OCR Text |
Show , • 290 EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS. All in~ truction that can be gi\'en under thi . ~lead, must be ~or~ articularly addressed to Europeans than to ctttzens of the .un~ted S~ tates. E.... ac h a re ' when removinc0r o. ver · the Alegh• any tm oHuntams mto 1 1 · I the Ohio or Mississippi valley. passmg mto a r~& 10n, o . e p1ys.1ca Ia wso f w1I 1.c h they a'•'e ~~ t.range r,~::,. out the Clltzens of t.he. U nttetl 1 . States, if ignorant of the natural features of the sea~~ns o~ s~.~ , ~os- sess an au:, equa l e l~' tlowleu{~J e of the moral .a ltd poltdh cal fm ls'lflft utwr.ls of our states auJ territbries. Tbou(J'h .some m mute sha es ~ t ~ erence . · t between the municipal regulatiOns of all our terntonal sub~~~ isions, yet so much sameness prevails in the gene~al structure,. ;hat t. · t ll'tcrent m 11 of New England does not find himself a foret 0 tte m e :., ' L · · ner or a stranger in Kentucky, Tennessee, or even oms1ana. . Tbe European, however well informed upo.n ge~eral. subjects. of ·uris rude nee and civil government, has, on lus arnva}, m A~enca ,_ J r t Jearn and in most cases much to unlearn. I be nattves ot ml ucBl .ol. ll (i ~l~nds from the similarity of the government under tw lChi c. hf lt hISe y h~ ave b. 'e en eJuca ed, and that o f th e U m.t e d S.t a t d the ~s an · d' · .r al states ought to be best prepared to enter easily mto a .full JO mlV trueUh ension o'f tbe true genius o f our po 1t' h.e a } a? d mora } c~l'1 StJtu - ~_o p It has been seen in practice, that a great ddference extsts ~e· t10119 ~ the opinions formed by the latter class of emigrants, of our m~ ~~etions and the real nature of tbOISe institutions, than could be at ~:st vieV: of the subject thought possible. No doubt. the resemblance between the judicial establishments of the tw? countnes has bee? con ~. sidered too exact, and it is also doubtless m the lat~er p~rticul~:' where the institutions of the United States are most Ill umson WJth those of their political parent. . . . f b It is to men who remove to the United States w1th mte.nttOn .o e ~ coming citizens thereof by actual settlem nt, and complymg .w•th th.e regulations ne<;essary for their adoption, that these ob er\'at10ns ate addresseu. · t the \:V e would mos;t earnestly recommend a sedulot s attent!on. ~ ual study of the constitution of the United States and of the_ I.nu i VI~· h tates; as also the ordinance of 1787, under the provisiOn W IC almost all of our territories are governed. 11 . The constitutions can be had in one volume for one or two do ars f The better to understand the nature, scope, design, and tenden~y 0 I he constitution of the United States, a work written by Mr. Mad•~~~' "ir Alexander Hamilton, and Mr. John Jay, entitled the F~dera.ts 1 ' .(itl ug• ht to be carefully read by every stran.ger,. on o~. b e iio re lts <:~rrtVil l United in this country, and indeed by e\rery nat1ve mbab1tant of the f d _ ~lates A new and neat edition of this very valuable mass o . oc~f •l-11ents · has la· tely been given in Phi.l adclpht· a, bY Mr . Benpmm W ~mer. 1 ntary ltas Upon the individual constitutions, no ~ood g~nera comamefor them· been lTiven ; but they however speak m plam lang u.a~e ~elves: an llmt seldom admit of ambiguity in their provisiOn~. EMIGRANT'S GUIDE. 291 The greatest and far the most serious difference that exists between the rights secured to or surrend.ered by the people, in the formation of our various constitutions, is that of the right of suffrage. In some states the qualifications of voters are founded upon wealth, hnu in some others upon the payment of taxes. In some states there exist restrictive disqualifications unknown in others. 'I'he CJUalities necessary to give a title to be chosen, differ also in many very essential points. All these strong outlines ought to be known by every person of e\'en tolerable information who designs to become a citizen. A correlative duty to the foregoing is to use the proper steps to gain a general knowledge of the great geographical features of the country, and as minute detail of the political divisions as possible. Tlwugh commonly thought easy, this is a task of no common weight. From ali that we have seen of the geographical delineations of the United States, published in Europe, the m9st gross errors in science and in moral deduction abound. We do not exclusively allude here to the wretched tour-writer, whose pages are at once a libel on the United States and a stigma upDn the writer, but to the most respectable publications of E~uope, on the geography and topography of America.~ In Neel's Atlas, 1814, there 1s a New-Jersey on the Mississippi, an Indiana in Virginia, and a Franklinia in East Tennessee. The same want of common precision pervades aJl the works on the subject, published in eith~r England, France, or Germany, which have found their way into our libraries, colleges, schools or hookstores. The emigrant, whose information has been derived from defective sources, must of course labour under the effects of the inac~ urate materials from which that information was drawn. Every in< lividual must, to gain a true knowledge of the various parts of the United States, resort either to Europeans who have travelled in the country, or to nali ve writers. All that can be gained frum most of the former class, is worse than absolute ignorance. As we Jo not wish to harass the feelings of our readers with a repetition of lhe names of ~tl(:n, who have repaid ho~p i tality with abu~e, and who have given a tm1sh to the·ir characters by placing ingratitude on the foreground of a picture that no other crime could shade, we will leave these authors 'to the indignant contempt of this entire uation, and the scorn of the generou::; and just of every other. Since the completion of the AmP.rican revolutionary war, several Europeans have visited the United States, whose minds were tooelevated to permit them to become libellers, and some who desired to describe faithfully without either expres ·iug blame or panegyric • From such writers much useful knowle lge can be gained. The Marquis Chattellux, Brissot d6 Warville, aml Volney, were of this class. Their writings contain many valuable facts, upon the manners anJ customs of the people of the Unite<! States, and upon its ~oil, climate, an<.l productions. * See page 4, of this Treatise. |