It may be safely alleged that the genuine southern planter, in his own home, exhibits to the stranger a noble form of hospitality. Without the ostentation that would display itself in dress or equipage, being often carelessly arrayed in homespun while upon his own fields, he welcomes the traveller to all the comforts that can be furnished by his dwelling. His house, his plantation, his blood-horse, belong to the stranger so long as the stranger is a guest. This hospitality springs not less from the general tone of liberality which despises meanness, than from the insulated position of most of the planters of that portion of the country, who are glad to meet with any person who will bring them news from abroad. The cotton cultivator of the south is a fine specimen of the old English gentleman, not only in the magnanimity of his views, but in the total absence of that starched formality which is often mistaken as a badge of real dignity and importance. Nor are they less marked by their ordinary habits of hospitality and their personal traits than in the character of their amusements. The sports of the field occupy a considerable portion of their leisure time; and hunting and the race-course present for them the most solid charms. This freedom of manners pervades the female portion of the population, and runs through the whole circle of society. That amenity of manners which is always the evidence of polished education, that simplicity of address, which is the more beautiful because it is natural, that open ingenuousness of carriage which gives confidence and ease to all within its presence, and that delicacy of sentiment founded upon a cultivated taste which indicates the most chastened form of accomplishment, throws around their social intercourse a charm which, in order to be appreciated, must be experienced; and it is the traits that we have thus described which must give to this class of our population great influence, not only in the saloon, but the hall of legislation.

The prosperity of the south may, without doubt, be mainly attributed to the cultivation of the cotton plant, and upon the continuance of that production its future prosperity must in a great measure depend. A source of wealth might indeed have been derived from the rice, tobacco, indigo, and sugar crop, as well as her other staples, but that wealth would have borne but a small proportion to the profit which is now experienced, and that is likely to be increased by the cultivation of the cotton. So firmly has the value of this grand staple been fixed, and so extensively has its use intertwined with our most ordinary comforts, and the manufacture of the plant has become so much increased, not only in this country, but in Furope, that nothing short of a pestilence that should sweep away its population, a blight, or a mildew, or an insect that should blast its crops, or an earthquake that should rive the land, could prevent the continuance of the same causes that have in so great measure contributed to its wealth. And yet, with these abundant resources, the population of the greater portion of that country are not advancing in this respect. A few of the most shrewd and laborious manage to accumulate large fortunes; yet the liberal and free indulgences of much the greater part scarcely enable them to pay their expenses from year to year, and often, as it is well known, the harvest of one year is as it were mortgaged for the expenses of the next, and those means which in the hands of some would be a source of vast profit, become in their hands a cause of mere competence.

In concluding our imperfect remarks, we cannot but take a brief view of the relative importance of the cotton cultivation to the other great

sources of our national enterprise, for its profits by exportation are of greater magnitude than those of any other agricultural interest. The beautiful variety that is spread out by the different soils and climates of the republic, strike the mind with admiration. In our northern states, lying, as they do, upon the seacoast, the broad and rich field of the ocean is stretched before the keels of commerce, and that field has been ploughed with extraordinary advantage both in foreign trade and in the various species of our fisheries. The sound of machinery has there too commenced. The fur trade is fast receding from our western forests, as the tide of emigration rolls onward through their fertile soil; and in its track spring up the blooming fruits and flowers of abundant harvests, from the corn and the wheat field-products which are most salutary to the nation, because they furnish an abundance of what are most urgently required by all in the article of food. Along our southern coast, a vegetable is cultivated which bids fair to pour forth upon the nation a vast amount of wealth, that must necessarily increase as the augmentation of population affords a market for its fabrics, and the extensive tracts of new soil equally favorable to the production of cotton with those which are now employed in its cultivation, shall have been laid open to the plough; thus furnishing cargoes for our ships, and supplies for our manufacturing establishments.

ART. II.-FREE TRADE.

We had supposed that the long and fierce discussion, waged for so many years between the advocates of protection and free trade, had resulted in a settled preference for the free trade policy, and that the same liberal principles which originated our glorious constitution, and which so generally pervade all our modes of thinking and action, were, without further controversy, to govern our intercourse with the nations of the world; applying their mysterious but powerful stimulus to the interests of production and commerce, and giving a bolder wing to those noble enterprises which have already caused our flag to be unfurled in every clime, and our canvass to whiten every sea.

But it would seem that we have been mistaken. Even in this magazine, devoted exclusively to the interests of a class of men who are the natural foes of monopoly and restriction, several writers have already announced themselves as the advocates of protection; and the movements at the capitol and elsewhere, indicate that there are those who are willing, at the first favorable opportunity, to revive this long-debated question. Under these circumstances, we are particularly pleased to see that one of the most powerful champions of free trade has brought out a volume of essays, written during the heat of the tariff contest, and embodying most of the arguments which were so successful in overwhelming the "American System," and in bringing about the compromise of 1833. We allude to the volume on "Free Trade," by Dr. Raguet, published a few months since at Philadelphia.

When nations were from year to year involved in bloody and ruinous

wars, it may have been necessary to grant extraordinary encouragement to particular interests. But this argument in favor of protection, if it ever was sound, cannot now apply to the family of nations. Formerly, when arms was the occupation of the wealthy and the noble, war only was the field of glory and renown. From the reign of Numa, the second king of Rome, to that of Augustus, in whose time Christ was born, a period of nearly 700 years, the temple of Janus, which was kept open in war and closed in peace, was shut but once, and then for a short period only. Im mediately subsequent to the birth of Christ, about 500 years of successive wars preceded the fall of the great Roman empire. From the ruins of this gigantic people, a multitude of nations sprang into existence, who, as it were, slept upon their arms and kept Europe in a state of dreadful com motion for about a thousand years. Then followed the wars of the refor mation and of Napoleon, deluging the world in blood, and stirring up the deepest hate between nations separated only by an imaginary line.

At length, however, these scenes of carnage have been succeeded by a period of deep and almost sublime repose. As light, and knowledge, and commerce have advanced, the arts of peace have been cultivated more than those of war, and we seem almost to have realized the day foreseen by the inspired prophet, when "they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks," and when "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more."

For the last twenty-five years, the world has enjoyed a calm, unknown to it in any other age. Nations have ceased to regard each other with that deep and settled hate which once kept them involved in continued and disastrous wars; and as human liberty has extended, and the people have been left free to check the assumptions of power, a barrier has been interposed against the ambitious projects of kings, while the free spirit of commerce, winged by the four winds of heaven, bears to every clime the olivebranch of peace, and binds together the family of nations with the strong tie of interest.

This tie, always important, is now daily increasing in power. The application of steam to ocean navigation has constituted a new era in the history of commerce and of nations. The regularity and certainty with which we now receive intelligence from all parts of the world, has opened new fields of inquiry and enjoyment-has brought the knowledge, and customs, and literature of other nations to our doors, and produced an exchange of thoughts, improvements, views, and feelings, the result of which must be greatly to strengthen these ties of interest, and promote the peace and harmony of this great society. If, therefore, the necessity ever existed, there is now no longer any occasion for that extreme selfishness which has too often characterized the legislation of different governments on the subject of trade and if freedom is best calculated to stimulate the industry of man, and increase the production of nations, there is no sufficient cause why it should not be grafted on their policy.

To the political philosopher, the world should be regarded as one great family, divided, it is true, into different branches, but all having substantially the same interests, and each contributing its share to the general good. Every thing around us appears to have been constituted with this design. The inclination of the earth's axis to the ecliptic, causes an agreeable variety of climates, each of which is favorable to its own peculiar production, but none of which furnishes all that the wants of man in his civilized state re

quire and as he is scattered abroad over every part of the earth's surface, it is evident that without a constant intercommunication between the distant parts he would be deprived of many enjoyments which he now possesses.

Hence the importance of commerce. Every man finds his comforts increased by the productions of other countries. When we sit down to our breakfast in the morning, and glance over the smoking board, we behold at once how largely we are indebted to distant regions for even our commonest pleasures. The table on which we eat is probably of wood grown in South America; the cloth which covers it is from Ireland; the cups from which we drink are from China or England; the knives in part from Liverpool, and in part from the deserts of Africa; the spoons from the mines of Mexico; the coffee which we sip, from the distant island of Java; the sugar which suits it so admirably to our taste, from the island of Cuba. In short, we can scarcely open our eyes but they rest on some article brought by immense labor and toil-nay, perhaps even with risk of life and limb, from some far-off clime.

Now, as the earth rises into hills and sinks into valleys-is cold, and temperate, and hot in different portions-it possesses, in every part, a peculiar aptness for something which cannot be so readily produced elscwhere: and, hence, the amount of production on the whole globe would evidently be greatest if the people of each country would produce those things only for which they possess the greatest facilities by soil, climate, and location. It would therefore seem to be the true policy of every country to foster the production of those things which these advantages render most profitable, and exchange the surplus which remains after supplying the wants of its own population, for the productions of other countries which it cannot so readily create.

Thus the soil and climate of New York are adapted to raising wheat, while they are not adapted to raising coffee on the other hand, the soil and climate of Cuba are adapted to raising coffee, but not to raising wheat. Now if the labor of a New York farmer in one day would produce a hundred pounds of flour, while the same labor would not produce a pound of coffee, and if the labor of a West India planter would, in the same time, produce twenty-five pounds of coffee, but not a single pound of flour, it would clearly be to the advantage of both to apply themselves to the production most congenial to their several climates and make a friendly exchange, as the farmer would, by that means, obtain more coffee and the planter more flour.

But there are certain political philosophers who contend that it would be better for every country to foster as great a variety of products as possible, and that if the soil, climate, or other circumstance prevents their creation as cheaply as they can be produced elsewhere, government should protect them against the competition of those places where the facilities of production are greater, by a duty so large as at least to put them on a footing with their neighbors. Thus, if a pound of sugar can be made in Jamaica for three cents, and in Louisiana for six cents, it is urged that government should lay a duty of three cents on foreign sugar, so as to raise the price within the United States to six cents: by which means the Louisianian will be enabled to employ his lands in the cultivation of sugar.

Believing that this principle of protecting particular interests by discriminating duties, is detrimental to the interests of society, injurious to production and commerce, and unworthy of the enlightened age in which we live,

we shall devote the remainder of these pages to a further examination of the fallacies on which it is founded. We regard it—

I. As unjust and oppressive.

II. As offering a bounty to smuggling and fraud.

III. As injurious to production, commerce, and national wealth.

I. It is unjust and oppressive. Our country is, in many respects, more fortunately situated than others. We have a vast domain of wild and fer. tile lands which invite the hand of industry "to lop their wanton growth," and which can be purchased at $1 25 per acre. A very small capital, therefore, joined with habits of sobriety and industry, is sufficient to make the laborer independent. This productiveness of the soil repays the toils of the husbandman so handsomely, that many branches of business which can be carried on to profit in other countries, cannot be prosecuted here; because land being so cheap, and agricultural pursuits so agreeable and profitable, they offer a richer reward than those other pursuits. This circumstance necessarily fixes the rate of wages higher here than in most other countries. The fertility of the soil has the effect of a labor-saving machine, and its cheapness brings it within the means of a vast number of persons.

Be

This being true, it follows that many branches of production to which our soil and climate are not entirely unfriendly, cannot be prosecuted here to any great extent while commerce is unfettered by restrictive laws. cause, if the farmer can produce more sugar by raising wheat and exchanging it with the West India planter, than he can by cultivating it in hothouses, it is clearly his interest to do so; and long experience has shown that men are not very apt to go counter to their interests.

But it so happens, that in certain parts of our country, sugar can be produced to some extent without the aid of hothouses, but not with the same facility, that is, as cheaply as it can be produced in the West Indies. This is the case in some parts of Louisiana. But the Louisianian cannot compete with the West Indian, because the lands of the latter, being better adapted to the culture of sugar, yield with more certainty and in greater abundance: hence he is enabled to undersell him in the market. To prevent this unequal competition, congress interposes its shield of protection and lays a duty on foreign sugar, by means of which the price is raised so high within the bounds of the United States, that the Louisianian is enabled to carry on the cultivation without loss.

Now we contend that this interposition of congress is both unjust and oppressive. 1st. It is unjust, because it is imposing a tax on all the pursuits of industry—that is, on all the consumers of sugar within the United States-for the purpose of favoring a particular branch of production, which we think government has no right to do. 2d. It is oppressive, be. cause the tax so levied is no benefit, but a positive injury to community, the consumer parting with his money without any remuneration whatever. If, in consequence of this duty, sugar is made dearer by three cents a pound, then whoever consumes a pound of sugar contributes three cents towards sustaining the Louisiana planter in a business which, after all, yields him only the average profits of other pursuits. The money might, therefore, for all the benefit which it accomplishes, be just as well thrown into the sea. In coming to this conclusion, we must, of course, keep the idea of protection separate from that of revenue. All governments must be supported, and taxes for that purpose are well applied. A tax for protection is for an