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^Tfjr flMir'uiltt j.jannrx'. 44 LIBERTY AND MY NATIVE SOIL." YOL. 4. ~ ABBEVILLE C II., s7c.," JUNE"23,"mi. NO. 17. _?- -? ? ??? ???? ? i mwmrmmmmma?o?j?n PubliHlicd every Wednesday, by CHARLES H. ALLEN, v Editor and Proprietor. Terms. ONE DOLLAR AND FIFTY CENTS if paid Within thrco months from the time of subscribing, t>t TWO DOLLARS if paid within six months, and TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS if Hot paid until tho end of tho year. No subscription tecoivcd for less than six months; and no paper discontinued until all arrearages aro paid. SubKprintimiK will he continued unless notice be rriven "I' *' " " --------- o otherwise, previous to the close of volume. No paper will bo sent out of tho State unless payment is made in advancc. ADVERTISEMENTS, inserted at 75 cts. per square of l\Velv? lines for tho tirst insertion ; and, 37 1-2 cts. for each continuance. Those not having tho desired number of insertions marked upon them, will be continued until ordered out and charged accordingly. ESTKAYS, Tolled TWO DOLLARS, to be paid by tho Magistrate. For announcing a Candidate TWO DOLLARS, in advance. Tbo Postage must be paid upon all letters and communications to secure attention. At Chambers?Abbeville C. II. 12th June, 1817. : j Upon application for a > Prohibition, or for a Giles, a slavp. ol f ?.t ,P . ' I} ,, JNcw 1 rial. \\ m. l'ratt. J This is a second trial, of which the proceedings arc now before me: and I regret *0 perceive, that in a matter so important, ;as every matter aftecting the life of a human creature must be, notwithstanding the plain directions given in the Magistrate's Act of 1839, there arc yet many and great errors in the proceedings. Magistrates who preside at the trial of cases like this, should rcmember that the law requires the various warrants and returns thereof, the steps by which the Court is organized, the offence distinctly stated, the evidence, the judgment and the sentence, all to be in writing. It is not sufficient that an essential matter did actually exist: it must appear on the faco of the proceedings, and be there shewn to have existed. What is written must be taken to have been all that appeared ; for here especially the rule applies, that part cannot be in writing and part be left to the memory of witnesses. In these proceedings the following particulars do not appear, which should have appeared, viz;? I. That the owner of the slave had one day's notice of the time and place of the trial. No recital of this is in the minutes of the Court; and it* we look to a separate paper, the return of the Constable does not appear to have been sworn to. 2. That the freeholders were neighboring freeholders of the District in which the offence was committed. 3. That thfe freeholders were summoned. 4. That by the selection of the owner, or other means authorized by the Act of 1839, the freeholders who sat on the trial were regularly taken out of eight that were summoned. 5. That the free white witnesses examined in the case were sworn. 6. That after the evidence 011 the part of the prosecution had been heard, the prisoner, his owner, or any person in his behalf, was called on for testimony in answer to the charge. *7. That the sentence is to be executed in the year 1847, or any other particular year. B; That the place of execution is certainly fi^ed, vyitliout an alternative left to the choice of the executioner, 9. That the execution is to be done by any particular constable, or by any constable at all. 10. That there was a distinct statement in writing of the offence, for which the prisoner was put on trial, to which the testimony was annexed. I have enumerated these errors and omissions, that care may be taken to avoid them and all similar ones in future. I do nol n is not required in a case like this, but a dis" tinet, that is, an exact and accurate, state* ment of the offence is required, as well by the principles of justice, as by the positive words of the law. Time, to a reasonable certainty, should be stated?place also : and that the place is within the District where the trial is had ; and the essential ingredients of the offence must be set out, either by some word which contains them, or by separate enumeration. Now what has this slave been tried for? rs i i i r* * i ror uurning ; 11 is noi every uurning, 01 the burning of every thing that is unlawAil, much less punishable by death. 1. Was he charged of burning-a stable, as arson at common law? Then it should have been stated and proved that the stable was an out house, appurtenant to a dwelling, and that it was burnt wilfully and maliciously. After conviction, sentence of death could not have followed ; for a slave (except for particular offences enumerated >n the Act of 1740. Sec 16, 7 vol., p. 402 Statutes) can bs> punished capitally, only for some offence which is felony without /o..~ i r. \lfAn \ ui'iiirin ui tiuiijy, yocu i?? ui 1 riVj^ auu arson at common law, although felony, is entitled to the benefit of clergy. 2. Was lie charged under the 10 Sec. of the Act of 1740, of burning fodder, or some other article, which was amongst the "goods or commodities of the growth, produce or manufacture" of this State ? Then it should have been stated and proved, that the article burnt was of the growth, produce or manufacture of this State, such as is contemplated by the section above mentioned, and that it had been " wilfully and maliciously set fire to, burnt or destroyed." After conviction, sentence of death might have followed j hut in the discretion of the Court, according to circumstances, a milder punishment might have been imposed. 3. Was he charged of burning a barn | having grain in it? an ofiencc from winch the benefit of clergy has been tulcen away? by Statute 23, Henry 8, c. 1, (2 Stat., 450,) and Statute 4 and 5, Philip and Mary, c. 4, (2 Stat., 484). Then it should have been stated and proved that the house burnt was a barn?that is, a house used for storing grain or provender?and that grain or corn (that is some breadstufl) was in it; and that it had been wilfully burnt. After conviction, sentence of death, oi of milder punishment, according to circumstances, m ight have been awarded. 4. Was ho charged under the Statute 122 and 23 Charles 2, c. 7, (2 Stat., 521,) of having in the night time maliciously unlawfully and wilfully burnt a stack of grain, or a building ? Then it should have been stated and proved, that he did wilfully, unlawfully and maliciously in the night time burn a stack of grain, (not loose straw,) or some house or building contemplated by that Statute. After conviction, sentence of death could not have followed ; for although the olFence is made felony, punishable by death, the benefit of clergy is not taken awav. See 1 Hawkins. PI. C. 306. J ' Of any one, two or more of these lour distinct ofienc.es. the prisoner might have been accused and tried. But of whatever lie was tried, there should have bcea a distinct statement: and before conviction, proof to sustain the statement. If he had been charged of several forms of offence upon one trial, the judgment should have ascertained the particular form or forms of offence, of which he was guilty, and sentence have i 1: i.. uueu iiwuiucu ucuuiuiu^iy. ' There was error and irregularity in admitting against the prisoner evidence of his bad character, and of previous misdeeds committed by him. If the defence of good character had been mad ?, the prosecution 1_ irgecu He is not presumed to be character; but unless he attempts the charge by shewing its inconj#ith the general tenor of his conpep ce of bad character can at most hr t^at he is fit for crime, not that Lie this act; and like evidonce ol I previous misdeeds, may sonic times take by surprise an innocent person, who comes prepared to meet only the charge of which he is to be tried. The remedy by new trial is much mere convenient than by prohibition. It is therefore Ordered that th^ judgment be set aside, and that a new trial bo had. Ol this Order, let notice be given by the .Sheriff to the prosecutor, John Clink'scales, and to the Magistrate, John E. Ellis, Esquire, that proper proceedings anew may be had : and let the Sheriff detain the prisoner under this order, as under warrant of arrest and commitment for house burning, until he be delivered by due course of law. D. 11. WARD LAW. Washington's Generals. The closing- career of those Generals was various, and as it may have been forgotten by many, we will give a summary, as we find it in Head ley's recently published work, "Washinton and his (Jenerais." In 1770, when in service, Gen. Putnam was prostrated by a. stroke of paralysis, but he lived seven years after the diclaration of peace, and died at Brooklyn, Con., May 27th, 1790, at the good old age of 72. Gen. Montgomery, born in Ireland in 173G, came to this country as a Lieutenant in the British Army, and was stationed on our Northern frontier; but be sold his commission in England and m 1772, returned to this country, purchased a farm in Duchess INI \ mul ennn nmrrietrl n <..^1 ' ^ daughter of Robert R. Livingston. His military education probably induced Congress to make him a brigadier General? when, after a variety of events, as is well Uno i, he fell in storming Q.uehec, in an ey jition, if somewhat Gtuixotic, certainly distinguished for the gallantry and heroism thai a 11 concerned in it, from first toiast, displayed. Arnold, whose treason has so associated his name with infamy, has more juslicedone liis good qualities in Mr. Headley's book, than in any other sketch we heve ever seen of his life; The cause of his treason, next to his own want of principle, is imputed, and with apparent justice, to the neglect and had treatment of him by Congress, which was often such that even Gen. Washington could not refrain from remonstrating against it. Gen. Schuyler was also treated, if possible, more unkindly, but Schuyler was a patriot, and such treatment had no eilect upon his patriotism, whereas the passion for revenge made the unprincipled Arnold a traitor. The march of Arnold through the wilderness of Maine, with his subsequent onset upon Quebec, is set down as one of the boldestachievcments on military record; and but for the treachery of an Indian, to whom he had entrusted letters, there is but little doubt he would have succeeded in surprising that important fortress, and thus have secured the Canadas to the U. States. At the capture of Burgoyne, Mr. Headley represents Arnold as the principle actor, and Gates, the nominal commander-in-cheif. but little more than a looker-on. After the close of the war, Arnold went to England, but, detested there for his treachery, removed to St. John's Brunswick, and established himself as a merchant. Me rapidly acquired a fortune ; but even there he become so odious, that the people burnt him in effigy, which they named the traitor. When the war broke out between England and France, he solicited an appointment in the army, hut the officers steadily refusing to associate with him, his request was denied. He died in London in 1801?sixty-one years of age. Gen. Stark was born in New I-Iampshirp. nf Si'ntnh rln.3r.ent. Hn sn.rved in the old French war as commander of a company of Rangers, and was with Lord Howe before Ticondcioga. This sort of military education, united with his enthusiastic patriotism,probably induced Congress to make a General of him. At the battle of Bennington he immortalised his name, and it was there he rallied his men with the exclamation?"See those men! There are the red coats. Before night they are ours, or Molly Starke \s a widow!" Gen. Schuyler was born at Albany, in 1833. He was also with Lord Howe in l^is ill-^ cxpc(1 i^S1 i' '/0ll^T? chief, he goon lost his rep mand of the Southern armj^S^^W'nffF self superceded by Gen. Green. He was an Englishman by birth, and served as an * officer in the English army; and having, - >-V* ' . { ' ' ' ' ' ? . ' " - afler thy old French war, settled Berkley co., Va, his military education pointed him out as a proper man to command in our armies. At the battles on Bemis' heights, according to Mr. Hcadley, he kept himself <ii cump, aiiu iook no active p;iri ill me bloody contests j bnt such was the cclat attending the surrender of liurgoyn, that he was selected to relieve the falling fortunes of our countrymen in the South, where, however, in the battle of Ca.mdcn, he was defeated and disgraced. After the war, he settled on his old estate in Virginia, but in 1790 he removed to New York, and was elected a member of the Legislature. I?e died in 1800, 77 years of age. Baron Steuben was o:ic of the most interesting characters among our military heroes:. He was the great drill oilicer of the rr?v<il 111 inn n?wl firO ?nti* rnw caIiIkhv I discipline, and so prepared them for victories. He was aid-de-camp to the King of Prussia, atid learned the art of war under the groat Frederic ; bwi ho finally resigned his military position, and honored with various civil appointments, and enjoying a salary of about $3U()0 per annum, lie sacrificed all, it seems by the solicitation, and under some promises of the French Court, to come to flic United States, in .order to teach us the art of war. He first saw our army at Valley Forge, famished, half-naked, looking more like beggars than soldiers, and i'resh as he was Jrorn the well-fed and well-disciplined corps of Europe, the conirast must have been painful enough. He, however, undiscouraged, began his drills, and in the very next campaign. his soldiers becrnn to retrieve the losses thcv had suffered as raw troops heretofore. From that time on. our regulars were never beaten in a fair fight, and subsequently, at Eutaw Springs, some of his men, to the utter amazement of the English troops, beat them with their favorite weapon, the bayonet. At the close of the war, lie tried in vain to obtain from Congress a fulfilment of its contracts with him, and only after seven years trial, could he, through the instrumentality of YVashingtoand Hamilton, finally obtained a pension of 82,500 a year. The New York Assembly voted him a township of land near TTtica, in that State, where he built a log-house, died, and was buried in 1797. We have no room even to abbreviate what is said of Gen. Wayne, the hero of Stony Point, who died at the age ol"51,soon after his successful expedition against the I 1 * ^1. il nr r ? t-* uiuiiius uu ine men v\ esiern ironuer. r or his life, and for the lives of the others, we must refer our readers to IVlr. HeadJey's book. COMETS. Comets are light vapory bodies, which move round the sun in orbits much less circular than those of the planets. The orbits, in other words, are very long ellipses or ovals having the sun near one of the ends. Cornets usually have^two parts, a body or nucleus, and a tail; but some have a body only. The body appears as a thin, vapory, luminous mass, ot globular form; it is so thin, that in some cases the stars have been seen through it. The tail is a lighter or thiner luminous vapor, surrounding the hotly, and streaming far out from it, in one direction. A vacant space has been observed between the body and the enveloping matter of the tail ; and it is equally remarkable that the tail has in some instances appeared less bright along the middle, immediately behind the nucleus, as if it were a stream which that nucleus had in some measure parted into two. In ignorant ages, the appearance of a comet in the sky, never (ailed to occasion great alarm, both on account o'f its threatning appearance, and because it was considered as a sign that war, i . ? r 1 ? _ m . pcsuicuce or laminc, was uooui to airici mankind. Knowledge has dispelled all such fancies; but yet we arc not well acquainted with the nature of comets. Out of the great multitude?certainly not less than 1,000?which are supposed to exist, about 150 have been made the object of scientific observation. Instead of revolving, like the planets, nearly on the plane of the sun's equator, it is found that they approach his body from all parts of the surrounding space. At first, they are seen slowly advancing, with a comparitively faint appcaratice.? A_ ' _i. .i._ iu.. ?: i.. /y5 iu?-;y ujijjiuui;ii uiu siiiij iue luuiiuu uucomes quicker, and at length they pass r o u 11 M ly^L?.j,|||? jifi* the remote parts of space their motion must be extremely slow. Three comets h&ve been observed to return, nnd their t jriods ' ' " ;'V a* of revolution have been calculated. The most remarkable of these is one usually denominated Halley's Comet,from the astronomer who first calculated its peaiod. It revolves round the sun in about seventy five years, its last appearance being at the close of 1835. Another, called Enlc's Comet, from Professor Enke of Berlin, has been found to revolve once in 1207 days, or 3 !-?. vears; but in this case, the revolving1 body lsTfbynch at each successive approach to the sun. to l?e a lifil'i earlier than on the previous occasion, showing its orbit is gradually lessening, so that it may be expected ultimately to fall into the sun. This iact has suggested that some part of that space through which the coinct passes must be occupied by a matter presenting some resistance 10 the movement of any denser body; and it is supposed that this matter may prove to be the same which had been described as constituting (he zodiacal liffht. It is called a resisting medium; and future observations upon it arc cxpectcd to be attended with results of a most important nature, seeing1 that, if there be such a matter extending beyond the.orbit of the earth, that planet, in whose welfare we arc so much interested, will be exposed to the same ultimate late with Ionic's Comet. The third, named lieila's Comet, from AI. LJeila of Joscphstadi; revolves round tho sun in (> 3-4 years. It is very small, and has no tail.? in 1S32; this comet passed through the earth's path about a month before the arrival of our planet at the same point.* If tho earth had been a month earlier at that point, or the comet a month later in crossing it, the two bodies would have been brought t An>/?t n it/I I It A nnrflv i n n I I i , (iiiu iiiu wiiuiij i ii mi |HUuauiiuy9 would havn instantly become unfit for the cxistanceof the human family. Cornets arc often affected in their motions by the attractions ol the planets. Jupiter, in particular, lms been described by an astronomer as a perpetual stumbling block in their way. In 1770, a comet got entangled amidst the satelitcs of that planet, and was thereby thrown out of its usual course. while the motions of the satclites were not in the least affected. Comets often pass "unobserved, in eonscqucr.ce of the part of llic heavens in which they move being then under daylight. During a total eclipse of the sun, " which happened sixty years before Christ, a large comet not lbrmerly senn, became visible, near the body of the obscured luminary. On many occasions, their smallness and distance render them visible only by the aid of the telescope. On other occasions they are of vast size. The comet now called Halley's, at its appearance in 145G, covered a sixth part of the visible extent of the heavens, and was likened to a Turkish scymitar. That of 1780, which was observed by Sir Isaac Newton, had a tail calculated to be 1*23,000,000 of miles in length, a space greater than the distance of the earth from the sun. There was a comet in ii.I.I i :i,~ x # Jt-xj ?v iiiv^ii urni oi a uut.^j ojiiuuu uui iiau a fan across a large space oi' the heavens. The tails of comets usually stretch in the direction opposite to the sun, both in advancing and retiring, and with a slight wave in the outer extremity, as if that part experienced some resistance.?Saturday Gazette. Violating the parole.?Gen. Canalizo, a famous Mexican General, in addressing "the ene my," takes occasion to say that his force will be strengthened by the brave defenders, "ic/to so heroicly defendei Vera Cruz.*' These expected reinforcements were the troops dismissed on a parole by Gen. Scott after the surrender of that city. It will be remembered that after the battle of "theCth", (ren La Vega refused to take his parole, Iipc.hisp. lio snirl " his rrnvpvn mp.nt. "wntiM not respect it." The Mexicans are not more honourable now than they Avere then, and to presume that they will respect a parole is ridiculous. This fighting them, taking six thousand prisoners, and letting them off. to fight us again, seems to give a prospect of interminable warfare. If breaking a parole is punishable, the laws should be executed with singular severity against the Mexicans. We have got into this war, and unless the government is prepared to carry it on with all the rigors necessary to end it, our troops had better b*e withdrawn. At Cerro Gordo many soldiers were recognized who had been captured at Vera Cruz; among the dead were discovered officers | known to have been released on their par "If over I reach Heaven," said Dr. Wa^.s, WI expect to find three wonders: lsU/ibe presence of some that I had not thought to be there. 2d, The absenco of ^mej^ohi l expected to meet there. 3d, The^ri'eatest wonder of all, will be to fifcd myself I there." ^ it - ' \\?Y -