day. They win the writer, if they have merit, more reputation, in that way, than in a gilt-edged volume. They reach every class of people, and awaken sweet thoughts in the humble heart, that can never expect to find them in a costly book. Good thoughts need no gilding. The country newspaper spreads them abroad just as well, and much farther than books.

Let nothing tempt you from your chosen field. The natural promptings of the heart and head have indicated its boundaries, without design. Transgress them not; but cultivate deeply the rich soil within; and the flowers of poesy, sweet and rare, shall bloom there, and posterity shall pluck blossoms from your garden.

C. G. F.

ART. VII. THE STATE OF GEORGIA-ITS DUTIES AND ITS DESTINY.

1. A Discourse delivered before the Georgia Historical Society, on the occasion of its sixth Anniversary, on Wednesday, 12th Feb., 1845. By A. CHURCH, D. D. 2. Letter of the HON. LANGDON CHEVES, to the Charleston Mercury, on Southern Wrongs, Sept., 1844.

THE address of Dr. Church, and the letter of Mr. Cheves, the titles of which stand at the head of this article, afford a striking contrast. Each represents a class of movements in the political and social world, which bears with emphasis upon the progress and reform of the Southern States,-one, as we believe, most beneficially; the other, most injuriously. One is suggestive of moral and educational reform, the other, of political action; whilst both, in their effects, reach the very foundations of Southern prosperity and happiness. Although the letter of Mr. Cheves relates altogether to political rights and wrongs, and was called forth by local and party excitement, yet it is not, on these accounts, the less potential, in giving direction to the monetary and social destinies of the Southern States. The able address of Dr. Church was prompted, no doubt, by the solicitude of the christian philosopher, in regard to the enlightenment and VOL. VIII. NO. 16.

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virtue of the same great States, particularly of the State of Georgia, of which he has been, for many years, a most valuable citizen. Both of these gentlemen are, without question, devotedly attached to Southern institutions, and the staunch defenders of Southern interests; and both, being eminent in character and position, are, if we are left to judge from their written opinions, wholly diverse in their tenor of thought and pursuits. We shall be constrained to condemn, in its tendencies, the letter of Mr. Cheves; yet we accord to him, the utmost sincerity of purpose and purity of motive. Dr. Church is now, and has been, for many years, the President of the University of Georgia,—devoting himself, through all its trials and triumphs, to the interests of that institution;--a sound scholar, a courtly gentleman, a practical minded and public spirited citizen, and an eloquent and true minister of the gospel. Mr. Cheves is regarded as one of the best minds of South Carolina,--a compeer of Lowndes,--a wise financier,-calm, philosophic, and richly furnished with the endowments which experience alone can give,--one who, having played his part, and no ordinary one, on the arena of political life, has retired to the shades and repose of domestic privacy ;--an observer, certainly, of the stirring events of the day, but having declined, for a number of years, to take part in the drama of politics. The imposing character and position of such men make their views greatly influential. They form and guide public sentiment. They mar, or make, the happiness of individuals. Legislation, literature, education, the social security, and the industrial pursuits of entire communities, are the interests touched when they move their master wands. With what care should they not therefore speak? and with what vigilance should they not guard their demonstrations? We are not to be understood as saying, that these gentlemen can, at will, compose or disturb the elements of Southern society;--we mean to say, that classes, composed of such men as they are, do, in fact, direct the destinies of great States. We believe that the time has arrived, when Georgia and the Carolinas must take a new direction, or be distanced in the race of empire. New opinions are to be formed,--new principles of social action adopted, and new fields of industrial enterprise opened; or these great States are doomed to remain stationary, or perhaps to retrograde. So believing, we shall make the letter of Mr. Cheves, and

the address of Dr. Church themes for comment, particularly in reference to the resources, and the present social and political obligations of our own State of Georgia.

Of this address, it may not be uncharitable to say, that it bears evident marks of haste in preparation. It is purely didactic, indeed, too severely so. A popular address ought to be agreeable in manner, as well as instructive in matter. It should not deny itself the graces of style, because it displays its accuracies; or spurn the flowers of rhetoric, because it bears the fruits of science. It ought to invite to perusal by the beauty of the costume which it wears. The strength of St. Peter's, at Rome, is not lost in its exquisitely beautiful finish. The eye is attracted by its vastness-and delighted with its just proportions, whilst the imagination is stimulated by the magnificence of its design, and the mind instructed by the science which directed its construction. Dr. Church has but little imagination, or else he choses to deny its play. There is too rapid and rectangular a transition from one head of discourse to another,-a want of easy and graceful continuity,-of unity in the execution of the entire plan. A little more Southern fire,-a more active play of the imagination, we are sure, would commend it more to Southern readers. These faults may be the result of the absence of a writing habitude. We attribute them rather to the restricted limits into which so many weighty subjects were necessarily pressed,-to the want of time,or to that rigid discipline, to which the author's pursuits and course of study have subjected his pen. Exact truth, unincumbered and tangible, we are well aware, delights the desciple of truth; and although we may not commend this address as the best model of style, yet we do, as will be hereafter apparent, most heartily approve its just sentiments, and its sound and benign philosophy.

The letter of Mr. Cheves is not in keeping with the idea we had formed of the man. We recollect his position in 1832-3, and were unprepared to find him occupying a reverse position in 1844. One of the wonderful things of this day, is the coalition formed in South-Carolina between the Union men and Nullifiers of 1832. Consistency in politics we do not expect,―yet, when changes, violent and abrupt as that of Mr. Cheves' appears to us to be, occur, we are anxiously solicitous to find, in the state of the country, in the position of great questions of policy, or some where

else, a sufficient reason for them. We know of no reason for his change, cogent enough to reconcile us to it. He is, beyond all question, the antithesis of himself. We are not now to discuss the tariff, abolition, or annexation, as party topics. We come not into the circle of letters, to disturb its harmony by the introduction of themes so uncongenial with its objects. Nor do we refer to Mr. Cheves' political course, or comment upon his letter, save to exhibit the effect which his opinions and inconsistency have upon the social condition of the South. To our end, such reference and comment are indispensible--nor are they alien to fair, and manly literary discussion. The letter is in keeping with innumerable letters, tracts, and speeches, which the political press has poured out upon the country, greatly, as we believe, to the injury of the Southern people. We desire to give our humble aid in neutralizing the influence of such publications, and in diverting the public mind, particularly of Georgia, from the vexing topics of party. We would, if we could, hush the storm of politics, and give the people time and inclination for social improvement. To Mr. Cheves, we had attributed calm and cautious conservatism. We expected, when he became an instructor, the peaceful fruits of long experience, the guarded counsel of age, a nationalism, which, expanding beyond the limits of States, or sections, should embrace the Union; and a statesmanship, which should rise above merely local interests, or partisan excitations. But, in the letter before us, we look in vain for the conservatism of age, the paternal carefulness of experience, or the repose of retired life. Of argument it contains but little,— we might add, nothing. He obviously did not intend it as an address to the understanding, but as an appeal to the passions. It swells, almost to disruption, with real or fancied indignation. It abounds in epithets, and deals in denunciations. It appears to hasten to agitate with convul sive eagerness. It seems to be impatient of inaction, although the action it recommends is exceedingly cautious. It speaks of political adversaries, not with the charity which would win them, nor the moderation which might command respect. It is a hot shot, bolted from the cool shades of philosophy. It is Nestor, doffing the mantle of Minerva, and donning the armor of Achilles. We regret to be compelled to say, that its style, its temper, and its topics are most happily adapted to stir the people,--to arouse their pas

sions, to wean them from that reverential regard to the Union, which is still habitual at the South, and so to absorb their attention, as to prevent any effort at social improvement; and it is in this light, more in sorrow than in anger, that we think we have cause to complain of Mr. Cheves. The style is quick, hortatory, and impassioned,--a good style for agitation, but which twice the amount of his great talents could not make a good medium for discussion, or a safe model for imitation;--and, although not entitled to the full value of the compliment, yet we may say of it, what Quinctillian said of the style of Thucydides, "densus et brevis et semper instans sibi." The relevancy of these strictures to our present purpose, we hope to make apparent in the farther progress of this article.

A rich and diversified soil,--a varied and salubrious climate, geographical facilities for commerce, and mineral wealth constitute the basis of a great State. These may, not inaptly, be called the foundations of empire. With these, she is independent of all other States, in peace and in war; without them, subject more or less to the policy of her neighbors. But these things are not the State. The halls of legislation are built upon granite foundations, and reared with marble; yet these are not the Senate. The mind, and heart, and moral purposes within, are the Senate. We know the necessity which always exists for armies disciplined and drilled,-for navies equipped and furnished for war, for ramparts, fortifications, arsenals, money, and munitions. Nor are these the State. They are but the exponents of that moral power, which consists in knowledge and virtue. They are but the physical agencies, which the depravity of human nature makes necessary for defence from without, and for a healthful administration within.

Kellerman and his eight hundred Frenchmen changed the course of victory at Marengo, and placed the imperial crown upon the brow of Napoleon. It was not the horses which won the lost battle, but the heroic spirit which animated their riders. The bright array of worlds and systems, which display above us the wisdom and majesty and omnipotence of God, are not the Divinity. They are the physical agencies which declare the Godhead. So the visible wealth and means of a nation, only show forth its moral and intellectual power. The State consists in enlightened and virtuous citizens,-in arts,-in literature,-in social refinement and