Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-06-23


presented itself, il wero suddenly to their ina OIL
nations, as most peculiar important, and hitherto
comparatively unknown region. Ru. from the time
mat have been led more particularly to reflect on the
western country, IN it, social relations to the rest of
Tie Cnion have felt irresistible desire 10 under
stand, from personal observation the s,uDendous work
ot human advancement which is here goinr on and of
winch the history OF mankind certainly affords no
o''ier example. cannot but think i, the most in
teFesting subject of contemplation which the world
ut present affords Apart from the Grand natural
features OF the scene the aspect OF pouulo,, towns
Sprn@ing Ike an cxhaaton from the s1--u! Il va
GAM or savage wilderness transmitted, III gencr
aiioil, into thirllly inhabited teryt9rv-must GER
AMY nppcn rs strongly to the iDquisitivc mind as
'hc sight ct crumblin9 towers, OF prosrac columns
ut cities once renowned and powerful ted,icci To mi
SCRABBLE rims, and crowded prayincrg turned into d..
seres. While these latter o'iccs are thought sniii-
cent To reward the traveller for distant pilgrimage
to foreign countries hn may We'll be pardonua Tor feed
ing huiscit attracted blythe Opposite spectacle which
Is presented to him NJ homea scene, not Of decay
but ot tce'ninG fife; Of Improvement a!n.st too rapl
to seem the result vi human MEANS.
Ii is remark often quoted OF celebrated foreign
Statesman tIaiIeyrand.) that America presents
yon travel westward, III point of space the same
succession OF appearances, which may be traced in
Europe as you go back in point of times that you
move from the coast towards the interior this con
tien! you pass through those siagcs OF civilization
WHICH! are found III Europe as you follow its history
back - the primitive ares. five take the aboriginal
tribes ot continent into the r:rver there is some
foundation 10. the remark, but applied 10 our own
population, j. Is rather ingenious than solid l'hc
scene presented ~ oar Western country IS not that
ii hartarouS race, growing up like the primitive
tribes OF Europe, into civilized nations, butt the III?
lorc interesting because he orc Eaplial. Intelligent
progress oi civilized people, extending Sl.t through
o'le into the hidden rcccssCs Of he forest The tray
r!!cr, who pcnctrates Thousand or tyo thousand
miles from the coast to the interior may find, it is
rle, tho log ut OF the iigs settlers, he may find
witha the limits of Philadelphia md New York. aye
oil Paris or london, many wrctchcd lovel far less
ctNu;nodous; bat ne will also find here substantial
dwellings; spacious, even magnificent lngpsious-hp
ahodcS ri competence aud oi abundance
tch BIZ ali the inicatiops ot The improved arts OF life.
i have earne'l, 90 my establishment, that within
twenty years the city of Nashville has grown up,
from mol exceeding fur OF five brick HOUSES, ir its
present condition, large, nnuous. and thriving
capital, the mart If great AMI increasing commerce,
exhibiting, tor the number of IT'S inanbnants,
ny costly edliices os any city in the Union. The log
houses lave disnppearcd, not in he lapse Of two
tiiotis nd or even two hundred ycnrs, bun ia the
lapse OF twenty ycars-the primitive forts of the old
h'nters gone, nc, by The decay II age, but in the
pro aress of society for single generation. Far
wc0r from Tic Coast we walk oa!uad anC find
saves not III the rude infancy of society, bat III the
,i!st o its urtsits refnc.nents, and its cl.,ganceE
;tc product not OF centuries, but OF the life OF
, rnan.-We told that
~ thousand years sra1cc srrre - foru, Stale
"An hour may lay i, In The duat"
! The reverse snfG;s elrIast trte. While we cau-
template in fnroFr3 the fate ofii7yduus, ttat liays
hccn totariny for GEES the bfin. OF decay, slowly
dying for 4 Thousand years, we behold repub-
lies rising into maturity within hr experience of
generation. We're they not countryuc;, orr "a
iicrs; did not the grey hairs OF few surviving We,
terans carry conviction to minds, cuid scarce
credit the narrative Of the pioneers al the western
settln@chis 1t was not Ill! i7G < that even Daniel
! Boone, whose fight from Wilderness wilderness
forms sort OF icgira In the west nude his appear
Gnce in East Tennessee. The first ccsson al land
Il ,I.1,T
older date than April, 1913, nnmcntous month,
if the great order Of events in the Connirs pro
gfess required, that Simultaneously ~ the blow was
struck, which gave Independence TO America, flia
portals OF the western mountains shotd be thrown
opcu 20 lie. SONS, who had hitherto been forbidden.
by authority from the Grown, to extend their settle
Tnenis beyond the Ohio. An those high spirited al
yrnurers cannot have passed OF the stare, gho mn.
vcd forward at n head of the column Of The first cn-
grants. 1t is related that in the year 100 not n
white man found settled ON the Tennessee or the
Cumberland, b party who, in baty ear, descdndcd
these rivers. The popali0n OF the tatc at t,, irr,-
SJut period, cannot be less than GEO, 0DQ.
But it is not merely the rapid growth or tic wuS-
ern settlements into populous STATES, that SIR
prses the traveller from the carst. For tits
growth ne ms, he prepared, because he finds it sch
down in the statistical tables OF the country and he
CAUSE mere matter Of figures, he cnnnot hit
comprehend it. That which strikes him with aston
isluicnt s the advanced state Of the conlmrlntv-
The social Improvement which nc witnesses. lie finds
This great regi3il abounding not merely with fertile
lands, bht with highly cultivated FARMS ljl!cd not
with wild hunters bat with sib.iautial ycorran7y.
Tic forests are iutorspcrscd, like the regions he has
left with villages active with all the arts Of life ITt
dcsc@nds the mighty rivers i'll o1re If tlrosg floating
castles, half warehouse and half puhcc, which tie
genius Of Fulton has launched Oh al orr watcfs
built here III greater numbers than III c cast, 4 with
a least equal nnHgnifccncc and On these rivers he
} finds from Pittsburg dowr q New ONcg1s, n sue
ccsson of large towns surpassed only by a few ri
the Atlantic cities; growing fast into Ttvairy with
some oftenl; but in all the rehnrnCnts ri life and
IN Nil the institutions that adorn the nature OF socfa
} intellectual, moral and religious man.
} Such sCpcclaclc cannot be contemplated witt
OFT mingled feelings of asonislmcnSand qualification.
am sure you will pardon nc for adding, that It on
; hauces the pleasure with which Of New Eng-
land conteTplatcs it, to find that among those who
have s~clled the numbers Of this great family who
have come not merely to share Jour prosperity, but
in former Gavs TO uartabe inc more doubtful fdrt1lrs