heaven, but her soul, weighed down by terror, was not yet penetrated by the faintest gleam of hope!" When the vice-queen approached, she raised her veil, and discovering her pale and emaciated face beaming with mercy, commanded the chains to be taken off the victims, and the flames to be extinguished. The air resounded with the acclamations of the Indians, "Long live the vicequeen!" Ximeo, rushing forward, exclaimed," She shall live!" Zuma, falling on her knees, "Almighty God!" said she, "finish the work thou hast begun!" The countess returned to the palace, followed by the blessings of the multitude, and accompanied by the objects of her exalted goodness. She believed in their guilt, however inexplicable, but she forgave them, and uttered their pardon with perfect sincerity, Zuma was almost distracted to explain the truth, but her husband commanded her forbear ance, believing that Providence would manifest their innocence. At this moment the viceroy, who had retreated to the country to avoid the execution, entered the apartment, bearing the child of Zuma in his arms, and followed by Ximeo. "You may now speak," said the father, addressing himself to Mirvan, "with the consent of all the Indians-the secret is revealed." A tender scene followed. The whole truth was related to the vice-queen, and the most ardent expressions of mutual admiration and gratitude, were interchanged by the Spaniards and Indians. The latter, touched by the generosity of the viceroy and the countess, presented the bark; Zuma drank of it first, and then presented the cup to the vice-queen. The viceroy did not fail to acknowledge the virtues of the Indians, to thank them for the gift of the salutary drug, and to promise them the rights and the protection which belonged to them as men and subjects. Zuma was celebrated by a public monument on the spot of her intended execution, and the precious powder was long known by the name of the Countess Bark. In this, as well as in all other historical subjects which she has chosen, Madame De Genlis has made the virtues to be found among the unworthy, and not their vices, the subject of instruction. Her philanthropic purpose must always be admired, but it may be feared that the true history of a Spanish viceroy has never exhibited justice or generosity towards the people of South-America. Of all the people of modern Europe, there exists not a nation whose general character and history is so revolting to the better feelings, as that of the Spaniards. From the time that they became the masters of South-America, until they were themselves the prey of an usurping despot, and even to this moment, their policy and conduct, their intolerant faith, and their benighted ignorance, so far behind the common march of the human mind, have furnished a partial argument against the general progress of intelligence; but we hope, notwithstanding, that their allies and their enemies together, have left some examples and principles among them, that may prove the germs of future improvement-of political wisdom and general knowledge-of liberal sentiment and active industry; and that Spain may serve to confirm, and not to damp those elevating expectations which it is so pleasing to cherish for all the human race. It is a singular fact, that, with a national history so odious, the fictions founded upon the manners of Spain are so agreeable. The inimitable romance of Cervantes, the lively narrative of Gil Blas, the first of modern epics, Roderick, a multitude of dramas and tales upon Spanish subjects, furnish to the imagination a banquet of exquisite variety and relish. "Zeneida, or Ideal Perfection," reminds us of Vanessa, in Swift's poem; and we learn from both, that these superhuman ladies, endowed by goddesses and fairies, are not quite so happy as those who feel and excite the sympathies of ordinary weakness. The other tales are about love, and may interest and instruct the young and susceptible. R. E. ART. 4. Sketch of the Internal Improvements already made by Pennsylvania; with Observations upon her Physical and Fiscal means for their Extension; particularly as they have Reference to the future Growth and Prosperity of Philadelphia. Illustrated by Maps of the Head-Waters of the principal Rivers of the State. By SAMUEL BRECK, one of the Members of the Senate of Pennsylvania, for the District composed of the City and County of Philadelphia. 8vo. pp. 43. Philadelphia. M. Thomas. 1818. "The object of this pamphlet is two-fold: "First-To endeavour to vindicate the aspersed reputation of Pennsylvania from the general accusation of indifference with regard to her internal improvements; and, "Secondly-To show the superior situation of Philadelphia, geographically considered, for the attraction of the great and increasing trade of the countries bordering on the Susquehanna, the Lakes, and the Western rivers." That an illiberal spirit of state rivalry has been in many instances indulged in our country, by other writers than editors of newspapers, cannot be denied; and how far the author of the "Observations on the Internal Improvements of Pennsylvania, and future growth of Philadelphia," has avoided just censure upon this subject, his readers can best judge from a perusal of his work. The author ought to have pointed out, in what publication, the citizens of Pennsylvania were considered entitled to either pity or contempt; because if any such expressions exist in any work published by a citizen of the United States, we have not been made acquainted with its contents. If Mr. Breck drew his allusions from the common sewer of European trash, which is annually pouring filth upon the heads of the people of the United States, he ought to have remembered that the poor Pennsylvanians only come in for their common share of this delectable discharge. The people of New-England, New-York, and Maryland, are blamed for penning their own praises; if these good folks have published their own panegyric, the circumstance would evince considerable vain glory; but a few more authors, similar to the writer of the "OB SERVATIONS," &c. would afford some proof that the esprit du corps was not confined to Boston, New-York, or Baltimore. Mr. Breck is entitled to credit for his statistical matter; and his tables would serve to redeem Pennsylvania from either pity or contempt, if a state, containing upwards of a million of industrious inhabitants, and such a city as Philadelphia, could need such redemption. This part of the Observations really deserve attentive perusal in every section of the United States: and it is much to be regretted that men, so capable of collecting valuable documents, should suffer their minds to be led away by their fondness for a preconceived theory. We believe the following expressions correct, and give our mite of applause to the state where such institutions, for the preven-tion and alleviation of human misery, are fostered: "For the protection of morals, promotion of virtue, and the advancement of the well-being of each and all of its inhabitants, Pennsylvania has enacted laws both numerous and efficient. For the punishment of vice, without unnecessary cruelty, or an indecent exhibition of the culprit, her code is ample and salutary. She is now engaged in perfecting a system of penitentiary punishment, which she originated, and which she has had the satisfaction to see adopted in both hemispheres. By a law of the last session, sixty thousand dollars were voted for the construction of a prison at Pittsburg, entirely upon the plan of solitary confinement. Each prisoner will have a cell eight feet by eleven, with a fireplace, door, window, &c. and in front a small yard of the same dimensions. The building is to be in the form of a circular castellated fortress, with a penopticon or look-out tower in the middle, from which will diverge eight walls, so as to divide the grand centre into eight compartments, which are again subdivided into twenty-five cells, and so constructed as to prevent, in case of rebellion, more than twenty-five convicts combining or uniting at one time for the purpose of escaping. It is to the ingenuity of Mr. Strickland, the architect, that we are indebted for the draught of this building; which was executed under the inspection, and by direction of Thomas Bradford, jun. Esq. whose disinterested zeal and useful labours on this occasion do him great honour. That gentleman, as well as all those who have observed the effects of solitude on the mind and on the behaviour of the convict, is intimately convinced of its never failing effect in subdning, after a short seclusion from the society of man, the most impetuous temper. What then may we expect after an absence of two or three years from that society! It is supposed that the worst dispositions will be tamed, and the basest habits corrected. The experiment is worth trying. At present, eighteen or twenty miscreants are crowded together, in one bed-room, where, by a constant recurrence to the events of their past lives, the vilest are confirmed in their wickedness, and the less hardened become incorrigible. A separation is essential to the health of their bodies and their minds; for solitude, with proper superintendence, will give corporeal eleanliness; solitude, with time, will frighten the criminal from sin! This law provides likewise for the sale of the Philadelphia Penitentiary, and gives authority to build another upon the foregoing principle." A practical lesson may be drawn from Mr. Breck's observations upon Agricultural Societies, which may benefit every part of the United States. We have always considered aggregate strength, wealth, and intelligence as necessary in agricultural as in any other human pursuit. The greatest difference that exists between the savage and civilized states of man is, that, in the former he is isolated, in the latter condition united in the prosecution of his designs of whatever nature. There is the same discordance between monopoly and associated operation, as between slavery and freedom; monopoly is the labour of many for the emolument of a few; well regulated society is the combination of force for the protection and happiness of the component parts individually. Mr. Breck observes, that "Unincorporated agricultural societies are becoming numerous in this and other states, very much to the profit of the community; and while I am upon this subject, I cannot deny myself the pleasure of paying to the Hon. Richard Peters, that tribute of praise which his example, his writings, and unwearied labours so justly entitle him to. Founder of the Blockley and Merion Society, of which he has been thirty years president, and at the head of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society; this very excellent rural economist has, by his zeal, intelligence, and address, spread throughout America every new discovery in the art of tillage. The four volumes of the Philadelphia Society, compiled and composed almost wholly by himself; his agricultural almanac, communications in the daily papers, and extensive correspondence with the British Societies, have awakened a curiosity, and created an avidity for books upon this interesting subject, which have led to the formation of libraries in the interior, that cannot fail to dissipate prejudice, correct bad habits, and introduce new and approved systems, to the incalculable advantage of the immediate neighbourhood in which they are established, and of the nation at large. Indeed, those benefits have been already extensively felt. The cultivation of artificial grasses, scarcely known in Pennsylvania thirty years ago, aided by that powerful stimulus, gypsum, which Judge Peters first brought into notice here, has trebled the value of our farms, aud added greatly to the general stock of wealth. If he who made two spears of grass grow, where only one grew before, is deserving of praise, how much do we owe to the man who has taught us to cover our fields with luxuriant clover, instead of the pestilential weeds which occupied them in our former fallows? The Hon. Judge Peters has done this, both by precept and by practice." The old fable of the quarrel between the head and hands, has been often brought to recollection both in Pennsylvania and New-York. That a separation of interest should exist between any state and its commercial capital, could only be believed possible from actual exhibition. We recommend the following reflections of our author to whom they may concern: "Some of my constituents suppose, with great injustice, I think, that there is a disinclination in the western section of the state to serve the eastern. During the four months which I sat in the senate, I saw no signs of such a disposition--no bad temper upon the subject--nothing in the least hostile to Philadelphia. On the contrary, one transmontane gentleman, alike distinguished for his influence and intelligence, and who resides at the extreme west of the state, gave with much patience, his time and his talents in aid and support of the Lehigh bill, which is, to all intent and purposes, an eastern bill; and by the success or defeat of which he could not have been affected in the most remote manner, since its object is to enable Messrs. White & Co to open the navigation of that branch of the Delaware up to the coal mines, in order to supply Philadelphia with fossil fuel; and the gentleman to whom I allude, represents the counties of Butler and Beaver, beyond the Alleghany mountains. No jealousy, no ill will was shown towards this city; nor was there the slightest difficulty to obtain any local laws, even for the exclusive advantage of our district, whenever its representatives were unanimously disposed to support such a law. If they differed among themselves, the gentlemen from the west and elsewhere exercised their judgments, as they were bound to do, and sided with which ever of our own members they thought right." Thus far our statist proceeds with good sense, and evidently considerable local knowledge; but, when anticipating the future greatness of Philadelphia, we are favoured with some poetic flights, which, for the satisfaction of our readers, we have transcribed. "When we are once able to attract to our wharves the produce of the Susquehanna, we command the trade of waters, which meander through more than half the state; of waters which interlock on the north with lakes and rivers running into Ontario and through the richest counties of the state of New-York; waters which have their sources and navigable tributary streams, within fourteen miles of those that run west; and by whose junction we open to ourselves a vast and ever-increasing trade, not only with all the fair, full-grown and numerous daughters of the Mississippi, but with that mother of rivers' herself, whose wide spread branches flow from every point of the compass, through hill and dale of inexhaustible riches; along mountains and deltas of every variety of soil; covering a country capable of sustaining two hundred millions of people! Between the Susquehanna and this vast territory only fourteen miles of land require to be cut, and if Philadelphia forms the link, which is to unite her to the Susquehanna, she may with ease and with cheapness, break down this fourteen mile barrier, and bring to the Delaware, by steam-boats and other water carriages, a great part, if not all this inland trade; and she may do it too, without the dread of a rival in New-York, Baltimore, or any other town. She will of necessity become the entrepot of this multifarious river-trade; her geographical position makes her such; she has nothing to do but to open the channel, and by the usual industry of commerce, appropriate to herself the countless treasures which will flow through it. A little more trouble, a little more cost, perfectly within her means, and Philadelphia can draw to her market likewise, the whole commerce of the great lakes above Erie, and to these northern, western, and northwestern sources, she must look for her future prosperity." "In discussing this great topic, I make no apology when I repeat what I have already said, for it cannot be too often echoed and re-echoed in every quarter of the city. Other places around us are awake to its momentous consequences, and are vigilant, as I shall by and by show, in laying plans for the possession of part, or the whole of this great traffic. But it is a trade which geographically belongs to Philadelphia, and she is only to will it in order to have it. It is a trade with regions boundless in extent and in future riches, and calculated, if properly cherished, to raise our city to the very pinnacle of commercial grandeur;-to the tinguished themselves as conspicuous marts; very first rank among those which have disit is calculated to stretch her limits even to the size of London, Canton, Calcutta ; nay, beyond that of any emporium on the globe! This is no enthusiastic flourish-no unnatural effort of thought. It is a safe calculation, grounded upon the positive wants and presumable industry of the millions who are destined to occupy the fertile country, which must, in the event of a communication being opened, resort to Philadelphia, as to their nearest and most healthful and convenient market; a communication which will give to us advantages so stupendous, that, in contemplating them, nature seems to outwork fancy. I will endeavour to illustrate this assertion :-Suppose the Schuylkill united to the Susquehanna; the only dividing point between the Juniata branch and western branch of that river and the Alleghany, will then be a distance of about fourteen miles. After passing this, at the two places pointed out in the accompanying maps, the whole western world is within our reach; and in order to show more distinctly the future destinies of Philadelphia, in the event of her extending these improvements to the Alleghany river, let us suppose the countries washed by the Ohio, Kentucky, Cumberland, Tennessee, Illinois, Wabash, Miami, Scioto, Muskingum, Mississippi from its junction with the Ohio to its source, Missouri 2800 miles up to the Great Falls, with its branches the Osage, Kanses, Laplatte, Yellow Stone, &c. each from 5 to 800 miles long: let us suppose the countries, I say, through which these vast rivers pass, to be fully peopled, and possessed of only two outlets; the one situate far to the south, and almost within the tropic, surrounded by an atmosphere constantly heated, without elasticity or healthfulness, and ungenial to the hardy constitutions of the north; the other standing in the temperate zone, with a route safe, salubrious, and equally short; could there be any hesitation in the choice? the one leading to the sickly mouths of the Mississippi, the other to the verdant and wholesome banks of the Delaware? the first to New-Orleans; the second to Philadelphia. Could there be any hesitation in the choice, I ask? No, not for a lock. The last runs into the Columbia; so Berwick, on the Susquehanna, 23 miles. From Sinnemahoning or Juniata, or both to the Alleghany, 14 Round the Great Falls of Missouri, 18 From Madison's river to the south fork of Lewis' river, near the south pass of the Rocky mountains, 20 75 "Is it soaring into the regions of fancy to suppose that, at a future day, our teas and silks will arrive from the River Columbia, through the Missouri, Ohio, Alleghany, Susquehanna and Schuylkill, to the Delaware, by safe and sound steam-boat conveyances? I think not. Nature has done her share, let art complete the work." To a man who is riding a Pegasus, distance is not of much concern; but as boatmen, poor wretches, seldom have the pleasure of being carried forward so easily, a difference of one half in their voy age is of some moment. Where Mr. Breck learned that it was no farther from the mouth of the Ohio, by water, to Philadelphia than to New-Orleans, we are at some loss to conjecture. Consult ing that matter-of-fact document, Melish's Map of the United States, it appears to be about 800 miles, down stream, from the mouth of the Ohio to New-Orleans, and double that distance from the same place of outset, mostly up stream, to Philadelphia. other city, could persuade the whole resi- We are led to make these observations from a wish to counteract the evil consequences of statements, of which the natural effect must be to produce false conclusions. It demands but a cursory examination of the locality of New-Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New-York, to convince an unprejudiced man, that each have natural advantages that must If the people of Philadelphia, or any remain permanent, as long as these cities VOL. IV.-No. r. 5 |