East River, opposite to the City of New York, upwards of 11,000 men were literally murdered by the tainted meat and foul air; and their bodies thrown upon the Long Island shore, with perhaps a foot of earth to cover them, and which were afterwards washed up by the tide. Hundreds expired instantly on being brought from the hold on deck, and on breathing the pure air. At this time, the British army had possession of the City of New York, and the Island upon which it is situated, and surely had sufficient room and convenient houses for confining their prisoners on land. In both wars, the British Government paid to the Indians one guinea a piece for scalps taken from such Americans as had the dire misfortune to fall into their hands. The scalp-agent resided at Malden, Upper Canada, and was particularly known to an intimate friend of mine. This traffic was continued in the late war till the Americans took some Indian tribes into pay; and fearing retaliation, a Council of War was held at Kingston, when it was agreed, that instead of paying for scalps, a guinea a-head should in future be paid for every prisoner delivered up alive. Further more, horrible to relate! At the capture of Little York, the capital of Upper Canada, a human scalp was found in the Government House hanging over the Speaker's Chair, alongside the mace; which, from the length of the hair was supposed to have belonged to a woman! This was sent to Washington, with official letters, announcing the fact, from General Dearbourn, Commander of the besieging forces on land, and Capt. Chauncey, commanding the squadron on the lake. These acts, to say the least of them, are an indication of semi-barbarism, but it is probable that this is the first time you have been told of them. The English prints do not mention such trifling matters. I am confident, however, that you possess sufficient honesty and boldness to give them publicity. The people of England are by no means implicated in the cruelties here detailed. Most of whom, I have not the least doubt, will look upon them with the same abhorrence as the Americans, The odium rests upon the Government, and its agents who were concerned in these barbarous transactions; which ought to be handed down to posterity with detestation. Your remarks upon the manners and morals of the people of this country, which I am constrained to believe arose from inadvertence, and want of correct information; the deep-rooted prejudices which many Englishmen appear to have imbibed towards us from misrepresentation, made for reasons above stated, I hope will be considered as a sufficient apology for my endeavours to give you a truer insight into the real character, manners, and customs of the Americans. For which purpose, I shall make a few quotations from the writings of the Rev. Jedediah Morse, who has long been before the American public, and approved as a correct geographer and historian. "The great body of the inhabitants of the United States are of English origin. Their character and manners, therefore, are formed on the English plan, varying from it, however, and from each other, in consequence of the diversities of government, state of society, wealth, climate, and soil. "The Eastern States were settled entirely by Englishmen, excepting a few towns in the County of Hampshire, in Massachu setts, which were settled by a Colony from Ireland; and a few in Londonderry, in New Hampshire. "In these States, property is more equally distributed than in any other civilized country. At present (1819), not far from two thousand clergymen, generally well informed, and all chosen by the people themselves, are weekly and daily employed in enlightening and reforming their congregations.* Schools are established within very little distance, and a grown person, a native of these States, can scarcely be found, who has not some acquaintance with reading, writing, and arithmetic. The inhabitants universally live in villages or towns of a moderate size, and have no overgrown capital, in which to learn profligacy of manners. The great body of them are farmers. These circumstances have given to these States very much the manners and morals of Scotland. "In no country on the globe, except Scotland, is common learning so universally diffused as in the Eastern States. In the best seminaries, the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages, philosophy, geography, mathematics, natural philosophy, chemistry, logic, rhetoric, and theology,t are taught by recitations and lectures, to an extent not surpassed, in the general course of instruction, at Oxford and Cambridge. "The tract now comprising Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, received the name of New England in 1643. The inhabitats of these States glory in the name of Yankees. * If, however, they taught real science and arts useful to man here, they would do much more good than they do by teaching the Abracadabra in vogue.-J. F. It would be a vast advantage to learning, if the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew languages, as well as theology, were erased from the catalogue of studies in Seminaries and Universities. The pretended knowledge in the science, or by whatever name it may be called, of theology, is worse than useless, it has been productive of infinite evil in the world.-J. F. The English are not aware that this name, which is sometimes affectedly used by them as a term of reproach, is a corruption of the French word Anglais, meaning English. The French Canadians called the early settlers of New England, Anglais, which, in the mouth of the Indians, from whom it has descended, became changed into Yankais, or Yankees. This fact was stated to me by a very old Clergyman of Boston, and I have full confidence in its correctness.-J. F. "The original settlers of the middle States came over at different times, and for different purposes; belonging to different nations, and speaking many different languages. The English, German, Dutch, French, and Irish, still retain, in degree, their national languages, prejudices, virtues, and vices. In the Southern States the division of the inhabitants into rich and poor, is as in many countries in Europe. "The English of the middle States, owing to the influx of foreigners, is generally less pure than that of the northern and southern. "The pronunciation of English gentlemen, when not corrupted by the stage, differs imperceptibly from that of New England." To the foregoing, I will add an extract from the Message of Dewitt Clinton, Governor of the State of New York, delivered to the Senate and Assembly, Jan. 4, 1825, which will shew that this State is, at any rate, not far behind New England in the general diffusion of knowledge; upon which the morals of a people mainly depend : "A Republican Government is certainly most congenial with the nature, most propitious to the welfare, and most conducive to the dignity of our species. Man becomes degraded in proportion as he loses the right of self-government. Every effort ought therefore to be made to fortify our free institutions: and the great bulwark of security is to be found in education-the culture of the heart and the head-the diffusion of knowledge, piety, and morality. A virtuous and enlightened man can never submit to degradation; and a virtuous and enlightened people will never breathe in the atmosphere of slavery. Upon education we must therefore rely for the purity, the preservation, and the perpetuation of Republican Government. In this sacred cause we cannot exercise too much liberality. It is identified with our best interests in this world, and with our best destinies in the world to come. Much indeed has been done, and we have only to cast our eyes over the state, and rejoice in the harvest which it has already yielded. But much more remains and ought to be done. And the following statement is exhibited with a view to animate you to greater exertions. "The number of children taught in our common schools during the last year exceeds 400,000, and is probably more than onefourth of our whole population. Ten thousand three hundred and eighty-three have been instructed in the Free and Charity schools in the city of New York, a number by no means proportioned to the wants of its population. The students in the incor The word piety, as here used, has no reference to religious dogmas, but those sacred duties we owe to our country, to our kindred, and to mankind; in the due performance of which consists the true and only means of serving the Supreme God of Nature.-J. F. porated academies amount to about 2,683, and in the colleges to 755. "The fund for the common schools may be stated at upwards of 1,739,000 dollars; and its annual income at 98,000 dollars, to which may be added the interest on the future sales of lands and on the disposal of escheated property, the proceeds of which latter item may be added to the capital. "However imposing this fund may appear, it is sufficiently obvious that it ought to be augmented. This state is capable of supporting fourteen millions of inhabitants. This appropriation will therefore soon be found far behind the progress of population and the requisitions for instruction. "Deeply impressed with the momentous nature of this department of our social policy to the cardinal interests of the state, I cannot withhold one important fact derived from past experience. Of the many thousands who have been instructed in our Free schools in the city of New York, there is not a solitary instance known of any one having been convicted of crimes. In furtherance of this invaluable system, I recommend to your consideration the education of competent teachers on the monitorial plan, its more general introduction, and the distribution of useful books. "The great object of a good government is to secure the greatest happiness of the greatest number under its care. For this purpose, those arts and pursuits which minister to the sustenance and comfort of man, elevate his character and excite his virtues and talents into activity, must be cherished with a solicitude proportioned to the importance of the end to be attained, and to the means of accomplishment. Four-fifths of our population are cultivators of the soil. On agriculture we must depend as the main source of our welfare. Its natural connection with manufactures, trade, commerce, navigation, and the useful arts, is well understood. And the united influence of these great departments of human industry, consitutes the wealth, the power, and the prosperity of nations." The following report of cases at a Court of Sessions of the Peace in Philadelphia, as inserted in a newspaper, July, 1824, is not, perhaps, on this occasion, unworthy of notice, viz. : "It is stated in the Philadelphia Gazette, that the Grand Jury of that city had found but six bills since the month of May last, and these six were all that had been submitted to them. The jurisdiction of the Court comprehends a population of at least 140,000 inhabitants,-Five of the bills were for burglary; the sixth charged a young woman with concealing the death of her illegitimate child. Of the burglary cases, but two were convicted, and neither of the felons belonged to the district, or even to the country." Although these facts are not sufficient data on which to found a general rule, still they tend, in a degree, to confirm the opinion, commonly entertained in this country, that fewer crimes are committed in this republie, than in the monarchies of Europe, among an equal number of inhabitants; and that ofthose committed here an undue proportion is chargeable to foreigners. Thus, Sir, have I corrected some of the errors of Mr. Cobbett, and endeavoured to inspire you with a better opinion of our social virtues than you appeared to entertain. Which, I have no doubt, you will receive with the same good feelings as influenced me in the undertaking. If I have said any thing in this communication that bears with more severity on your government than it merits, I should be sorry for it; but I feel confident that facts will support my assertions. With great esteem, your obedient servant, JNO. FELLOWS. LETTER FROM THOMAS PAINE TO ELIHU PALMER. DEAR FRIEND, Paris, Febuary 21, 1802, since the I received by Mr. Livingston the letter you wrote me, and the excellent work you have published. I see you have thought deeply on the subject, and expressed your thoughts in a strong and clear stile. The hinting and intimating manner of writing, that was formerly used on subjects of this kind, produced scepticism, but not conviction. It is necessary to be bold. Some people can be reasoned into sense, and others must be shocked into it. Say a bold thing that will stagger them, and they will begin to think. There is an intimate friend of mine, Colonel Joseph Kirkbridge of Bordentown, in New Jersey, to whom, I wish you would send your work. He is an excellent man, and perfectly in our sentiments. You can send it by the stage that goes partly by land, and partly by water, between New-York and Philadelphia, and passes through Bordentown. I expect to arrive in America in May next. I have a third part of the Age of Reason to publish, when I arrive, which, if I mistake not, will make a stronger impression, than any thing I have yet published on the subject. I write this by an ancient colleague of mine in the French Convention, the Citizen Lequiniot who is going consul to Rhode Island, and who waits while I write. Yours, in friendship, THOMAS PAINE. "The Principles of Nature."- Editor. |