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collected, arranged, sifted and weighed the accompanying testimony, and, profiting by lights for which it was requisite patiently to wait, or deeply to search, he delivers in a narrative of half a page, what had filled, in its impure and chaotic state, not less perhaps, than an hundred columns of an hundred gazettes.

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'But, even admitting that there is some use in perusing these desultory and impertinent details of news, what have I, a plain farmer, perhaps, or a man of some studious vocation, physician, lawyer, or divine, or a country shopkeeper or city artisan,-what has such a one as I to do with this long history of shipping-this catalogue of sloops and brigs to be sold or freighted-these lists of goods, wet and dry, to be found at such a corner or in such an alley? These things occupy three out of four huge and overflowing pages which I daily receive, and are absolutely of less use to me than blank paper.

"A daily gazette contains, when collected, at a year's end, no less than twelve hundred and fifty-two pages, and these are equivalent to, at least, twelve thousand pages of bulky octavo, and these would make at least, twenty-four thick octavo volumes. When we reflect upon the infinite variety and quantity of valuable matter which may be squeezed into twenty octavos, how must we lament when we come to scan their actual contents? Three fourths of them are nothing to the world at large. They are of use, of temporary use, only to the traders; to one of the numerous callings into which the people are distributed. To all the rest, they are just as foreign as if some obscure taylor should send his legers and receipt books, for the last ten years, to the press, and I should be served every morning, with half a volume full of the precious contents. What is the cargo of the ship Sail Fast to me? What are the bales of dry goods, or the bags of prime green coffee, to be sold tomorrow by an auctioneer to me who live an hundred miles off, or whose pursuits have nothing in them of a mercantile cast? Yet such is the vanity of fashion, and the caprice of the passions, that two thousand copies of such stuff shall be daily printed, and be dispersed within a sphere of an hundred miles. Though never read by any but traders, it is brought and laid upon the table because it is connected with the news and politics of the day; a connexion that is perfectly incongruous and irrational and unnecessary.

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Among other causes for regret, which the contemplation of the world and its ways furnishes to a friend of mankind, is this absurd or pernicious application of an instrument capable of the most illustrious and permanent use. It is impossible to praise too highly the invention of the Press. Of all the forms of publication, that of a large sheet filled with small type, and printed and dispersed daily, is the most to be ad

mired. By this means, a man shall have, for eight dollars, in daily and convenient portions, put into his hand, without effort or forethought of his own, a quantity equal to twenty-four volumes in octavo.

"How powerful, in the cause of true virtue and beneficial knowledge might this instrument be made. Put into the hantls of philanthropy, and genius, what wonders would be wrought by it! How might the knowledge diffused through costly or inaccessible or widely-scattered volumes, be compressed, with new forms, arrangements and illustrations, into this easy and current vehicle! How might the truths of science, the maxims of morals, and the lessons of economy, be modelled and distributed anew, be familiarized, and rendered at the same timè captivating and intelligible, in a daily paper?

"Such are its possible uses; but it is mournful to reflect on the actual application of it. Three fourths of its contents are wholly useless and foreign to nine tenths of its readers. By the remaining fourth, the illusions and misrepresentations of faction are conveyed to us. Our under

standings are misled by sophistry, and our passions are irritated and depraved by invective and by slander, or a silly curiosity is tantalized (not gratified) by the shreds and patches, void of connexion, authenticity and order, of events in which we have no concern, an attention to which usurps the place of every salutary study.

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Considering the popular newspaper as the test of civilization or wisdom in its readers, how very low, continued my friend, must sink our opinion of Americans! Their connexion with us, as natives of a common country, may rescue them from our contempt, and prompt us to extenuate the censure, by extending it from Americans to men ; and by studied comparisons, to show, that if Americans are no better in this respect, than other nations, yet it may at least, be said they are not worse.

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Such was my good friend's invective against newspapers. easy to see that there is much error and extravagance in it ; and that the fault, thus imputed to the people at large, can only fall on the head of the editors or publishers of newspapers. As to the contempt cast upon the mercantile portion of a gazette it is plainly absurd, since intelligence of what is to be bought and sold, is useful to every one who buys and sells; and that is the case of every member of society. Every man is not interested in every article, but there are some to whom every article is of use; and in proposing the gratification or advantage of all, each one must be contented with a little.

In a performance of this kind, nothing is more unreasonable than for any one man, or one class to expect that his benefit or pleasure shall be solely consulted. It is sufficient that there is something among a

VOL. II.

E

multitude of things, which is of use to him, and the scantiness of each portion is made up by the number of those who receive it.

There is no valid reason why mercantile intelligence, and general speculations should not be connected in the same paper. Every merchant and townsman is a citizen and a man, though every citizen is not a merchant, or inhabitant of a town; and while one is contented to receive (for he need not read) the salesman's catalogue for the sake of the literature or politics connected with it, the trader is prompted to extend his view beyond his professional concerns by the vicinity of other topics.

As to the politics of newspapers, the curiosity that is attentive to the character and conduct of our rulers, so far from being merely harmless, or only moderately useful, seems to be the grand and indispensible duty of every citizen. Since it is our privilege to choose, 'tis our duty to choose wisely; and, for that end, to be vigilant in noticing the practices and principles of public men, and to employ all practicable means of forming a true decision.

In all transactions with our fellow-men, we must reckon largely on the influence of passions and prejudices, and draw from their folly, their precipitation, and their selfishness, new motives for industry in searching out the truth for ourselves, and for perseverance and ardour in combating the passions and rectifying the ignorance of others.

If newspapers be, in general, the vehicles of falsehood, and men are betrayed, by faithless guides, in the pursuit of their true interest, and the selection of their true friends, it is criminal to stand idly aloof, or to content ourselves with reviling either the deceiver, or the dupe. No; it is our business to exert ourselves to show them their preferable path; and, by shunning all absurd reproaches, all groundless calumnies, all personal altercations which obscure the penetration in proportion as they inflame the passions of men, we may confer the most signal and illustrious benefits upon our countrymen.

Political intelligence, as conveyed to us through newspapers, is liable to many objections; but some of these objections arise from the nature of the thing, and are inseparable from human testimony; but much, it is evident, must depend upon the industry, and candour, and judgment of the publisher. The proofs of momentous events must ever be wanting in absolute consistency and certainty; and, in general, mere rumour and conjecture are just as likely to be wrong as right: but this is not applicable to every document or intimation, and there is constantly occurring proofs of a proper and legitimate kind. The selection of these evidences, and the conveyance of them to the inquisitive, or studious part of mankind, are surely laudable and beneficial undertakings, and afford large scope for the exercise of diligence, penetration, and impartiality.

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FOR THE PORT FOLIO.

MEMOIRS OF HAYTI-LETTER III.

The Cape, Island of Hayti, February 1, 1804.

UNLIKE the generality of travellers, who endeavour to entertain their correspondents with circumstantial details of their adventures from the moment they embark upon their voyage, I have in my two first letters entered at once into the substance of my narration. This was done for the purpose of giving you full information of the state of affairs in this country at the period of my arrival, which being accomplished, I shall begin to speak of myself.

On the 23d of January, we received a pilot off the harbour of the Cape, and in about one hour anchored before the town. We were immediately visited by a mulatto officer of the port, dressed in a kind of uniform and a military chapeau, who directed the captain and myself to accompany him on shore, with the papers of the vessel, invoices, letters, and newspapers. On our landing, an American gentleman came up to speak to us, but was prevented by the officer, who hurried us through the streets, and would permit no person to converse with us. In a short time we arrived at the office of Sangos, captain of the port, where our vessel was reported. Thence we proceeded with the same rapidity up one street and down another, until we reached the bureau of Richard, commandant of the place. Here again a report similar to the former was registered, and we were called upon for our and letters. Fortunately of the latter we had none, for it newspapers is a fact well known here, that no letter deposited in that office ever reaches its address. Thence we were hurried to the house of citizen A. the interpreter. It there appeared that I had forgotten one of my papers, for which I was instantly sent on board, with directions to return without delay. The sailors being employed in mooring the vessel, I was not able to procure a conveyance to shore as soon as could have been wished, and when I landed again on the wharf, was not a little astonished to find the mulatto officer diabling and swearing at me in a violent manner with his stick raised in a threatening attitude. Having never been accustomed in my own country to the argumentum bacculinum, especially with one of his complexion, I was mortified in the highest degree, but refrained from any retaliation, as I knew the consequence would be an arrest by a guard of black gens d'armes, who were there, listening to the abuse of the officer. He then reconducted me to the interpreter's, who treated me with much civility, and expressed his sorrow at the necessity which obliged him to be so particular, observing "the man with whom we have to deal is not to be

trifled with," alluding to Christophe. We were then conducted with the interpreter to the house of the general, where we waited up stairs in an antichamber, until his excellency was at leisure. He at length appeared, as if disturbed from sleep, in a dishabille with a Madras handkerchief round his head, and having, with all the dignity and importance of a great man addressing his inferiors, asked us several questions, such as whence we came, what passage, the latest news from France, &c. we were dismissed, and permitted to go where we pleased.

attention was busily engaged Being a little after midday, scorching the very streets, The dreary desolated walls

As we passed through the town, my in contemplating the surrounding scene. when the powerful rays of the sun were scarcely a human being was to be seen. which surrounded huge heaps of ashes and rubbish, too plainly pointed out the ravages of a destructive element, and produced in the mind of the observer, a train of melancholy reflections.

The

in the

Cape François was once a city of much magnificence and splendor, and perhaps the richest of all the West Indies. Two conflagrations have now reduced it to a desolate situation, but the vestiges of its former grandeur, are still in many places to be traced. The walls of the houses are all standing, and the number of those which have been since rendered habitable by repairs, is comparatively small. buildings are all of stone, roughcast, and either of a white or yellow colour. They are but two stories high, having a hollow square centre exposed to the sky, in which is usually the kitchen and a well. From this area the staircases ascend, and around it on a level with the second story is a gallery into which the chamber and parlour doors open. The stairs and floors, with few exceptions, are all of stone, tile, or brick; the ground floors are occupied for stores, shops, and stables, and the upper stories for the accommodation of families. The houses are generally ornamented with iron balconies, which have withstood the fires, and the window casements, as no glass is used, are hung with Venetian or close shutters.

The streets are narrow, but

Iwell laid out into small squares, neatly paved, and perfectly clean, and there are three or four hollow squares, in the centre of which are fountains adorned with the heads of animals, constantly spouting pure and delightful water, which is conveyed to them in subterraneous aqueducts from a neighbouring mountain. This is the water used for drinking and culinary purposes, as that contained in the wells is

brackish and unwholesome.

of a mile in length, by half a mile in breadth, and contains no vacant The space of ground occupied by the city is about three quarters

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