have been already spoken of at some length on previous occasions; and need, therefore, no particular mention at present. Some of them, particularly those first mentioned, should find a place on every gentleman’s reading-table.

Since the publication of Major Gardiner’s “Anecdotes of the Revolution,” which, although full and interesting, has been for some time out of print, and consequently not readily procurable—no book has appeared, professedly devoted to the “by-scenes” and incidents of the Revolutionary struggle in the South. The present work is, therefore, valuable, is considered merely as a collocation of carefully ascertained facts, such as may form the foundation of many a thrilling romance and legend for future novelists, who think proper to take advantage of the material. But the book is deserving of a warmer commendation than this, when we regard it (as it should be regarded) as a lucid, entertaining, and graphic survey of the many manifestations of the patriotism and devoted energies of our fathers; which, falling not within the scope of graver and more elaborate details of the periods are yet illustrative of its spirit, and are calculated to develop a liberal understanding of its policy. Some one has said of Voltaire’s Histories—at least the majority of them—that they can only be considered “a farrago of lies.” The remark, eminently true of him, may apply in a modified degree to all histories, and consequently the matter which the legitimate historiographer rejects, is very often a fairer exponent of the real condition and character of a people than is generally allowed. We have, therefore, always placed more reliance upon works like this of Dr. Johnson’s than the majority of readers; and if at all well-written, we derive the more pleasure from them.

The “Traditions and Reminiscences,” which he have carefully perused, besides containing much that is new, are penned by one, who, having entered con amore upon his task, has performed it well. To all who take an interest in the stirring events of a time “which tried men’s souls,” we may commend this volume, with the assurance than they will not be disappointed, either in the style of the composition, or the selection and arrangement of its details.

The notice, above given, contains all the information which is necessary for us to impart respecting this book.

12.—La Gran Quivera; or Rome Unmasked—A Poem. This work, from the press of Pudney & Russell, 79 John street, New-York, like every thing else from their hand, possesses the highest typographic beauty, and the binding is equally fine.

The story is somewhat in the fashion of Don Juan, and finds its leading incidents in the events of the Mexican war. There are seven cantos. We will not agree with the author that his work is at best a “splendid trifle” and no more. To be sure, there are salient points of favorable and adverse criticism. We have time now for neither, and if we had, should confine ourself to the many merits, being disarmed, further, by the confession of the preface, that the poem “was prepared to while away the solitary hours of a very fair and a very partial critic,” to whom he has dedicated it in touching and beautiful terms. The author is, we believe, a Tennesseean.

13.—Translations from the Meditations of Lamartine, with Fugitive Pieces by James T. Smith, of Louisiana.

A splendidly issued work, and also from the press of Pudney & Russell. The author is well known among the prairies of the Attakapas; and the only time we ever had the pleasure of meeting him was in 1818, at a party on the Teche, when every thing went merrily as a marriage bell. We recollect his reciting a pretty piece of his own, entitled “The Belles of St. Mary,” and we regret not to find it in the collection, for St. Mary’s belles are worthy of all poetry and song, and we wonder that bards have not multiplied there. If we had time it would please us to extract from some of the pieces of this collection—perhaps “Which is the Fairest Flower,” or “Plant it in Love,” as they are indisputably the best.

14.—The Bankers’ Magazine for June, 1852. Boston.

Contents, a.) The Bank of England. b.) Bank Statistics. c.) Lawson’s History of Banking. d.) Decisions of the Supreme Court of Maine, etc. e.) Prize Essay on Banking. f.) Bank Items. g.) Miscellaneous. h.) Bank Correspondence. i.) Notes on the Money Market for May, 1852.

15.—The Napoleon Dynasty, or the History of the Bonaparte Family—with 20 portraits. Cornish, Lamport, & Co., New-York, 1852.

This is a large and very handsome volume, and the material appears to have been carefully collected as it is most graphically and powerfully worked up. We had hoped to present some of the fine passages which every where abound. From the public archives of our own and of foreign states, and from members of the Bonaparte family on both sides of the Atlantic, valuable authentic materials have been obtained, now first brought to light. Among the portraits are Napoleon, Carolo, Lætitia, Cardinal Fesch, Josephine, Maria Louisa, Joseph, Lucien, Louis, Hortense, Jerome, Elizabeth Patterson, Jerome Napoleon, Eliza, Pauline, Caroline, Eugene, Joachim Murat, Louis Napoleon.

Our friend, the author, has kindly furnished us in advance with the sheets of his work, which is soon to be issued in handsome style from the press of Mr Wiley, New-York, and will constitute vol. II. of his invaluable historical labors. The period embraced extends from the year 1740 down to the delivery of the province to Spain. He has had access to documents from Spain which put an entirely new face upon this period of our history, as is shown to some extent here, but which will appear more conspicuously in the 3d and closing volume, now prepared for the press.

Mr. Gayarre has followed with great fidelity the record, with which his labors may at any time be confronted. Having collected for his own amusement the romance of the history, he now gives us the history itself, though with a good deal of attractiveness of style and manner.

Had the sheets come into our possession earlier, they would have formed the basis of an article which must have been deeply interesting, and we would also have given a great many extracts. The grateful task must now be reserved for our next issue. Meanwhile let every Louisianian order the book from Morgan as boon as it arrrives.

We thank “Gertrude” for her beautiful letter from Italy. It came too late for the Review, and we look the liberty of inserting it in another journal which she will receive as soon as she gets this. Should she not, a line to the office of the Review, New-Orleans, will bring several copies. We love the inspirations of the young and buoyant heart, replete with genius and with promise. May we not hope that these inspirations will take shape and form oftener in the future. We extend the columns of either journal to her. Will she throw off the veil?

We call the attention of merchants and others to the advertisement of the Salamander Safes which appears on our cover. These safes have stood the tests triumphantly in the great fires of New-York, New-Orleans, San Francisco, etc., as thousands of certificates now before us show, all of which can be seen at the office of the agent, Mr. Bridge, in New Orleans.

Thanks to J. R. Watkins, Esq., of Richmond, for valuable Historical Documents—to Senators Soulé, Rusk, Downs, etc., for Congressional Documents, and to Marshall P., Wilder, of Mass., for Agricultural Documents.

No. 2 of Taxation—an able paper upon Mexico—one upon Spain, etc., must be reserved to our next.