at): ctr-Innis! metals.

QIOI‘I'BEJJDIWPHEL ’ No. 33.

To THE Eni'roa or was Cowman iisnaw.

SIR;—l resume my subject. The next thing demanding attention, on the plan 1 have proposed, is the consideration ofthe present general state and circumstances ofthe coun- try, as illustrative ofthe duty of our representatives. 1 do not mean, indeed, to go into every particular which bears on this subject—i have neither sufficient time, abilities or materials. But, nevsrtheless, there are some leading facts—- too prominent for neglect—to which, at least, lsliall now claim attention.

The main stay of every country—and particularly of every new country—is Agriculture. The most valuable and indis- pensablepropcrty in a country, therefore, isarablc land. The

' tenure, then, ofthe lands ofa country, more than any other

circumstance, affects its interests and prosperity, and excites ‘ concern of its inhabitants. And upon the nature oftliat tenure depend, not only the pecuniary prosperity, but also v-the contentment and quiet ofa people. ‘Tbeso remarks lead us directly to the true source of the principal grievances and difficulties existing in the circum- stances ofour population. Depending almost excluswely upon its agricultural resources, the tenure ofthe soil is the

_: question which particularly affects and interests the peo- * ple of this Colony; and unfortunately they have been at-

.flictcd with a system the most prolific of mischief.

This Island was originally shared away amongst a few individuals. ,Wliether they had merit entitling them to this mark oins Majesty’s favour, or not, it was certainly a most stupid and imprudent not thus to lay the foundation of a power which the history ofall countries has proved most detrimental to public peace and improvement. Had the terms ofthe original grants, however, been strictly enforced, the impolicy of this measure would have been much less apparentand glaring; for then the island would have been speedily sellled with a considerable population, and an an- nual revenue of upwards of£4000 sterling ,would have bccn secured ftpin the quit-rents—a sum nearly sufficient to dis- charge the annual civil list, the principal part of which the already overburdened people of Great Britain have now to Wand the remainder falls on our own shoulders. But the doubtful policy ofgranting away the territory ofthe nu- tiori toa few private persons was rendered consummater ridiculous and injurious by the ubscqnent proceedings in regard to it. Until the year 1816—21 term of nearly fifty years ,Ii'om the original granting ofthe lands—the conditions were never fulfilled, and no means used to enforce them. And when,‘iostead of being enforced, they were, at the urgent and repeated Solicitatiousofthe grantees,all merged ina petty quit- rent oftwo shillings per hundred acres. Butcven this was he“ ver paid; and now, iiearlyeiglityycars from the dates ofthe grants, and long after the term allowed for the fiilfilmeut of the conditions, and even offer the expiration of the term

I ~ given in the subsequent iiidulgences, and although not a sin-

.gle proprietor, or his heirs or

. assigns, has complied with the terms of either

the original grant or the indulgeiices, yet, with a very paltry exception, the wholc ol’these forfeited lands are left at the undisputed disposal of the claimants, who are permitted to pursue such measures as they choose to- wards the settlers.

. \Ve are struck with astonishment at such a recital; and we not know the contrary, it would be natural, on bear- lng it, to ask, Whether there have not been some particular benefits resulting from these things, which have induced «the British Government to wink at such barelaced and re- peated Violations ofsolemn contract, or whether, at least, it is not a matter ofutter indifference. But what are the facts? The consequences ofthis leniency to the grantees have been most fittnl to the interests ofthe island, and instead of pro- ducing a corresponding feeling towards the tenantry, it has appeared to have excited the very opposite one, for the rents bave uniformly increased in amount and rigour of cxactiou as the terms of Government to the grantees have been ino- dified. The amount of rents at present annually accruing,

M M mgdjmostly collected or well secured, in this island, toge-

ther with the annual proceeds of sales, are nearly £320,000; while the whole annual expenses ofall the proprietors does not exceed £2,500, leaving in their favour a. clear gain of about £17,000 yearly! \Vere these immense sums likely ever again to become, by expenditure and circulation in the island, helpful in advancing its prosperity, the system would be less oppressive. But most ofthe land owners are non- residents. A great part ofthe rents are therefore complete- iy and perhaps forever abstracted from the island, to pam- per the pride. and luxury of men no other wav concerned about it than in securing as large a share ofits’ proceeds as possible for themselves. The mercenary spirit in which the whole of these transactions have been conducted has prompted the most rigid exactness in the collection of the rents, and the toast relentless severity towards every defaul- ter. do some instances, the grain which formed the only subsistence for the poor tenant—the cow which should fur- n'isli milk to feed his starving children—the oxen which as Sisteddo till his land and procure his firewuod—and even the mittens which covered his hands iii winter, have been leVied upon, to satisfy the demands of merciless landlords! in other cases, families possessing no OTlict' means of liveli- hood, liave been ejected from the premises cleared and made valuable by their hard labour, when they could not pay the rents,.to'make room for some one else, who, from the li-uits oftheir industry, might be able to comply with these un- righteous exactions. And with scarcely an exception, every tenant in the island has had, at some time, to deny himself the necessaries or the comforts oi'existence, which his iii- dustry, unshackled by this horrid incubus, might have pro- cured him, to appease the ceaseless cry of “ GiVe! «rive l” which proprietary avarice has sent forth. b And their cupidity has not ended here. Not satisfied that the Home Government has remitted to them a debt of up- wards ofa quarter of a million sterling, due for quit-rents— not content With the permission to levy an animal contribu— tion of £17,000 on the penury-stricken inhabitants of this Colony, to uphold their haughty pomp in a distant land, or the contemptible counterfeit of it by their aaents here-— these grasping monopolists have seized u c- ' ‘ ' . . t . poii liiige quanti— ties of land originally reserved in their Grunts by the Crown for the use of British subjects as Fishery Reserves and leased them as their owu! They have thus perverted iin iii- tended favour into a means of'oppression.

As a consequence of these unwise and unrighteous mea- Iures, notice the poverty so generally apparent among the tenantry of this fertile island. his true that asliallow-brained and “prating tool” has said in our legislature that the pav- mont ofrents assists to make the people comfortable and coli— tented: But he might as easily ha proved that his extor- tions from Othem for tobacco and ardent spirits have ad- vanced their prosperity! With severe difliculties many expedients and sacrifices to which

_ . to raise money to pay their rents—could i ’

‘ _ ve experience the deficiency of comlortahle houses, clothing, food and rest which they are necessitated to endure—if

. . id we ' ' and plainly read, in their haggard and dejected COlilfliiziiiiialili‘l: the deep wounds which proprietary rupnciiy has inflicted on_ their spirits—and were we l'ullv acquainted with the pytvatton obi-earning, religious instriiction, and other bles; sings of‘civdization, which so extensively prevail amon‘y ‘tllileml,d Without the means of remedying them, then w: EH35“ bzncooqyincep, though even against our will, ofthe bum)“: to 0!; "jig t iese indigent beings with heavy contri: mousness BE: ofwthe luxurious cup of imfeeling volup- b .. tieir poverty is not all. Were the. able,

y enduring these miseries, the rents, they might have hope of future improvement. But many oftheui are in arrears—in some cases to a large amount.

Failures of cm is - - have rendered ibhiififdiiblmg Other lndvere Circumsmmes’ e a pay tie rents when fit 1 come due; and now no pros ‘ I ey‘ m- pect presents itself but f afew more cars oflaborious ‘ ' d ' ’ a ter _ y indi e - the". ho le 8 nos, to be diiven from

And the tenantry do not hear alone. Every man and every bu from the same cause. It is this

this pecuniary depression siness in the lslaiid suffers which has produced the

to prevent the accumulation of

universal Scarcity of money, which embarrasses all busi-

tlie mechanic, the merchant, and the professional man, com- mon sufferers—though iii a much smaller degree—with the oppressed tenant. The cause is, that all the money in circu- lation is withdrawn to pay rents. '

Poverty and pecuniary dependence never fail to beget ser- vility and political subjection; and a powerful liindocracy has, in every country where it has existed, been the most ef- fectual means ofsnbverting the independence and freedom ofthe people. This is its effect in this island. Bv keep- ing the people in ignorance, it lins made them the easy dupes oftheir designing oppressors. But it hasoperated in a more palpable form by direct coercion.

expose them—as it undoubtedly would—to tlie persecmioii of their landlords. From the same cause, they are afraid to sign a petition,either to our local authorities or to the Home Government, for redress of their grievances—to attend a political meeting for the discussion oftlieir rights—or to lis- 'teii to the representations ofthose who would assist them to break the fctlers ofdespotism. And to render their vassal- ago more dreadful, and to make the highest chartered right ofa British subject the means of increasing it, they are, at the elections of our legislators, either intimidated from voting for these persons whom they would choose, or forced to vote for the birelings oftheir oppressors. What though a vcnal and prostituted press. in the exuberance ofits cou- fidcnce in the credulity of the inhabitants of the island. should maintain the contrary, and asscl‘t, that “ the exercise ofthe most remote species ol'proprictury influence, in fa

voiir ofthe most talented person that could'be found moflitr himself to any of our constituencies, would be the immedi- ate causo ofliis rejection l" Could he imagine that his mere :i 'ertioii, unsupported by any rcfci‘cnca to corroborating facts, could sustain suchu statement? in its refutation i need only point to the First and Third Districts ()fQuccrj’s County, and ask in which District of the island such species ofiiifincncc has not, at oni- time or another, been exercised with more or less sot-cuss? Let the history ofthe last Ge— neral i‘I/lcctioti alone decide this point!

The length oftbis letter admonisbes me here to draw to it conclusion, and to reserve the account ofthe proceedings upon this subject, which] had hoped to embrace in the pre- sent, for a future number.

Yours, &c. CURTIUS. Prince County, 1843.

To THE EDITOR or THE COLONiAL HERALD.

Sir; l have observed a communication in your last pupcr ofthe 30th ult., signed by the Rev. CHARLES LLOYD, us a reply to my letter of the 9th ult. isball forbenr entering into any personalities, but shall content niyselfwitli remark- ing, that his explanation does not, in the slightest degree, alter my previous views on ii)! subject. He states, “ that “they who, as the Representatives of the people, denied them ‘- the facilities for instruction under all Established Religion, “ were those who, if acting under it mistaken impression, “should at least have made it their business to see that the “spoils were applied as the law provided.” But how im- wise was it to leave the interests ofthe Church in such un- liiithlu. hands! and how much more incumbent on the Clergy (knowing the glaring injustice the parties implicated had already been guilty of) to make a~vigorous and open. exertion in properly securing those funds, to be applied to Schools under their own immediate charge! No one will believe that iftlie Clergy(atid let me add the cominuuicants) had openly and strongly protested against the unsatisfactory and irregular manner in which the funds are said to have been invested, that immediate redress would not have been iol‘tained. How are abuses of this sort ever remedied? lchre such rumours (not whispers) circulated respecting any I'ratJS'r in which we were personal/y concerned, should we (let them pass ill silence, month after month, and year after lycar, as in the present instance? Certainly not. Wore ,‘tliere even the mere suspicion of any abuse, we should di- vrcctly use every exertion to acquaint ourselves with the truth {ofthe matter. And ifiii our worldly affairs we are thus ener- jgctic, how much more is it our duty (especially flint nftliccler— {gy) to do all in our power towards instituting Sllf‘il public in- lquiry as that the funds might be safely secured, that schools i might be soon erected, and that the children ofour poorer ibrethren might no longer, be left destitute of christian education!

it is not sufficient, in days like these we live in, when our ; fistablislimeiit is assailed within and without, inerer to re- gret such things, and calmly [0 sleepover them, under the prevailing but too fatal error, that the church is fully capa— ble ofmanagiiig her own internal economy, and that it ill lbecomes laymen to busy tlien'isclvcs in matters ofber kecpv jing. No, lcontend that, as faithful upholoersofsuch institu- tions, we are become bound, ii'Olll the valuable benefits to be derived from her doctrines, to do nil that may lie in our power in protecting her interests. if" advocating the cause of the Established Church constitutes the culumny coni- plaiiieil of by Mr. Lloyd, lam perfectly willing to lie under the reproach, though] may be permitted to entertain far different sentiments on that subject.

Oct. 3, 1843.

Q

Lu

\Vnsar THREE THOUSAND YEARS'OI.D.—Four years ago, a friend ofthe Earl oi Huddington having occasion to unroll an Egyptian mummy, was surprised to find a few grains of wheat enclosed along with the body; and having made a present to his lordsliip’s Countess offour seeds, it was sent to his lordsliip’s magnificent seat of 'l'ynningliaiii, iti Ens! Lotliiau, and sown in a favourable spot in the kitchen-gar- den, on the lst of November of last year. Through the kindness of his lordsliip’s worthy and excellent gardener, Mr. Ford, we have been favoured with a sight ofthe produce oftliese highly interesting seeds; and us a rather imperfect account of them has appeared in u coiitemporarv, we ven- ture to lay before our readers the following brief description of'tliem :—-A|togethcr there may be nearly a hundred stalks, ranging in length from nearly five to upwards ofsix feet. The leaves arc. broader than usual, and fully an average as to length. The grain is in two rows oftriplets, and one of two that we counted contained twenty triplets on a side, or forty on the ear. The ear carries afew barbs or awns on the upper end, and is open and distant between the grains. it flowered nearly a fortnight before any ofthe varieties sown at the same period in the neighbouring fields. A few grains of the modern Egyptian wheat Were sown along with it, and certainly no two articles can be more entirely dissimilar. The modern is (i\Vill‘i‘—.~llOt more than four feet high—closely set and barbed iii every part ofthe ear, and its general re- semblance to its ancient progenitor is not greater than that ol barley to wheat. it might be needless to add, that Mr. Ford looks forward to his harvest with infinite anxiety, and it has cost him no little care to protect it from the legions of antiquarian blackbirds which beset it, trying every opening in the netting with which it is enclosed, seemineg deter- mined at all risks to compare the food of the ancient black- bii'ds in Egypt with that ofthe modern ones in 'i‘yniiiiigliam. —-Sco£sman.

Three ofthe members ofCongress just elected in Ten- iiesse are Mechanics. Andrew Johnson is ii tailor; J \V. B‘lackwell is a coppersmith; and \V. G. Jones is a saddlcr. They are said to be men of fine talents, and rose to ther pre- sent station by industry and their own good cliaracter.—- .xiimeri'can Paper.

How To Cuca’r yona Guinness—At the bottom of a wood belonging to Mr. Turton,of Kiiowlton, iii Flintshirc is iii-ill of water which empties itsell'into the river Dee, which rill, il a debtor(wishing to evade a writ) stride across, he is atone and the same instant, in England and Wales, and the, provinces of'Cimterbury and York, ill the dioceses ol'Clies- ter, Liclifiold, and Coventry, in two townships, and in the grounds oer. Turton and his neighbour.

The daily pay ofthe Duke of Wellington is stated to be £118. 14s. 6d.

A tectotaller, on being nld that temperance men w band of robbers, said—“Yes, they have robhe house and the state-prison of their victims!”

d the poor-

Maiiy of tlis‘tenaiitry dread to entertain a liberal political sentiment, lest it should i

ness and paralyses all enterprise, and makes the fi'eeholtler. ,

t

l l

ere a which are its genuine fruits

v—q—a-r'

v»'_,,~.

PERSECUTION OF THE FREE CHURCH OF SCOTLA .41).

i F THE SPECIAL COMMISSION OF THE FREE OF SCOTLAND, HELD AT EDINBURGH, AUG. H, 1843.

iglam: Special Commission ofthe General Assembly ofthe Free Church of Scotland, deem it their duty, at this eventful crisis, to call the attention of" Landowners in_Scotland, and other persons of wealth and influence, to various represen- tations that have been made to them from different parts of the country. .

The Commission have learned, on undoubted authority, that in some cases proprietors of land have refused sites for buildng places of worship forthat part ofthe population who bnve avowed their attachment to the principles of the Free Church; that in other cases servants and Other dependents have been dismissed from their situations, and thrown on the wide world, on no other ground but that they have seen it their duty to leave the Establishment; that thecottagers in some parishes have been warned, at their peril, not to shelter, even for a night, under their bumble roofs, the ini- nisters who have left their inanses for conscienee’sake; and that in one instance an interdict has been applied for'to prevent a minister from preaching on a certain'estate, or on the sides of the roads and highways that puss'tliruilgh it. Even in the present heated state of the public mind on Church iiiattcrs, some of these statements may appear iiici'e-. llible to many, and it is not without some feelings of reluc- tance and shame that they are now brought under public notice. .

"l‘in- Commission do not, and cannot, dispute the entire right in law ofevery landowner to do what he wills with his own; he may level every homestead to the ground;‘aiid he may so deteriorate the soil as to render his estate ii'bar- reii waste. Every man is of course entitled to retain or dismiss his servants on any ground he pleases. The trustees on a highway have unquestionably a legal control over. the wu_\ side, sons to hinder a minister from standing on it to preayh the gospel, or the people sitting on it to hear him; and the man of Wealth, perhaps, infringes on no statute, when he tells the cottagcrs on his property whom they are to receive, and whom they are to refuse to admit into their dwellings, for they are tenants at will, to whom he may feel himsell'entitled to prescribe the conditions on which they are to live on his domains. But a man may act within the limits ofstatulory right, and yet the question may Still re- main, how far the course he is pursuing is righteous in the sight of God and man. .

The Ministers and Members of the Free Church ofscot- land have left the Establishment purely on conscientious gioiiiids. and, whatever others may think of their prudence in doing so, it is hoped, that at least their sincerity will not be called in question. They desire to live in peace With all men, and they cordially wish for the Welfare of'all who love the Saviour in sincerity, however they made differ from them in other matters. They are desirous to make all the provision in their power for the religious instructiou oftliat portion ofthe people of Scotland who hold their principles; and in renonucing all connection with the Establishment, and in every subsequent step they have taken toward form- iug themselves into a separate communion, they conceive themselves to be only exercising that liberty of'conscience which is the gift of God to every man, and which is pecti- liarly tho birthright of every Briton. They ask no special favour; they claim for themselves no other privileges than those which are granted to all other donoiiiinations of Christians in this country. They know, indeed, that the Lord of the conscience will reckon with them for all they have recently done ; but no man, they conceive, can—right— fully attempt to disturb or annoy them in what they regard as tbe’course ofpresciit duty ;and any attempt to do so would, they submit, be all the more strikingly unjust, if practised under colour of law.

A proprietor of many parishes cannot claim a right so to mould the minds ofliis tciiainry as that they may take the stamp ol'his religious opinions. Any entleuvonron his part to do so would he as hopeless as it would be sinful. They may be as diligent in their callings as he could wish; he may know with heartfelt satisfaction that in their dwellings the Scriptures are often read, and that the duties of tlie'fan‘iily ultut‘ are not forgotten; and yet he may find that they do not agree with him entirely on the most important ofall concerns. He may regret this; he may reason with them, but more he cannot with justice venture to do, for this plain reason, that be is not‘tbc lord oftlieir consciences. Legally he. may re- move tlicni from his lands, or reliise them all means of'wor— shipping God in the way and form tliattliey think most scrip- tural, but his doing so would be an unjust attempt to rob them ofa privilege which they have received “‘0!” lieuveii. Many of the landowners of Scotland know the value oftliis privilege for themselves. They are disxeiitcrs from the Church established by law in this part ol'tlic United King- dom, and they exhibit in their own persons examples ofthe right that every man has in this happy land, to worship God according to the dictates of his conscience. this class control their interiors in station or tlieirdepelidents when claiming the same spiritual liberty, will not an im- partial world coudeimi them for such inconsistency and iii- JilSilCC.