Herald of the times. [volume], April 07, 1830, Image 1

About Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846

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HERALD OF
VOL. 1.
JAMES ATKINSON,
PUBLISHER AND PROPRIETOR.
OrricE, cormer of 'l‘hames-ut;;at—n—lfi -Shar
man’s wharf, a few doors south of the Brick
Market. jc 7 Entranee first door down the wharf,
Price two dollars per annum, if the whole is
paid in advance—two dollars 12} cts. if paid in
six months, or two dollars 25 cts. if paid at the
expiration of the year.
ADVERTISEMENTS .
Inserted at the customary prices.
NEWPORT.
HERALD OF THE TIMES.
The subscriber presents himself to his
friends and the public and respectfully
solicits their patronge of the newspaper
which is now submitted to them, and
which will be published hereafter weekly
on Wednesday morning, from the newly
established office of the HErALD oF THE
Times, at that central and- very conve
nient situation No. 153 Thames-street.
. This paper will be devoted to what
the publisher believes to be the real
and cardinal interests of this country,
and especially to topics connected with
its advancement in Agriculture, Manu
factures and Commerce. In regard to
the questions so warmly agitated in the ‘
United States, as to the justice and ex- I
pediency of the Protecting policy, and||
of the system of Internal Improvements||
as adopted by Congress, it will be stu- |
dious to preserve a liberal course of con-||
duct, never hesitating to avow its princi
ples, while it invites the freest and most
thorough examination of the doctrines| |
and precepts of the American people as
manifested in the acts and declarations I
of their Government. Upon the same
principle, this paper will be attentive to
the progress of the arts, and afford the
earliest notices of such inventions and
improvements as are worthy of record,
and which may enlarge materially, the l
sphere of our enjoyments. It will be'
equally alive to the cause of good morals,||
and as connected with this object and es
sential lo the success of it, il will inculcate
invariably a respect for Revricion, and
for the example and sufferings of our high
est benefactor. It will aim, in short, at‘
being a useful and convenient vehicle of]
information and news, for the Farmer,
the Manufacturer, the Mechanic and‘
Merchant ; and at the same time at||
mingling with its graver dissertations, so I
much of the literary and miscellancous||
character of a Weekly Journal, as will}
adopt it to the taste of every general in-{|
quirer. I
As to the politics of this paper, it is
perhaps unnecessary for the publisher to
be more than usually explicit in defining
their character. His political course,
while connected with the Republican,
was undeviating and open, and he has
seen no reason, in the shifting and tu
multuous politics of these disastrous timcs,l
to doubt the soundness of the maxin, that
honesty, in this asin every other pursuit,
is the wisest policy. It will be his ob
ject, therefore; in the political depart
ment of his paper, to maintain unshaken
his Rhode-Island principles, and to ex
tend and perpetuate that love of indepen
dence and political truth, which has giv
en to the smallest member of the Union,
an enviable character for firmness and
integrity, which the proudest of her sis
ters would do well to imitate, |
The subscriber will not permit himself
to doubt the success of this experiment.
He is confident that the paper which is
now, and will hereafter be issued, with
the aid of fricnds, upon whose assistance
he can count with certainty, may be rcn-j
dered as useful, agreeable, and instruc
tive, to say the least of it, as any now
published in this respectable community.
At any rate, he is determined that no
exertions shall be wanting on his part to
merit the confidence he presumes to so
licit, and which an intelligent public is
sure to award to honest and well direct
ed efforts for the public benefit,
JAMES ATKINSON.
Newport, April, 1830,
AGENTS,
Mr. George A. Poller, Providence,
Dr. Lemuel W. Briggs, Bristol,
Dr. Thos. P. Moore, Warren,
Capt. George Lawlon, Tiverton,
Mr. Thomas Cook, New Bedford.
Mr. J. Southwick, Fall River.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
‘Q ! who shall lightly say, that Fame,
Is nothing but an empty name.”’
‘ [commuNICATED,]
THE LATE DR MASON—OF NEW-YORK.
l There are very few Who recognise in
great meny-a principal part of their coun
try’s greatness, who have not associated
‘the late Rav. Dr, John Mason of New
;York with Qc'worthics of the constella
tion which already lightened up our
Iland. For 'a long series of years he
held the po:‘coupicuous plgce among
the preacher§of the United States, and
few men have éver had a more enviable
distinction throughout protestant Chris
ttendom. Those who heard him prcai:h)
Ithe unsearchable riches of Chtist, remem
ber his yoice, his attitude, his language,
and the solemn thought which filled his
laboring mind, and those who never had
the privilege can form no adequate idea!
lof his powers. The following remarks|
are from the pen of the accomplished I
scholar and able Divine who has suc-|
ceeded the venerable Diagcesan of this||
state in his parochial labors at Bristol.— ||
They are extracted from his interesting ||
work, “Thoughts on the African and||
Anglo American Churches”—a book full|
’of "interesting and pious information—
speaking of Dr. Mason, Mr. Bristed I
adds—“ During 6 years I sat under the!|
Ministry of the Rev. Dr. Mason ; and it||
is but justice to say of this profound di- I
vine and powerful polemic, that while I
the betterdays of his intellectual strength, ||
continued to shine in all their unclouded
splendor, I never heard a greater preach- '
er: and yet I have listened to some of|
the most eminent men in the English ||
Church including the mighty Horsleyll
himself, |
I As an expositor of the sacred volume
I never heard Mason’s equal : and his
,single sermons upon detached texts were
'when he was fully roused to a requisite
Ipitch of mental exertion, surpassed by
‘none that I ever heard or read—llike all
extempore preachers his pulpit sermons
varied in mental power and value ac
cording to the degree of preparation, the
’state of health, the temperature of: the
spirits, the standard ol excitement.
~ But even in his most ordinary cfforts,
his unpremeditaded eflusions, the thews
and sinews, the bones and dimensions of
a gaint were visible ; ‘“disjecti mcm-'
bra gigantis.” He was completely mas-!
ter of his own Thoelogical system|
that of full blooded Calvanism, in the
warfare of which both offensive and de
fensive he, proved himself a pointed and
powerful writer.” t
THE MECHANIC.
‘We believe the following has never
appeared in any of the papers in this
state. We extract it because we think
it is too good to be lost.
In a debate in the Massachusetts legislatare on
an amendment to the Constitation, proposing to
reduce the number of members of the llouse of
Representatives, a Mr. Hobart, of Leicester, un-l
dertook to ridicule the population of"%oston, cal
ling them a set of*“printers, book binders, barbers,
coblers, tailors and tinkers, moving here and there
without any permanent place of abode.”” Mr.
Baylies of '{aunton', replied in the following hap
‘py‘nanner.—Evening Post.
'. I have had some experience in legis
lation, having held a seat in different
llegislative bodies for ten years ; I have
ilistcncd to many legislative debates, and
I have heard many extraordinary
’speechcs, but I confess the most extra
‘ordinary, was the onc which was made
lby the gentleman from Leicester yes
terday. Is that gentleman aware of the
character of his proposition ? In adjust
ing the terms of an amendment to the
|conutitutiun, he advocates the establish
‘ment of a principle which would tolerate
a real bona fide aristoeracy. He has
gravely urged upon this assembly the
propriety of giving to one class of our
citizens greater civil privileges than are
allowed to the other classes. Ifhis pl’npfl-‘
sition prevails, one class must be favored
“atthe expense of the others,and those thus‘,
favored become virtually an Aristocracy
: for it is not titles which constitutes an Aris-l
tocracy, but privileges. He would deny
!ln equality of rights and privilegesto fhe
printers, book-vinders, clock-makers,
‘blacksmiths, coblers, tailors, barbers, and |
!linkern ; or in other words, the mo-!
chanics of our state, on whom he has
Javished his sneers, and whom he el‘l-'
R | e ———r e ee e
“LIBERTY and UNION, NOW AND. rOan, ONE AND INSEPARABLE 1" —WEBSTER
NEWPORT, R. L. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 1830.
> S——————————————— S ———————t———————
deavors to cover with contempt, .He
Ispeaks of them as “birds of passage,”
"‘moving, plagets” ; .as devoid both
patriotism and of loc? attachments ;|
men without a home,*who hang on o~
ciety as incumbrances; and he has
placed them in humiliating contrast with
the cultivators of the soil, to which cl
he complacently tells us he belongs,
Sir, there are none who cherish ~I
more sincere respect for the yeomanry
—the farmers of Massachusetts, than
myself—l know their gvorth—l know
their virtues—¥' fvonfld’%}: them their,
Ifull share of civil and political privileges
political privileges,
'but I would give them no more, and if 1
’undcrstand their feelings, they would
‘ask no more; I am certain that they
would never contend for more than an
’equality of privileges, and I believe them
to be the last who would undertake to
wrest from their neighbors one tittle of|
their right.
The gentleman from Leicester has
'called up his revolutionary reminiscenses,
‘and has told us of his personal knowl
;edge of the patriots and heroes who!
composed the glorious band of revolu
itionary chiefs, the men who were enga
ged in the noblest enterprise of modern
times. But, sir, I can tell that gentle-
Iman that it is not amongst the green hills
'of the county of Worcester that he can
ilook for those daring spirits who gave
the first impulse which resulted in that
mighty event. Intwo little rooms in this
city were assembled the men who de
vised the project of emancipating a na
{tion—thc pioneers of the American rev
olution were the Mechanics of Boston.
:Intheir meetings they deliberated on the
‘highest objects of human concernment—
'a nation’s rights, and having ascertained
!the strength of the foundation, they had
no dread of the issue, and courted the
conflict. I can transport the gentleman
‘to another place—the Carpenter’s Hall
‘in the city df Philadelphia. In that
’place, on a day memorable in our annals,
‘the fourth day of July, 1776, a deed was
done which has no parallel. On that
day, in that place, was assembled the
fmost august political body that ever de
liberated on a nation’s destiny. Five
:mcn had been sclected as the elile of that
assembly ; the greatest among the great
|—to prepare the manifesto of a nation’s
!rights-—of a nation’s wrongs. Amongst
them was a man by the name of Benja
min Franklin (the gentleman from Lie
cesterin his multifarious reading may
have read of him ;) a man mighty among |
‘the sons of men, who by common con-|
;sc-nt stood at the head of the philusophcrsl
of America and of Europe, whose decpl
linvestigatiou into the secrets of nuture*
‘had given him the knowledge of her|
isubtlcst, most mysterious, most tromcn-I
‘dous, most destructive agent, which he|
idisurmcd of its power. Yes, Sir, he
played with the forked lightnings as‘
‘with a tamed snake, and yet the ele
'ments of that marvellous wisdom which
!cnlightcnml and astonished the wurld:
‘were gathered in a Printer’s Office, and
‘this great man was a Printer, l
| There was another not the inferior of
Franklin in sagacity, his superior in a
‘sound practical knowledge of politics.—
I'A man whose opinions were the essence
of strong common scnse, the results of the
'I united action of a clear head and an hon
est heart. The name of this man was
" Roger Sherman (the gentleman from
Leicester has heard of him.) This Roger
‘Sherman wrought at the trade of a shoe
imuker many years after he had reached
‘the age of maturity. I
' There was yet another, not a mc-‘
‘chanic himself, but the son of a me
‘chanic, and bred in the family of a me
chanic. I will now take the gentleman
from the room where the statesmen of
America assembled, to that in which the
Philosophers of America assembled. In
the chair of the last, he once would
have seen“ David Rittenhouse, a watch
maker, one of the greatest astronomers
‘and mathematicians of the age. J
' I will take the gentleman a littlc‘
farther even into the state of South Car-:
olina ; and as he lived in revolutionary
times he might once have heard of a’
General who was one of the first of mil
itary men, a genius who could appro
priate the benefits of his enemy’s victo-!
#8 to his own use, and triumph in de
ieat, and whose victories were conquest,
His name was Nathaniel Greene, a
blacksmith like my worthy friend from
Hinsdale, (Mr. Emmons.) He went
forth from his stithy to lead armies and to
(win glorp—a hero and a ‘putriot.
* I'will now take the gentleman to Ger
many ; and as he has disclosed to us that
he is a reader of the scriptures by plen
tiful allusions and quotations, I will shew
im the man, without whose aid he might
bly have pever seen a bible. 1
{mean sir, John Faustus, a printer, and
the inventor of the art of printing. |
‘I I will now take the gentleman to Eng
land, to introduce him to a person of the
name of Brindley, the constructog, of
‘those magnificent canals which in the
‘course of 20 years tripled the wealth of
| England. This man was a mill-wright.
‘lThcre was another, who by giving to the
!steam engine its highest capacity, swel-/
led the stream of British wealth in a yct:
!grcatcr ratio ; his name was James Watt,'
;u maker of mathematical instruments, I
| The gentleman has told us that he
‘sometimes condescends to enter the bar—‘
ber’sshop—not to hold any converse with'
its humble occupant, but only to rcccivci
atouch of his art, and then depart, as ifi
Jn disdain of the man who could pursue,
an employment so humble. But I can
tell the gentleman that this trade, humble |
as it is, was once practised by a mighty |
‘genius, who invented an improvement in,
‘the machinery of spinning cotton, which’.
‘has not only laid the foundation of some
‘of the most important fortunes in Ameri
ca—which has not only filled our country
'with wealth, but which like the enchan
lter’s wand, has concentrated the treas
‘ures of the world in the island of Great
‘Britain. I mean Richard Arkwright,
| by the courtesy of England, Sir Richard
?—a man who by the force of his genius
translated himself from a barber’s shop to
)thc B:&lish Pailiament, and to a place a
mongst the proud knights of the proudest
‘aristocracy in the world.
~ The genius of these three mechanics,
Brindiey, Watt and Arkwright, upheid
the sinking fortunes of England, and
placed her on that high eminence from
which she overlooks the world.
. Although I may weary the {_,rcntlvmunj
from Leicester, I must take him to a
nother place. A little town in the cen
tre of England called Stratford on Avon.
There, dwelt in ancient times a man,
whose name was William Shakespeare
| —I dare say the gentleman has heard of
| him, for he was a mighty spirit, whose
i influence, like that of the heavenly bod
ics, is even now calling up the tides of hu
lman feeling. Ie was a man who has
l‘thrown the charm of genius on the lowest
| walks of life—surrounded the throne of|
mirth with new delights—varied into
countless varieties the shades and the
shapes of humor—given a new and
graceful dignity to the humblest of the
| virtues—imparted a blander spirit to
| social lile—pervaded the very depths of
"thc soul with strange and wondrous pow
ers of pathos, and impressed upon sub
‘jlimity itself a sterner and loftier charac
ter. Yes, Sir, he was a mighty enchant
“er, who could call forth from the invisible
iwmld a new variety of scenes and
beings, and could give to these “airy
nothings” “a local habitation and a
name’’—the fancies of poetry, and the
breathings of prophecy. And yet this
"giflcd man, whose works are alike famil
inrto Americans and Englishmen—whose
magic influence is felt wheresoever the
language of England is read and spoken
'—in the far places of the world—even
its extremities in the East and in the
West, for though we could strike the
sweptre of King George from his rand
vhen he waved it over our regions, the ‘
throne of Shakspeare is yet amongst us,|
a 8 immovable as the Alleghanies—This
wondrous man whose empire is universal
who has I
—e=‘‘ruled like a wisard the world of the heart,
And called up its sunshine and brought down its
showers,”’
was a wool comber !
| have endeavored to furnish the gen
tleman from Leicester with my histuricul'
reminiscences from which 1 hope he will{
learn, that these humble mechanics whom
e derides have exercised a most pow-
THE TIMES.
erful, direct and decided influence upon'
the comforts, the happiness, the morals,
the wealth, and the power of man. le.tfil
they have brought to the common stock ’1
of human knowledge their full proportion
of useful science, invention and genius
—that from their ranks have sprung war-|
riors, statesmen,poets and philosophers. i
I could swell the catalogue with“
many more illustrious names, but I have'
furnished the gentleman with enough for.
the present. He may give heed to my|
facts if he plcases. He may ecall va
statement “tinkling stuff}” if it suits him
—but I trust he will not again undertake
to deride a class of men, who, to say the
least are as respectable as any other, I
I am sensible, Mr. Speaker, that I
have been too discursive, and that much
of my matter is foreign to the question ;/
but as the gentleman from Leicester en
tered upon a wide field, I thought it
would be no great violation of parlia-I
mentary rule to follow him. I
LITERARY.
The following graphic and inbresting'
view of the interior of Mecca is from an,
able summary of Burckuarot’s I'ravels, |
recently published in the Eu'nburgh"‘
Review. Burckuarpt has been cclc-I
Ibrutcd for thé extent ef his resparches, |
and the great accession he has brought
to our acquaintance with the regions of’
Syria and (Palestine. From Syria hc:
passed into Arabia—and the volumes
reviewed are principally occupied with'l
his curious and highly authentic accounts|
of the sacred Territories hitherto inacces
sible to the foot of a Kuropean. Since
completing these Travels, this mspect-ll
ed and valuable author has added anothcrl
name to the many illustrious victims in'
the cause of Discovery on the African
Continent.
From the Edinburgh Review. l
MECCA, '
|| In this holy city, the holicst object,
||and which rivets the eyes and heartd of
all believers, is the great mosque, called
the Beitullah, or house of God. It secems!
to be, not the most elegant, or even very |
clegant, but one of the largest structures
within the precinets of' the Mahommedan
world. It is about a quarter of a mile
in length, and nearly as much in breadth:
and forms, indeed, not so much an edi
fice, as a large covered square, surmuml-‘
|ed on all sides with a triple or (|llfldl‘llp](?l
[tow of columns. Mr. Burckhardt quotes|
{various Arabic authorities as to the num-|
(ber of these columns, We know nnt‘l
" why, amid these deep researches, he|
' never thought of counting them himself ;|
!thcy appear to exceed five lnmdr(r(l.-——l
They are composed only partially of mar
[hln, chiefly of common stone from the,
ineighboring hills ; and there is as little
of uniformity in the shape as in the ma- |
;tvrials. They are united by pointed |
‘arches supporting small domes, which'
Imlr author, still using the testimony of
' Kotobedin rather than his own eyes, rc-'I
ports to be 152 in number. Itis believ
ed in Mecca, that this mosque, when—*
ever it becomes too small for the crowd
of worshippers, has its dimensions invis-I
\ibly expanded by an angel, till it receives
‘all who seek admittance ; and that if the|
‘'whole Mahommedan world could be
‘here assembled, they would all find space. |
The truth appears to be, that it can con-|
tain 35,000 persons, which is more than,
ever desire to enter at the same moment. |
'The area is pervaded by cool and fra-|
;grnnt breezes, produced by the many
lnpcnings on every side ; but which the
faithful ascribe to the waving of the
}wingu of the numerous angels by whom
its gates are guarded. Fxcept during
:thc hour of prayer, the citizens treat thlsl
‘holy enclosure with very little ceremony .
Porters and wa_goners pass and repass
lnn their way to different parts of the city ;/
poor pilgrims establish their lodgment
under the columns, having no other |
amansion ; the cm{vty spaces become of=|
ten, without much animadversion, the |
]thcatre of frivolous and even indecent |
amusements, : [
This edifice was constructed almost
solely for the purpose of containing a
nother holier still—the Kaaba. This is
a large, oblong, massive structure, built
of gray Mecca stone, in large ill-cement
ed blocks. To perform the Towaf, or
nightly walk around the Kaaba by the
li;‘nt of the sacred lamps, is one of the
‘most meritorious of Mussulman actions,
and which contributes most to establish
the character of a Hadj, or pilgrim.—
The Kaaba, according to the most learn
ed comments, was framed in heaven,
two thousand years before the creation
and the angels were then commanded to
perform the Towaf round it. Adam
made it his first concern to erect it on
earth, immediately below its celestial
site, with stones cut out of the five holy
mountains. It was intrusted to the care
of ten thousand angels, who, however,
haye been so extremely negligent, that
the edifice has been repeatedly destroy
ed and rebuilt. It is enveloped in a vast,
black silk robe, called the Kesoua, in
which are worked sentemces of tho
| Koran, partly in gold and silver. The
|Grand Seignior annually renews tha
| Kesoua ; when the old one reduced of
|ten nearly to rags, is cut in shreds, and
|sold at high prices to devout Musselmen
| The sacred cha;o,cter of :l}lle Kaaba,
is chiefly derived from a still more
I Clons n'\{at‘( enclosed within it, lnlpb::
fore which the whole Mahommedcn
world bows in the profoundest venera
tion. This is the “black stone,” which
Moslem devotion exalts high above every*
other earthly object. The story is, that
Ishmacl, being in search of a stone for
the repair of the temple, met the angel
Gabriel, who presented to him _this, then
bright and shining, but which"the touch
and sins of believers have since gmooth
ed and darkened. Notwithstanding the
numerous angels charged with its safety,
doleful vicissitudes chequer the story of
the black stone. Once it fell into profane
hands, and was broken into three pieces;
but the faithful,on recovering possession,
reduced the smaller fragments to pow
der, and employed them in cementing
the three larger, till the stone regained
its apparent unity. It is only on three
high and solemn annual festivals, that
the gate of the Kaaba is thrown oi;en,
and the pilgrms are admitted to the loft
iest privilege which Moslem faith can
confer, a kiss of the black stone.
We have not yet closed the catalogue
of holy and precious objects cnclosefi in
the Beitullah. At a considerable space
beneath its floor, springs the fount of the
holy Zemzem, endowed with almost mir
aculous virtue to wash away the sins of
the faithful. It is enclosed within an
edifice, continually crowded with pil
grims,whohere find leathernbuckets with
which they may draw the most copious
supplies of the sacred liquid. The well
appears almost inexhaustible, from the
circumstarce that notwithstanding the
immense consumption during the day, a
longer rope is not required to reach it in
the evening than in the morning. This,*
by the Meccaways, is estcemed a mira
c{; ; but persons who have descended
[to repair the well, state that they found
the water flowing ; consequently, it
must be supplied by a subterraneous riv
ulet. The quality is not good, yet bet
ter than that of the ot!i\er brackish
springs in this vicinity. The quantity
drunk by many pilgrims is perfectly in
credible. One, who lived in the same
house with Burckhardt, used to persevere
till he could neither speak nor stand ; he
then lay down on the floor till he recov
cred the power of resuming the sacred
libation. When by this regimen he had
brought himself to the point of death, he
‘was unable to conjecture any cause for
his illness but the not having imbibed
Immugh of this precious stream. The
‘water, when bottled up is conveyed to
the neighboring countries, where itis sold
at a high price, and esteemed a fitting
present for the great and even for crown
ed heads. In this stream many pilgrims
wash the robe which is intended for their
winding-sheet ; thinking their souls will
thus rest in greater security,
These high and various ceremonies—
the prostration in the mosque—the walk
round the Kaaba—the kiss of the black
stone—and the most ample draughts of
the holy fountain, are still not enough to
perfect the character of a Hadj, or pil
grim. He must] moreover, go in pil
griwmage to the Mount of Arafat, situa
ted about twenty miles in the desert in
terior of the country. This is an anni
versary, to meet which all the pilgrim
caravans regulate their arrival ; they
proceed attended by all the citizens of
Mecca ; even Jidda is then deserted,
Innd its gutes are shut. The procession
witnessed by our traveller was peculiar
ly splendid ; being accompanied by
Izlnhumnu-d Ali, with his favorite wife,
and by Solyman, Pasha of Damascus.
The pilgrims were estimated at 70,000,
A day spent in prayer, or dissipation, as
the parties incline, is closed by a sermon
from the top of Arafat ; the being present
at which finally completes the character
of a Moslem saint,
- @B i3~
Axecvore or M. WesLey.—ln the
year 1790, Mr. John Wesley preached
at Lincoln, he selected as his text Luke
10, xlii—*“One thing is necdful ” When
the audience retired from the house a
ilady exclaimed with surprise “Is this the
great Mr. Wesley of whom we hear so
much ? Why the poorest person in the
chapel might have understood him,”—
A gentleman replied “Madam, in this,
Mr. Wesley displays his greatness, that
while the poorest ‘can comprehend him,
the most learned are edified and none
can be offended.”
NO. 1.