The laws of the country, as formerly explained to you, give no redress.
The balance of trade in favour of England and India, together with the exorbitant premiums to be paid in exchanging bad money for specie, or bills of the United States Bank, are quite unfavourable to commerce with foreign countries. The debts due to the merchants of England, and to those in the Eastern States, might give little {215} annoyance, if creditors were indulgent as to the past, and as liberal as usual in future transactions. Property laws give full security in the meantime, and the bankrupt laws of some States form a complete protection against foreign claims. It is only to be feared, that foreign merchants will not be sufficiently accommodating hereafter. The increasing numbers of their agents in the seaports of America, augur no good to enterprizing traders in this part.
The climate of this country, like that of other parts of North America, is subject to extremes of heat and cold. We experience something like the summer of tropical regions; the winter of Russia; the spring of England; and the autumn of Egypt. The range of the thermometer is well exemplified by a compilation from the register kept by Colonel Mansfield, near Cincinnati, for eight years; 1806 and 1813 included.
| Lowest | Highest | Range | |
| 1806, | 9° | 94 | 85° |
| 1807, | 11° below zero, | 95 | 106 |
| 1808, | 4 do. | 98 | 102 |
| 1809, | 2 do. | 94 | 96 |
| 1810, | 7 do. | 91 | 98 |
| 1811, | 8 do. | 96 | 104 |
| 1812, | 5 do. | 96 | 101 |
| 1813, | 10 do. | 97 | 107 |
| Mean range nearly 100°. |
The greatest range known at Cincinnati is 116°. At Salem, in Massachussets, a range of 100° was long ago deducted from observations.
At Jeffersonville, in Indiana, a range of 961/4° appears on the register for six months past. The third column in the following table shows the greatest change of temperature that occurred in each month, between eight o’clock A.M. and two P.M.; a period of six hours.
| {216} Maximum | Minimum | Range | ||
| January, | 50° | 2° above zero, | 30° | |
| February, | 78 | 4 do. | 38 | |
| March, | 70 | 23 do. | 35 | |
| April, | 92 | 20 do. | 24 | |
| May, | 79 | 50 do. | 27 | |
| June, | 981/4 | 50 do. | 36 |
As the above observations extend only to a space of six months, no accurate determination can be derived from them. The most prominent occurrence is a transition of 38° in six hours. Dr. Ramsay has observed elsewhere a change of 50°, in the space of fifteen hours. These sudden alterations are disagreeable to the sense of feeling, and injurious to the health.
It is the popular belief that the greatest cold usually occurs about sunrise, and the greatest heat about 3 P.M. The most sudden changes are from cold to heat, the transition from heat to cold not being so instantaneous. Except for the gradual progress of this change, it would be more sensibly felt, and more dangerous.
The absence of figured icicles from the insides of windows was mentioned in a former letter. Up to the present time, I have never seen any of these incrustations in America,—a certain proof of the dryness of the atmosphere during frost. In summer, rains are not frequent, but when they do happen, they generally fall in torrents. They are often attended by easterly winds, and are partially distributed, drenching small tracts of country, and leaving adjoining parts dry. During the summer of 1819, some parts of the country suffered under a severe and long continued drought. The blades of the crops of maize became shrivelled, the grass, and afterwards the weeds withered. Latterly, part of the foliage of the woods was very much dried. {217} Travellers were subjected to some inconvenience for want of water to their horses, as were many families who lived in dry situations. Scarcity of water is a calamity that is much aggravated by a hot climate. In taverns, a bucket filled with this indispensable liquid, stands open to every person who chooses to take up the ladle that floats in it, and drink. In schools, churches, and courts of justice, water is provided.