Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1831-07-30


Der of the Christian Examiner; it has all allusion
to our own happy and Furnishing country: let it
be read and judged of:
I" Here is community, we are accustomed to
say, free, hourishing, and prosperous, beyond cx.
ample; there never was country in which all
men, from the highest to the lowest. from the
richest to the poorest, could be more independent
And yet if we were to travel over this same ia
vored land, and were to enquire into its real con-
dition; if not satisfied with Ene landscapes, and
furnishing fields, and goodly dwellings, and the
appearance OF well'clad citizens, we were to In.
qure into the state of property, and the degree OF
real independence and comfort that prevail we
should hc; astonshed at the appalling amount and
distressing burden of pecuniary obligation. we
should find an almost incredible proportion OF
the community laboring under this load anu
pressure Debt, universal debt, would meet U.s.
wherever we turn our eyes. The farmer owes
the trader; the mechanic owes for the raw mate
rial; the trader owes the importer. In many
districts the country traders will testify that
considerable proportion of the debts contracted
for what are considered the necessaries OF lite,
lie unpaid for two or tbree years, and they
lie. in the shape of MORTGAGES upon real estate.
We have been in some Of the most beautiful town
ships IN New England, and have been amazed,
on inquiry, to find that half of the farms IN them
were under mortgage.
Nov there are several causes to be as
signed. doubtless, for this extraordinary state OF
things; but one distinct and prominent cause un-
auestionabv is to be found in that state of poll
teal equality which we are considering. 1t Gre
ates large unproductive class. in the female
members of innumerable families IN the country.
The daughters of our substantial farmers las
they arc caed) can not 90 out to service 1t would
h. DEGRADATION, as they would deem 1t. Mean
while the cheapness of the fabrics that are sent
out from our manufactures, has superseded the Ia
bors of the loom and the distaif, Spinning and
knitting are absolute tolls. And the abOrs OF
only one or two can contribute any thing to The
support of the famly.-At the same time, tins
non producing is by no means non.consumins
class.-as the bills Of the merchant show, to say
nothing Of that grossei part Of the account, which
the granary and the cellar have to render
ut is perfectly evident that farmers. with mo-
derate means, must go down under this burden,
They do go down by thousands. And what Is
infinitely the most to be regretted. they go down
in character. They lose heart and courage. he
mortgage that lies heavily upon their estates, lies
heavily. as an incubus, upon their minds. they
often sink under il to Incidence, vice and rum. !"
The people of this country are taught, and We
~ properly too, to detest the character OF Don
Miguel the tyrant of Portugal. and to wish for
---.r-ugr-vr7--r--fhis government The New
York Courier, when advertins to the late FOREIGN
awe should not be astonished if the msrue
of Don Miguel in Portugal, is fast drawing to a
close His iniatuaiion in refusing to France the
PREPARATION she demands, the increasing strength
of the Constitutonalists III the Azores, the op.
perfume arrival of Don Pedro in England. and
of his wife in France, will. it is not unlikely.
lead to the restoration Of the Emperor of Bra.
ziI, to the crown of Portugal. By our last &C.
counts from France, the official paper. the Moni.
teur, speaks in decided terms of the determine
ton of the government to exact justice from Por-
tuga, and other journals argue on the facility
with which that country might be invaded by
sea. England not opposinsit. 1t seems that oil the
arrival Of the French cruizer in the Tagus. who
was Instructed to obtain satisfaction from Don
Miguel, he evaded giving it, and that her COM
mander, in consequence, imediately captured
a Portuguese Corvette, which has arrived at
Brest. A part of the French squadron remain.
ed off the port, and made themselves masters of
all vessels entering under the Portuguese flag,
whilst another part proceeded to Tercera to cap
ture the Portuguese cruiZers Oft that Island
The French subjects who had been so ignomin-
ousy treated by Don Miguel. were still, it is said,
incarcerated in Lisbon, in damp nnwholesome
dungeon. II may he thought extraordinary that
Miguel should thus pertinacously refuse repara-
ton to France, while he but few short days be-
fore, so tamety submitted to the terms dictated
to him BY England; but a slight acquaintance
with the character of the people. sufficiently ac-
counts for this seeming Inconsistency. The
part of the population Of Portugal who possess
any knowledge Of men and things beyond their
own immediate sphere, are TO a man constitu-
tionals,s. and of course secluded from the coun-
sells of Miguel. the remainder in their Ignorance,
still consider England as the power who for a
period far longer back than their limited know
ledge can well carry them, dictated to Portugal
whatever terms she thought proper, and extend
ed over that country when her interest required
it, the Egis of her powerful protection. Submis.
sion to her. therefore, they thong was dictated
BY interest and necessity Of France. under the
present order of things in Europe, their ideas
or. verx imnerfpct and II Is very eyidant tb,t