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out a blush, the letters of Carlyle and Sydney Smith, | cast the whole system into disrepute, if fully proven upon this subject, must entertain very different and sustained.

views of moral honesty from ours; since the rea- The first works with which this movement comsoning of the publishers to them, resembles closely menced, as we before observed, were the republithat used by the sage Augustus Tomlinson in “ Paul | cations of English Magazines; then succeeded the Clifford," who comforts the dispirited traveller, rapid and cheap republications of English novels; whose pockets he has rifled, with the assurance, the sale of these was so profitable that reprints of that he has been made to perform a benevolent standard works of fiction followed next, with occaaction in relieving the wants of the distressed. sionally, a work of grave and solid character, to

We are aware that these are hard truths, but as give a character to the undertaking. A thirst for we believe them to be true, no sensibility shall pre-works of fiction was thus created among the readvent our giving them utterance, and expressing ing public, the demand exceeded the supply, and plain things in plain words; to the motives of those they were compelled to eke out with works of very who differ from us, we accord all due credit, but it inferior merit, and these tended to vitiate still does seem to us that no chain of reasoning, however further the public taste by the application of stimusubtle and ingenious, can do away with the force lants until solid food was distasteful to them; alof the plain statement of facts set forth above. though, as yet, no positive evil has been done. But We are not ignorant of the fact, that many inge- the unprecedented success of this new movement nious defences have been made for the publishers called another class into the field; the harpies of to palliate their invasion of the rights of authors; Literature came flocking in unbidden to the banquet, some even going so far as to deny that an author has any property in the creations of his own mind, and that by the act of publication, he makes them the common property of all mankind, and loses all claim upon them; this argument cannot possibly stand the test of a moment's reflection; if admitted, it would strike at the root of all intellectual labor, and make the very existence of copyright a continued injustice.

Can it be seriously urged that one Butcher and Tailor, who cater solely to our physical wants, shall be amply remunerated; while he, whose labors are directed towards the cultivation of the most noble portion of our nature, who addresses himself to the immortal mind of man, shall lay his priceless gifts at our feet, and there, like a poor pensioner, humbly wait for the alms which we may be pleased to bestow upon him if such are to be the rewards, and such the position of those, who waste the flower of their youth and the vigor of their manhood, in painful and protracted study, "Slaves of the Lamp," uncheered by the sweet smile of woman, or the inspiring plaudits of the crowd; how mad must he be, who would voluntarily incur a doom of such painful drudgery and abject slavery!

and defiled with their filthy touch the food which was to be set before the people; the licentious novels of Charles Paul de Kock and George Sand (Mdme Dudevant) and other kindred spirits were translated and published in pamphlet-form, thrown before the public just at the time when it was thirsting for new excitement; they spread like wildfire, and were followed by others of similar character, until the public sentiment, in the large cities, became so vitiated, that works of gross immorality were openly vended in the public streets. Nor did the evil stop here, for it spread in a black and filthy stream over the length and breadth of our land.

It may be thought that we had exaggerated the extent of this evil, but we do not speak from hearsay, but from the evidence of our own senses. During the last two years, we have visited almost every section of our Union, and the books which met our view more often than any other, were the pestilent French novels to which we have alluded; through the untiring energy of agents, these books have penetrated into the most secluded villages, tainting the public morals and scattering the seeds of vice broadcast over the land; and this is the substitute which "Cheap Publication" has given us for a wholesome Literature of our own.

The topic is a fruitful one, but we think enough has been said to sustain the positions we have advanced, viz: that the system has crushed and De Kock has been called "The Bulwer of destroyed all native authorship, and that it is France," but the very coupling of their names tobased upon the most glaring wrong and injustice; gether is an insult to the latter, who, if he has at and we therefore proceed to substantiate our third times deviated from the strict line of propriety, charge, which is, that the character of the most would yet scorn to prostitute his talents to the dewidely circulated publications of this class, is such, tail of scenes of low vice and criminal indulgence, as to taint and corrupt the minds of our youth. and such seems to be the sole aim and end of the The injury complained of in the second charge is French novelist, to render virtue ridiculous and of a nature not immediately perceptible to super- vice attractive, and the very talent he displays in ficial observers, the bad effects being consequential, the prosecution of his task renders his novels the rather than immediate; but this last evil is of such most dangerous as well as the most fascinating to an open and glaring character as to be obvious to inexperienced youth. But they are "very cheap," the dullest perception, and of itself, sufficient to "only one shilling," and, therefore, prudent fathers

of families must encourage a system which reduces plundered authors and publishers on the other side of so much the price of books, &c.

George Sand (Mdme Dudevant) is, if possible, worse in her morals, (if the term may be applied to the absence of all morality,) than Paul De Kock, but as she is a lady, or at least a female, we will pass both her and her novels by in expressive silence. Is it wonderful then, that the moral tone of a people, who encourage and foster a system based upon fraud and productive of such fruits, should become lax and licentious in the extreme; and is not this tendency already indicated, by the rapid and alarming increase of crime, in every portion of our country where a dense population affords facilities for its commission?

Is not repudiation both by States and individuals daily becoming more fashionable? Are not breaches of trust becoming matters of every day's occurrence? Is not the defaulting cashier of a bank now regarded only as an able financier and is not the confidence between man and man each day shaken more and more? Let him who can shut his eyes to the fact with the proofs staring him in the face; we cannot if we would. The great want of this country is a want of faith; we do not mean religious faith, but use the term in its most comprehensive sense of confidence in human integrity and honesty, without which, enlarged views and liberal feelings cannot exist among a people; for the public mind, for want of some nobler subjects of contemplation, will be absorbed in projects of speculation, and narrowed down to mean and selfish views of human nature and human life.

The phrase, "knowledge of the world," was once construed by a sarcastic wit to mean “a knowledge of all the rascals in it," and this definition would seem with us to have become a part of the popular creed, since one of our most upright and honest statesmen has been declared "impracticable," from his open sincerity of character!—a stronger commentary on the state of public feeling could not be made than that afforded by this simple fact. There is but one remedy for this unwholesome state of public feeling, and that is, the diffusion of intelligence, not by a Cheap Literature, but by a wholesome and a manly one, of native growth, and suited to the temper and spirit of our people and to the institutions under which they live; such a Literature as would spring up spontaneously in our free country, were the foul weeds which choke its growth unsparingly rooted out. The wise and good of our country have perceived this and struggled to effect this end, but the hydra-headed monster, Cheap Literature, stands in the path and bars all further progress; how then can we combat this monster, who deludes the people into accepting poison in place of food; there is but one remedy, and that is a remedy which the most respectable authors and publishers of our country are now combined in praying for, and their prayer is echoed by the

the Atlantic, and it is the passage by Congress of an International Copyright Law. A measure which will do no more than an act of simple justice to foreign authors, and will free our native authors from the deadly incubus which now stifles and paralizes them with its hateful pressure. For the honor of the American Congress, we trust that it will no longer sanction, by its silence, this barefaced system of piracy and plunder, but proclaim Martial Law, and hang up to the yard-arm all who shall hereafter violate the laws of national courtesy and national honor. E. D.

Columbia, S. C.

F Leon

THE AXE OF THE SETTLER.

BY MARY E. HEWITT.

We are not aware that the following poem has ever appeared. The authoress thinks it has not, though she once gave it another direction.—Ed. Mess.

Thou conqueror of the wilderness,
With keen and bloodless edge-
Hail to the sturdy artisan

Who fashioned thee, bold wedge!
Though the warrior deem thee weapon
All unseemly for the brave,
Yet the settler knows thee mightier
Than the tried Damascus glaive.

While desolation marketh

The course of foeman's brand, Thy blow aye scatters plenty, Abundant through the land. Thou op'nest the soil to culture,

To the sunlight and the dew; And the village spire thou plantest Where of old the forest grew.

Thou hew'st forth mighty navies

From the erst unyielding wood; Their keels on every tide to float,

Their flags o'er every flood.

When the broad sea rolled between them
And their own far native land;
Thou wert the goodly ally
Of the hardy pilgrim band.

They bore no warlike eagles,

No banners swept the sky; Nor the clarion, like a tempest,

Swelled its fearful notes on high. But the ringing wild reechoed

Thy bold, resistless strokes, Where, like incense, on the morning Went up their cabin smokes.

The tall oaks bowed before them,

Like reeds before the blast;
And the earth put forth in gladness,
Where the axe in triumph passed.
Then hail! thou noble conqueror!
That giv'st us to possess,
With the freehold of its fastnesses,
The ancient wilderness.

New-York.

THE "STONE HOUSE."

lion, who, after their leader's death, still held out so pertinaciously against Governor Berkley. This surmise, however, would seem to be unfounded. Firstly, it is well known that those followers of Bacon, occupied West-Point at the head of York River, strongly fortified it and made it their place of arms. That post in their hands actually proved

nor's forces under Ludwell. And Sir William Berkley at length, fatigued by their resolute defence, in order to induce their surrender, was obliged to offer the rebels there a general pardon, which nothing less than the last necessity could have extorted from him. The position occupied by Bacon's adherents at West-Point being so strong and every way convenient, there could have been no motive to prompt them to build another fortification on Ware Creek.

The "Stone House," as it is called, is perhaps the most curious and interesting relic in Virginia. Two accounts of it appeared some time since, one in the Richmond Whig, the other in the Farmer's Register. From them the following description is gathered. The "Stone House" is situated on impregnable against repeated assaults of the GoverWare Creek, a tributary of York River, in the county of James City. It is distant from the mouth of Ware creek five miles, from Williamsburg fifteen, and from Jamestown twenty-two. The walls and chimney which remain are composed of sandstone. The house is eighteen and a half feet by fifteen in extent. It consists of a basement room under ground and a story above. On the West side is a door-way six feet wide, giving entrance to both apartments. There are loop-holes in the walls, measuring on the inside twenty by ten inches, on In the next place, it is altogether improbable the outside twenty by four. The walls are in the that the vindictive vigilance of Berkley would have basement two feet thick, in the upper story eigh-suffered Bacon's followers unmolested to erect such teen inches thick. The masonry bears marks of a work as the "Stone House," whose elaborate having been executed with great care and nicety. construction would seem rather to indicate that it The house stands in an extensive waste of woods, was built in the leisure of peace, than in the anxious on a high knoll or promontory, around the foot of precipitancy of a hard-pressed and hopeless rewhich winds Ware Creek. The structure fronts bellion. on the Creek, being elevated one hundred feet above Lastly, of Bacon's rebellion, there are several its level and standing back three hundred feet from minute circumstantial accounts and it is improbaits margin. The spot is approached only by a long ble that Beverley, T. M. and others would have circuitous defile, the comb of a ridge, in some places omitted a fact so interesting as the erection of a so narrow that two carts could not pass abreast. fortified work on Ware Creek, when they were deThis defile is, besides, involved in such a labyrinth tailing so many other particulars of less conseof dark ridges of forest and deep gloomy ravines, mantled with laurel, that it is said to be next to So much for these conjectures. I now beg leave impossible to find the way without the aid of a to suggest another, founded on the following pasguide. Nor is the place more accessible by water. The surrounding country is described as the most broken and desert track to be found East of the Blue Ridge.

quence.

sage:-
:-

"We built also a fort for a retreat neere a convenient river, upon a high commanding hill, very hard to be assalted and easie to be defended, but ere it was finished this defect caused a stay. In searching our casked corne, we found it halfe rotten and the rest so consumed with so many thousands of rats that increased so fast, but their originall was from the This did drive us all to our wits end, for there was nothing ships, as we knew not how to keepe that little we had. in the country but what nature afforded." * * want of corne occasioned the end of all our works, it being worke sufficient to provide victuall."-Smith's Hist. of Va.,

The singular structure of the old "Stone House" and its wild secluded desolate site have naturally given rise to several traditions and conjectures as to its origin and purpose. It is said, that there is a neighborhood tradition, that the house was erected as early as thirteen years after the landing at Jamestown-and that it was built by the famous pirate Blackbeard, as a depository of his plunder. This B. III., p. 227. hypothesis, however, involves a serious anachronism; since it is well established that Blackbeard did not figure in the waters of Virginia until about the year 1717-more than a century after the landing at Jamestown.

66 But this

Upon lately meeting with this passage in Smith, I was forcibly struck with the coincidence between the fort thus spoken of by him and the "Stone House." If the conjecture be well founded, it will entitle that structure to the claim of being the oldest house in Virginia, if not in the United States, as the fort mentioned by Smith was erected about the year 1608-9, only two or three years after the landing at Jamestown, which would make it about two hundred and thirty-four years old. Smith says Another conjecture, much more plausible than "We built also a fort for a retreat ;" that is a reeither of those above-mentioned, is that the house treat from the Indians, in case Jamestown should was built by the adherents of Bacon in his rebel- have been overpowered. "Neere a convenient

Another fanciful conjecture is, that the "Stone House," like the cave where Dido entertained Æneas, was a sort of rendezvous meeting-place of Captain Smith and Pochahontas! This is rather too romantic.

66

river." The "Stone House" is about a hundred yards from Ware Creek. "A convenient river,”by the description given above, it is seen that no situation could have been more eligible. It may be worth while to observe that the name of the river is not given; now, in all probability, Ware Creek at that early day had not been named by the English, being an unimportant stream. Upon a high commanding hill;" this answers exactly to the site of the "Stone House." "Very hard to be assalted and easie to be defended;" all the descriptions of the "Stone House" fully confirm these particulars. "But ere it was finished, this defect caused a stay," &c. **"But this want of corne occasioned the end of all our works," &c. Now the Stone House" is apparently incomplete and there is neither roof nor floor; this unfinished appearance seems to have puzzled some of its visiters. Smith's statement, however, that it was

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left unfinished, may at once solve the enigma. From all these corroborating circumstances, there seems to be good reason to conclude, that the "Stone House" is the fort mentioned by Smith. Its antiquity, the associations connected with it, the su perstitious fancies to which it has given rise and its wild and sequestered situation, all conspire to render the old "Stone House" an attractive object to the tourist and the antiquary, and, perhaps, not aninteresting even to the novelist and poet.

YORKTOWN.

At Yorktown, at the residence of William Nelson, Esq., there are to be seen portraits of William Nelson, President, (who built the house) and Elizabeth Burwell, his wife. It is said that those portraits during the revolution, when the British were making incursions into Virginia, were boxed up and sent to Hanover Court-House for preservation from the enemy. The British, however, found

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I had the pleasure some years ago of visiting the remains of the Old Church at Yorktown. Nothing was left but the walls. These are composed of stone marl, which it is said, soft when taken out of its native bed, becomes hardened by time and exposure, until it acquires the firmness and durability of solid stone. The roof was open to the eye of day and foxes might peep, by moonlight, out at the dismantled windows. Adjacent lies the old grave-yard, enclosed by an antiquated

brick wall. Here are several tomb-stones of the Nelsons and others, some with Latin inscriptions, some with English, and adorned with the insignia of heraldry. The site of the church is superb, immediately on the lofty bank of the sparkling cerulean waters of the majestic York. The spot is consecrated by the ashes of the illustrious dead, the charms of nature, its antique recollections and the classic associations of the siege and surrender. The patriotism of the North has erected a sublime monument on Bunker Hill, to commemorate the portentous dawn of the revolution; when shall the patriotism of the South raise such an one, on the field of Yorktown, to commemorate the parting glories of the sunset?

ROSEWELL.

Rosewell, formerly the seat of John Page, Esq., sometime Governor of Virginia, is situated on the North bank of York River, in the county of Gloucester, and nearly opposite the mouth of Queen's Creek. The house stands a short distance back from the river, and, as seen from the water, is an imposing and venerable monument of the olden time. It is a cube of ninety feet, with fourteen windows in front. Its appearance is singularly This house was, at the time of the siege of solid and massive. The interior is pannelled and York, the residence of General Thomas Nelson. wainscoated in the old style; some of the apartIt was a good deal damaged by the American artil-ments in black walnut highly polished and which, lery, traces of the damage being yet visible. A it is said, were formerly waxed as floors now are. pannel in the wainscoat is still loose, from the effects of a cannon-ball, or bomb-shell.

them in Hanover and mutilated them there.

The old hall is a superb room; around the pannel-
ling are some antique hooks, on which the tapestry
hangings were suspended. The tapestry was still
The mahogany
preserved there a few years ago.
of the hall stair-case is richly carved. The doors
are arched over-head. There are four stories;

The Old Church, at Yorktown, was built 150 years ago. The Hon. Francis Nicholson contributed twenty pounds sterling towards its cost, as appears by the following paper, that appeared some time since in the Richmond Enquirer:-"the fol- the upper, when I saw it, a good deal decayed, lowing is a literal copy from the records of York the floor in some of the rooms having "settled." County Court:

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There are twelve rooms. The bricks, it is said, came from England. They are of the species styled oil-bricks, so called from the oil used in moulding them. They are laid, alternately, lengthwise and endwise, the end-bricks being glazed according to the fashion of that day. The walls, where most exposed, are tinged with verd-antique

mould and the cornice in some places is decayed. The roof is flat and sheeted with lead. The story that there was once a fishpond up there, is fabulous. Tradition mentions that Mr. Jefferson and Governor Page, there, in the evening, sometimes enjoyed conversation and the moonlight scenery of the York. The view, therefrom, embraces about ten miles both up and down the river. The York is there wide and magnificent, clear, fresh and sparkling as the ocean.

Stith, as quoted by Burk's History of Virginia, Vol. I., p. 111., describes its position as follows: "Werowocomoco lay on the North side of York river, in Gloucester county, nearly opposite to the mouth of Queen's Creek and about twenty-five miles below the fork of the river."

Upon a short visit made to that part of Gloucester county a year or two ago, I was satisfied that Shelly, the seat of Mrs. Mann Page, is the famous Werowocomoco. Shelly is on the North Formerly there was a vineyard in front of Rose- bank of the York river, in the county of Glouwell house and a garden in the rear. There are cester, said to be about 25 miles from West Point now few or no trees in front of the house, and this at the head of the river, and is nearly opposite the circumstance perhaps enhances the effect. It mouth of Queen's Creek, lying somewhat above. seems to stand in proud and silent solitude, like It is true, the word "nearly" is indefinite, and it some old baronial castle. Rosewell, besides its might be supposed that Werowocomoco, perhaps, own interesting associations, is remarkable as stand-lay a little below the point opposite the mouth of ing near Werowocomoco, the spot where Smith Queen's Creek instead of a little above. But the was rescued from death by his guardian genius, Pochahontas.

WEROWOCOMOCO.

marshy oozy character of the bank of the York below Shelly, rendering it apparently uninhabitable, seems to forbid the supposition. Werowocomoco then, it may be taken for granted, was Next to Jamestown, Werowocomoco is perhaps either at Shelly, or at some point above Shelly. the spot most celebrated in the early chronicles of But as Shelly is nearly opposite the mouth of Virginia. As Jamestown was the seat of the En- Queen's Creek, it is obvious that the further you glish settlers, so Werowocomoco was the residence proceed up the river, the less appropriate will beof the great Indian chief, Powhatan. It was the come the expression "nearly opposite." scene of many interviews and rencontres between Carter's Creek, emptying into the York at Shelly, the settlers and the savages; it was at Werowoco- forms a safe harbor for canoes. Smith, in a pasmoco that supplies for the colony were frequently sage already quoted, mentions that Werowocomoco obtained; here that Smith once saw suspended on is 14 miles from Jamestown. In Book III., p. 194, a line between two trees the scalps of twenty four he says, that "he went over land to WerowocoPayanketanks recently slain,-here that Powhatan moco some twelve miles; there he passed the was crowned by Newport, and here that occurred river of Pamaunkee in a salvage canow." Now, the most touching scene in the whole colonial as it was 14 miles from Jamestown to Werowocodrama, the rescue of Smith by Pochahontas. We-moco, and 12 to the point on the South bank of the rowocomoco is on the York river, in the county of York, where Smith embarked in a canoe, it follows Gloucester. It may surprise some readers to hear, that Werowocomoco was only 2 miles from that that the rescue of Smith took place on the York, since, in the general neglect of our early history, it seems to have been taken for granted by many that it took place on James River. Smith and Stith, in their histories, put the matter beyond dispute. Smith, Book II., p. 117, describes the Pamaunkee [now York] river as follows:

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point. And Shelly, I take it is just about 2 miles from where it is probable Smith went into the canoe on that occasion.

Shelly adjoins Rosewell, (formerly the seat of John Page, Esq., sometime Governor of Virginia,) and was originally part of the Rosewell plantation; and I learned from Mrs. Page, of Shelly, that Governor Page always held Shelly to be the ancient Werowocomoco and accordingly he, at first, gave it that name, but afterwards, on account of the inconvenient length of the word, dropped it, and adopted the title of Shelly, on account of the extraordinary accumulation of shells found there. The enormous beds of oyster-shells deposited there, particularly just in front of the Shelly house, indicate it to have been a place of great resort among the natives. The situation is highly picturesque and beautiful and looking, as it does, on the lovely and majestic York, it would seem, all others, to have been the befitting residence of the lordly Powhatan. According to Captain Smith, the circumstances of his rescue were as follows:

of

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