The Sun.
London, England, 1818-12-23 00:00:00

A'I'ION.

This subject is so interesting 'to the middling
,end lower classes -throughout the 'United King-
ilonr, that we feel it our duty to extract the f(il.
Towing letter from The (DOldin) Correspondent of
the 17th inst. and we subjoin the 'observations of
-thejndicious Editor.. The letter is stated to hare
'been written by a young man of a very res;rect-
t!hle family in Sometsetshire, who was misled by
111 r. lIIIMBECK'S illusive assert;ons

"Phdadelpbia-, 'Oct. 17, 1818
" I informed you in my last, from Pittsburgh,.
An.. I, that we were that far on our way to Birk-
heck's Settlement, which we have since visited,
and which I shall presently describe. Mr. J. I'.,
felt', and three other voting men, left that place
in a surd! boat, 14 feet long; coly in that month,
end. proceeded do, rt tie Ohio for Cincinnati; the
watt., at that time, untortuna!,ely,lor Its, was very
shallow, which obliced us to he continually row-
ing—, ;11'11 work, especially to us, who were 1.311
r(111:110 ed %%itl, the alt of rowing and. of 1:11
11,11,4 a 11011. 'Flue siews down the vivv,r t.t first
'mere gland, hitt the high mountains on each
side like river, covered with trees, prcseated great
sameness of scenery. "Die weather was very
.I Al th, and ill au open boat tee wrr,e uxposed to
all it, (nice. There ate many small towns on its
b-.ks, some thriving, others the contrary. 'Pie
number of boats, arks, and craft of different de-
s.ctiptioms, is really snrptit.ing—sonw in a tiading
capacity, others (I.ke our own) conveying emi-
grarits to the went. We did not reach Cincinnati
till 113 Id been on 114 c water eleven days, ro-os
a lone. time, an we bete obliged to sleep on the
ground seven nights. 11'e made a good tire, and
laid down, Indian-like,. wrapped up iu our great
emit,. In the mot"ning we resumed our daily la-
bour, refreshed by our night's repose.
. " our at-rival at Cincinnati, I waited on
Al., who received its kindly, and accom,tio.
'dated is till we proceeded further 'west. He has
nice house, and good, business—a general mer-
chant. Cincinnati is a fine thriving place,. the
neatest 1 have seen %vest at Philadelphia. Were
a merlianic. I would settle there. It seems full
of bustle, and is, I believe, as healthy, as any
r;,,rr of the Western Stales, hut at present it dues
'Rot meet my views. We left it in August 21, on
horseback,. having purchased two horses and
etiniptairnts, for about ninety dollars, each of us.
Our tonte was through Indiana, a very young
State, the road principally through woods of large
extent, and in some places very boggy. tVe had
to lord many creeks. The tinthvr is the stoutest
I have seen in America, or elsewhere ;. the soil of
black rich nature, a. kind of clay. The objec-
tions to 111.13 State are, the :want of good water,
as well as the sickliness of its inhabitants., occa-
sioned by so much stagnant water. The con tory
-in general is level, and there are several irnprov-

ing town.
The day after our leaving Cincinnati, we fell
in ‘vitli two Gentlemen who were going to Bit k-
heck's, one of them from 14ogland, thc other front

Ireland : this made our party strotig, four in
nomb.,r. We reached 11140:noes on the 29th, a
dull I,l4ce'; the iithahitaws appear to be a mixture.
of Indians and Fieueli. I si.w here several In-
dians with their stra.ws, having their children at

their backs ; some at the men are looking,

bar they tlistiotre themselves, with paints, &c.:—
NVe tound, Ott Our arrival here, that llirkbeck's
Settlement lay shout GO wiles south-west of us,
anti that we should have to travel principally over
prairie land, which was an agreeable change, we
having rode two hundred miles through forests,
&c. AVe reached Billtheck's Settlement the se=

cond (lay after leaving Vinccniles, about four
o'clock i►► the afternoon. Prvvious to ow arrival

at his prairie, We had seen 4od travelled over some
very fine land, but nithealthfully situated, and void

0f spring water. These disadvantages, we had
reason to expect, Ilirkbeck Lad guarded against,
but he seems to. labour under the ti.N.IIIC disadvan.!

tages as his neighbours. He appears to be a. very
reserved kind of being. On our arrival, at his
Cabin we made known our business, and presented
rqters inirodoction. The reception Acre 'pet
with WAS very. cool. He lives in a small log cabin.
There is a long row of cabins for his labourers.

His cabin being so very swat, he told u 3 he could
not accommodate strangers, but a cottage about a
mile distant won-W. We reached this cottage late

in the evening : 'e could pi acute no grain for our
lorses, and were obliged to reed them with rough

grass : hard fare after Ruch a journey. Our, fare
was not much better. This family consisted of a,

man, his wife, five children, two lodgers, and,
with ns four., made thirteen persons, who were to

lodge in one small room.
" The next morning we called at the Setile-
mew, and found two young men goiog over: the

bind Bit kheck has to dispose of, and we accom-
panied them tht.ough (-heir day's excursion. 1419
bind in general is not of the first quality, a great

f!ral is vet prairie. 11 do not think he has tna►le
a jtidicions choice. He has not yet any very re-
t►pectable settler., except those that came over
with him ; neither do 1 think he will have. He

ltas greatly ,tritrepresetved to a Settleu►eut. The
land is not of the first quality—nn spring water,
well water not good, no mill within ►uar!y miles,
and the country in general unhealthy. No good

Bite fora town, nor convenience for machinery at
a future day ; and acid to this, he and Flower are

Nt variince, anti never speak to each other.--

Flower left a wife in Engiatul, hut since his re-
finin; in this country has married the young.
woman Birkbeck brought out with him !!! The

Settle►nent will do but fur a tew characters ; we

came away disgnsted with it altogether, and sorry
to think so many of our countrymen Will probably

be deluded by his fake publications. The Western
States are not calculated for an Englishman who

his known any thing of society : they will do
only for the labouring class, and poor farmers,
with hrge families, accustomed to hard labour;
but even these he at a lose. Europeans
know not how to handle tire axe as an American
does., nor can they suffer so many privations with

patience.
A person that settles in this back country

MAIM be table to 'handle li*rs Axe, 151tittl his Cann,
fence his land, plant his Corn (Indian), prepare
it for the mill, carry i 20 or 30,iniles to he-ground,
do every 'requisite !About- vn bi 4 land. His
tvile must. spin, knit, weave, make her husband's
cloches and her own, rind also butter and-cheese.
liirkbeck is quite wrong with tesPec't to labourers;
there tire none to he relied on. We htvre con-
anted not to settle in the West, until it is more
thickly populated. Bihotts fevers and a:zites are
very prev.iltut in the States of Ohio, Indiana,
&c and often fatal to ne.v hettlers.—

Front Bilkbeck's we yet oroed by our fottno- route
to 'Cinciniv4ti, at which place our Irish friend was
attacked by a bilious fever; vve cool(' pot titiok of
leaving hint behind ; -and we were (Hayed eleven
days before lie cool!, proceed with us"

With what troth Mr. Birkbeck and other writers
of the sante stamp have depicted the. United
Stites, our readers can noN imlge! That it is de•
sitahle to reduce our p csctit reduudarit population
'by migration, admits of little doubt ; but that
Our countrymen should be misle4l by the publica-
tions to which me allude, and induced to prefer
the bark settlements of America to the ,advan-
tages to he detirol from emigrating to the Colo-
tries lreir 'Mother Country, which possess not
•
only every thiug desirable, in poiut of soil and
'climate, that is to be found on the banks of the
Ohio or the Swequeatook, but where they would
411 the political inivileges of the 11.ritish
Cotk st i rut ion, is a cirenustance most deeply to be
regrettrd.