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Carpers ferry free press
(C to SHEW VIRTUE HER OWN FEATURE, SCORN HER OWN IMAGE, AND THE VERY AGE AND BODY OF THE TIME, HIS FORM AND PRESSURE.
VOL. III.—No. 23.
HARPERS-FERRY, VIRGINIA, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7, 1824.
Whole No. 127.
PUBLISHED, WEEKLY, BY
JOHN S. GALLAHER & CO.
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WEEKLY ALMANAC.
JANUARY,
1824.
8 Thursday
9 Friday
10 Saturday
11 Sunday
12 Monday
13 Tuesday
14 Wednesday
CO 00 GO ED
N[ Oi tO Ol
“It is the gift of Poetry to consecrate everyplace
in which it moves, to breathe around nature an odour
more exquisite than the perfume of the rose, and
to shed over it a tint more magical than the blush of
the morning.”____
“SOUND THE LOUD TRUMP.”
Adapted to Miriam’s Song, and intended to be sung
in St. Matthew’s Church, New York, on the oc
casion of taking up a collection to aid the suffer
ing GREEKS.
BY MRS. C. M. THAYER.
Sound the loud trump o’er the iEgaean sea,
The Moslem has fallen and Greece shall be free !
Sing, for the land once so splendid in story,
The cradle of genius, the home of the brave,
Rekindles the fires of her primitive glory ;
Greece shall exult over tyranny’s grave
Sound the loud trump o’er the iEgaan sea,
The Moslem has fallen, and Greece shall be free !
lUfts’d be the spirit that gallantly shone
When the Persian’s, proud host was in battle o’er
t) noun—
Wake the bold harp that for ages has slumber’d,
The deeds of her heroes with ecstacy tell;
In glory’s bright archives her sons shall be number’d,
Immortal as those who at Marathon fell.
Sound the loud trump o’er the ifigxan sea,
The Moslem has fallen,'and Greece shall be free !
Loud let the chorus of triumph ascend;
Wide may the empire of Freedom extend.!
Greece, where tire olive and myrtle have flourish’d,
Once tne proud home of the free and the brave,
Where Science was cradled and Liberty nourish’d,
Greeqe shall exult over tyranny’s grave.
Sound the loud tramp o’er the JEgiean sea,
The Moslem has fallen, and Greece shall be free !
Praise to JEHOVAH, our Saviour and Lord,
Our zeal is His Spirit, our light is His Word.
'HE the strong fetters of slavery has broken,
His banner of LIGHT to the nations unfurl’d :
The mandate of MEIiCY Jehovah has spoken,
And Freedom and Peace shall illumine the world.
Sound the loud trump o’er the iEgxan sea,
The Moslem has fallen, and GREECE SHALL BE
FREE !
CHARACTER OF FERDINAND VIA.
The character of the present King of
Spain is not generally known in Europe,
notwithstanding the conspicuous proofs
he has given, more particularly on the
last free ebullition of his rage, of cherish
ing some of the vilest sentiments which
ever dishonored the heart of any man.
He is a strange mixture of opposite qual
ities, which confound our judgment, when
we closely examine him, and conjectures
are exhausted, as to which is his predo
minant passion. At seeing such a being
occupy a throne, and regulate the desti
nies of a great nation, we are disposed to
take a very melancholy view of human
nature.
Brought up from his infancy by priests
and domestics, by turns flattered and per
secuted, the object of ii reconcileable ha
tred, and of enthusiasm, which almost
reached adoration, bandied about betwixt
his fear of his mother, and the praises of
his courtiers; Ferdinand appears a two
fold being, uniting all the asperity of a
tyrant with the cowardice of a slave; fe
rocious and proud in prosperity, condes
cending and base in misfortune, the ene
my of his own friends, when these are no
longer of use to him, and always ready
to punish those who have sacrificed them
selves in vain for him: mean in defeat,
implacable in triumph, and. always led by
some hidden motive, which he keeps in
reserve to falsify the one he assigns for
his conduct. His strongest resolutions
are always conditional; and when he in
duces any one to commit himself, Ferdi
nand does it with a view to forsake him
in a moment of danger or defeat. W hen
he was informed, on the morning of the
7th July, that the guards who had devot
ed themselves to his cause were vanquish
ed, he replied in these words, worthy of
Caligula:—“Let them have patience, I
am still Constitutional King.”
Ferdinand has the art of deceiving the
most penetrating and most observing eye;
what a great Poet has said, should be
said of him—“ That art itself is nature.”
He carries in his pocket the order for the
exile of a Minister with whom he fami
liarly jokes. In the circle at Court he
compliments a man whose disgrace he
has just ordered, and he smiles on the
public walk at him whom he has just be
fore pointed out to the police as a public
enemy.
The word country has no signification
for him. He congratulated Joseph on
having defeated 8,000 Spaniards in the
battle of Ocagna, and now he thanks the
Duke of Angouleme because he has con
quered his kingdom. At Valencay, he
asked of Napoleon, as a favor, to take
him for his adopted son; and, when he
transacted business, for the first time,
with the Ministers of the constitutional
government, he told them he knew the
Constitution by heart, and that he would
never permit it to be violated.
Ferdinand has no elevation of character
—no grandeur in his views. In business
he troubles himself only about trifles ; he
seeks only the ridiculous side of a sub
ject, and stops at the most useless details.
As soon as he is spoken tq of the public
good, of expensive plans, of profound
conceptions, be is seized with ennui, and
like the character drawn by a celebrated
poet—
“ Soup ire, etend les bras, ferme 1’oeil et s’endort.”
His extraordinary vivacity requires con
tinual aliment, and as he can digest no
thing solid,a large repertory of anecdotes,
of nonsense, of the reports circulated in
the town, must always be provided for his
occupation and amusement. He does
not know a single word of the services
that have been executed for him, but he
knows by the secret history the scanda
lous adventures of all those who are about
him. His desires are either ignoble or
puerile; he loves puppets and glitter,
and every thing that can amuse the eyes.
In his garden there are no Greek statues,
but pagodas and Chinese bridges. He
sent away from his Palace the fine
paintings which ornamented it sine?? the
reign of Philip V. and had them replaced
by stained paper and costly draperies.
One artist indeed, and only one, he has
largely recompensed, and he painted a
picture full of ridiculous caricatures and
disgusting horrors.
Ferdinand does not love the people, but
the populace, and was never more happy
than when he was surrounded by Manalos
clothed in rags, who spoke to him freely,
as if he had been their friend. The wash
er-women of Madrid, who are unaccus
tomed to see him walk on the borders of
the Manzanares, where they perform
their work, live on the footing of the
greatest familiarity with him. They call
him Cara (le Rosa, Solacla, and he smiles
at them and waves his handkerchief in
token of satisfaction.
One ot the most prevailing qualities ot
Ferdinand’s mind, is- distrust. He be
lieves that nobody ever comes near him
but to deceive him, or to force him to
grant them favors. His favorites are on
ly on good terms with him for very short
periods, because the most trifling circum
stance makes him dislike them ; and
when a man whom he has emboldened
by familiarity, speaks boldly to him, he
sees in it a sign of ambition, and he gets
rid of the danger by banishing the man.
All those who have shared his misfor
tunes, who assisted him in his infancy,
who have aided him in his enterprises,
have been persecuted by his orders : He
sent Ecoquoi, who gave him so many
proofs of his attachment, Vargas, the
possessor of all his secrets, and Macanar,
the instrument of his vengeance, into
banishment. He gets rid of an old friend
in the same manner as of an old piece of
furniture; and when the person is out of
bis sight, he is effaced from his memory.
The gift of love has been refused to
Ferdinand by nature ; his heart is a stran
ger to those sentiments which embellish
the life of man, and sooth his misfortunes.
It was supposed that he loved his second
wife very tenderly, but he was amusing
himself playing nine pins at the moment
that her burial was taking place. He
was the irreconcilable enemy of his bro
ther, until this latter quarrelled at Rome
with his wife, and the Prince of Peace,
and then he wrote the roost affectionate
letters to him, and made him superb
presents.
Ferdinand will become the greatest
enemy of those who have placed him
above the laws which he swore to execute.
He will spoil the work of his benefactors,
and repay them with the blackest ingrati
tude. He is forging for himself the chain
which sooner ®r later he will wear in the
eyes of all Europe, and his most implaca
ble enemies do not wish him any greater
evil than the prosperity he is about to en
joy
LONDON, OCT. 29.
Admiral Valdez.—A curious anec
dote hes been related to us illustrative of
the mixed impertinence and apathy of the
Spanish character, and of the treachery
or imbecility of the man whom it most
concerns. A distinguished Englishman
arrived at Cadiz during the siege with
a plan for annoying, and perhaps render
ing useless, the French fleet which was
lying off the town. One of the first things
he did on his arrival was to lay the plan
before Admiral Valdez, who had been en
trusted with almost unlimited powers for
the defence of the place. The scheme was
so simple that a child might understand
it; but Valdez received the proposition
coldly, said he could not make himself
responsible for a new mode of action, and
must consult a board of engineers on the
subject. After a strenuous but fruitless
endeavor to convince him that a military
governor invested with supreme authority
might adopt what means he pleased of
annoying- the enemy, without delay of
boards and committees, the plan was re
ferred to a council of engineers. From
that sluggishness which, even under the
most urgent circumstances, never for
sakes the Spanish gentleman, and renders
him at once the most inefficient, as he is
the most self-sufficient animal on the face
of the earth, a considerable time elapsed
before a report could be procured. At
last it appeared, and pronounced the plan
to be feasible and useful. The English
gentleman having this"favorable answer,
immediately applied to Valdez, and urg
ed ‘im to put it in execution that very
night. Valdez stared with as much sur
prise as if it had never occurred to him
that a plan could be good for any thing
except to write a report about; and when
very earnestly importuned, said be did
not see how or by whom it was to be exe
cuted. The Englishman answered, “ I
will execute it myself this very night;—
only give me your permission to takeout
a boat with two sailors to row it.” “We
have no sailors,” was the reply of the Spa
nish Admiral. “ Well; well,” rejoined the
Englishman, “ I do not want sailors ; any
person who can row a boat will answer
my purpose.” Valdez, thus pressed,
drew himself up with that air of absurd
pomposity which some blockheads mis
take for dignity, and exclaimed, “ Sir,
we have no marine whatever, and you
know it : you Englishmen destroyed it
all at Trafalgar.” It was in vain to argue
with an idiot, who, in the very crisis of
his country’s danger, could, with a burst
of childish spleen, reject an avowedly
useful plan for serving it. The English
man therefore left him with disgust, and
went forthwith to Calatrava, the prime
minister, in the hope of better success
with him. Calatrava laughed at the
story, exclaiming “ poor Valdez! he is a
sad dolt ;* but he received a wound at
Trafalgar; the ball has never been ex
tracted, and he never sees an Englishman
without its smarting.” Calatrava added,
that he could do nothing without the Ad
miral’s consent. Thus, between the epi
grammatic petulance of the commander
in-chief, and the humorous comment of
the prime minister, a plan for annoying,
or perhaps, as we stated at first, for ren
dering totally useless the French fleet,
was abandoned, after it had been pro
nounced useful and practicable !—How
could a city be saved, with such men to
preside over its destinies ?
*Yet to this dolt had the entire conduct of the
defence of Cadiz by sea and land been committed.
The House of Bourbon, it is calculated,
reigns at this time over forty seven mil
lions of people in Europe, viz:—Naples
and Sicily, (new census) 5,422,889 ; Spain,
10,500,000 ; Tuscany,300,000; and France,
above 30,000,000.
A gentleman calling oh a certain witty
British Consul, on a rainy evening, com
plained that his shoes had admitted the
water. “ I am surprised, Sir,” said the
representative of his majesty, “ that your
shoes should be leaky when you had both
flumps a-going.”
The Restoration of Charles II.—There
is a tradition in Scotland that a dram of
brandy produced the restoration of
Charles II. The messenger front the par
liament of England had brought letters
to Monk, whilst he remained at Edin
burgh. This messenger was also intrust
ed with despatches to the governor of
Edinburgh castle—a circumstance which
he mentioned to one of Monk’s servants,
while ot> his journey. The man (a ser
vant) saw something unusual in this,
and prevailed upon his fellow traveller
to drink a dram of brandy with him at a
neighboring ale house, where the messen
ger became ultimately so drunk, that the
sergeant was enabled to take the papers
from his custody without detection. This
done, he posted to his general with the
packet, who, on discovering the contents,
found aft order for his arrest and deten
tion in the castle. Policy and resent
ment at once directed the eyes of Monk
to Charles Stuart, and his restoration
succeeded. w What great events from tri
fling causes spring.”
At the time that James II. was making
his tour through England to receive the
homage of his subjects? the Mayor and
corporation of a small town, through
which he passed, were deputed to com
pliment him on his arrival. As the May
or was noted for & most impenetrable
thickness of skull, the Recorder under
took to prompt him in his speech When
they arrived in the Royal presence, the
Recorder, observing the bashful & sheep
ish appearance of his Lordship, whisper
ed to him, ‘Hold up your head; look
like a Man.’—The unfortunate Mayor,
half dead with fear, supposed this the
beginning of the Speech, and bawled out
to his Majesty—‘ Hold up your head—
look like a Man.’ The Recorder imme
diately rejoined. ‘ What the d-—1 do you
mean—-As I live, you will ruin us all.’—■
‘ What the d—i do you mean—-As I live,
you will ruin us all,’ repeated the official
Speechifier. 4 Oh 1 you stupid block
head—I wish you had never come here,’
' —said the terrified and irritated prompt
er—fhe Mayor, as in duty bound, imme
diately echoed to the amazed monarch—•
‘Oh! you stupid blockhead—I wish you
had never come here.’—The Recorder in
stantly took to his heels, followed by the
luckless Mayor,-leaving the King and his.
courtiers in a convulsion of laughter.
An exfiensive Job.—A gentleman pas
sing a country church, while under repair,
observed to one of the workmen, “ that he
thought it would be an expensive Job.”
“Why, yes,” replied he; “but in my
opinion we shall accomplish what our
reverend divine has endeavoured to do,
for the last thirty years in vain.” “What
is that ?” said the gentleman. “ Why,
bring all the parish to repentance.”
DESPERATE SEA ROBBERIES.
The editors of the New York Gazette
have received information that on the
night of the 30th ult. the Colombian arm
ed ship Oronoke, under the command
of Captain Nutter, was run off with from
the port of St. Bartholomews, by the boat
swain, mate, and 60 of the crew, no doubt
on a pirating cruise; and such is the
character of these mutineers, that it is
supposed they will rob, if not murder,
all they fall in with. She is a black ship
with a yellow streak, American clipper
built, shews 16 guns, is low in the water,
and sails fast. She carries 12 iron and 8
long double fortified 12’s, and four 24
pound gunnades—mast head and spars
painted white. The present commander
is supposed to be an Englishman, named
Wilson, with black whiskers, grey eyes,
and a long narrow face. Part of the offi
cers were forcibly carried off, and proba
bly murdered. The ship had some valua
ble property on board.—\_Morn. Chron.
A St. Johns, (Antigua) paper of the
4th of Nov. mentions that on the day pre
vious, a vessel arrived from Demarara
with the intelligence that the insurrection
of the blacks had not been suppressed,
and that there were executions of four
teen of these poor deluded revolters at
one time.
BOSTON, DEC. 2-3.
Capt. Winsor, of brig Susan, from Ma
laga, states that Cueta, had been taken
possession of by the French, who had
openly declared they would never give
it up so long as the English held posses
sion of the Rock of Gibraltar; and that,
on the 13th Nov. news was received at
Malaga of the surrender of the cities o£
Alicant, Carihagena, and Barcelona, to
the French and Spanish Royal authori
ties,