The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1852-06-30

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y We have recently made frequent alusion tt
the centripetal tendency Of our population tt
The great cities. The law of gravitation apple,
las we'll to them as the orb that sustains them
xThsse sgglomerstions of men attract, with
4power proportioned to their magnitude vii
alage sends its attractive influence for given cir
&cle around the neighboring habitations ofthe
9county. The county capital exerts still strong
Ter andwider power. The allurements to city
Edraw with increasing potency; and q vast concen.
&traton OF men like the city OF New York, rami
es, with itsgravtating force, every city, village
and settlement, throughout the country. We
accordingly see all portions of the Union, we
might almost say Of the world, sending theiI
u(quotas to swell the census of New York. Bos-
ton, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans, Gin.
cnnati, and host of other cities, enforce
though in limited degree, the same lesson We
Bgaye, few papers back, the statistics of the
relative increase Of population in city and coun-
try, exhibiting the somewhat unnatural, and
We fear, unhealthful growth Of the former; for,
it is evident, that state of health implies Ger
tain relative proportion of inhabitants ia the
cities and in the country upon which the cities
rely This tendency city-ward, evidences, we
think, growing disrelish for that great basis of
a nation, the cultivation of the soil. The sturdy
'oho VI shO PiOubu toO bHuH2ly tomPtcu
from their fertile furrows-they too often leave
the rosy freshness Of the country air for the
pallid miasm of q city--tler brawny muscles
diminish under the slender physical exercise
their new employment calls for and a scanty
pittance rewards their efforts instead of the full
ness Of the farm. We are glad to see our city
lncrease beyond example, but desire to keep
it from becoming top-heavy, or out Of pro-
uportlon to the resources population, and employ.
ments Of the country from which it draws its
Ulife.
One would suppose that the pursuits of agri
culture presented advantages enough to retain,
: as votaries, thousands of those who now run
with eagerness to the taxes and perplexties of
city life. The noble labor, healthfu and nvg.
oratng-the self reliant and independent condi.
tion-the prominence which substantial farm
er has in the community in which he ives-the
fewer wants he is under the necessity of supply
ing-the interest with which he watches the
gradual unfolding and ripening Of fruit and
grain, and the multiplication and growth of
sheep and cattle--the absence of care-the ease
he feels in having no notes to pay--the satisfac-
ton he experiences in the reflection that he ia al
producer, entitled to his place amongst men,
instead of mere consumer, hanging to the
skirts of society-the greater harmony he main
tains mentally, morally, corporeally, with ALL
nature around him, really invest the employ.
ment Of an agriculturist with an importance, al
dignity, pleasure and desirability, that should
make the pale clerk, who breaks his breast over
= the portly ledger, the young attorney, who
swelters in the crowded courtroom the brokerl
whose varied feet pat the hard hearted pave
ment OF Wall-street, sigh for their "native|
health" But the charm is not to be resisted
They would rather serve in the city, than till
their own acres in the country. Visions of
speedy wealth float before their disorderedI
imagnstons. The eye of their hope rests on|
ingots of gold. and paatial mansions. The yer.
dure of the Fl, II is not grateful to their optics
They turn, instead, to the redness of bricks, for|
slightly comfort and congenality. They walk
under the perilous scnfiolding that overhangf|
our streets, rather than the protecting and broad
spreading oaks and naples of the fields
In the security of your farm, the upturned|
ground fills you with its salubrious magnetism
But here, in the city, you respre disease
8Odous gases regale you at every step. The|
: air is heavy with noxious smells. At the invi
tation of the sun, exhalatiOns are constantly ss.
lending from the reeking streets and turbid|
cutters, each reckoning hither some frightfulI
epidemic, too often responded to, sometimes by|
ship fever, sometimes by cholera, and all thel
ellis that flesh is heir to-" without the power oil
! being disnherited There you inhale the deli
cous breath of Nature; here, every other mani
you meet, carrying his chimney with him, smnkesI
you as he would wood. chuck from his bur-
row. There.you are safe on premises of which,
the law guarantees you exclusive possession 4
here, you are jostled by trunks, boxes and|
&paint.pots, your skull broken by descending
bricks, your legs in pitfalls and neglected cellars
Hrun over by saucy drivers, smashed by omni.I
abuses, or knocked down by rowdies, and in con
: slant fear of burglary and confagration There
Ia few shngs will satisfy the tax gatherer of
Estate and county; here a pitess one per cent
! pursues you ever. There, the purity of the
4country surrounds you; here, moral abomna-
Htions infest your eyes and ears You cannot
#effectually shut either against them. There
your children, with the free exercise Of Youthful
sports, grow up with hardy constitution, and fill
for judges, governors and presidents; here, con
fined to the narrow limits of play.room, they
are paled and dwarfed; or if you let them escape|
= into the street you may expect to send around
cards of invitation to their funeral on the NOR
3row. There, you are one of the governors a.
well as the governed, and no audacious Perrine|
4dare invade your roads, and, during his owDI
pleasure, turn you off into by paths and lanes
There you may roam through forest and mea
dow and meet no Keeling drunkard nor see or|
smell a rum shop in every angle Of the fence
You know that over you the law spreads the|
broad ags of its protection; that if need be, the
whole posse comtatus will be astir in your be
half; that the legs Of police officers will be sci
in motion without fee, and that justice is sure,
for its defeat cannot there be covered up andI
hid from public view. There, quiet enfolds you
and you have leisure for contemplation; here
continual noise iInpinge on your tympana, every
zephyr throws dust in your eyes, and all is rattle
ca!ter, buster, confusion, turmoil and madden.
/ ing hurly-burly. In such scene, man may
perceive, but he can hardly be expected to think
What sequence of reflection can there be when|
fire engine rushes through every period
a carriage blots out every comma and the words|
themselves are thrust out of place by carts and|
omnibuses. You may leap from one discon
nected idea to another, but page of coherent
thought must be reserved for midnight and &C.
cusion. We should like to see Euclid demon
srate problem in Broadway or Milton weave
n line of HIS divina Dnpav auidot tho crooh;p uI