Agricultural. FOR THE BALANCE. THE FLOATING GARDENS OF MEXICO. IT Tis a juft adage, that "neceffity is the mother of invention." While a country is thinly fettled and land is more plenty than labourers, it is always, in a general view, poorly cultivated but when an agricultural people are compres fed together within narrow limits, neceffity urges them to expedients which, but for the confinednefs of their fituation, would never have occurred to their minds. The Mexicans who border on Louisia. na, after they were driven fometime in the 14th century from their native country Aztlan, and were fubdued by the Colhuan and Tepenacan nations, and confined to the miserable islands on the lake Tetzcuco, were taught to form moveable gardens which floated upon the waters of the lake. The method in which they conftructed and managed thole gardens is thus defcribed by the Abbe Clavigero in his hiftory of Mexico. "They plait and twift willows and roots of marth-plants, or other materials together, which are light, but capable of fupporting the earth of the garden firmly united. On this foundation they lay the little bufbes which float on the lake, and, over all, the mud and dirt which they draw up from the bottom of the lake. Their regular figure is quadrangular; their length and breadth various; but as far as we can judge, they are about eight perches long, and not more than three in breadth, and have lefs than a foot of elevation above the furface of the water. Thefe were the firft fields which the Mexicans owned after the foundation of Mexico. There they first cultivated the maize, great pepper, and other plants neceffary for their fupport. In progrefs of time, thofe fields grew numerous from the induftry of thefe people. There were among them, gardens of flowers, and odoriferous plants, which were employed in the worthip of their gods, and ferved for the recreation of the nobles. At prefent, that is, in the year 1780, fays the Abbe, they cultivate flowers and every fort of garden herbs upon them. Every day of the year, at fun rife, innumerable vef fels, loaded with various kinds of flowers "When the owner of the garden withes to change his fituation, he gets into his little veffel, and by his own ftrength alone, if the garden be fma!!, or with the affifiance of others, if it be large, he tows it after him, and conducts it wherever he pleafes, with the little tree and hut upon it. That part of the lake, (adds the Abbe Clavigero) where thofe floating gardens are, is a place of infinite recreation, where the fenfes receive the higheft poffible gratification." THE HE following moft fingular occurrence comes to us from a quarter perfectly authentic, and ftill forms the fubje&t of converfation in Britanny.-During the utmost phrenzy of the French Revolution, there was a Curate at Rheims, whofe purity and benevolence had fo endeared him to people of all defcriptions, that in the height of their rage and madnefs, the Septembrizing Committees dared not openly to attack him. Determined therefore on private affaffination, they applied to their ufual agents; but even their hands, long ftained with blood, and hearts accustomed to maflacre, turned away with horror from the" deep damnation" of that deed.--The good Curate remained for fome time pro. tected by his own purity, till three bravoes were brought down from Paris, by whom was arranged the following plan for his deftruction :-Two of them were at the dead of night to call up the Holy Man, in order to attend the laft moments of a dying penitent. This laft was to be reprefented by the third experienced bravo, who, during the exhortations of the Priest, was fuddenly and filently to dispatch him. The ar rangement fo far fucceeded, that the Curate was brought, and the two confederates waited impatiently for the fignal, the body of the victim. To their aftonishment, however, the object that first prefented it. felf to them was the Curate, who shook his head and faid, "Ah! my friends, you ap. plied to me too late; for the poor man is dead, and the corpfe is cold already." The affaffins, flruck with remorfe and terror, fell on their knees, and confeffed all thefe circumstances, imploring his forgive nels. The Curate, who then for the firft time obtained a candle from the people of the house, and pulling down the bed clothes, faw a dagger in the hand of the breathlefs affaflin. The whole city of Rheims crowded the next day to be witneffes of this extraordinary interpofition, until the Muni cipality gave orders that the corpfe should be taken away. The Curate then finding there was no longer any chance for him, emigrated to England, bringing with him the admiration and regret of every one who knew him. Miscellany. Harg FOR THE BALANCE. As S agriculture has long been with me a favourite ftudy, I am led to seize with eagernels any publications, el. pecially of my countrymen, on that in terefting and ufeful fubject; and I lately, in my researches of that kind, happened to perufe the account of the premiums propofed by the Philadelphia fociety for pro moting agriculture, for the year 1790Among the feveral premiums which that refpe&table body has propofed, is the fol lowing. For the beft method of raifing hogs, from the pig, in pens or flies, from expe rience their fometimes running in a lot or field not totally excluded, if preferred -a a gold medal and for the fecond bel -a filver medal." On this inode of rewarding improvements in the rearing [wine, I crave the indulgence of a few briel remarks. Hogs are fo ufeful and neceffary for food that no one can reafon ably obje&t to offering a reward for the bel method of raifing them. Such a meafuit is proper and laudable; but the fpecies quality of the propofed premium feens improper and even ludicrous. of gold or filver, defigned as honorary badges of diftinction, fhould be awarded" to literary merit-to useful works of Gen ius-to tranfcendant acts of patriotif, and to the performance of any great ap arduous duties of humanity. Indeed the man or woman who fhould devise a meth GT Medals od of feeding, inftructing and governing FROM A GLASGOW PAPER. EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER. A SHORT time fince died, at Hornchurch, in Effex, Edward Nokes, aged 56, by trade a tinker, which he followed zealoufly till about fix weeks before his death. His apartments pourtrayed fymptoms of the most abject poverty, though at his death ne was found to be poffeffed of property to the amount of between five and fix thoufand pounds. He had a wife and feveral children, which he brought up in the moft parfimonious manner, often feeding them on grains and offals of meat, which he purchafed at reduced prices. He was no lefs remarkable in his perfon and drefs; for in order to fave the expenfe of fhaving, he would encourage the dirt to gathen on his face, to hide in fome measure this deject. He never fuffered his fhirt to be washed in water. His coat, which time had tranf formed into a jacket, would have puzzled the wifeft philofopher to make out its original colour, fo covered was it with fhreds and patches of different colours, and thofe to diverfified, as to refemble the trophies of the different nations of Europe, and feemed to vie with Jofeph's" coat of many colours." | and tally kept behind the door, of the fum The intereft of his money, together with all he could heap up from his penurious mode of living, he used to depofit in a bag, which bag was covered up in a tin pot, and then conveyed to a brick kitchen; one of the bricks was taken up, and a hole made juft large enough to hold the pot; the brick was then carefully marked, A fhort time after his death, which he evidently haftened by the daily use of near a quart of fpirits, he gave a frict charge that his coffin fhould not have a nail in it, which was actually the cafe, the lid being faftened, its hinges made of cord; there was no plate on the coffin but barely the initials E. N. cut out of the lid. His fhroud was made of a pound of wool; the coffin was covered with a fheet inftead of a pall, and was carried by fix men, to each of whom he left half a crown; and at his particular defire, not one who followed him to the grave wore mourning; but on the contrary, each of the mourners feemed to try whofe drefs fhould be moft ftriking, the Undertaker even being habited in a blue coat and fcarlet waistcoat. He died without a will, and his fortune was equally divided between his wife and family. ent. coincided with the old adage, “out of fight, out of mind," and went home as unconcerned as if nothing had happened. But, with regard to our local or accidental fources of difeafe, the cafe is differThefe we are competent to modify and deftroy.. We can remove from around our habitations the putrefying recrements of organifed bodies; we can clear and cultivate our natural meadow lands; and enIn his younger days, he ufed at the rich our fields by means of manure, indeath of any of his children, to have a little ftead of more flowly attaining the fame Deal box to put them in, and without un-end, by foffering them to lie for years in a dergoing the folemn requifites of a regular wafte and weedy ftate. Further we can efuneral, he would take them upon his fhoulrect our dwellings on elevated fituations, der to the place appropriated for their re- defend them from the exhalations of millception: where, once interred, he feem- ponds and neighbouring marfhes by interpofing ranges of trees; and, by means of flannel clothing, protect our perfons from the changes of the weather. Nor is this all. We can fubftitute vegetables for part of the animal food which we now confume, malt liquor and cider for our high wines and ardent fpirits, and, in other refpets, live in conformity to the genius of our climate. Thefe objects fall within the fphere of our power, and it is no lefs our duty than our intereft to attain them. Such an iffue would contribute equally to individual health and happinefs, and to the profperity, ftrength and aggrandizement of our country. Let us, then, like Cadmus of Lyre, wage a war of extermination with thefe hydras of difeafe, that our pofterity may live in fecurity from their ravages. The voice of patriotifm combines with that of nature and of reafon, to urge and ani mate us in the important enterprife. BY CHARLES CALDWELL, M. D. THE general or natural are, the excefs gain fuch an afcendency over nature, the philofophy of art would degenerate into folly. Nor are we able to ftay the fluices of the heavens, when they are about to pour forth on our country a fuperabundance of waters. TAKE fkim milk two quarts, fref flacked lime half a pound, linfed oil fix ounces, white Burgundy pitch two ounces. The lime is to be flacked in water, expofed to the air, mixed in about one fourth of the milk the oil, in which the Burgundy pitch is previously diffolved, to be added, a little at a time, then the rest of the milk, and afterwards the Spanifh white. This quantity is faid to be enough for twenty-feven fquare yards, two coats; and the expence a mere trifle. The French manifefto, which follows, is a paper from which more important confequences are to be deduced, than from all that has hitherto appeared in any foreign print. Being without fignature of any kind, it would appear in rather a questionable shape, but the Hamburgh letter which precedes it, ftamps it with official authority, and it is evidently received as fuch in England, as appears by the remarks of the London editor, which follow in this paper, and which are written in a ftyle calculated to roufe the attention of the American pub[Evening Poft.] lic. not have a copy of the Manifefto before the mail of the ft of April." Be it our weekly task, &©®<<<<<< Latest Foreign Intelligence. By the Arabella Packet, from Falmouth, which the left the 10th ult. we have rely ceived a file of London papers to the 8th of April, two days later than heretofore, and as to the great question of peace or war, they afford more on which to build at leaft a plaufible conjecture, than any thing we have heretofore seen. LONDON, APRIL 6. Extract of a letter from Hamburgh, March 23. "In confequence of the arrival of a Courier from France laft night, the Senate was convene, and held an extraordinary meeting, which lafted four hours. The fubje&t of confideration was a threatening note from the French Minifter Reinhard, relative to the following affair:--A few weeks ago, Reinhard applied to the Magiftrates to procure the infertion, in the Correfpondenten, of a Manifefto from the pen of Bonaparte himfelf, full of the moft inde. cent invectives againt England. This production was refered to the Syndic and Cenfor of the Prefs, Mr. Doorman who permitted it to be inferted, after friking out the moft objectionable pallage. The Manifefto, thus modified, appeared in the Correfpondenten of the 25th inft. under the head of Paris, March 15, as an extract from the Bulletin de Paris. This however, inftead of fatisfying the French Minister, has provoked his utmost indignation, which is not to be appealed but by publishing it in its entire ftate. The republication in an official fhape is accordingly to take place to-morrow in all the Hamburgh papers, which, in confequence of an order from the Government, are not to be put to prefs until ten o'clock, and you therefore can THE CONSULAR MANIFESTO. The following is a copy of the manifefto, in its original ftate, inferted by defire of the French minifter at Hamburgh, in the Hamburgh Correfpondent, of the 30th ult. Paris, March 15. For fome months a war of newspapers and of the prefs has been kept up between France and England. This feemed mere. the dying embers of an extinguished conflagration; the last confolation of a def perate party; the food of fome low paffions of a few hungry fcribblers. The French government was far from attachNoting importance to fuch matters. withflanding fome difficulties in the complete execution of the treaty of Amiens, plete execution of the treaty of Amiens, they fill believed they might rely on the good faith of the British government, and directed their attention folely to the eflab. lifhment of the colonics. Relying upon the facredrels of treaties, they fecurely difperfed the remains of the French naval force, which had been given a prey to the English fleet. In this fituation, fuddenly appeared a folemn meffage from the cabi net of St. James's, and informed all Europe that France was making confiderable preparations in the ports of Holland and France; an addiefs was voted by parlia. ment, promifing to the King of England fuch extraordinary means of defence as the fecurity of the British empire and the honour of the three crowns might require. From the fudden appearance of this meffage, people doubted whether it was the effe&t of treachery, of lunacy, or of weak. nefs. Let any one cat his eye over the ports of France and Holland, where he will find only detached naval preparations destined for the colonics, and confifling only of one or two line of battle fhips and a few frigates. On the other hand, let him look at the ports of England, filled with a formidable naval force; on fuch a review one could be tempted to believe that the meffage of the king of England was mere irony, if fuch a farce were not unworthy the majesty of a government. If one confiders the influence of factions in fo free a country, one might fuppofe that the King of England had only had the weaknefs to yield, if weaknefs were compatible with the first quality of a King. In short, no rational motives remain to which it can be afcribed except bad faith-except a fworn enmity to the French Nation-except perfidy, and the defire of openly breaking a folemn Treaty, for the fake of advantages, which will be maintained, and the facrifice of which the Honour of France and the Faith of Treaties forbid. When a man reads this Meffage, he thinks himself transported to the times of thole treaties which the Vandals made with the degenerate Romans, when force ufurped the place of right, and when with a hefty appeal to arms, they infulted the antago nilt they meant to attack. In the prefert ftate of civilization there is a refpect which a great Monarch, which a polifhed pecple owe to themfelves, were that refpect no more than to feek a plaufible pretext for an unjust war. But in this inftance eve. ry thing is precipitated, and repugnant to decency and to juffice. An eternal war would fucceed a dreadful conteft, and the more unjust the attack, the more irrecon. cileable would be its animofity. Such a novelty will doubtlefs excite the difap. probation of Europe. While even the English, whofe national pride had not entirely blinded them, fighed at this prof pect, did the Times call the peace of A. miens an armistice, and in fo doing paffed the fevereft fatire on the government it defended, and the rapid fall of the national funds is the first prelude to the misfortunes which may follow, as the revenge due for the wounde le is intimidated than irritated to all focial The French are lefs intimidated than irritated by the threats of England. They have neither been difpirited by their reverses, nor elevated by their victories-in a war to which there appeared no termination, they faw all Europe confederated against them. Their conftancy, their courage, and the prompt activity of their govern. ment, brought it to a conclufion. This war would have a different object. France would contend for the liberty of the fates of Europe, and the facredness of their treaties; and if the Englith government be determined to make it a national war, per haps her boafted formidable naval ftrength would not be fufficient to decide the refult, and to fecure the victory. The French, strong in the juftice of their caufe, and in the confidence they repofe in their govern. men', do not dread the new expences and new facrifices which fuch a war might ren. der neceffary. Their fyftem of finance is more fimple and lefs artificial than that of London, and fo much the more folid. It all lies in their foil and in their courage. On the first news of the English Meffage, all eyes were turned to the Cabinet of the Thuilleries. As moft trifling motions receive a character of importance, its mot unpremeditated words were eagerly caught up. Every one impatiently expected the affembly for the prefentation of foreigners, which Madame Bonaparte holds once a month. Every one was prepared to draw fome inferences from it. It was as fplendid as ufual. The firft Conful made his appearance, and faid, on his entrance to the English Ambaffador who was ftanding befide M. 川 It is a violation of every principle of inde- Marc off, "We have been at war for 12 tions. He has been led into an error. pute. The Manifefto itfelf is of fo contempti as far as regards one of the most ami- LONDON, APRIL 7. We have, in a fubfequent part of our pa per, given a copy of the Confular Manifefto, alluded to in our laft, and which, from the circumftance under which it has been publifhed, may be confidered as the formal anfwer of Bonaparte to the late Meflage of his Britannic Majesty to both Houses of Par-king liament. The mean and unworthy expedient to which the Conlular Agent has had recourse to obtain the infertion of this farrago in the Hamburgh Journal, has already been ftated by us; and a proceeding more difgraceful to its author, but rarely occurs in the annals of ancient or modern times. Il whom she has already fo grieviously oppreffed. But to conclude, we are, on the whole, of opinion, that Bonaparte, notwithftanding the peevishness of the wretched farrago in queftion, is by no means inclined to appeal at prefent to the fword. He betrays evident fymptoms of impotence thro'out;-though he fometimes ftorms, he whines in the very fame breath; and feeling his incapacity for war, he may be indu ced to yield, while he has an opportunity of fo doing, without the appearance of fubmiflion. ERRAT A. In the Balance of last week, an error occurred in the statement of scattering votes for Governor of Connecticut. For 838 read 223. To Readers & Correfpondents. We offer "MORGAN" our apology for the long delay of his valuable communication on the subject of Removals. It has been on file for some months; prevented its publication. It contains truth.s, howbut a crowd of other political matter has hitherto ever, which will never be out of season, until dem agogues are out of existence, or at least, cuf fash ion. We beg that it may be read with at lea Diversity. PARLIAMENTARY COMPLIMENTS. MR. PITT, (afterwards Earl of Chat- [Gaz. U. States.] FROM THE GLASGOW COURIER. INDUSTRY THE CURE FOR POVERTY. "BEGGING being a trade, and a very beneficial one, no perfon who obferves the aftonishing increafe of that profeffion in this quarter will hefitate to believe.And how can it be remedied? is the general queflion, to which no one gives an anfwer. Not easily by any measures of police certainly; but I will venture to fuggeft a cure in one word, and that a pretty effectual one-a workhouse! promifing them a fhilling when the job was completed. To work they would go, with much feeming gratitude and alacrity.The juftice ftayed by them, or vifited them from time to time till they had performed two thirds of their task; he then retired to a private corner or place of ef pial, in order to prevent them from fleal. ing his tools, and there waited for what conftantly happened the moment he dif appeared, which was the elopement of his workmen, who, rather than complete the unfinished third of his work, chofe to give up what they had done.-This method, with fcarce one disappointment, the old justice long practifed; till at length his fame having gone forth among the mendi. cant tribe, he was troubled with no more applications for charity. Gen. Kofciufco now lives in modeft re. tirement in a country houfe near Paris. Since the fate of his native country was ultimately determined, it feems as if he was no longer the fame man; his looks, formerly pale and fallow, are now fresh and healthy. He now enters with gaiety on the common pleafures of life. He has ceafed to carry with him the fnuff-box, on which was painted a fhip fhattered by the florm, with the motto tc-" My poor country!"-His friends and countrymen at Paris regularly celebrate the anniverfary of his birth-day. [London Paper.] TERMS OF THE BALANCE. To City Subscribers, Two Dollars and fifty cents, payable in quarterly advances. To Country Subscribers, who receive their papers at the office, Two Dollars, payable as above. To those who receive them by the mail, Two Dollars, exclusive of postage, payable in advance. A handsome title-page, with an Index or Table of Contents, will be given with the last number of each volume. "I remember to have heard of an old Advertisements inserted in a conspicuous and handsome manner, in the Advertiser which accom panies the Balance. Complete files of the first volume, which have been reserved in good order for binding, are for sale -Price of the volume, bound, Two Dollars and ff. ty cents-unbound, Two Dollars. The whole may be sent, stitched or in bundles, to any post-office in the state, for 52 cents postage; or to any post-of PUBLISHED BY SAMPSON, CHITTENDEN & CROSWELL, |