State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1831-1836, 1836-11-15
TRIBUTE no THE NORTH.
BY SENATOR PRESTON.

lII0 lllC IulllOhNl va NibilbUf lhcN3 I
drew striking contrast between
the difference OF character Of the (
Northern and Of the Southern parts
Of the Union. and the consequently
opposite condition of the countries
that they inhabit.
He said that no Southern man can
Journey, Gas he had lately DONE
through the Northern States, and
witness the prosperity, the industry,
the public spirit, which they exhibit
tile sodulous cultivation of all
those arts by which life is rendered
comfortable and respectable-with-
out feeling a deep sadness and
shame, as he remembers his own
neglected and desoate home. There
no dwelling is to be seen abandoned,
no farm uncutvated, no man idle,
no waterfall, even, unemployed
Every person and every thing per-
forms part towards the grand re
suit, and the whole land is covered
with fertile fields, with manulacto-
ries, and canals, and rail roads, and
public cdiiices, and towns and cities.
Along the route of the great New
York canal Chat glorious monument
of the glorious memory Of De Witt
Clinton) a canal, a railroad, and u
Turnpike, each of them crowded
with travel, or overlooking with COM
mcrce. Throughout their course,
lands that before their construction
would scarcely command five dol
lars the acre, now sell for fifty,
seventy-fve, or a hundred. Passing
along il, you see no space of three
miles without town or village, and
you arc never out Of the sound Of
church bell.
We Of the South are mistaken in
the character Of these people, when
we think Of them only as pcddlers in
horn hints and wooden nutmegs.--
Their energy and enterprise are di-
rected to all objects, both small and
great, within their reach. At the
fall of scanly rivulet they set up
their little mandatory Of wooden
buttons or combs-and on its top
they erect a wind mill, Thus at a
single spot you may see the air, the
earth and the water, all working for
them. But at the same time the
ocean is Whitened to its cXtrcmilies
with the sails Of their ships, and the
land is covered with their works Of
art and usefulness.
Massachusetts is perhaps the most
fiourishing Of the Northern States.
Yet of natural productions she eX-
ports but two articlcs-gronite and
ice. absolutely nothing but roci
and ice Every thing else Of her
commerce, from which she derives
so much, is artifcial--the work Of
their own hands.
All this is done, in region with
bleak climate and sterile soil, by
the energy and intelligence of the
people. Each man knows that the
public good is his individual advan-
tage. The number ofrailroads and
other modes Of expeditions inter
communication, knits tic whole
country into closely compacted
mass, through which the produce
tons of commerce and of the press,
the comforts of life and the means
of knowledge are universally diIus
cd while the close intercourse Of
travel and business makes all men
neighbors, and promotes common
interest and common a sympathy.
In community thus connected, a
single flash of thought pervades the
whole land, almost as rapidly as
thought itself can fly. The popu-
lation becomes, as it were, single
set of muscles, animated by one
heart and directed by a common
censorlum.
How different the condition of
things in the South Here, the face
of the country wears the aspect OF
premature old age and decay. No
improvement is seen going on
nothing is done for posterity-no
man thinks of any thing beyond the
present moment. Our lands are
yearly tasked to their utmost capaci-
ty OF production, and when exhaust
ed are abandoned to the youthful
West. Because nature has been
prodigal to us, we seem to think it
unnecessary 10 do any thing for
ourselves. The industry and skill
1 a. L. ~