Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-12-25


shine of the soul, and whilst pariaking Of
the enjoyfhcnts of the season, have n hof-
err zest impaired to them by the rcco-
lection that they have contributed. in some
| measure, to alleviate the sufferings Of the
poor and destitute
''Dircct Tradc-A Chance for the
South"
This is the title of a Pamphlet which we
have just read with great interest. lis
publication seems to have been occasioned
by the recent Southern Conventions held
for the purpose ofpromohng Direct Trade.
1t is the production ola ready and accom-.
plished writer, and a bold and original
thinker, who unitcs TO devotion TO scien.
tlfic pursuits, the faculty orrandering them
subservent to great practical ends. 1t is
attributed and from hestylc and matter,
we doubt not. justly, to the pen of Lieut..
Maury, who has, of late, so rapidly risen to
distinction, acquiring. by his widely useful
labors, transatlantic fame not inferior TO
the envable reputation which he enjoys at
home.
The Pamphlet treats Of tho adaptation
Of Norfolk, by nature. TO sustain Direct
trade the causes which have produced
a diversion from Southern ports Of the
trade they once enjoyed, and the effects Of
this diversion ON the Northern States, to
which it has been directed. and then pro-
poses means by which the South may
yet repair the effects of its past iuaction,
andsetrieve its lost ground, by turning its
attention to the South rather than 10 Eu-
rope, and by taking the lead in the cfior,
to develop and to secure to itself the mag
nifcient commerce Of the great valley OF
the Amazon. The matter of the Pamrh.
let is SO interesting, and the suggestions ii
makes are SO well worthy the considcra-
ton ofthe people and the Government Of
the United States, and particularly of the
statesmen ofthe South, that we Propose
to lay before our readers a synopsis of its
contcnts.
Norfolk is in a position to have com
mandeJ the business of the Atlantic Sea-
board. 1t Is midway the coast 1t has a
back country of great fertility and re-
sources, and as to the approaches from the
Ocean. there is no Harbor from the st.
Johns TO the Rio Grandc, which has the
SAME facility Of ingress and cgress, at all
times and in all wea,hers. The waters
flowing by it into the Sea separate the
producing from the consuming-thc asii-
cultural from the manufacturing States of
the Atlantic slope, and they there Unite
the channels that lead from the famous re-
gions in the country for corn, wheat and
tobacco to the maris of COMMERCE.
The natural advantages Of the position
will be obvious to any one who will com
pare the back country of Norfolk with that
of New York. Tie country drafted By
the Hudson is all the back country which
naturally belongs to New York But the
back country of Norfolk is all that hich
is drained by the Chesapeake Bay-cm-
braced by line drawn along the ridge
between the Delaware and Chesapeake /;
thence northwardly, including all Of Penn
sylvania that is in the valley Of the Sus-
quchannah-all Of Mary land this side of
the mountaIns-ih valley oflhe Potomac,
Roppahannock, York and James Rivers
with the valley of the Roanoke and great
part of the State of North Carolina, hose
only outlet to the Sea is by way Of Nor
folk.
Virginia saw these advantages and slept
apoa MeW. Nature had placed them there.
and she did not dream that man could take
them away. But the enterprise Of New
York has taken them awny. The South
now wants to regain Der direct trade. We
do not wish to discourage the effort, great
as the odds against Norfolk now are.
for we know that there are men in the
South who have energy, enterprise and
capacity enough for anything that en-
ergy, enterprise and capacity can effect.
But let us first examine how the South
came TO lose the direct trade and the North |
to get it. We shall then know better how
to proceed aud what to do towards recov-
ering 1t,
The course Of navigation from Europc
used to be down the coast Of Africa
to the region ofthe North East trade winds
The ships ran with these winds to Char
lesion or the Capcs Of Carolina, or Virgin
ia, whence they took d Fl esh departure for
New York, Bostoh Or some other New
England port, and if they met a North
West gale or snow storm off New York
or Boston, as they often did IN " inter,they
would run back South and lay in Char
lesion until next Spring, waiting for good
weather ard fair opportunity for going
Northward again.
This made Charleston and Norfolk
relay station, and placed them on the com
mercial highway from Old to New Eng
land.
The existence Of the Golf stream was
known a long time before, but il was no, I
known that It's waters were warmer than
those of the adjacent Sea and it was not
known until 1916 '7tbatthc loneifudccould
be asccrtained from this difference often
pcrature by dipping thermometer into it.
When John Adams was returning in
French man-of war, the "Sensible," from
his Erst Inission 10 Eranne deg LII mt