Virginia statesman. [volume], February 27, 1828, Image 1

About Virginia statesman. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1828-1829

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WHEELING, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1828.
NO. IX.
fVELl'HKl* CVKAH WtCMiDAI JIOBNlSf, Bf
JAMES GREE2J,
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TERMS.
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AFFECTING story.
I An excellent article oti “imprisonment
Hr debt.” published in tlie New York
f ommercial Advertiser, gives the foOow
nstiuir laws on that subject; and the
nter, who appears to be a northern gen
ian, affirms that there .a not a county
. New-England. winch does not furnish
, • -s oi tyr muy of the rail creditor
[ver the debtor, similar to tHat which was
xsreised towards Mr. Corns. Many an
logoU9 case would happen in Pennsvl
anta, if the melioration of our laws on the
lubject did not prevent our merciless 5?hy
k Ivs from wreacking their vengeance on
lose whom necessity might put into their
“A verv worthy man, who was much
jcspecti-d as a man of singular intelligence,
1' >r one in the humblest w alks of life, and of
re at industry, who supported his family,
insisting of a wife and four children, on
piece of leased land, unfortunately be
anie indebted to a merchant for five hun
Ired dollars. The causes which led him
o become a debtor were these. His broth
x, the mate of a schooner about to sail to
ionic one of the West India Islands, pur
hased this amount of goods, for what is
trmed his adventure; iu order to purchase
,Inch, he signed his brother's notes as
iis security. The vessel was lost. Mr.
,’otfin, for that was the man’s name, called
n the merchant, and while he stated his
disposition to liquidate this immense debt.
|o unexpectedly devolving upon him, beg
vod the merchant to show him every indul
ence. This was acceded to, and he
ite five notes for *100 each to be paid
juring two years.
A series of misfortunes resulting from
lick ness in his young family; the feeble
itate of his wife’s health; and the loss of
■attic, prevented him from paying even
he interest on these notes, and the mcr
:hant had set them dow as debts of no |
iresent value. Unfortunately, Mr. Coffin !
>tiemled the great man of Jus village by j
nuiily and successful opposition of some
oca sures which he had proposed in one !
tf the town meetings, iu the conducting
if which he had long reigned without a
lhadow of opposition. Irritated that one
10 poor should have thwarted him in his
ovorite pursuits, he determined on his
mnishment. The squire, the next visit
ic made to the town, called on the merchant
and stated to turn, that as Ik? had some
dealings with Mr. Cotfin, he would pur
chase the notes in his possession, and of
fered him £1*25 for the five notes, which
was accented. The squire felt that the
enemy o! his greatness was now in his
power. He therefore commenced suits on
his live notes, and received judgment on
each of them. Two executions were with
out delay levied on his goods, winch were
instantly sold; all of which did not more
than pay for the principal, interest and cost
of the two judgments. Having despoiled
his homo, notwithstanding the severity of
the weather, it being November, on the
third execution lie sent him to jail, which
was some miles from his village, w ithout
the knowledge of his wife, w ho had, on
breaking up of their house, hired herself
to a farmer as a weaver, and instead of
wages was permitted to keep her children
with her. The firmness of Mr Coffin's
mind sustained him until he was shut up
in the cold and dreary room assigned him
xn his prison. As the keys were passing
the bolts of the outer door, he sat on a
bench in all the depth of woe and mental
anguish. He was conscious of having
committed no «*v*ies; he had wronged no
man; he had muue no resistance, he had
uttered no complaint when his property
was taken from him, for this was of right
his creditors; he still possessed health and
vigor, and was as willing as he was able
to work as a laborer for the maintenance of |
his wife and family and the payment of all;
his debts; and although divested of home,
he returned his liberty and the powrer of re
trieving his former sources of comfort and
independence, but now he was in prison,
the place of confinement for those who
warred against the laws of Hod and theii
country; but he felt that he had not deserv
ed to he classed or treated as one of these;
and full ot these bitter reflections, he who
had never sworn before, now cursed the
ountry that could legalize the tvranny now
inflicted upon him. The gloom of Ins
mind gathered darkness as the uight ad
vanced, and the severity of the cold gave
increased force to the tierce resentments
and the keen sufferings which alternately
possessed his breast. The watches of
that long night ot misery were passed in
meditating revenge at one moment; then
sickening to the very heart at the hopeless
state of his family, aud the disgrace of be
ing a prisoner. Years could not have
wrought such deep furrows in his high
forehead, as appeared in the morningafler
th it first night’s imprisonment. His wife
on the next day, leaving her two youngest
children with the funner, with her two eld
est, reached the town in which the prison
was situated; but her presence did nothing
toward calming the mind of Mr. Coffin,
and yet tins attaclunent on her part was
whi t he certainly desired and expected.
Mrs. Coffin hired herself as a servant
to a neighboring family, and with her
children, made frequent visits to the prison,
where her attempts to relieve the misery
of ins confinement, frequently aggravated
the grief and suffering she would have per
ished to have lessened, lie gradually,
however, recovered the tone of feeling nat
ural to him, and, at the end of thirty days,
[lie had no doubt he should be released, as
[he, having nothing, could take the oath of
[insolvency, without question, from anv
‘one. His release, however, was far from
tin1 intention of the offended great man of
the village, and the day of his release was
the day of his confinement on the fourth ex
ecution; hut, to make an end of this tale
of woe, Mr. Coffin’s spirits sunk in pros
pect of a winter’s confinement in a cold,
damp and cheerless prison. His wife sad
dened at the sorrows of her husband, and
become sick; one of the children with her
died, and the mother, weighed down with
anxiety and grief, soon followed her child
to that peaceful tomb where the wicked
cease from troubling and the weary are at
rest.
It was when the selectmen of the Parish
found Mr. Coffin’s three children in the
alms-house that they instituted an inquiry
into the increase of pauperism and of town
expenses. The squire was censured, and
he, fearing he had carried his resentments
so far as to injure his popularity, affected
great moderation, and with astonishing
liberality, agreed to liberate Mr. Coffin and
permit him to pay the amount of the exe
cution he yet held in his hands, when he
should be enabled so to do.—One of the
selectmen went down to town with the good
news of release. On opening the prison
door, he found the once hale and hearty
Coffin, a broken spirited, broken hearted
man; and so far from being able to sup
port his family, it was found necessary to
place him in the alms-house which held
his children, lie was confined with a
chronic rheumatism consequent upon his
confinement in the cold prison, and his de
cline was very rapid, accompanied with
great bodily suffering. The minister of
the parish at one of his last visits, urged
him to prepare for the departure of his spir
it which was near at hand; to forgive his
enemies, and lie at peace with God. He
replied I wish to die; but to forgive my
enemr, for 1 have but one, alas! I cannot.
Hut. said the minister, Jesus, who prayed
for his enemies, hath left us an example
tli.it we should follow Ins steps.—His re
ply was; “Yes, Jesus was God; but I
am a poor, miserable, oppressed and ruin
ed man.”
From Tlhickirood's Magizine.
THE WIDOW AND HER SON.
Not a more beautify vale ever inspired pastoral
poet in Arcadia, uor did Sicilian shepherds of old
ever pipe to each other tor prize of oated reed, in a
lovelier n*>ok than where yonder cottage stands,
shaded, but scarcely sheltered bv a few birch
trees. It is in trutn not a cotta"*'—but a shieling
of turf, part of the knoll adhering to the side of the
mountain. Not another dwelling—even small as
itself—within a mile in any direction. Those goats,
that seem to walk where there is no footing along
the side of ihecliiF, go of themselves to be milked
at evening, to a house beyond the hill, without
any barking dog to set them home.—There are
in iiiv foot-patlis, but all of slucp except one lead
ing through the coppice-wood to the distant kirk.
The angler seldom disturbs those shallows, and
the heron has them to himself, watching often
with motionless neck all day long. Vet the shiel
ing i> inhabited, and has been so by the same Per
kin for a good many years. You might look at it
for hours and vet see no one so much as moving
to the door, but a little smoke hovers over it—
amt as mist—and nothing else tells that within is
life.
It is inhabited by a widow, who once was the
h ippiest of wives, and lived far down th«- glen,
where it is richly cultivated, in a house a>tir with
many children. It so happened, that in the course
of nature, without any extraordinary bereavements
she outlived all the hou>eliold, except one, on
whom (ell the saddest affliction that can botall a
human being—the utter lot- of reason. For some
years after the death of her husband and all her
other children, this son was her support; and there
was no occasion to pity them in tboir poverty,
where ail were poor. Her natural cheerfulness
never forsook her; and although fallen back in the
world. ;ind obliged in her age to live without many
comforts she once had known, yet all the past
graduallv was softened into peace, and the widow
and her son were in that shieling as happy as any
family in the parish, lie worked at all kinds of
work without, and she sat spinning from morning
till night within—a constant occupation, soothing
M b (bra wten mind past times might other*
se have come too often, and that creates con
i’trnent by its undisturbed sameness and visible
progression. Ifnot always at meals, the widow
- :w her -.on for an hour or two every night, and
throughout ibe whole Sabbath day. Tin y slept,
too. under one roof; and she liked the stormy weu
th* r when the rains were on, for then lie found
nit ingenious employment within the shieling,
orchoert'dher with some book lent bv a friend,
or with the lively or plaintive music of his native
hills. Some times iii her gratitude, she said that
>lie was happier now thau w hen she had so ma
ny other causes to be so: and when occasionally an
acquaintance dropped ut upon her solitude, her
face welcomed every one w ith a smile that spoke
more of resignation; nor was she averse to par
take tlic -ociality of the other huts, and sat sedate
among youthful merriment when summer or win
ter festival came round, aud poverty rejoiced in
the riches of content and mnocenee.
But her trials, great as they had been, were not
yet over; for this her onlv soil, was l;ud prostrate
: y a fever, and when it feft his body, he survived
hopekasly stricken in mind. Ilis eyes, so clear and
intelligent, were now fixed in idocy, or rolled a
bout unobservant of all objects living or dead. To
him all weather seemed the same—and if suffered,
hi would have lain down, like a creature void of
understanding, in rain or m snow, not being able to
find his way back for manv paces from the hut.
As all thought aadfeding had left him, so bid
-peech—nil l>ut a moaning as ol’pain or woe, which
■ionc but a mother could bear to hear without
huddering—but she heard it during night as weli
as day, and only sometimes lifted up her voice in
prayer to (lod. An ofl'er was made to send lum to
a place where the afflicted are taken care ol, but
?he begged chanty for the first time—such alms as
would enable her, along with the earnings ol her
heel, to keep her son in the shieling; and the
mentis were given her from many quarters to do
decently, and w ith all the comforts that other
fyes observed, but of which the poor object liirn
<u:lf wtL- insensible and unconscious. Thenceforth
it may almost he sai I, she never more saw- the sun,
ror heard tlie torrent’s roar. She went not to the
kirk; but kept her Sabbath where her paralytic
Ihv —and there she ,-ung the lonelv psalm, and said
tke loyely prayer, unheard in Heaven, as many
•k-pmring -pirits would have thought—hut it was
nqt so, fir in two years there came a meaning to
his eyes and he found a few words of imperfec*
speech, among which was that of 'Mother, Oh!
hov licr heart burned within her, to know that
her face was at l ust recognized! To feei that her
leu was returned, and to see the first tear that
trickled from eves that had so long ceased to
leuep! lfcty after day, the darkness that covered
his brain grew less and less deep, to her that be
wilderment gave the blessedness of hope; for her
son now knew that he had an immortal soul, and
one evening joined faintly and feebly, and erringly
in prayer. A few weeks’ afterwards he remem
bered only events and scenes long past and distant,
and believed that his father and all his brothers
and sisters, were yet ulive. He called upon them
by their names to come and kiss him. Hut his
*oul struggled itself into reason ;uid remembrance,
and he at last said, Mother, did some accident bt
fil me yesterday at my work down the glen? 1
feel weak, and about to die! The shadows of
death were around him, but he lived on to be told
much of what had happened, and rendered up a
perfectly unclouded spirit unto the mercy of his
Saviour. His mother felt that all her prayers had
been granted in that one boon, and when the cof
fin was borne away tVo;n the shieling, she remain
ed in it with a friend, assured that in tins world
there could for her be no more grief. And there
in that same shieling, now that years have gone bv,
she still lingers, visited as often as she wishes In
her poor neighbors, for, to the poor, sorrow is a
-acred thing—who, by turns, send one of their
daughters to stay w ith her, and cheer a life that
cannot be long, out that, end when it may, will be
laid down w it bout one impious misgiving, mid in
the humility of a Christian’s faith.
LOTTERIES.
The following appalling facts, relative
to the ruinous consequences of dipping
into lotteries, are taken from the Pennsyl
vania Gazette,—a paper conducted with
uncommon ability, and conspicuous for its
high morality. We are not satisfied with
this inadequate tribute to its merits, and
shall seize every opportunity to transfer
the sensible essays ot the editors to our
own columns. A'at. Philan.
“lleforc wc quit this subject, we shall
show that a more extravagant and ruinous
scheme for raisiug money could not well
be devised. In the present notice wc
shall confine ourselves to a brief view of
the moral evil which has been effected by
lotteries; and in order, as far as our warn
ing will go, tc advertise those disposed to
take part in the new shemo, of the career
they are entering upon, and what may be
its termination and consequences.
Many cases ftre known where gross li
centiousness, total loss of character, pov
erty, ruin, ignominious punishment, and
suicide, had their origin, and might be
clearly traced to gambling in lotteries.
An individual in this city, tnorgaged
his estate, expended the money in lottery
tickets, and is now in poverty.
A young gotlcman, also, in this city,
in the caurse of two years, spent 10.000
dollars in lottery tickets, to Ins disgrace
anl injury.
Another person got possession of 1500
dollars, and disposed of the whole in the
same way. At length he drew one fourth
of a prize of *20.000 dollars, 400 dollars
of which, he laid out in lottery tickets,
and with the remainder commenced a
course of dissipation, which ultimately
brought him to a place ol confinement.
A person recently sent to the peniten
tiary from this city, for robbing the bank
in which he was employed, of the sum of
*2000 dollars, was evidently induced to
commit the theft for the purpose of enabling
him to continue Ins lottery gambling. The
money stolen, was immediately paid to two
lottery brokers, which led to the discov
ery of the thief. The man has a large
and respectable family and previously
maintained an irreproachable diameter.
An individual, after committing exensive
forgeries in New-York, absconded, and
in his trunk were found blank lottery tick
ets, which cost S*20,OUO.
A suicide lately perpetrated in that city,
which caused considerable sensation, is
attributed to gambling in lotteries.
A colored man, a sober, steady person,
for many years received liberal wages as
coachman in a gentleman's family; from
the habits of the man it was expected he
had saved a large sum of money, but at
his death a short time since, in place of
money wa3 found blank lottery tickets,
which cost several thousand dollars.
Gambling, like all other vices, or per
haps in an especial degree, is a beguiling
and infatuating vice. The propensity
grows with indulgence, and becomes fu
rious from disappointment. From the lot
tery wheel to the faro table is but a step,
and from thence to the gallows or peniten
tiary is a path broad and well beaten.'’
Sayings. A person about to make a
bargain seemed a little indifferent about
bringing it to a conclusion, and said to the
other party, “I dare say we shall not fall
out about trifles.” “Why, Sir,” replied
the other, “trifles are what people general
ly fall out about, s i we’ll settle those, if
you please, at once, whatever we post
pone.” k 1
Backgammon Boards.—We frequently
find backgammon boards with backs let
tered as if they were folio volumes. The
origin of it was this:—Eudes the bishop
of Sully, forbade his clergy to play at
chess. As they were resolved not to o
bey the commandment, and yet dared not
have a chess board seen in their houses
or cloisters, they had them bound and let
tered as books, and played at night, be
fore they went to b**d, instead of reading
the New Testament or the Lives of the
Saints; and the monks called their draft or
chess board their wooden gospels. They
also had drinking vessels bound to resem
ble the breviary, and were found drink
ing when it was supposed they were at
p: ayer.
MANUFACTURING ESTABLISHMENT.
Richmond, January 30.
The notice of Mr. Joseph Heyxvood, which wo
insert in tliif day’s paper, is entitled to attention;
because his establishment does not rest upon theo
ry, but on experience, for its recommendation.—
We are authorised to say, that it has been in ope
ration several years—that it is on a small scale,
working up about 20,000 lbs. cotton per annum.
with about tin bunds; that his cotton yarn and
cloth sells for about ten cents on the pounil of yarn,
and the vard of doth for more than the interior
qualities coming from the North. [Compiler.
ESTABLISHMENT OF MANUFACTURES.
January 31.
It gives us pleasure to understand, that a gentle
man ofour City, has contracted to build a Manufac
turing House on the other side of the river, a little
above Manchester, at the scite formerly improved
by Mr. Frederick Clarke.—This factory is to he
taken by an English Artist, who has been living in
Dclawa'e county, (Pennsylvania) and is now in
this rit\ He has all the machinery ahead} pro
vided. He w ill try the experiment, in the tirst in
stance Of runing trom bill) to 1000 spindles, for
spiriniig of cotton—Should he succeed on that
scale le will enlarge his business with the de
mand. 11c v ill then start as many as twenty or
thirty power looms—The whole establishment is
expected to go into operation, probably in the
cour.f of eight or nine months—at all events dur
ing Je year, ’t his is the commencement of the
maisfacturing system among ourselves—and we
wisi it success. \\ e entertain very little doubt of
the/esult—<and hope that it will animate as well as
diitcl other adventurers in the same career. This
gentleman may succeed in showing how to « on
ouur the dilliculty attendant upon such enterpri
y.h. Ub.
[to the editor ok the national advocate.]
Havana, January 25, 1828.
•‘Da donde viene?” bellowed a voice through a
speaking trumpet from the top of Moro Castle;
whose hoary battlements towering some hundred
feet above us, the sun was just kindling with its
earliest beams.—“New York!” was the brief re
ply of the Captain of the Hurdett through the same
ileep toned instrument: and we passed on. Who
ever has gone freezing to bed in New York aboui
the first of January and awoke in sonic ten or fif
teen days at sunrise at the entrance of the bay of
Havana, has made a not distant approach to para
dise. Inci much shorter time he will look upon the
winn bkiikets and the comfortable stove with
which ho set out with singular indifference, and
-non dismiss them as the most useless and ridicu
i an things imaginable. To be assailed with
•■whence come you,” in atone indicating authority,
excited 1113 hitherto dormant curiosity, and 1 march
ed deck “efe the strain gave o’er.” The view wus
glorious. The bay on either side was thickly stud
ied with masts; several beautiful Spanish frigates
aid other armed vessels of that nation occupied its
bosom; 011 the right lay the walled city, gloomy
and antiquated, in front the sloping hills clothed in
“living green,” while on the left, crowning the
heights and commanding the city and the harbor,
stroched the long line of fortifications called “Las
Cabannas:” a work so costly that the Spanish mon
arch who completed it, declared that the walls were
built of dollars.
A Yankee who can go ashore at Havana and not
have the idea of im/rroccmcnJ uppermost in his
thoughts, can have ver) little of the genius of the
“universal nation” in him. 1 confess I have a
strong, perhaps unfortunate, propensity that way;
but it is impossible to put it in force in Cuba. A
predetermination, most unfriendly to innovation
has taken absolute possession of ihe mind ofevery
man. and soon extends itself to the new comer,
which goes the length of avowing that things as
they art, for this country-, are wisest, discreetest
and best. Suggest for instance, that the little hit
of a horse with a black rider would draw the Vo
lantc with more ease if placed some four or five
feet ne.irer to it—“O not 111 this country” is the rea
dy answer. In short, that is the universal stopper
—not in this country! As though common sense
is not as valuable, and.equally applicable to the bu
siness of life in Cuba as any where else. They have
very narrow streets in which you might possibly
turn a gig, as there are no side walks or curb stones;
and yet a Volantc is best for this country because, 1
suppose, the wheels run eight feet apart, and occu
py lengthways with the hor-e and rider about as
much space as a coach and four; so that instead
of turning in the street they are obliged to turn a
square. Imagine two w heels seven or eight feet
in diameter, to whose axle trees the ends of long
poles are fastened, the other ends carried by a little
horse with a carriage body fitted for two persons
swung midwav between the animal and the wheels,
and you have a good idea of a V olante, the only
pleasure carriage used here, and which according
to every body is at the height of perfection, for this
country. It is even so; while in the mother coun
try also, the peasants, one cr two centuries in the
rear of the rest of mankind, continue to tread out
their gram with cattle, resisting tile improvement
of the flail.
7be buildings 4re mostly of one story, and built
of a limestone easily wrought and resembling in
color and honeycomb appearance, the French bur
stone. Tina material, without beauty, and if in a
northern climate without strength, answers the
purpose for which it is here used admirably. A
w all of a column laid in lime mortar, cements and
tonus a solid mass, very little affected by time and
none by the elements. 7Ticy would soon however
moulder away and tumble into ruin in our freezing
and thawing country. To smooth the rough exte
rior of their buildings, the Spaniards plaster them,
and to make tbein Jnic they paint the plaster mo*
fantastically. Pea green is a peculiar cclor, and
often the same building is parti-colored, “all ryf.'
green and yallir.”
I pon the pallocis and costly edifices there is a
display of architccture—magnificent no doubt for
this country, but clumsy, and inspiring gloom rather
than pleasure or vyicration. On the whole it is
unpos.-ible to discover from the streets of Havana,
cither in the external appearance of the dwelling -.;
the stores, or work shops any thing which can he
styled elegant, or comparable with those of the
most inferior of the American cities. Not so with
the interior of their dwellings. Those of the weat
thy are often two and three stories high. The ft
floor is generally on a level with the street
accommodated with a huge ham door vh'
: tlie grand entrance, for the inmate* of the castle.
! Volante, horse and all. The upper stories are oc
cupied by the family, and as I have had opportunity
of seeing, are often finished in a style peculiar and
different from our own, but magnificent costly and
imposing. The apartments me spacious and their
construction and economy dictated by the climate,
which is never any thing but warm and seldom va
ries more than ten degrees. The great object of
the Spanish builder therefore is, to secure a draught
of air, mid to this every thing is sacrificed.
It is a curious trait in the manners and customs of
the people of Havana, that while they are remark
ably neat in their dress, mid insist upon a good din
ner in their style, and abundance of wine, they have
furniture and house keeping accommodations, (ex
cept among the most u caTthy) scarcely comforta
ble. If to the industry mid thrift natural to our
countrymen, they were to add the Spanish indiffer
ence to home display, and dispence with carpets,
sideboards, sofas, *Xc.—articles most esseutiol
with us to respccialUity—there would be less com
pounding with creditors, less consumption of bee
wax and varnish, le-s dusting and bru-liing mid
more leisure to servants and housekeepers.
The God of nature has bestowed upon Cuba
some of the “divinest things this world has got.”—
A climate of matchless salubrity, a soil abundantly
productive, and ftuits whose luxury force tribute
from universal man. Lovely woman loo, it is said
inhabit it. But I consign them to the travelled eye
of one who unlike me lias “neither wife nor chil
dren to look after” at home,mid who will probably
ere long celebrate in a substantial manner whatever
he finds praise wo thy and valuable among the
Dons of Cuba. It may not therefore be amiss to
apprize them
“If there’s a hole in all your coat9
1 rede ye’ll tent it;
A chiefs aiming you taking notes
A >i,l it l> UII urnnl if
Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Ingham, Mr. Ser
geant, Mr. Rivers, Mr. Everett, Mr.
Wicklifle, and Mr. Wright, of New York,
have been appointed the Committee on Mr.
Chilton’s Retrenchment-resolutions.
A duel was lought at New-Orleans on
the 29th ult. between a Mr. Vaux and
Judge Leonard, in which flte former was
killed on the spot? This is the sixth in
stance ot fatal duels within a very short
period.
It appears by a statement in the Phila
delphia Gazette, that the winter of 1802,
was very much like the present. The
navigation of the Delaware was not stopped
during the seaso n, and there wrus no ice in
the river during the month of January, and
but a few days in February.
Front the 20th December to the first of
January, three brigs and two schooners,
well armed and manned, sailed from Ha
vana for the coast of Africa after slaves.
Several of the officers aud crews were
Jimcricans.
The Savinah paper says the Duke of
Bridgwutei owns more than a million in
the Hunk of lJ. S.
Nfw-Oruaxs Jan. 3.— 'Extract of a
letter from a gentleman in Vera ('ruz, to
his friend in this city dated December 21 at.
You are aware of the law that was forced
from the Legislature of the State of Vera
Cruz, by the voi populi, in the beginning
of this month, expelling the European
Spaniards, and, that we anticipated a law
from the National Congress on the same
subject.—We this day learn, it passed the
lower House, but was rejected in the Sen
ate. much to the disappointment of all in
this seotion of the Repablic.
’ Pis said that an attempt to awe the Sen
ate into obedience to the will of the sove
reign people is on foot; several large bodies
of men have assembled at Tacubayo, and
other villages adjacent to Mexico, for that
odject, and they report 800 ready to march
from Onebla, for the same laudable pur
pose.
At Onebla, the lepro’s have committed
a shameful outrage, robbing the old Span
iards to the amount of $100,000 in money
and effects. The authorities were intimi
dated from calling in the military force,
bv the immense rise of the populace; re
course was had to the bishop, who, in his
canonicals, with all the insignia of his ho
ly office, made his appearance, and ad
dressed tlie mob; and, strange to appear,
those fanatical villains paid not the least
attention to his authority, or his remon
strances, but continued their work of plun
der till day light. In their contest for
booty, some few were killed, and several
wounded.
Oascaca is still in the hands of the mili
tary chieftain Garcia, and of course under
military law.
Many robberies have been committed
lately, on the road between this and Mexi
co; at present, we are tranquil here, but
business of all kinds is completely para
Oulrageous Piracy—Our New York
correspondents inform us, by proof slip,
that Capt. J. L. Rol>ert3, and Mr. S. Kel
logg, supercargo of the schooner Ben Al
am; arrived there on Saturday, after hav
ing made their escape from Panama, at
the imminent risk of their lives. Tt
is, ‘"that they arrived otf
lyzcd.
Mdc.
igres in October last,
disposed of a part of
the duties and
had co
they‘d
ty-f
detuned, and the captain and supercargo
condemned to six pars labor in the pub
lic works, and all without being brought
l>efore any tribunal of justice or allowed
a hearing; and they are at this moment en
tirely in the dark not knowing what they
were accused of, and are utterly ignorant
of having done any thing contrary to the
laws of Colombia. As the transaction
has been represented to our government,
it is hoped steps will be immediately ta
ken to inquire into it.”—Balt. .2mcr.
[From the Xorfvtk Htrald, of Feb. 6.J
COMMIT K 1C ATE D.
The newspapers inform me that in a re
cent debate in the House of Representa
tives, allusion was made to my military
conduct at Norfolk, during the late war.
After an absence of a month I returned to
tins place two days ago, and avail myself
| of the earliest moment to notice that allu
sion.
The National Journal of the ITth Jan,
professing to report a debate on the pro
ceeding day, arising out of Mr. Sloan’s
resolutions, represents Mr. Randolph to
have said, “But it was time to dismiss this
••light mode of treating so grave a ques
tion. It demands a graver tunc. Here
“we are told of a bill from the Senate, re
lative to the militia. Well. On the oth
“er hand wo have abuse—un anthema—
“got up from another quarter, by one un
“r/er whose authority the militiamen were
“shot at Norfolk like so many bullocks.”
Mr. Randolp is generally happy in his
expressions, and none could have been
more felicitous than those here imputed to
him. The pencil of Tacitus could not
have presented in more vivid colours, the
frequent butcheries and reekless indiffe
rence to human suffering with w hich it was
intended to pourtray my military adminis
tration.
The National Intelligencer of the 19th
Jan. ascribes to Mr Randolph, inoro
measured expressions on this subject. “A
“bill from the Senate, affecting the militia
“laws of the U. States—well, sir, a lull
“shall I call it, or an anathema, got up by
ihsomc of those under whose order certain
“militiamen were shot at.Vorfolk, is tin own
“in contemporaneous!^—no with the bill
“from the Senate—nor sir—that is a dif
ferent allair, but with this motion.” The
offence is here reduced to the simple fact,
that “militiamen were shot at Norfolk.”
Mr. Randolph appears to have been
soon convinced mat tuts charge whether
expressed in the stronger or more niitig it
ed phrase, was ra^i and unfounded. For
in the .National Journal it is represented
that during the progress of debate. “Mr.
“Randolph rose simply to admit that he
••was wrong in a remark which he had
“made respecting the militiamen at Nor
“folk, lie had supposed that this infor
mation was correct, but he had found
“that he had fallen inte an error.” The
National Intelligencer referring to the game
incident merely states, “Mr. \V. yielded
•‘the floor at the request of Mr. R. who
“said a few words in explanation,” with-• it
stating what these words were. But in
fiie paper of the 21st is published a card
of Mr. Randolph to the Editors in theso
words: “Mr. Randolph requests the F h
tors of the National Intelligencer to state
that the ‘few words said’ by him, ‘in expla
nation’ when ‘Mr, Wright yielded the floor*
were to this effect. ‘That having been in
formed (by a friend) that he was under an
error in regard to the shooting of militia
men at Norfolk, last war, he wished to
withraw what he had said ii|H»n the sub nr.l.
That, although he had derived his iinpr**^.
sioii from a recent, and, ns he had believed,
an authentic source, yet he did not wish,
under the circumstances of the case, fot
the allegation to go out through the world;
and he was desirous to retract it, Indore it
should have excited nojice or remark.”
It would seem, however, (if the printed
debates are to be relied on,) that this ami
nation was no sooner recalled by Mr#
Randolph, than reiterated by bis colleague,
Mr. Floyd. The National Jntelligwcr
[reports this gentleman to have said. “At
the same time we do see a General of the
I United States, trying soldiers at Norfolk,
and shooting them too, for desertion. I
know it to he a fact, for / was an ey> mt»
ness. A gentleman near me says Uiat those
were nol militia men. I believe two of th< m
were. I derive my information from a
source entitled to at least as much credit
as if it was drawn from hired ar.d pension
ed letter w riters in one of the Departments.
But, sir, if they were not militiamen they
were men, and is not the life of man dear?”
But he also appears to have been convinc
ed, before the debate closed, that lie was
under some mistake, for he is represented
to ha>& hiade some explanations afler
wan^s. The reporter states “be was un
t'Sestood, in conclusion, to state, that ot tfo
men who were tried for desertion in Nor
folk, one was a militia man, and one not,
and that it was the soldier and not tho
militia man who was shot.**
There is, it is to hohqped, shir*: inaccu
racy in thisjafort—1TbeiitatcBiento ascrib
ed to Mr. Floyd dojMt harmonize ytfy
wetl with Jatf *ith.
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