The Yazoo City Whig and political register. (Yazoo City, Miss.) 183?-1840, 1840-01-03
Fyo0e the .Ne,o orleans Bullelin
The Merchant.


The Merchant.
i What are these merchants, that the ener-
oies of great and powerful government
lshouid be strained to overwhelm and blast
them? In what way does their business or
their prosperity interfere with the general
i happiness that they are thus trampled down
and oppressed Are they enemies TO pub
lie liberty, whom the executive is called
upon to destroy? Are their employments
reasonable, that the administration press
mock at their misery and deride their des-
pair? The government, that should protect,
is waging ruthless war upon them ; and
| the myrmidons of power rend the air with
their shouts, as the honest tradesman sinks
beneath unprovoked persecution, and the ac-
cumulated pressure of the times. Are they
not men, that their suferings awaken no
Isgmpathy. Are they not citizens, that the
government treads upon and grlnds them in
| the dust Who are they, that there is no
compassion for their woes, no commiseration
for their anguish?
Let the honest citizen turn from the pur-
chased ribaldry of the loco foco press, and
read the history of the merchant, as it is in
scribed upon the pages Of human meliora-
/ ton. He need not go back to the period
when mercantile enterprise erected a Pal
myra in the desert, or an Alexandria upon
! the sands of the sea shore. Let him look
abroad upon the world as it is, and answer
the questions which the monuments Of civil
lization are perpetually suggesting TO his
mind. Turn in any direction he may, ne
will find the earth streWed with the noble
evidences of mercantile energy and intelli-
gence. He will find that cities are built up
and beautifed by merchants he will learn
that their enterprise has penetrated the re-
hottest regions, carrying the light of learn
ing and religion to realms but yesterday
unknown to civilized nations that he has
1 whitehead the ocean with canvass, in collect
ing the harVesis, and rich fabrics Of distant
attitudes, for the comforts and convenience
! Of his fellow men that he has braved I" the
accumulated cold of both the poles" in car
Trying his country's flag to regions of per.
petual winter; that he has 10 encounter the
perils Of the sea, the inhospitality of eli
/ mates and the danger of infected districts,
in distributing the fruits of the soil amongst
the people of the earth, and bringing back
in return the productions of many nations.
He pours into the lap of his country the
manufactures of Europe and the spices of
Arabia; the ivory of Africa and the tissues
of the East.
Look for moment at the actual progress
our country had made, and was making, in
civilization and wealth, until she fell into the
snares Of loco-focoism. Who has crowded
our rivers with those magnificent floating
palaces, which, defying the resistance Of
currents and the power of adverse winds,
'walk the waters" as if endowed with In
telligence, annihilating space, and bringing
distant places into close proximity The
merchant. Who is it that has penetrated to
the sources of the great Father Of Waters,
bringing back the furs of the north, opening
to the industrious wide field for exerton,
and adding to the stock Of human informa-
ton intelligence of an unexplored and saw
age country? The merchant Let the ho-
nest inquirer 60 through the cotton districts
of the southland behold the vast possess
: sions redeemed from the wilderness and
made to blossom as rose, through the Gre
dit and resources Of the merchant, and
league with his oppressors if he can. Let
him stand upon our wharves, and contem-
plate the innumerable vessels which have
brought to our shores the wants and luxu-
ries of life, filling the public Golfers with inn
posts and the country with plenty, and curse
the merchant, if he dare.
Can the citizens of New Orleans look
upon those noble structures which are at
once the pride and ornament of the city
the Merchants Exchange, the splendid edi-
fees of st. Charles ard ST. Louis, and the
| Verandah, and federate with their enemies?
The merchants have also supplied the city
with water, and lighted it with gas. They
distribute charities with liberal hand, and
obey the calls of distress with aIacrity. They
wants of the needy and the necessities of
the sick, are supplied by their generosity !;
and if, in thus contributing to the behest of
agriculture, the embellishments Of cities,
and the happiness Of Others, they have en-
dangered their own peace of mind, Gallons
indeed must be The heart that could rejoice
at their misfortunes or aggravate their griefs.
Turn from the presented to the persecu-
tors. Who arc they9 At the head of them
stands Martin Van Buren-a man who has
never YET originated measure for the adj
yaneement of society q the promotion Of
the general good-whose public career has
been marked BY no peculiar feature save
dupIicity, and has exhibited no resources
except cunning-whose public career has
been marked by no peculiar feature save du-
plicitg, and has exhibited no resources ex-
cept cunDing-who has been foisted into
favor BY The Partially Of popular idol