The Conservative. 9
end violent party feelings , two rather
unfavorable signs.
Philadelphia , Centre of Science.
"Pennsylvania , New Jersey and Dela
ware form a group which resemble eaoh
other still more. The people are re
markable for their good nature , tran
quillity , and industry. With the except
ion of Philadelphia , their interest id gen
erally more of a manufacturing and
agricultural character. These states are
for the most part peopled by peaceable
Quakers and Germans. All goes on
with the greatest order , without any
sudden convulsions almost impercept
ibly so. If Boston be the sojourn of
letters , Philadelphia is that of the
sciences ; giving rather a pedantic char
acter to her society.
"New Jersey ventured into the peril
ous field of great enterprises , in imita
tion of her northern neighbor ; but event
ually confined herself to the establish
ment of a few schools , and returned to
her wiser policy and principles. The
legislature at this period peremptorily
refused the incorporation of new banks ,
and even went so far as to withdraw
the charters of some already established.
' 'Maryland is as divided in her inter
ests as the other states. For while
Baltimore is one of the most commercial
towns in the Union , the rest of the
country is agricultural and manufactur
ing. The character of the people pre
sents a singular amalgamation of the
simplicity and good nature of the
Quakers of Pennsylvania and the pride
of the planters of Virginia. It is the
only state in which religious intolerance
exists , arising more from ancient custom
than actual prejudice. The Jews can
not vote here. This state finds itself , in
relation to its negroes , in perhaps greater
embarrassment than Virginia.
Province of Virginia.
"This latter state has held , for a long
period , the highest position in the Union
by means of her policy and great men.
She has had the honor of giving birth to
four of our presidents. Virginia has
fallen however from her state of splen
dor , which may chiefly be attributed to
party feud. Her interests are entirely
agricultural and manufacturing. The
character of her people is noble , gener
ous , and hospitable , with however a
little tinge of roughness , vanity , and
pride. They pride themselves on their
good faith above all things. The laws ,
customs and policy are due to this praise
worthy feeling. They are very united ,
and venture no opinion without support
ing it by the suffrage ' of all Virginia. '
In politics they are , however , personal ,
noisy and turbulent ; and the State of
Virginia is without comparison of all
others that in which the ' limbs of the
law' most abound. Although they
boast of their democracy , they are the
only true aristocrats in the Union.
Witness the right of suffrage , from
which the ' canaille' are excluded in the
state.
"The principal culture in Virginia
and Maryland is tobacco and corn. The
former of these articles requires negro
labor , while the latter is more profitable ,
being cultivated by free people. Tobacco
quickly exhausts the soil , and will only
grow in virgin and fertile lands. From
this state of things it follows , that these
lands being as it were exhausted today ,
at least proportionally so , and the price
of tobacco being diminished , on account
of the quantity of the article cultivated
in the West , the planters are reduced to
the growing of corn , and obligpd to get
rid of their slaves , who have become as
it were unprofitable. The day is not far
distant therefore , when these two states
will unite with those of the North ,
against the Slyveholding Stales. Within
a few years they ( especially Virginia )
have undertaken the cultivation of short
cotton , which circumstance redeemed
the value of their negroes , and might
possibly have been the means of Virginia
re-acquiring her former envied splendor
and prosperity. Short cotton , however ,
having been subject to the same fall in
price as other cotton , all the southern
states are consequently declining.
"North Carolina is a bad copy of Vir
ginia. She has the same interest , the
same policy , and navigates in the same
waters ; and notwithstanding her gold
mines , she is the poorest state in the
Union , and that which furnishes the
least number of emigrants to the new
countries.
The South.
"South Carolina , Georgia , Alabama ,
Mississippi and Louisiana , constitute
properly what are called the Southern
States. Their interest is purely agri
cultural. Long and short cotton , sugar ,
rice and Indian corn form their products ;
necessarily requiring negroes , and
affording a sufficient profit to obviate
the necessity of employing their capital
otherwise. The goodness of the soil and
the luxury of the climate are so favorable
to the cultivator , that he finds it of in
finitely more advantage to employ the
negro in this occupation than in the
manufactories. Although the char
acter of the people varies much over
such an extensive line of country , a
southerly cast is obser. able. Fiankness ,
generosity , hospitality , and the liberality
of their opinions are proverbial , forming
a perfect contrast to the Yankee char
acter ; by no means to the advantage of
the latter. In the midst of this group ,
South Carolina has distinguished herself
by a phalanx of talent unequaled in the
Union. In my travels I have found
the society of Charleston by far the best ,
both here as well as on the other side of
the Atlantic. There is nothing wanting
either as regards finish , or elegance of
manners ; but what is of more value to
people , such as ourselves , who attach
little importance to refined politeness
she abounds in real talents , and is far
above pedantry as insignificance. In all
questions of common interests , this is
the leading state. The policy of the
others , with the exception of Georgia , is
not as yet sufficiently established to
enable me to form an opinion thereon.
As to Georgia , and it is with pain I state
it , nothing equals its violence of fac
tions , except perhaps Kentucky. In this
latter , however , the dispute is about
principles , while in Georgia it is about
men.
The West.
"The other states form the West ,
without comparison the most extensive
and richest part of the Union-and will
soon become , if she is not already , the
most populous ; and the day is not far
distant when power , luxury and instruc
tion in the arts will follow as the natural
consequence of these superior advant
ages. Their interest is manufacturing
and agricultural , although the former
predominates. The character of the
people is strongly marked by a wild in
stinct of masculine liberty which not
unfrequently degenerates into license ,
as simplicity and frankness of manners
approach sometimes to the rudeness of
cynic independence. The universities
everywhere established , with a degree
of luxury , promise the advent of a gen
eration of instructed and talented poli
ticians , whose chief object will be to
acquire experience , and profit by the
faults of their fathers. Our country is
so happily constituted that , without in
curring the slightest danger.we can ven
ture to put in practice either a law or a
constitution. The states mutually sup
port each other like expert swimmers ,
always ready to lend a helping hand in
need. Moreover there exists a federal
constitution to prevent too hazardous
an experiment. It sets its limits to
these experimentalists , and it is by this
influence above all , that each citizen , of
whatever state he may be , is obliged to
look upon it as the safeguard , and source
from whence the future greatness of our
republic will be derived. "
SCIENCE AT STANFORD.
An unpleasant impression is made by
the resignation of Professor Ross from
the faculty of Stanford University.
Under any circumstances the resigna
tion of surh a man from a great univer
sity is a loss. Universities are institu
tions which not only impart learning ,
but produce it by original investigation.
Sociology , the special department of
learning to which Professor Ross is de
voted , is still in its period of adolescence.
It is not a completed scientific structure ,
composed of all the ascertainable facts
upon the subject. It is a [ rowing
structure , into which much material
may be wrought that is to be discarded
when original investigation has massed
all the data attainable. It may be said
