The Massachusetts spy, and Worcester County advertiser. [volume] ([Worcester, Mass.]) 1825-1831, 1827-10-03
WHOLE No. 2s44.

: men, they pour down upon us to practice
;, upon new field the tricks which can no
!, longer avail them at home.
Another high crime with which the peo>
: pie On New-England are charged, is the
want of hospitality, virtue Justly held in
much esteem in Virginia, and on the pos
session of which we greatly plume our
selves-by the way, were our claims on
this subject less DANGEROUSLY set forth, 9TH
ers would more readily concede them.
1t is perhaps true that there is more of
thus feeling in Virginia than in New-Eng-
lanG, but 1t is due, strange though it may
seem, to the greater improvement there. In
every country, of which the population rs
dense, public houses for the accommoda-
tlon OF travellers are numerous, and there
Is consequently neither occasion nor excuse
Ior seeking the protection of private roofs
and not being expected little or no pro-
Vision is made for it. This state of things
is not peculiar to New-England: it is, and
ever has been common to every thickly pop
ulated country throughout the globe.
| In Virginia, Oh the other hand, where
the population is sparse, and where prop
erty is less equally distributed, frequent
drafts are expected to be made on the hos
pltality of the inhabitants, the landowners
not only have it in their power to entertain
LITERALLY, but the advent of a stranger is
hailed as a rare and joyous event which is
70 relleve the entertainer, for time at least,
from the lonely tediuLl of country life
Then is every faculty exerted, and every
possible means, moral and physical, put in
requlsltloa to render the house agreeable
to the visitor, and thereby induce him to de-
lay as long as possible his departure.
Should then our eastern brethren be
blamed for not possessing in as great de-
gree as ourselves a quality for which a.
mong them there is so little need? Indeed,
OF the countless numbers with which their
roads are covered, their must be many dis
honest persons, who, did such a custom
prevail there, would live upon the roads
for the purpose, rewarding their hospitable
entertainers by relieving them of part of
their valuables.
This view of the question, is respectfully
submitted to the consideration of our read
ers, IN the hope, that it may, at least, ex-
cite them to inquire calmly and carefully
before they condemn so large a portion of
their countrymen; and we will finish with
a remark made to us, some years since, by
a native OF Pennsylvania, a man whose sig
nal services have placed him deservedly
high In public estimation, and whom all
parties delight to honor. 81 have been,"
said he, into almost every country on the
globe-and having lived eight years in
Boston, can say with confidence, that
have never known any people so closely
resembling the Virginians in frank and I'M
reserved department. and disinterested and
boundless hospitality"
VESTRILoQUIsM In the last -! e
Stewards Philosophy of the Mind, the
author suggests an explanation of the de-
ception produced by ventriloquism, which
appears very simple and satisfactory. He
rldicules the supposition of the ancients
that it is nothing more than the faculty or
fetching a voice from the stomach, and
questions the modern theory, which at
tributes it to the power Of speakinR while
IN the act Of drawing in the breath. His
opinion is, that the inaginatioNs of the
spectators, when seconded by tolerable
powers of mimicry, may be so far render
ed subservlent to the purpose of ventrilo-
quism, as to account for all its phenomena
The ear may also he deprived of its usual
aid from the eye, in determining the local
situations of objects: and the ventriloquist
be thus enabled to initiate the signs Of
different directions, as well as of different
distances. The exhibition must be brought
under the cognisance of the car, by con,
cealing the motions of the lips: and it has
been observed, that these motions are gem
orally concealed by. ventriloquists. The
imagination must then be directed towards
the particular quarter from which tho
sound is supposed to procead; and Mr..
Stewart remarks, that he has sea persoa
direct the eyes of q whole company below
the table, by initiating the barking of q
lap-dog. In this way, strong degree of
resemblance GILL be produced: nor is it
necessary, that the resemblance should be
perfect, in order TO produce surprise and
wonder. The whole faculty, therefore,
consists in supperadding particular modi-
fcation of mimicry-that of the signs OF
distance-to the ordinary powers of mimicss
Tie most frequent imitation practised by
ventriloquists, is that of INSTRUCTED sounds;
such as the rafting of carriage in the
street, or the voice of person in an adioin.
ing apartment Rockingham Gazette.