The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-06-02

and his seris-the proud Ow ner of the land, nd
the slaves who cultivated it. There was no
such thing as freedom. The world was in that
delightful condition which Mr.. Fisher considers
the beau ideal Of posperty-that in which the
property of the country is owned by few, and
all the laborers are slaves. We have no doubt
that the averagb wealth Of all the individuals
who held property was far greater than it is
even in Virginia. The number Of landholders
was so delightfully."- small, that each one was
gloriously rich. Those who in countries that
have the misfortune TO contain free laborers,
have share CT the property, and thus diminish
the average wealth of each property-hoder,
and, according to Mr. Fisher, impair the gen.
eral prosperity Of the State, made themselves
useful by becoming property themselves. A
state of things existed which, according to Mr..
Fishers principles, ought to form perfect par.
adise. But historians, not being blessed with
the light that has burst upon Mr.. F., have CIV
en- us very unfavorable account of those
times. They give us gloomy pictures of degra-
dalton, and suffering, and vice. The proud noble
built himself castle, and made himself the
terror Of the surrounding country. The gloomy
castle, looking on the hill like stony hearted
demon, frOwned down every attempt at i'm
provement. 1t was ever before the eyes of the
serf, like Gorgon's head, chilling every aspir-
ing feeling into stone. Man was considered a
mere sppendage to the soil, gle6as GdseriytVs
The baron himself was a slave TO his land. In
the strong language Of Michelet,
eMan is attached 20 the ground; he has ia
ken root in the rock where his tower rises
Gland is man; TO it belongs true
personality Like person, it is indivisible; IL
must remain a unit, and pass to the eldest. A
person immortal, indifferent, pitiiess. it knows
neither nature nor humanity. The eldest most
possess it alone--what do say7 1t is he who
is possessed. The usages Of his land rule him,
this proud baron; his land governs him, imposes
upon him his duties; according TO the strong
expression Of the middle ages, he must serue his
lfIg."
The state Of things was sufficiently agrcul-
tural for perhaps even Mr.. Fisher. Society was
what devotion TO one idea made il. 1t was en-
velOped in the blacklist clouds Of ignorance and
vice. IL no other element had entered into it,
it would have remained in this condition for
ever. The vast majority of mankind would
have remained degraded slaves, the master being
himself slave.
All authors concur IN representing the cities
Of the middle ages the chief Instruments in
the removal Of these evils, and as the parents of
liberty and civilization. II was by means
of cities them" says Michelet, =" that liberty
was TO begin" Robertson, speaking of the in
stitution Of commu 1itiss, says:-"The good ef.
fects of this new institution were immediately
felt, and its influence ON government as well ss
manners was no less extensive than salutary.--
A great body of the people was released from
seryitude, and frem all the arbitrary and griey-
Gus impOsitjons to which that wretched condi.
ton had subjected them. Towns, upon acqulr-
ing the right Of community, became so many
little republics, governed by known and equal
( laws"
| Guizot shows that the democracy Of modern
times had it's origin in the cities. "The pre-
dominant charactero Of the modern corporation, -
says he twas democracy" He says that in
the eudal period, sit is in the country districts
that the lords, the masters Of the territory and
of power, live"
1t was not only upon the liberty of the cili-
zen but upon the state Of agriculture itself that
the cities exerted beneficial influence. Glib
bon speaking of the Giles of Italy, says Gun
der the protection of equal law, the labors of
agriculture and commerce were gradually re-
vived." "The progress of Cities" says Rotteck,
Il alao adv IL
had 10 furnish the citizens with the necessaries
of life, and the raw materials for the diff rent
trades" .....
We might quote from Hume and Hallam, and
indeed, increase the number of quotations in
definitely. We have brought these forward to
show that some men who have studied these
matters differ from Mr. Fisher. Though no
one of the authors whose language we have
quoted, may be possessed of abilities equal to
those of Mr.. F., we think their combined au-
thority Of some weight.
Mr.. Fisher himself, on the very same page in
which he is speaking oftbe tendency of cities ms
"fatal in the first place 10 liberty in govern
mcnti, and finally to Independence in nations"
mentions a fact which is directly contrary to
his positions. "Amongst the early white set
tlersof Virginia." says he, "were many of the
Cavaliers who had been driven into exile by the
triumph of the Roundheads and of Cromwell.
The Cavaliers were Of the country party ia
England; the cities and towns were msre gen.
orally devoted to the Roundheads." 1t is not
necessary for US TO say which of the two par
ties contained the friends Of liberty-the Caya-
Tiers, the supporters of the tyrant Charles, or
the Roundheads, who, whatever may have been
their errors, never faltered In the struggle for
liberty.
The principles Of Mr.. Fisher, if carried out,
would lead him to prefer the savage life to that
Of civilized society. He is, we suppose, dis
ciple of Jean jacques Rousseau. We are sure
that if his principles were to 60 into full opera
ton in the Southern States, unaffected by the
influence Of the rest of the world, these States
would lapse into harbarism. Build wall
around them-and somsappear to desire NOR.
al wall to be thrown around them--let com.
merce lie prohibited--Iet the mechanic arts be
expelled, and In short time they would present
darker picture than wan presented In the
dafkesi period Of the dark ages. There would