QUANTITIES OF DOMESTIC PRODUCE EXPORTED FROM THE UNITED STATES. RECEIPTS OF PRODUCE AT TIDE-WATER ON THE NEW-YORK CANALS. Cheese. 79,233.. 1843. 63,777.... 47,465.... 45,153 63,646... 50,000.... 67,699 .lbs. 14,171,081.... 19.004 613.... 24,336,260.... 25,674,500.. 27,542,861 16,157,053.... 19,182,939.... 24,215,700.... 22,569,300... (21,825,455 3,064,800 Butter Lard S Wool.. 3,617,075.... Flour..........bbls. 1,647,492.... Clover........ " 3,571,934.... 2,411,930.... 4,343,300.......... 3,161,200 Flax...... It is observable, that the year for the canal exports closes five months later than the fiscal year of the United 4,594,800.... 2,216,900.... 3,114,080.... 8,403,960 2,684,300.... 3,909,000.... 15,363,925 States. This makes a difference in the proportion exported, inasmuch as that the foreign demand which took place in the autumn, caused much larger receipts, via canal, than would otherwise have been the case: and the consequent exports will appear in the next year's United States returns. The state of the foreign markets, at this time, is such as warrants the anticipation of a large export of produce. The quantities of produce in store at the west are undoubtedly large; probably 2,250,000 bushels of wheat, in flour and wheat, will be ready to come forward; as also a quantity of pork will be packed, perhaps double that of last year-a natural result of the high prices that have ruled during the year. Other articles of farm produce will doubtless also be abundant in supply. The time is now approaching, however, to test fully the capacity of the demand induced by a short crop in England. at low duties. At the latest dates the price of corn, and breadstuffs generally, was beginning to advance in England, consequent upon the diminishing stocks of grain. Fears were also entertained for the coming crop of potatoes, inasmuch as that indications of the continuance of the rot were manifest. On the continent of Europe prices were high, and it was apprehended that the crop was much shorter in many sections than was at first supposed. At such a juncture, viz. with breadstuffs, scarce and high on the continent, with a growing demand in England, the modification of the tariff is about to take place. Resolutions were agreed to on the 6th March, in the House of Commons, imposing the following rates of duties on imported grain, until the 8th day of Feb., 1849: 1. Resolved, That in lieu of the duties now payable on the importation of corn, grain, meal or flour, there shall be paid, until the 1st day of February, 1849, the following duties, viz: If imported from any foreign country, Wheat, Whenever the average price of wheat, made up and published in the manner required by law, shall be for every quarter 8. D. under 48s, the duty shall be for every qr 10 0 49s and under 50s... 5s and under 51s.. 51s and under 52s.. 52s and under 53s.. 538 and upwards.. Wheat, meal and flour, 9 80 70 60 50 40 For every barrel, being 196 lbs, a duty equal in amount to the duty payable on 38} gallons of wheat. If, At these low rates of duty a market must be found for a large portion of the surplus of the United States; and the more readily, that under the operation of the Independent Treasury, there will be less of that pernicious holding of stock in the hands of speculators for an exorbitant rise. It is a fallacy to suppose, that under the action of a specie clause, exportable farm produce will be lower than with a paper currency. by the operation of an expanded currency, prices of farm produce rise so high as to make it unprofitable to export it, the accumulating surplus must break the market down, until the stock can again find a foreign vent. On the other hand, with a steady foreign demand, such as that which may be anticipated under low English duties, the price there must always prevent any great fall here; as, for instance, in the article of cotton, most of which is sold in England, the price is not governed by the state of the currency here, but by the state of the demand there; a paper inflation on this side of the Atlantic only involves in loss those shippers who buy at the paper prices here to sell at the cash prices there. On the 10th of March sweet western canal flour, in Liverpool, in bond, was worth 27s., or $6 48 per barrel; any inflation of the currency here that would affect prices, would not alter the value in the market of sale-it would only prevent export; on the other hand, with a steady specie If the produce of and imported from any British currency here, the prices could never fall possession out of Europe. much lower than a point that will admit of a profitable export. The capacity of the western country to raise wheat for the supply of England, and even of the western countries of Europe, cannot be doubted. Feeble attempts have been made, for political reasons, to produce doubts as to the benefits which a market for United States breadstuffs in England will confer upon the western farmers. A few months of an open trade must, of itself, carry conviction to all parties, that an extended sale of the products of industry can be of no injury to any portion of the community: far less to that hardy and enterprising race before whose energy the wilderness has been subdued, and the most prolific lands perhaps ever cultivated, brought into the supply of food for distant countries, and their proceeds made available by means of public works, the rivalry on which is constantly reducing the cost of transportation. NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. History of New Netherlands; or New York under the Dutch. By E. B. O'CALLAGHAN, Corresponding Member of the New-York Historical Society. New-York: D. Appleton & Co. the same: The grand use of history is suggested by that declaration of the wisest of men"As in water face answereth to face, so the heart of man to man." The character of man, in all its substantial features, is always it may, indeed, be greatly modified by the influence of circumstances, but in its original elements it changes not -the veriest savage of the wilderness is constituted with faculties which, under an appropriate training, might render him a bright star in the intellectual firmament. Hence the men who have lived became teachers to those who live now, and thus the past becomes a mighty source of instruction to the present. Hence, too, the historian, the man who makes out a faithful record of the experience of by-gone generations, becomes pre-eminently the benefactor of his race: so long as his work remains, he lives in it as the faithful mon itor and guide of each successive genera tion. But while the office of the historian may be and should be a channel of the richest blessings, not only to his own generation but to posterity, let it be borne in mind, that it is early susceptible of being perverted to purposes of unmeasured evil; for if he writes falsely, or partially, or superficially, or even bunglingly, he has the responsibility of conveying erroneous impressions to his readers, or of taxing their faculties to no purpose, or at least of leaving their minds in an uncertain and unsatisfied state. It admits of no question that History has often served no better end than to misrepresent and falsify the actual reality of things; and the worst effect in such cases has been realised, where, along with the spirit of misrepresentation or partiality, is combined the highest order of literary attraction. It hence becomes a man who adventures upon the task of giving the world a history-no matter whether it comprehends a wider or a more limited field-carefully to count the cost of the enterprise; to inquire diligently whether he has the requisite qualifications for the work which he meditates, and to bear in mind continually, as he fulfils his task, that he is acting in some sense as the interpreter of Providence, and that he is responsible to posterity and to God for the manner in which he fulfils it. While we are fully of the opinion that many a man ventures into the department of history, who is at best nothing more than a cumberer of the ground, and who, if he consulted his own reputation or the benefit of his fellow men, would betake himself to some other vocation, we are free to say that we do not mean to apply this remark to the very respectable author of the present work. The task which he has set himself to perform was one of no ordinary interest, whether considered in reference to its importance or its difficulty. It was important, as it contemplated nothing less than an elucidation of a portion of the history of what is now the most important state in the Union-a portion, too, which, notwithstanding the extensive material that has existed, has been hitherto passed by in almost utter neglect. It was difficult, from the circumstance that scarcely an essay had been previously made towards its accomplishment, so that nothing remains for our historian, but to go to work and do the whole thing himself. And besides, though the materials out of which the history was to be framed were ample enough, yet they were, to a great extent, to be brought together from the four winds, and not a small part of them from beyond the ocean; and even those which were at hand in our public offices were veiled in the thick mystery of the mother Dutch. Doctor O'Callaghan, estimating aright the importance of the object, set himself earnestly, and fearlessly, and perseveringly to encounter its difficulties; and the result shows that he was to be limited not less for diligence and fidelity than good taste and good judgment. First of all, he set about acquiring a thorough knowledge of the Dutch language, as that was the only key to unlock the treasures of information from which he was to draw; and having done this, he went doggedly to work to examine the mass of records in our State Department relating to the earliest periods of our history. At the same time he found access to various other important sources of information, chiefly of a more private nature; and he was particularly assisted by the laborious and praiseworthy researches of Mr. Broadhead, who was sent out several years since to the Hague, as our historical agent. Nor is his diligence in collecting materials more to be praised than his judgment and faithfulness in arranging and disposing of them. The style of the work is simple and perspicuous, the arrangement easy and natural, and every important statement that is made is backed by competent authorities. reading the work, one quickly acquires the feeling that the author had no other end to answer than to state the simple truth, and give it its full effect upon the minds of his readers; and this feeling, it is hardly necessary to say, is not less favorable to the author than it is agreeable to the reader. In The work is comprehended in three books-the first extending from the discovery of America, in 1492, to the incorporation of the Dutch West India Company, in 1621; the second from the incorporation of the Dutch West India Company to the opening of the fur, or Indian trade to the inhabitants of New Netherlands, in 1638; -and the third from the opening of the Indian trade to the end of Director Kieft's administration, 1647. There is also a copious Appendix, containing various original records and other documents, which throw much light upon the main history. We are glad to see that the author proposes to continue his researches ; and if the present volume meets with sufficient en couragement, as we cannot doubt that it will, to bring out in due time another volume, comprising the remaining part of the history, which he has so very successfully commenced. The third chapter of the first book contains one of the most graphic accounts that we remember to have seen, of the superstitions of the original inhabitants of the country. In connection with this, there is a curious paragraph in regard to "medicine-men,' which we transfer to our columns, not only as a fair specimen of the author's style, but as an illustration, especially when taken in connection with some modern discoveries, of the well known proverb, that "there is no new thing under the sun. Having given somewhat in detail the views of the Indians in regard to several matters connected with religion, he proceeds to say: For "All these crude and confused opinions were considerably fostered and encouraged by a class of persons among them called medicine-men or sorcerers, who lived by, and throve upon the ignorance and simplicity of their dupes, and whose influence was almost unbounded among their tribe. they pretended not only to divine the future, to expound the troubled and undigested dreams of the hunter or warrior, but to heal the wounds and diseases which these wild men received in their exp ditions in search of glory and of food. Their medical and surgical skill was, however, of the humblest sort. The gum of the pine tree furnished them with a ready application for wounds of all descriptions. Rheumatic pains or inflammatory disease, were subjected to the relaxing power of the vapor bath, with which were combined scarifications of the painful parts. From the vapor bath the Indian medicine-man, the original Presnitz and first Hydropathist of this continent, flung his patient, all teeming with perspiration, into the nearest pond or river, and by this practice succeeded in many cases in restoring health. But should the disease exceed his skill, he immediately ascribed it to the secret agency of malignant spirits. He then changed his character. No longer a physician, he his patient, invoking his God with loud cries. He became a magician. He sung and danced around felt all over the sick man's body for the enchanted spot; rushed upon it like a mad-man: tore it with his teeth, often pretending to show a small bone or other object that he had extracted, and in which the evil-one had been seated. The process was repeated the next day with increased violence, or the unfortunate patient was surrounded with men of straw wearing wooden masks, all of the most frightful shapes, in the hope of scaring away the mysterious tormentor-or a painted image was made, which the medicine-man pierced with an by. Various other mummeries, each more absurd arrow, pretending to vanquish the foul fiend there than the other, were had recourse to, in the midst of which the sick man expired, leaving the confidence of the people in their mighty medicine-man equally strong and unshaken. It is not strange that in such a state of society, thousands were swept away on the visitation of any epidemic or plague, which communications with Europeans afterwards might have introduced among them,-the ravages of which their own ignorance and superstition only augmented in a ten-fold degree." In turning over the leaves of this book, one can scarcely fail to be struck with the fact that so large a portion of its contents are from hitherto unexplored sources of intelligence, and that it answers satisfac- his manner of treating it, and has applied torily various questions which have arisen it to numerous topics, which were before in the course of one's general reading. To untouched-such as the tariff of 1842, instance only a single particular, the author local American history, sacred biography, has traced out with great care the origin &c. Although the work is, manifestly, of the present names of places in our state, designed as a hand-book for his classes, it and in doing so, has conferred a most im- is not less adapted to be the vade mecum portant public benefit; for on scarcely any of Mnemonic students, and is a proper and subject has there prevailed hitherto a valuable contribution to the library of the more extensive-we had almost said-a professional man, the philosopher, and the more disgraceful ignorance. Indeed, who- common reader. ever reads this book will find himself in communion with a well informed mind on subjects of great interest; and he will be glad to know, when he has finished reading, that he may hope, at no distant period, again to meet the author who has entertained and instructed him so much, in another equally edifying and useful volume. After having given the names of the publishers, it is hardly necessary to add, the mechanical execution of the book is in the best style of American printing. American Phreno-Mnemotechny; or, the Art of Memory, theoretical and practical, on the basis of the most recent discoveries and improvements in Europe and America; comprehending a PhrenoMnemotechnic Dictionary, and the principles of the art, as applied to different historical and scientific subjects. By PLINY MILES, Corresponding Member of the N. Y. Historical Society, author of Elements of Phreno-Mnemotechny, &c. &c. New-York: Wm. Taylor & Co., 2 Astor House. 1846. pp. 210-64-96. This is the work of a popular American lecturer on the subject-a man of originality, good address, pleasing manners, and a happy mode of illustration. Taking as a basis for his study the prior works of Fineaigle, Amie Paris, and Gouraud, and with the figure-alphabet of the former as his ground-work, Professor Miles has evinced original powers of thought, combination and illustration, in handling this new and fascinating science. He has thrown a large amount of historical and statistical research into the shape of formulas and tables, which, while they exercise the memory, convey useful lessons of instruction. No man, in this department, has been better received or better known in the great area of the west, then the author of this work. It is only necessary to examine it, to perceive that he is not only quite at home on all the questions upon which its advance depends, but he has not contented himself with exhibiting it as it dropped from the hands of others. He appears as an original laborer in the field. He is full of suggestive matter in Memoir of James de Veaux, of Charleston, S. C., member of the National Academy of Design, New-York. This is an interesting tribute to one of South Carolina's distinguished sons, by Robert W. Gibbes, and, as the imprint sets forth, is published for the benefit of his family. The work is comprised mostly of the letters of De Veaux, which were written in his moments of excitement, while free from the depression which was so often said to hang asa lurid cloud over the bright light that beamed from his "mind's eye." They are spirited and sketchy, full of sportive allusions and playful imagery; many of them abounding with sparkling thoughts and beautiful ideas. We trust that as a tribute to departed genius, the book will find ready and extended sales. Will there be War? Analysis of the ele ments which constitute, respectively, the power of England and the United States. By an Adopted Citizen. This is a pamphlet of some forty-four pages, embracing a series of papers on the political events now passing between the United States and foreign powers. The writer, a gentlemau of leisure and a sound Democrat, who has spent his time between New-York, Paris, and London of late, has had rare opportunities of watching the progress of events, and has traced cause to effect with great skill and sagacity. Many of the papers contained in this work were published in the Paris papers more than a year since, in answer to the attacks of the Parisian press upon our Democratic institutions. Our space will not now allow of a more extended notice. We will recur to it again. Library of Sacred Music; consisting of Solos, Duetts, Anthems, &c. Wyman & Newell, 150 Fulton-street. This is a neat quarto, published in numbers, containing a choice selection from the Oratorios of Handel, Haydn, Mendelssohn, &c., with original compositions from American authors. |