Harpers-Ferry free press. [volume], April 28, 1824, Image 4

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

Image provided by: West Virginia University

                
«// is fj,c gift of Poetry to consecrate every place 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 m agical than the blush of the
morning.”
We have seen the following (says a correspon
dent of the National Intelligencer) in the Irish pa
per “Nabauglish.” It is recalled to mind by the
very eloquent eulogy of Mr. Clay on the same great
friend to liberty and liberal policy, who is supposed
to make the Address immediately previous to his
death, viz : Bonaparte :
Oh ! bury me deep in the boundless sea—
Let my heart have a limitless grave ;
For my spirit in life was as fierce and free
As the course of the tempest’s wave.—
And as far from the reach of mortal control
Were the depths of my fathomless mind,
That the ebbs and flows of my single soul
Were tides' to the rest of mankind.
Then my briny pall shall engirdle the world,
As in life did the voice of my fame,
And each mutinous billow that’s skyward curl’d
Shall to fancy re-echo my name.
That name shall be storied in record sublime
To the uttermost corners of earth—
Oh, renowned, till the wreck of expiring time
Be the glorified Land of my birth!
Yes ! bury my heart in the boundless sea—
It would burst from a narrower tomb,
Should less than an Ocean my sepulchre be,
Or if wrapped in less horrible gloom.
THE TEAR OF GRATITUDE.
There is a tear from Beauty’s eye
That makes us feel supremely blest.;
Offspring of love and sympathy,
It melts the cold and flinty breast;
There is a tear soft Pity gives;
lake dew-drop on the withering leaf;
Our heart the pearly gift receives,—
It sheds a balm upon our grief.
But there’s a tear that’s far more bright,
Though flowing,from a bosom rude,
Yielding ineffable delight,—
The sparkling tear of Gratitude !
[Literary Gazette.
GENERAL LA FAYETTE.
(from ladt Morgan’s France.)
In the midst of a fertile and luxuriant
wilderness, rising above prolific orchards
and antiquated woods, appeared the five
towers of La-Grange, tinged with the
golden rays of the setting sun.
We found Gen. La Fayette surround
ed by his patriarchal family;—his excel
lent son and daughter-in-law, his two
daughters (the sharers of his dungeon in
Oiuiutz) and their husband ; eleven grand
children, and a venerable grand-uncle,
the exgrand prior of Malta, with hair as
white as snow, and his cross and his'or
der worn as proudly as when he had is
sued forth at the head of his pious troops,
against the Christian enemy. Such was
he group that received us in the hall of
La Grange; such was the close-knit cir
cle that made our breakfast and our din
ner party; accompanied us in our de
lightful rambles through the grounds and
woods of La Grange, and constantly pre
sented the most perfect unity of family
interest, habits, taste, and affections.
We naturally expect to find strong tra
ces of time in the form of those, with
whose Dame and deeds we have been
long acquainted; of those who had ob
tained the suffrages of the world, almost
before we had entered it. But, on the
person of La Fayette, time has left no
impression; not a wrinkle furrows the
ample brow; and his unbent, and noble
ngure, is still as upright, hold, and vi
gorous, as the mind that informs it.-—>
Grace, strength, and dignity still distin
guished the fine person of this extraordi
nary man; who, though more than forty
years before the world, engaged in scenes
of strange and eventful conflict, does not
yet appear to have reached his climacter
ic. Bustling and active on his farm,
graceful and elegant in his saloon, it is
difficult to trace, in one of the most suc
cessful agriculturists, and one of the most
perfect fine gentlemen that France has
produced, a warrior and a legislator.—
The patriot, however, is always discerni
ble.
In the full possession of every faculty
and talent he ever possessed, the memory
of M. La Fayette has all the tenacity .of
unworn youthful recollection; and, be-,
sides these, high views of all that is most
elevated in the mind’s conception. His
conversation is brilliantly enriched with
anecdotes of all that is celebrated, in
character and event, for the last fifty
years. He still talks with unwearied de
light of his short visit to England, to his
friend Mr. Fox, and dwelt on the witchery
of the late Dutches of Devonshire, with
almost boyish enthusiasm. He speaks
and writes English with the same ele
gance he does his native tongue. He
has made himself master of all that is
best worth knowing, in English litera
ture and philosophy. I observed that his
library contained many of our most emi
nent authors upon all subjects. His ele
gant, and well chosen, collection of books,
occupies the highest apartments in one
of the towers of the chateau ; and, like
the study of Montaigne, hangs over the
farm-yard of the philosophical agricul
turists. “It frequently happens,” said
M. La Fayette, as we were looking out
of the window at some flocks, which were
moving beneath, “ it frequently happens
that my Merinos, and my hay carts, dis
pute my attention with your Hume, or
our own Voltaire.”
He spoke with great pleasure on the
visit paid him at La Grange some years
ago, by Mr. Fox and General Fitzpatrick.
He took me out, the morning after my
arrival, to show me a tower, richly cover
ed with ivy:—“It was Fox,” he said,
“who planted that ivy 1 I have taught
my grand-children to venerate it.”
In accompanying this “ last of the Ro
mans” through his extensive farms,
visiting his sheep-folds, his cow-stalls,
his dairies, (of all of which he was justly
proud, and occasionally asking me, whe
ther it was not something in the English
style,) I was struck with his gracious
manner to the peasantry, and to the work
men engaged in the various rustic offi
ces of his domains. He almost always
addressed them with “ my friend,”—“ my
good friend,”—“my dear boy;” while
“ my good mother,” and, “ my dear girl,”
were invited to display the delicacies of
the cream-pans and cheese-presses, or to
parade their turkeys and'ducklings for
our observation and amusement. And
this condescending kindness seems re
paid by boundless affection, and respect
amounting to veneration. What was
once the ■verger [orchard] of the chateau,
where anciently the feudal seigneur re
gailed himself in the evening, with the
officers of his household, and played
chess with his chaplain, is now extend
ed behind the castle, into a noble park,
cut out of the luxuriant woods; the trees
being so cleared away, and disposed of,
as to sprinkle its green and velvet lawn
with innumerable clumps of lofty oaks,and
fantastic elms. “This is rather English
too,” said General La Fayette; “but it
owes the greater part of its beauty to the
taste of our celebrated landscape-painter,
Robert, who assisted me in laying out
the grounds, and disposing of my wood
scenerv.”
It was whilst walking by a bright
moonlight, in these lovely grounds, that I
have listened to their illustrious master,
conversing upon almost every subject
worthy to engage the rpind of a great and
good man; sometimes in French, some
times in English ; always with eloquence,
fluency, and spirit.
The regret we felt in leaving La Grange,
was proportioned to the expectations,
with which we arrived before it’s gates,and
to the pleasure we enjoyed under its roof.
It is a memorable event in the life of or
dinary beings,to.be permitted a proximate
view of a great and good man 1 It is re
freshment to the feelings, which the world
may have harrowed ! It chases from the
memory the traces of all the littlenesses,
the low, mean, and sordid passions, by
which the multitudes of society are actu
ated ; the successes of plodding medio
crity; the triumphs of timeserving obse
quiousness ; and the selfish views of pow
er and ambition, for the destruction of
the many, and the debasement of all !—
To have lived under the roof of La Fay
ette; to have conversed with him, and
listened to him, was opening a splendid
page in the history of man. It was pe
rused with edification and delight, and
its impression can only fade with memo
ry and life.
KR. CLAY’S OPINION OF BONAPARTE.
Mr. Clay, in his speech on the Tariff, referred to
Bonaparte, and called him
“The master spirit of the age—that extraordi
nary man, who has thrown the Alexanders and the
Cresars infinitely farther behind him than they
stood in advance of the most eminent of their pre
decessors—that singular man, who, whether he was
seated on his imperial throne, deciding the fate of
nations, and allotting kingdoms to the members of
his family, with the same composure, if not with
the same affection, as that with which a Virginia
father divides his plantations among his children,
or on the miserable rock of St. Helena, to which
he was condemned by the cruelty and the injustice
of his unworthy victors, is equally an object of the
most intense admiration. He appears to have com
prehended, with the rapidity of intuition, the true
interests of a state, and to have been able, by the
turn of a single expression, to develope the secret
springs of the policy of cabinets.”
FANTASTIC POLYGAMY.
Mr. Bowditch informs us, that the King
of the Ashantees is allowed by law 3,333
wives, this being the mystical number on
which the prosperity of the nation de
pends.
Lord Ross having proposed a small
prize as a reward to any one who should
find a rhyme on the word ‘ porringer,’re
ceived the following epigram:
The Duke of Yrork a daughter had,
He g-ave the Prince of Orange her ;
And now, my Lord I claim the prize,
For mak'vng rhyme to porringer.
DUELLING INTELLIGENCE.
Private advices from Charleston, to the
27th ult. apprize us, that two very young
gentlemen of that city, performed a duet
to on the barrel organ, in the neighbor
hood of Augusta, a short time previous to
the above date,in which both were wound
ed. Mr. Gilfert, the manager, (so report
says,) played second to one of the per
formers.
It was also reported, that a musical en
tertainment, similar to the above, was to
have been offered to the public on the 26th
ult. by Gen. G—c—k and Col. Camming,
in the same neighborhood. Fame, who is
a consummate story teller, had even de
cided the fate of the Colonel, and sent him
to the dominions of Pluto, before the time
appointed for the meeting.
Furthermore, we learn that Gov. W—
a few days previous to the date of our in
telligence, started from Charleston for
Cheraw, to test the efficacy of hair trig
gers, but on his arrival at Georgetown,
was taken ill and compelled to return.
[Norfolk Herald.
Some time ago the house of a captain
of a vessel, who resides in the Bowery,
was robbed, and a note left on the man
tlepiece, running thus:
“The Devil’s complimeuts to the cap
tain; and he has only taken at this time
a jug of brandy, a pair of candlesticks,
&c., but at his next visit he will take the
captain himself.”
It seems from the complaint of a
lady yesterday to the Police, that the
house has again been robbed. The De
vil alluded to, had called, according to
promise, but as the captain was at sea,
he consoled himself by carrying away a
trunk, containing about seventy dollars
in money, several valuable dresses, silver
spoons, See. The officers of Police have
gone in search of his Satannic Majesty,
and we think that as they are a match
for him, he will soon change his quarters
to a more cool situation on the borders
of the North River. We expect that he
will return all the articles excepting the
jug of brandy. [W. Y. fia/i.
MAGNANIMOUS BANDIT.
The leader of a gang of banditti in
Corsica, who had long been famous for his
exploits, was at length taken, and com
mitted to the care of a soldier, from whom
he contrived to escape. The soldier was
condemned to death. At the place of
execution, a man coming up to the com
manding officer, said, “ Sir, I am a stran
ger to you, but you shall soon know who
I am. I have heard that one of your
soldiers is to die for having suffered a
prisoner to escape. He was not at all to
blame; besides, the prisoner shall be
restored to you. Behold him here ! I am
the man. I cannot bear that an innocent
man should be punished for me, and I
have come to die myself; lead me to exe
cution.” “ No 1” exclaimed the French
officer, who felt the sublimity of the ac
tion as he ought; “thou shalt not die;
and the soldier shall be set at liberty.—
Endeavour to reap the fruits of thy gene
rosity. Thou deservest to be hehcefortli
an honest man.”
Crambe, in the memoirs of Martinis
Scribierus, said he was every day under
the dominion of a certain word; such for
instance, as the word led, which not only
governed him, but all the world besides.
For, said he, noblemen and drunkirds
are pimp-led-, physicians and pulses are
fee-led, patients and oranges are fiii-led,
a new married man and an ass are brid
led, an old married man and a pacldorse
are sad-led. Cats and dice are mt-led,
swine and nobility are sty-led, a cojuette
and a tinder-box are spark-led, a lover
and a blunderer are grov-led.
Wheat, Rye, Com, and Oats,
And all other Country Produce,
WTILL be taken in paymentfor debts
f f due to this office, or wlich may
hereafter become due. The higiest price
in cash will be given for clean Linen and
Cotton Rags.
Lime for Sale,
THE subscriber has a la$e quantity
of first-rate LIME, (f/esh burnt,)
at the Old Furnace, which he will sell
low. MATHIAS SLYH, sr.
Aprii 7, 1824.
STOKE COM FUR SALE.
THE subscriber has alarge quantity
of Stone Coal, at tlie Old Furnace,
which he will sell on reasonable terms.
March 31. JAM ES L A NG.
SCHOOL BOOKS.
H/JTURRAY’S GRAIMAR, price 75
1 v I cents; also, unabridged edition,
for the use of schools,at 20 cents,
Walker’s Dictionary, at gl,
English Reader, Introduction do.
For sale at this office.
Flowers of Ancient History,
COMPREHENDING, on a new plan,
the most remarkable and interesting
events, as well as characters, of antiqui
\ ty—for sale at this office.
'GOOD aiACOE^.
rg^HE subscriber has just receive-.100
J|_ his store, Market square, a quantity
of excellent BACON, consisting of Hams,
Shoulders, and Middlings.
Also, a good assortment of SHOES,
together with a supply on hand of
Groceries, Queen’s, Glass Ware,
Dry Goods, §c. $c.
In a few days will be opened, as above,
a fresh assortment of Goods of every de
scription, which the subscriber is deter
mined to sell at very reduced prices.
S. K. WHITE.
Harpers-Ferry, April 21, 1824.
ilMBEEW
TAILOR,
HAS removed his shop to the house
adjoining Mr. Carey Thompson’s
liquor store, where he is prepared to exe-^
cute such orders in his line as he may be
favored with, on a short notice, with neat
ness and durability, and on very reasona
ble terms. He will also take 5 or 6 gen
teel Boarders, on accommodating terms.
April 14, 1824.
Baltimore, March 26, 1824.
$0* Still a Chance for Wealth trails Cend
ant ly great ! ! !
EVERY PRIZE FLOATING THE NEXT
DRAWING I
EIGHTEENTH Report of the Draw
ing of the Grand State Lottery.
No. 13,676 a prize of §1000
4,685 a prize of 50
And 198 prizes of 12 each.
When it is recollected that out of the
stupendous amount of §187,826, contain
ed in this splendid scheme, only §2526
escaped, it may be considered as an in
significant one indeed. The peculiar at
tractions of this magnificent lottery would
seem to increase geometrically as the
drawings progress.
Only two more drawing's now remain
to complete the distribution of the follow
ing brilliant prizes, all of which are now
floating, and of course liable to be drawn
at any time, viz :
1 prize of §100,000
1 do. 20,000
2 do. 10,000
1 do. 5,000
r do. 1,000
Besides a multitude of 100s, 50s, and 12s.
Amounting, in the aggregate, to the,
overwhelming sum of §185,000 ! Besides
the unparalleled inducements which this
magnificent lottery presents to adventu
rers, the fact that the payment of all it»
prizes is guaranteed by the state o'f Ma
ryland is a circumstance which entitles
it to superior consideration.
I oi tii kets and shares, of which a few
remain still unsold, warranted undrganw
apply or send forthwith to '
FORTUNE’S HOME,
No: 32, Market-street, near the'Market.
TAKE NOTICE !
That the next drawing will take place
on Thursday the 13th of May, and the re
maining one, it is expected, will be in a
few days after.
ICF3 Orders for tickets or shares from
all parts of the United States will receive
at Oonine’s the same prompt and faithful
attention as if personal applications were
made. Address
W. C. CONINE, Baltimore.
Information of the fate of tickets fur
nished at the close of the drawing, or
whenever requested.
April 7, 1824.
NEW
ESTABLISHMENT,
(In Shepherds-town, Ya.)
THE undersigned has now on hand,
at his store near Messrs. Selby Sc
Robinson’s, a supply of Boots & Shoes,
from the best manufactories of the north
and of his own manufacture, such as
Men’s Boots, first-rate calf-skin,
Ladies’ Morocco, Seal-skin, and Pru
nelle Boots and Shoes,
Misses’ Morocco and Leather do.
And a general assortment of Children’s
Shoes,
Also, coarse Shoes and Br'ogues, suit
able for servants.
His stock will be shortly increased with
morearticles of a superior quality, and
he is determined to keep such an assort
ment as cannot fail to please those who
wish work combining neatness with dura
bility.
All work boiight of him will be war
ranted. HENRY CRAMPTON.
April 14, 1824. 1
CO?Y BOOKS,
OF an eleganv and handsome qualit/'
suitable forYsehools, just received
and for sale at thi\ office. Also, 7 new
supply of Blank Boo»s, of superio work
manship and paper.