fca ilia
WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 22, 1824. *
The most zealous efforts are making at York?
Petersburg, and elsewhere, to complete, in hand
some style, the arrangements for the accommo
dation of Gen. La Fayette and those who may as"
semble to do him the honors which their grateful
hearts dictate. The Festival at York will, there
fore, be the most splendid and general ever wit
nessed in this state. The principal mechanics at
Petersburg- have offered their services to erect
“temporary buildings, arbours, stands, and other
conveniences necessary for the accommodation of
10,000 men, on the plains of Little York.55 It is
estimated that the expense will be about $10,000.
The Richmond Enquirer states “that at least se
venteen companies of volunteers have already en
gaged to be present on the 19th of October.—
Among these, five are troops of horse, and three
or four companies of artillery.” Perhaps more
. than double the number above stated will attend,
although at an inconvenient season of the year,
particularly for farmers.
A few day^wifi doubtless present us with some
thing like a regular detail of the arrangements, in
which the best talents of the eastern section of the
state have been eplisted. One important question,
however, remains to be settled—and that is, Who
is to bear the expense ? The Richmond and Pe
tersburg papers seem to think the Executive of the
state ought to make the necessary advances, and
trust to the magnanimity and patriotism of the peo
ple, through the legislature, to sanction them. We
think so too, not doubting for a moment that the
patriotic feeling of every citizen of the state will in
duce an unhesitating and grateful assent.
The General is now probably in Philadelphia.—
Some interesting incidents, relative to his tour, will
be found in our columns to-day.
We understand that Captain Harper’s Artillery
Corps, of Shepherdstown, have offered their servi
ces to rendezvous at York, to assist in honouring the
“Nation’s Guest.” There is yet room in the com
pany for a few temporary or permanent volunteers ;
and it would be a reflection upon the patriotism of
the young men of the County to suppose that it will
not be speedily filled. It is confidently expected
that the expense of the tour will be borne by the
state. However, whether it be or not, the princi
ple of gratitude is too warm to listen to the cold
calculation of interest with those who have the
means within themselves. La Fayette’s services to
this state, and to the republic, cannot be easily re
paid, although his liberal soul seeks no other reward
than that of affection.
We have been obliged to omit this week, for
want of room, several notices on the subject of t he
Presidency. The Circular of the Jackson Central
Committee, which we insert, represents the pros
pects of the general in a very favorable light, and
we think every candid person, whether friend or
foe, must admit that it is extremely well written.
The Richmond Enquirer denies the correctness
|cf Jpjme of its positions. Time will be the umpire.
•WASHINGTON, SEPT. 15.
Commodore Rodgers, President of
the Navy Board, returned to the city on
Monday. His colleagues, and the Secre
tary of the Navy, after returning from
the Lakes, extended their journey to,the
Navy Yard at Boston, Scc. on the eastern
seaboard.—\_Nat. Int.
A letter has been received from Lieu
tenant Forrest, of the U. States’ ship
Hornet, mentioning the arrival of that
ship, on the 22d ult. ,at Laguira. Colonel
Watts, who went passenger in the Hor
net, was to proceed in a few days to Bo
gota. The Crew of the Hornet were re
markably healthy.
Extract of a Idler from an officer on hoard the Uni
ted States’ ship Hornet, dated Laguira, Aug. 23,
1824,
(We arrived here the day before yester
day, all well. I called upon the Govern
or, in company with Mr, Lowery, our
Consul, and was treated with great polite
ness. An order had been recently issued
to prevent all foreign merchants from
opening their stores and counting-houses,
but our Consul protested against such
proceeding, and it has been revoked, and
every thing seems to be going on smooth.
Col. Waits will leave this place in a day
or two for Caraccas. Commodore Da
niels left this place a few days since, with
about 30,000 men, fur Chagres, to co-ope
rate with Bolivar, who has been recently
defeated, but not taken. It is probable
the Colombians will succeed in taking
that post.”
The Sea Serpent was (says the Nan
tucket Inquirer) in the Vineyard Sound
on Saturday, the 4th instant, and was al
so seen off Nantucket the same day.
An article in the Cumberland Advo
cate states, that, in consequence of the
serious indisposition of the officers of
Major Abert’s Brigade of United States
Surveyors, he has been obliged to sus
pend his operations till about the latter
part of this month, or the beginning of
next. Not an officer of the expedition,
except himself, has escaped an attack of
bilious fever. His health has remained
unimpaired, but at this moment five of
the six Lieutenants attached to him, are
■much indisposed. Several of the men
5-have also been seriously attacked.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman attached la the
Board of Engineers of the U. States, dated Mead
ville, Crawford county, Ea. -Hug- 27.
“We have finished with our examina
tion of the country between the Ohio and
Lake Erie, having carefully examined the
ground from the Cuyahoga river on-the
west to within two miles of the New York
state line in the east. Within these li
mits, several routes of a canal are practi
cable, and it will remain with the surveys
combined with other reasons, to deter
mine which is the most expedient. 1 he
features of this country are extraordina
ry. This town is on a large branch of
the Alleghany river, called French Creek.
Eight miles to the west is Conveyant
Lake, which discharges its waters into
French Creek, a few miles below this
town. By cutting a little more than a
mile, and 17 feet at the greatest depth,
the water of this lake may be turned into
Lake Erie. The whole of French creek
may, by a short feeder, be thrown into
Conveyant lake, and through this chan
nel into Lake Erie.
“The harbor of Erie is a most beauti
ful, and would be an excellent one, if its
access were easy ; but a bar of sand at its
mouth prevents vessels of more than six
feet draught from entering it. Consider
able works, by the state of Pennsylvania,
are going on, and others, by the general
government, are in preparation, the ob
ject of which is to form a channel through
this bar. The road from Erie to this
place is a fine turnpike, made by merely
throwing up the sides to the c,entre. Be
fore it was made it frequently took a per
son the whole day, from Waterford
to Erie, a distance of 14 miles. This I
can easily conceive from the roads we
have passed over. The only solid foot
ing is on the roots, which the horses of
the country are very skilful in treading
upon, stepping from one to another, as
well as from one log to another in the
causeway- roads, while our horses fre
quently step between the logs, where they
sink a considerable distance into the mire.
We have concluded to delay here a few
days, to commit to writing our observa
tions, and to make some calculations
which are necessary to form our opinions.
1 hope our business with the Pennsylva
nia Commissioners will not detain us
longer than until the 1st October at far
thest.”
FRANKLIN, (VENANGO CO.) AUG. 31.
UNITED STATES ENGINEERS.
Col. Totten and Major Douglass, and
another gentleman of the party, arrived
here on Thursday evening last, after ex
ploring the different routes, as to the
practicability of uniting the waters of the
Lake Erie and French Creek, and next
day descended the Alleghany river, for
Pittsburgh—and on Sunday afternoon,
General Bernard and the rest of the par
ty arrived, and on Monday took their de
parture from Pittsburg by land.
Charleston Board of Health.
Sc/it. 4.—The Board report three new
cases of Yellow Fever.
Sc fit. 5.—The Board report seven new
cases.
I Sc fit.—6. The Board report six new
cases of Yellow Fever.
Don Pedro Montagu?, formerly mer
chant at Neuvitas, of the firm of Villegas
& Montagut, a gentleman very much es
teemed as a merchant and citizen, was as
sassinated in Havana, by pirates, to sa
tisfy their revenge for his withholding
the papers of the piratical schooner Za
ragozana, at Neuvitas, afterwards taken
by the British, and several of her crew
executed in Jamaica.
PIRACY AND MURDER.
KINGSTON, AUG. 5.
Narration of the crew of the; launch
Cason, and more particularly that of the
Mulatto Cai thagena,” alias “Cavene
ro,” who arrived from the Bar of San
Pedro on the evening of tht 8th ult.
“ CAMPEACHY, JUNE 23, 1834.
That on the 18th of May, off' the Bar
of San Pedro, they fell in with the pilot
boat schooner belonging to Yalafan, own
ed by Senor Molas, under command of
Juan el Valenciano, second in command,
known by the name of Ramon with the
cut face, with f a complement of 36 men,
one gun, (an eight pounder,) and 40 mus
kets and blunderbusses; that a country
man of Cartbagena’s told him, that on
the Tuesday preceding, in 7 fathoms wa
ter, in front of the Lagoon (of Temenos)
they took an English ship called the
j Shannon; that they boarded her and kill
ed the whole on board, and afterwards
anchored the ship in front of San Pedro;
that they cut off the head of the Captain
and stuck it on a pole on the shore ; that
the trunks and bedding of the ship were
taken ashore, and that the new Captain
Juan was wearing the white hat and trow
sers of the Captain; and that they also
took the boat belonging to the narrator’s
launch.”
The pirates afterwards burned the
Shannon, having first removed her guns,
tackle, Sec. out of her into the piratical
vessel.
CAPTURE OF CORNWALLIS.
We have often heard it asserted, that
General Washington, by a well concei t
ed plan of finesse, drew Cornwallis into
the position at York the most favorable,
perhaps, that could have been selected to
prevent the retreat and insure the capture
of the British army; while others, again,
have contended, that Washington had
other views at the time, that the move
ments of Cornwallis were the result of ne
cessity, and his being entrapped at York
was ratner tne enect 01 accident man oi
miscalculation. This question may be
considered as put at rest by the following
letter,.published in the American Muse
um for May, 1791, which is peculiarly
apropos at the present time. The Editor
of the Museum thus introduces the let
ter:-— [ JVo rfo lk He r a Id.
“ It has been controverted whether the
capture of Gen. Cornwallis was the re
sult of of a plan preconcerted between
Gen. Washington and Count de Grasse ;
or rather whether the arrival of the Count
in the Chesapeake was predetermined and
expected by Gen. Washington, and con
sequently all preparations to attack New
York a mere finesse to deceive the ene
my ; or whether the real intention was
against New York, and the seige of York
town planned upon the uoexpected arrival
of the French fleet in the bay. The fol
lowing letter will set the matter in its
true light.”
MOUNT VERNON, JULY 31, 1783.
Sir: I duly received your letter of the
14th inst., and can only answer you brief
ly and generally from memory : that, a
combined operation of the land and naval
forces of France and America,for the year
1781, was preconcerted the year before;
that the point of attack was not absolute
ly agreed upon,* because it could not be
foreknown where the enemy would be
most susceptible of impression ; and be
cause (having the command of the wa
ter with sufficient means of conveyance)
could transport ourselves to any spot with
the greatest celerity.; that it was deter
mined by me, nearly twelve mouths be
forehand, at all hazards, to give out, and
cause it to be believed by the highest mi
litary as well as civil officers, that New
York was the destined place of attack,
for the important purpose of inducing the
eastern and middle States to make grea
ter exertions in furnishing specific sup
plies, than they otherwise would have
done, as well as for the interesting pur
pose of rendering the enemy less prepar
ed elsewhere; that by these means, and
these alone, artillery, boats, stores & pro
visions, were in seasonable preparation,
to.move with the utmost rapidity to any
part of the continent: for the difficulty
consisted more in providing, than know
ing how to apply the military apparatus;
that before the arrival of the Count de
Grasse, it was the fixed determination to
strike the enemy in the most vulnerable
quarter, so as to insure success with mo-'
ral certainty, as our affairs were then in
the most ruinous train imaginable ; that
New York was thought to be beyond our
effort, and consequently that the only he
sitation that remained, was between an
attack upon the British army in Virginia,
and that in Charleston ; and finally, that,
by the intervention of several communi
cations, and some incidents which cannot
be detailed in a letter, the most hostile
post in Virginia, from being a provincial
and strongly expected, became the defini
tive and certain object of the campaign.
I only add, that it never was in contem
plation to attack New York, unless the
garrison should first have been so far de
garnished to carry on the southern ope
rations as to render our success in the
siege of that place as infallible as any fu
ture military event can ever ne ,maue.—
For I repeat it, and dwell upon it again,
some splendid advantage (whether upon a
larger or smaller scale was almost imma
terial) was so essentially necessary, to re
vive the expiring hopes and languid exer
tions of the country, at the crisis in ques
tion, that I never would have consented
to embark in any enterprise, wherein,
from the most rational plan and accurate
calculations, the favorable issue should
not have appeared to my view as a ray of
light. The failure of an attempt against
the posts of the enemy, could, in no other
possible situation during the war, have
been so fatal to our cause.
That much trouble was taken, and fi
nesse used, to misguide and bewilder Sir
Henry Clinton, in regard to the real ob
ject, by fictitious communications, as well
as by making a deceptive provision of
ovens, forage, and boats, in his neighbor
hood, is certain: nor were less pains taken
to deceive our own army; for I had always
conceived, where the imposition does not
complelely take place at home, it would
never sufficiently succeed abroad.
Your desire of obtaining truth, is very
laudable; I wish I had more leisure to
gratify it, as I am equally solicitous the
undisguised verity should be known.
Many circumstances will unavoidably be
misconceived, and misrepresented. Not
withstanding most of the papers, which
* Because it would be easy for Count de Grasse,
in good time before bis departure from the West
Indies, to give notice, by express, at what place he
could most conveniently first touch to receive ad
vice.
may properly be deemed official, arc\;;^.
served; yet the knowledge of innumert--,
ble things of a more delicate and secret
nature, is confined to the perishable re
membrance of some few of the present ge
neration. With esteem, I am Sir,
Your most ob’t bumble servant,
GEORGE WASHINGTON'.
aoaaa oa
SENTENCE OF DEATH.
In pronouncing1 the judgment of the law upon
Thirza Mansfield, at New-Haven, for the in order
of her husband, Judge Peters introduced the sen
tence with the following neat and pertinent re
marks :
Before I proceed to pronounce the sen
tence of the law against you, my own sense
of propriety, and the usage of my prede
cessors, make it my painful duty to re
mind you of the awful situation in which
you are placed, and to address you as a
fellow-creature, and a fellow-passenger
“ to that country from whose bourne no
traveller returns.” A Grand Jury of
yourcoantry have acused you of the grea
test crime which a human being is capa
ble of committing—a crime alike forbid
den by the laws of God and man—a crime
at which human nature shudders-of Mur
der. You are charged, not with the mur
der of an enemy, nor a stranger—but with
murdering the partner of your youth, the
husband of your bosom, the father of your
children—the man whom in the presence
of your Maker you solemnly engaged to
“love, cherish and obey.” In answer to
this dreadful accusation, you have been
patiently heard, and in your defence have
been assisted by able counsel. If talents,
learning and eloquence, could have ar
rested the progress of justice, the aven
ger of blood would not have overtaken
you. But an impartial jury have pronoun
ced you guilty : from an earthly tribunal
you have nothing now to expect, but the
sentence of death. Reflect, I entreat you
reflect, upon your past life, upon the ta
lent you have not only neglected but abus
ed—upon the example you have set your
children, and above all upon the account
you must soon render to your Creator.—
Since your days are numbered, and the
help of man is vain, fly to him, who alone
is able to forgive and to save, to him
whose “mercy endureth for ever.” The
ministers of religion will point out the
way; to their prayers and benedictions,
and to the mercy of your eternal Judge, I
commend you.
It now remains, that I pronounce the
solemn sentence of the law, which is as
follows :—
You are to be taken to the jail from
whence you came,and from thence, on the
3d. Wednesday of July next, to the place
of execution, and between the hours t>f 10
o’clock in the morning, and 4 o’clock in
the afternoon, you are to be suspended by
the neck, until you are dead, dead, dead!
And may God Almighty have mercy on
| your soul.
DIED,
On Friday last, George, infant son of Mr. Carey
Thompson, aged two weeks.
On Saturday morning, Elizabeth Helen, infant
daughter of the Editor of this paper, aged 14 months.
On Sunday, aged three years, Alvin, son of Sir.
John Avis.
mmfiT school.
THE subscriber will open a NIGHT
SCHOOL in the Lancasterian Room,
on Monday evening the 27th instant, in
which will be taught
Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.
Strict attention will be paid, and every
reasonable exertion used, to promote the
instruction of his pupils.
JOSEPH SCHWARTZ.
Sept. 22, 1824.
NEW GOODS. '
WTgTE are receiving more New Goods,
ff suitable to the present and ap
moaching season, selected with great
:are from this fall’s importations.
LANE & TOWNER.
Shepherdstown, Sept. 22.
BOLTING 'CLOTHS,
^Tj^F the most approved marks from No.
0 to No. 8, and
Home-made Twilled Bags,
Just received by
LANE & TOWNER.
Shepherdstown, Sept,. 22, 1824.
CORN'AND RYE WANTED.
THE subscriber will give a fair price
in cash for a few hundred bushels
of CORN and RYE, delivered at the
Mill on the Island near Harper’s Ferry.
F. BECKHAM.
Sept. 22, 1824.
life#*
THE subscriber informs the citizens
of Harpers-Ferry, that he intends
commencing the above business, in a part
of Mr. Button’s house, and will be thank
ful for all favors in his line, which shall
be done in the most fashionable manner,
at a short notice.
WILLIAM GAIMES.
N. B. He also obligates to fit compk
at the first effort.
Sept. 22, 1824.