Harpers-Ferry free press. [volume], April 09, 1823, Image 1

About Harpers-Ferry free press. [volume] (Harper's Ferry, Va. [i.e. Harpers Ferry, W. Va.]) 1821-1824

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
<£to shew: virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time, his form and pressure/’
VOL. II.—86. HARPERS-FERRY, VIRGINIA, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 9, 1823. Whole No. 88.
PUBLISHED, WEEKLY, BY
JOHN S. GALL AUER & CO.
CONDITIONS.
The “Free Press” is published at two
dollars per annum, if paid in advance;
two dollars and twenty-five cents if paid
at the end of six months; or, two dollars
and fifty cents at the expiration of the
year.
No paper will be discontinued until all
arrearages are paid ; nor then, unless at
least one week’s notice be given, previous
to the expiration of the term subscribed
for.
gcgptAs payment in advance will serve
the interest of all concerned, that mode is
respectfully solicited.
*** Advertisements inserted three times
for one dollar per square\ and twenty-five
cents for every subsequent insertion.
The postage must be paid on all letters
and communications, or they will not be
attended to.
JO * Maj. James Stephenson is a can
didate for re-election to Congress, for the
district of which Jefferson forms a part.
Gen. Tucker having declined a re-elec
tion, William Byrd Page, Esq. is a can
didate to represent the counties of Fre
derick and Jefferson in the State Senate.
%CTn We are authorized to state that
Capt. John Macky will be a candidate at
the next Election of Senators to the Le
gislature of Virginia, for the District
composed of the counties of Frederick
and Jefferson.
JCF3 We are requested to announce Jo
seph McMurran, Esq. as a candidate at
the next election for delegates from this
county to the General Assembly.
The following named persons have
been announced as candidates to repre
sent Jefferson county in the House of De
legates :
Daniel Morgan, Esq.
Smith Slaughter, Esq.
Joseph M ■ Mur ran, Esq.
Maj. Braxton Davenport,
Capt. Zachariaf^ Buck master.
the Freeholders of Jefferson.
After many solicitations, 1 am induced
to offer myself as a candidate to repre
sent you in the next Legislature. Should
you consider me worthy, I shall serve you
with pleasure, and will transact all busi
ness confided to me with that correctness
characteristic of one who feels for the in
terests of his constituents.
JOHN DALGARN.
April 2, 1823.
SCHOOL BOOKS.
WALKER’S DICTIONARY, a late
edition,
Pike’s Arithmetic,
Introduction to the English Reader,
Webster’s Spelling Book, and
Toy Books for Children,
Just received, for sale, cheap, at the
PRINTING Ol f'fCE.
April 2, 1823.
For Sale at this Office,
FEW BLANK BOOKS of differ
_ ent patterns ; some Note, Order,
and Receipt Books ; a few copies of the
SERAPH, a new selection of Psalm
Tunes, Hymns, and Anthems, by John
Cole; and a few copies of Webster’s
Spelling Book.
March 5, 1823.
Mason’s Remains.
SUBSCRIBERS to the above work, re
siding at or near Harpers-Ferry, are
requested to call for the same at the office
of the Free Press, where a few copies are
for sale. J. A. BINGHAM.
March 5, 1823.
*|L- Messrs. Roger Perry and others,
TAKE NOTICE,
THAT, on Saturday the 12th day of
April next, between the rising and
the setting of the sun, I shall proceed to
take, at the house of Jacob R. Thomas,
at Harpers-Ferry, the depositions of Wil
liam Cahill and Orson Bestor, which de
positions, so taken, I shall offer as evi
dence in a suit now pending in the Court
of Chancery of Jefferson county, in which
I am plaintiff, and you are defendants.
March 26, 1823. PHILIP ST RID ER.
Sugar, Coffee, % Scotch Herrings,
JUST received, and for sale at the
store of WEED WARING.
Feb:'2Syi823,
+
JVew York School System.—-We have
before us a copy of the Second Annual
Report (made Feb. 3, 1823) of the Super
intendent of Common Schools in the
State of New York. This highly inter
esting document bears even more honora
ble testimony to the enlightened legisla
tion of that State than the Canal Report,
which we have already had occasion to
notice. The general result of the opera
tions of the system for the past year, is
stated in the following extract from the.
Report:
“ The evidence furnished by the docu
ments (herewith transmitted) is of the
most satisfactory nature, and fully de
monstrates the decided superiority of the
school-system in this State, over every
other in the Union. By these it will ap
pear that returns have been received,
during the preceding year, from all the
counties in this State, fifty-two in num
ber. These counties contain 649 wards
and towns, all of which, except 7 old and
14 new towns, have presented their re
ports. The number of school districts
in the towns which have reported is 7,051,
and if to these be added the districts in
the towns from which no report have
been received, the number will exceed
^'8,000 : Of these, 6,255 have made their
reports, showing, among other particu
lars, that, for the term of eight months,
during the last year, 351,173 children
were receiving a common school educa
tion, being 18,194 more than were edu
cated in 1821. In eight years, upwards
of one million two hundred thousand dol
lars have been drawn from the treasury
and raised by tax, for the support of com
mon schools ; and it may be fairly estimat
ed that during the same period, nearly
three millions more have been contribut
ed by individuals for the same purpose,
making a grand total of four millions of
dollars over and above the appropriations
for colleges and academies. Even in
Connecticut, which possesses a larger
school fund than we do, and where the
school system was established and in
successful operation long before it was
here introduced, the number of children
educated in common schools is far less
in proportion to its population than it is
in this State. It may, indeed, well be
doubted, whether a parallel example of
munificence, successfully applied to a si
milar object, can be produced through
out the civilized world.
If, then, these grand and important re
sults have been produced in the short
space of eight years, what may not be
anticipated, when the liberal funds and
appropriations provided and secured by
the new constitution, shall have gone in
to active and productive operation I”
Unparalleled depravity.—-A Natchez
paper informs that a certain Doctor, (his
name for particular reasons is not given
to the public, but promised to be made
known in due time) residing at Wash
ington, (Mississippi,) eloped in January
last, with his ward, a girl about 15 or 16
years of age. The circumstances which
mark this transaction with features of
peculiar enormity, and excite our “ spe
cial wonder” at the deep depravity of
poor human nature, are, his high stand
ing in his profession and in society gen
erally; his being a highly esteemed Min
ister of the Gospel; his having an amia
ble wife and nine children*— and the ob
ject of his seduction and sharer of his in
famy being a poor orphan girl brought
up in his own family, under his own im
mediate care and protection, and to whom
it was his duty to have imparted those
principles of virtue and religion which
he professed to teach. This miserable
sinner is said to be fifty years of age.
Remarkable.—On the 25th of February
a pair of horses with a sleigh and lum
ber-box, broke away from the five mile
house between Albany and Schenectady,
and were not heard from until the 17th
of March, when they were found in a
swamp some two or three miles distance.
One of the horses having* been thrown
down, had in this situation ate off half of
the neck-yoke, and the end of the sleigh
—he was found dead. The other was
alive, having* subsisted twenty days, in
the most inclement part of the season,
without obtaining any thing to eat except
the shrubs within 10 feet square.
MORE WAR RUMOUR S.—The brig
Parthian, Nye, has arrived at New Bed
ford, from Lisbon, whence she sailed on
the 17th February. Captain Nye states
that on the 16th, intelligence was receiv
ed at Lisbon, that hostilities had com
menced between. France and Spain.
FROM SPAIN.
Cadi? papers to the 12th ult. hay€
received at New York, by the arrivtyfibf
the schooner Combine from that port,
They contain Madrid dates to the 5th,
under which is inserted the French King’s
Speech, without remark. There are va
rious reports of skirmishes between the
Royal and Radical forces in different
parts of Spain, and symptoms of disqui
etude at Madrid.
A Madrid paper of the 4th of Februa
ry, gives a report, that at a meeting of
general officers, that day, it was agreed,
in ca ■ of invasion., that Mina should
command the army of Catalonia; Abis
bal that of Aragon, and Navarre, and
Morillo the reserve, which will be form
ed in La Mancha and Andalusia.
It is evident, from the complexion of
affairs, that war was expected, and that
the Spaniards were determined to act on
the defensive.
The French Ambassador deft Madrid
on the 30th of January, and his arms were
removed from the front of his Hotel.
The King and Queen of Spain are re
presented as having been indisposed.
The Cortes ha'd been occupied for se
veral days in discussing a proposition for
a reform of the clerical system. On the
1st of February, a great number of docu
ments were received from various parts
of the country, felicitating the Cortes on
their proceedings on the 9th and 11th of
January, and expressing the utmost de
termination to persevere in the course
adopted by the Cortes, and to spare no
sacrifice which might be necessary to
sustain the independence and liberty of
the nation.
Letters from Cadiz of the 12th of Feb
ruary, state that a heavy gale commenc
ed at Gibraltar, on the 1st of February,
which lasted six days. It was reported
that all the shipping in port were driven
ashore, and more or less injured. The
same gale was felt at Cadiz, but no da
mage of consequence sustained.
.WILD WOMAN.
Rxtract of a private ■ letter from Madrid,
December 28th.
“ A truce to politics for one day, ahd
let us sympathize with the charming fair
ones of Madrid, who are dying to see the
wild woman that has lately been found
in the Sierra de Montero, a desolate and
rude range of mountains in the south.
She had been seen occasionally by the
goatherds as they wandered through the
mountains. The tale at length reached
Cordova, and the authorities sent officers
in pursuit of her. They succeeded in
apprehending her, and she is now in one
of the public hospitals of that city. She
is not altogether destitute of understand
ing, nor ignorant of language, as she can
say a few words, such as fiefta, papa, g-o
ta, a cat, camfio, the country, and some
few others. When she was asked if she
would like to return to the country, she
nodded her head in the affirmative. She
eats whatever is given to her, but prefers
uncooked meats and vegetables. In the
beginning cooked victuals did not agree
with her, and made her sick; she eats
with an extraordinary appetite. Her
clothes appear as if they were placed on
a stick; her amis were tied, because she
was ever tearing her shoes, in spite of
every care that was taken to prevent her.
Sometimes she has thrown off all gar
ments, and run out quite naked into the
kitchen-garden, bhe has been lounct al
ter an interval of two days coiled up in a
place full of mire, and at another time
she has been discovered in the dunghill
of the stable. She is about 16 years old,
of a short stature, a deep brown colour,
protruding lips, and so rough as almost
in appearance to resemble a wolf. She
sleeps by day as night, without any regu
larity, and generally coiled up. Some
times her sleep has continued for 28
hours successively, either in bed or on
the ground, with or without covering.
She keeps her eyes mostly closed, and
when she is alone she cries for three
hours together, and the next three she
laughs.—The Duke de Riva, the Consti
tutional Alcalde of Cordova, has taken a
great deal of trouble to find the origin
of this female, but it has baffled all his
inquiries, and he has given them up in
despair. It is supposed she belongs to
parents not less wild than herself, who
are still undiscovered in the mountains/*
FIRE.—-The Nassau Woollen Factory,
situated at the head of Hempstead Har
bor, Long Island, was totally consumed
by fire lately, together with the machine
ry and contents of every description. The
loss is estimated at not less than $ 15.000,
LATEST FROM EUROPE.
By the ship Mary Catharine, arrived
at Charleston, ofti the 23d ult. in 29 days
from Liverpool, papers have been receiv
ed form that place to the 13th Feb. inclu
sive. The prospect of war between
France and Spain is strengthened by the
London papers and by accounts from Pa
ris. The Spanish minister had received
orders from the Castero to leave Paris.
The Duke d’Angouleme’s baggage had
left Paris for the frontiers, and several
trains of artillery and regiments of troops
had set out for the Spanish frontier.—
Spanish bonds in London, 35. It is as
serted in the French papers that the ar
mies ©f France will not pass the Pyrenees
before March.—-Consols on the 11th Feb.
at 12 o’clock, 73f. Markets for cotton
lively and a small improvement.—Wheat
was up in England.
A gentleman arrived in London from
Paris, met near the latter city, the 50th,
59th,and part of the 45thFrench regiments
of the line, on their march from the North.
He described them as boisterously gay
and full of spirits—a circumstance, says
the New Times, not very compatible
with the discontent alleged to exist in
the French army, and their indisposition
to a Spanish war.
It was said at Paris, in the early part
of February, that many English families,
alarmed by the uncertainty of the policy
which their government may follow in
the present circumstances, were prepar
ing to leave that city, to return to their
own country, or to the Netherlands.
LONDON, FEB. 1 I.
Paris papers of Sunday last have ar
rived, which informs us that the address
of the Chamber of Deputies to his Ma
jesty in the form in whidh it was present
ed to the Chamber was adopted, after a
stormy discussion, in a secret session, by
a majority of 202 to 93; all the amend
ments proposed to it having been reject
ed.
The Seo d’Urgel has been taken by
Mina. The brave, the heroic Romagosa,
has abandoned a place which was desti
tute of provisions; two convoys which
the Baron d’Eroles sent to the Seo never
arrived.
HOUSE OF LORDS—Tuesday. Feb. 4,
This being the day to which Parlia
ment was prorogued for the dispatch of
business, it was opened by Commission.
The Lord Chancellor read the Speech,
which was as follows:
“ My Lords and Gentlemen,
“We are commanded by his Majesty
to inform you in Parliament, his Majes
ty’s efforts have been unremittingly ex
erted to preserve the peace of Europe.
“Faithful to the principles which his
Majesty has promulgated to the world,
as constituting the rule of his conduct,
his Majesty declined being party to any
proceedings at Verona, which could be
deemed an interference in the internal
concerns of Spain on the part of Foreign
Powers. And his Majesty has since us
ed, and continues to use, his most anxious
endeavors and good offices to allay the
irritation unhappily subsisting between
the French and Spanish governments;
and to a vert, if possible, the calamity of
war between France and Spain.
“In the East of Europe his Majesty
flatters himself that peace will be pre
served, and his Majesty continues to re
ceive from his Allies, and p-enerallv from
other Powers, assurances of their unal
tered disposition to cultivate with his
Majesty those friendly relations which it
is equally his Majesty’s object on his
part to maintain.
“We are further commanded to ap
prize you, that discussions having long
been pending with the Court of Madrid
respecting depredations committed on
the commerce of his Majesty’s subjects
in the West Indian Seas, and other griev
ances of which his Majesty had been un
der the necessity of complaining, those
discussions have terminated in an admis
sion by the Spanish Government of the
justice of his Majesty’s complaints, and
in an engagement for a satisfactory repa
ration.
“We are commanded to assure you
that his Majesty has not been unmindful
of the Address presented to him by the
two Houses of Parliament with respect
to the Foreign Slave Trade.
“Propositions for the more effectual
suppression of that evil were brought
forward by hi§ Majesty’s Plenipotentiary
in the conferences at Verona, and there
have been added to the Treaties upon
this subject already concluded between
j his Majesty and the governments of Spam
i and the Netherlands, articles which vr\l