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The original, from which this petition is copied, is on file in the clerk's office, and is in the hand writing of the gentleman whose name is at the head of the signatures.

The town-meeting was held, on the 26th of October. The Hon. Thomas Dawes, senior, was chosen moderator. After the petition was read, Mr. T. Dawes, jun. moved that the petitioners have leave to withdraw their petition. Mr. Morton moved that a committee be chosen to prepare the instructions prayed for in the petition. It was decided by the moderator, that the motion of Mr. Dawes was first in order. A long and animated debate then took place. The motion was supported by the mover, and by Messrs. S. Dashwood, Samuel Adams, Harrison G. Otis, Benjamin Austin, and Dr. William Eustis. It was opposed by Dr. Charles Jarvis, Messrs. James Hughes, and William Tudor. The debate continued till seven o'clock in the evening, when the question was taken and decided in the negative, by a large majority. The question was then taken on Mr. Morton's motion, and decided in the affirmative. The petition was committed to Messrs. Perez Morton, James Hughes, James Prince, Thomas Crafts, Joseph Russell, Charles Bulfinch, and Samuel Cabot; and the meeting was adjourned to the ninth of November following.

At the adjourned meeting the committee presented their report, which was read, and accepted without much opposition. The following extract from it contains the

GENTLEMEN,

Instructions to the Representatives of the town of Boston.

At a very full meeting of the inhabitants of the town of Boston, the sense of your constituents has been taken upon a law of the legislature, passed in the year 1750, entitled "an act to prevent stage-plays and other theatrical entertainments;" and after a lengthy debate, they have determined, by a very large majority, that the existence of that law, in its present unlimited form, operates as an undue restraint upon the liberty of the citizen, and as an infringement of his unalienable rights.

They consider the right to relax from the toils of industry and the fatigues of business, by a resort to any rational and innocent amusement, as constituting no inconsiderable part of the happiness of civil society, and one of the essential blessings confirmed to men by a free constitution of government. A theatre, where the actions of great and virtuous men are represented under every possible embellishment, which genius and eloquence can give, will not only afford a rational and innocent amusement, but essentially advance the interests of private and political virtue; will have a tendency to polish the manners and habits of society, to disseminate the social affections, and to improve and refine the literary taste of our rising republic. Your constituents, therefore, as well to promote these public benefits, as to remove every obstacle to the enjoyment of their political rights, instruct and enjoin you, at the next session of the Legislature, to move for, and to use your utmost endeavors until you effect, a repeal of the law alluded to, so far, at least, as respects the town of Boston.

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By attending to the objects your constituents have in view, you will readily perceive, that they are as much opposed to the licentious abuse of this valuable privilege, as to the arbitrary and unnecessary restraint, with which it has so long been shackled. They, therefore, further direct you to endeavor, that the law of repeal may be so constructed, that no dramatic compositions shall be the subjects of theatrical exhibitions, until they have first obtained a sanction from some authority to be appointed for that purpose; in order that none of an immoral impression may ever disgrace the American Stage, and such only be presented to the view of the people, as shall be calculated to improve their taste, to mend their hearts, and to subserve the great and beneficial purposes of public and private virtue.

(Signed)

By order of the Committee.

PEREZ MORTON, Chairman.

Those who are familiar with scenic representations, who have witnessed their effects, and who have become acquainted with the habits, propensities, moral characters, and literary acquirements, of a large majority of the players, may, perhaps, smile at some of the views and sentiments expressed in these documents. It should be recollected that few or none of the persons most solicitous to procure a repeal of the prohibitory statute, had ever resided in a city where there was an established theatre; that the works of dramatic authors were not, as now, in general circulation; that Gustavus Vasa and Cato were almost the only plays which had been printed in America, and which, owing to the sentiments of patriotism and piety that breathe in every page, were read and admired in almost every family; that the ideas of many, in reference to the end and effect of tragedy, were imbibed from Pope's Prologue to Cato; and that all wanted that knowledge on the subject, which thirty years of experience has imparted.

LINES WRITTEN IN THE ALBUM OF A YOUNG BRIDE. THERE is an hour, when Memory tells

Its records o'er;

When the heart beats the music it was wont

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WE had thought that no part of the world presented a fairer field to enterprise and industry, than that portion of North-America which lies east of the Mississippi and south of the great lakes. We have good laws, and well administered; commerce and agriculture flourish, and honest labor is sure of its reward. We had thought that in NewEngland, especially, sickness and unavoidable accidents were the only causes for fear. Here education is more encouraged than any where else. The helpless poor, even those whom vice has rendered so, are not suffered to starve. All this is well; very well; but it seems we can do better. At least, so say, and perhaps think, the projectors of the intended expedition to the mouth of Columbia river.

A gentleman, for whose talents and ambition his native land does not afford sufficient scope, has been employing his leisure in devising schemes to better the condition of his fellow countrymen. His studies have not been in vain: if his plans should prove practicable, nations yet to be will bless him as their father and benefactor. In a word, he has issued advertisements, inviting the good people of New-England

to leave their homes, their connections, and the comforts of civilized society, and follow him across the continent to the shores of the Pacific. When we heard of this scheme, our first impression respecting the morals of its originator was by no means favorable. His noble confidence in his abilities as a governor and a guide, over territories he had never seen, to a country in which he had never been, appeared extremely like impudence. We observed, too, that while his public programma spoke of the natural advantages of Oregon, and of two hundred acres of land which he intended to bestow on each emigrant, it said nothing of the sum said emigrant was to deposite in his hands previous to the commencement of the journey. But when we considered the hardships and dangers which he, as well as those he may delude, must undergo; when we thought of the risk he has run, and still runs, of being sent to the insane hospital; when we reflected on his certain disappointment, and the ridicule he will incur by it, we were constrained to believe that disinterested benevolence was his motive.

We are informed that this excellent person has now a list of the names of many hundreds who receive his dreams as oracles. Were our prisons to be emptied on the shores of the Pacific, the benefit to the United States would be undeniable, whether the convicts perished on the way or not. Even then a wrong would be done to the natives of Oregon. But we are informed that the persons who intend to leave us, and to lead their wives and children to misery, if not to destruction, are husbandmen, mechanics, and other respectable members of society. Such persons should not be lightly lost, and we write in the hope that they will read and pause.

The proceedings of our projector have been so involved in mystery, that it is impossible to speak minutely of his intentions. We understand, however, that his followers are to assemble at St. Louis as early next spring as possible, and thence proceed to cross the Rocky Mountains, somewhere near the sources of the river Platte. The expedition is to go by land, but farther our informant saith not.

Whether half the Oregon emigrants will ever reach St Louis is at least doubtful. Do they seek a fine country on the Oregon river? They will pass through a much finer, even allowing the tales on which they rely to be true, whether they go by the Ohio or the lakes. They will find as healthy a climate as is in the world, and a soil that yields eighty bushels to the acre. They will pass through lands of which they may buy two hundred acres for less than the farther expenses of their journey. They will pass through a kindred people, from whose society they will derive as much advantage, to say the least, as they could from the Clatsops and Chopunnish of Oregon. In short, they will see the state of things they expect to bring about at the end of a long and perilous journey, and after several years of strenuous exertion, already established, without trouble on their part. If they pass

the Mississippi they will injure the reputation of New-England for sagacity.

Those who reach St. Louis will find there many who have been to Oregon and found no temptation to remain there. These will treat their undertaking with the scorn it deserves; and if they go farther it will be in spite of good advice. The people of Missouri, though a

little addicted to dirking and duelling, are not destitute of humanity, and will not see their fellow creatures perish without expostulating.

We will suppose that a considerable number persist and proceed onward. They may, possibly, charter a steamboat to take them to the mouth of the Platte, but no farther, for that stream is not navigable for steamboats, unless during freshets. We take it for granted that women and children cannot perform so long a journey on foot, and that the baggage, household furniture, implements of husbandry, &c. cannot be conveyed on pack horses. Wheel-carriages will, therefore, be necessary, and animals to draw them.

So large a caravan must necessarily proceed slowly, especially as it will be encumbered with so many helpless persons. We have seen bodies of the Ossinneboia emigrants on their way from Red river to the Falls of St. Anthony, and they never gained more than ten miles per diem. Moreover, they had been seasoned to the hardships of an Indian country, which cannot be said of the Oregon adventurers. Besides, their journey was not so long, and there were several trading stations on their route, so that they were not obliged to halt to procure provisions.

If our friends are ready to start from St. Louis by the first of June, they will have done wonders. If they reach the mouth of the Platte in a month more, it will be more than we think possible. Thence they have a thousand miles to go before they reach the Rocky Mountains. At the above mentioned rate of traveling they would reach the dividing ridge about the last of September; that is, supposing they met no accident, hindrance, or delay. But there are many obstacles to their progress, against all of which they may, and some of which they must, be obliged to contend.

They cannot take provisions with them for more than a few days, and must, therefore, depend on their guns for support. The only game the country affords in abundance are buffaloes, and of these there are enough, and more than enough, in some seasons. There are bears, indeed, but these are of the kind properly called by naturalists horribilis, and are much more likely to feed on the travelers than to furnish them with a meal. There are deer, and elks, and prairie antelopes; but too few, and too seldom seen, to be relied upon. Likewise there are marmots, owls, rattlesnakes, and other vermin, on which all who make long journeys in the steppes of North-America, must occasionally be content to dine, and be thankful for the god-send. The buffaloes are all "that are to trust to," and a very precarious trust it is. They are constantly migrating, and their migrations are not regulated by the seasons, or any circumstances on which calculations can be made. We may say without exaggeration, that we have seen hundreds and thousands at a glance, and we have also passed months in a buffalo country without seeing a horn. The Indians live on them, it is true; but they follow them in their travels as closely as the wolves, and if the herd enters the country of a hostile tribe, they endure the horrors of starvation. Very many of the buffalo-hunting savages perish every year of literal famine. There is ever either great abundance or extreme want. If the Indians suffer, how will the emigrants, who are not hunters, provide for themselves? A ship's crew, who should undertake a voyage to India, relying on the fishes they might catch on the way, would

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