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-an u.fa't utll 'hi Visit lAuVit Vh-.irWw.. ( n! Lrt'tM'w -Jfit ';; :hh)f !ccti wvrii r-T I U:r : ." ycjliixH L'j ru'i fo. l,.: r;i l.r: We.'. u.iw .'(i;!';i;r:fi nar- sr.w fii r i.'J. f-ir.-;-, : r. -: t:'t -Hiv ''Ji-fi-i?: i o;t ' . 1. " : .1 y JAMES R. MORRIS, EDiTea and Peoppietor WOOD8FIELD, OHIO, SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 1847. Vol. III. N. 52. j Pi: :' ' . ; . " -11: : ' : ' V" . .'......,..'''.!' ' .'.-. -:', i: :iTltMS. ' , . Thk Spibit or Demockacy is published every Saturday at the following rates! 81 50 per annum, If paid nr advasce. ' S2 00 t - , i it oaid within the year. :- 3 00 . it payment- be delayed until after the expiration of the year. ' " (&- No paper will be discontinued, except at the option of the editor, until ell arreara are paid. (0- All commimicationa tent by mail must be poat-paid. - tf Adaeriiutnenli inserted at 60 cent per aquare (fourteen line or lose.) for the first insertion, and 25 cent for each subsequent insertion. One col- Umn one montii uu. ' i nree monms iv. six months 915. Twelve months $25. - THE MANIAC. ' To see the human mind o'eturned, ' Its loftiert heights in ruin laid, ', And reaion'a. lamp which brightly burn'd, ' ' Obscured or quench 'd in frenzy shade; A sight like this may well awake , Our grief, our fear lor nature's sake. It U a powerful humbling thought-" . .' To know the empire oi the mind, With wit endow'd, with science fi aught, Is fleeting as the passing wind; And that the richest boon of Heaven To man, is rather lent than given. - To-day he sits on Reason's throne, , And bids his subject powers obey; Thought, Memory, Will all seem his owo, v Come at his bidding, list his sway; -To-morrow from dominion hurled, -Madness pervades the mental world. Yet think not, though forlorn and drear - The Maniac's doom, his lot the worst; .There is a suffering more severe .. i- Than these sad records have rehears'd; :Ti his whose virtues struggle still la hopeless conflict with his wilL ' There are, before whose mental eye, Truth hath her chastest charms display'd; But gaudier phantoms, fluttering by, The' erring mind have still betrsy'd;' ' TDl gathering clouds, in awful night, ' .'(' 'I.' i Have quench d each beam of Heavenly light. There are, whose mental ear hath heard At -i H in , VI. ; V 1 ' . The"8lillsmallvoice!yet prone of wrong Have proudly, foolishly preterr'd The sophist's creed, the syren song; : And stak'd upon a desperate throw, : , . Their hopes above their peace below. - There are, la short, whose days present One constant Scene oi painful strife, I'.-): Who hourly far themselves invent ' ' " - u fresh conflict."; 'till this dream of life : 't'l . Has made their throbbing bosom ache, : - And, yet, alas, they fear to wake. ' ' With their' compared, the Maniaes doom, y' Though abject, must be counted blest; t Hi mind, though often veil'd in gloom, . ' At times may know a vacant rest ' Not so while thought and conscience prey, . Upon the heart which slights their sway. 0 Thou! whose cause they both eipome, " ' : la mercy bid such conflict ceasej ' ' Strengthen the vreak'ning sinner's vow, , . And grant him penitence and peace Or else, in pity o'er the soul, i '' - The dark'ning clouds ot madness roll. ' g From the N. Knickerbocker. j The; Enthusiast. BT L. WARD SMITH. Not many weeks bro 1 received an epistle frem Professor ' E , of Cambridge, which contained the fol lowing carte blanche! "Touching the manuscript, although time had so de stroyed its texture and worn away its coler and characters as to assimilate it very nearly to the venerable loaves of the Magnalia in which you found it, it remained for you to disturb its long repose; during a. century and a hall; it is yours by discovery.' 1 have aacer- tamed that none ot the lamily men' tioned in it survive; so that the obiec lion I .suggested -is removed. There fore, as far as 1 am concerned, Libero icriplum riligionei ' put it forth then, if you will; it will illaslrate the times and the customs of its 'reverend, author. 'i '''!. r . ' '..i: Ity me oy,you lorgot me ancient aiiic law:1 He that shall pilfer out of the Lyceum or Academia any thiag of the lewt value, shall sulrer, death.' But 1 forgiv' you. tc." 1 J' ' ' ,; ;j Thus my, learned relation explained the moftut acquirtndi, and became .the greatest nart ir the Dublicationof ths manu8cnpt, whlch appears to be in the lorra oi a diary, and begins as fol- f;:Th4nKs to Go4 for his tender mer cies ta the. Cftllegel i Oft times I pray that, toe Earnestly applying our heart to see the business that' is, done upon the earth, we forget not that pleasant and delectable which is truly a foun tain 6f gardens and a', well of ( living Wrii nJXterlayJ. washa'com : mencementt.1 jThere i appeared more tiiaU ieven'tjr ,'yp.ong men, of whom we niayi'fajri with gladness that they have lead and wrote as much as many have done in'Wther places. ; Alas! the poor ypu.tV,.wbpsejitAddea illness interrupted the proceedings. ' Though ; 1 perceiv. ed' whh'InelaBcholy1' heart 1 hia pallid countenance and tottering step, 1 whs soon led to admire the power ol the enthusiastic' soul to strengthen and compact the waits of its earthly temple. He discoursed of the spirit; whether when passed awny it mingles unseen with these that, remain in the flesh; and when he came to speak of the ter restrial body, and to depict that , . ' i ' naked cage of bone. From which the winged soul is long since flown,' tiie glory of the celestial body, whose surpassing beauty he described, illuim n.ited his own countenance. His eye seemed purified to discera, in what to us was vacancy, the objects of a spirit ual world. Isat very near to him, be cause I clearly perceived that assidu ous application had wrought to fearful ' , I L - I . excitement a meiuncnouc tempera meat, tenacious of emotion, and strong ly disposed to sadness and fear, I was therefore more than the rest prepared when 1 beheld him stretch forth his hnnds and beckon strangely, crying at the same time, in a sud and solemn voice. Come! come! He fell exhaus ted into my arms, for there was but a step between us, and with an incohe rent muttering, lost nil consciousness of our presence. Seeing the faintness continue, I opened his vest and remov ed the covering Irom his bosom, that the cool air might restore the suspen ded circulation; and I saw depicted thereon, as a set!, in faint but certain lines, the image of a spider! What it did import 1 knew not, but I instantly replaced the linen, lest this revelation should c;ue the poor youth p tin when the cloud of his affliction had passed over him. His countenance was sweet and peaceful, as if in sleep. Twice or thrice, reviving as with loving affec tion, we conveyed him to his lodgings. lie opened his eves, and seemed to smile with gratitude and recognition upon lis. . To-morrow I shall seek him. I bless God that he is nigh at hand!" ; "lie is gone that dear youth for whom my soul travailed, to the abode of his uncle in the pteasant village of tie nas wriuen to aesire me to so to him, ere the silver cord be loosed. 1 will hope,' notwithstanding his presentiments, that he may yet live many years, and rejoice in them all. 1 will go, tor the request is of God. May 1 carry with me comfort and con solation, for indeed he is not to me as the son of the stranger." 'Twas after the toilsome journey of u day, through the solemn forest, that travel-soiled. and .weary I beheld before me the dwelling ot mv afflicted scholar. Surely the spirit of heaviness had written upon the door-posts "Des olate.1' The house was lofty and spa cious, but it was sad and still. The blinds were closed, and 1 heard no voice of gladness, nor any sound sa ve my heavy tramp over the scented leaves through the damp uisles of the grove which curtained the building. Alas: I found him Iving upon a couch," pale, attenuated, spiritual. He welcomed me with a heavenly smile, and bade me sit near him, that 1 might not lose the taint whispers or his voice: and when I began to speak words of encour agement, he gently pressed my hand and raised his eyes to Heaven, and af ter the silence which followed he told me that he had urged my coming from the conviction that ha was about to die: and that 1 migtit remove or explain the anxiety from which he suffered, but before he would confide to me its source, he wished me to answer a few inquiries.' Willingly I consented; and then fixing upon me his eyes, which were black and full of the deepest mel ancholy, he asked me whether I thought thatanv one of the: millions of disem bodied spirits around and among us can at pleasure assume a mortal shape and communicate with the living world? 1 answered him that certainly it was possible to Umnipotence to change the mode in which the powers of Nature act; that it would doubtless be a mira cle, ' which before we admitted we should rather explain by attributing it to the diseased action ot the body up on the mind, or of the mind upon the body, or to a combination of mental with corporeal deluion. He next in quired whether, after the flood had 8 wept away the issues of intermarriage between the "Sons of God" and the daughters of Adam, witchcraft was re cognized in the Old Testament. To this I replied, that I believed its denun ciations were aimed at idolatrv and poisoning, and that tha witch of Endor herself was more astonished than Saul at the apparition of Samuel, and that under Christ nothing of this kind 'was permitted; far that, be the bid thin what they 1 may,; assuredly ' ail things were now made new.' 'v1-' I - "When we htfd conveised far into the night upon these and kindred sub jects. I constantly excusing the errors of primitive times, and reminding him that although, by philosophy we had re duced to system mnny wonderful works, yet often for very terror we see not that Uod hath made every thing beau tiful in his time; and on the other hand, he incredulously suggesting doubts and urging the authority of the divines, the law-givers, and the common sentiment of modern nations; then, perceiving the throbbing of his pulse, the fulness of his veins, and the increasing lustre of his eyes, 1 feared lest fever was creeping insidiously upon him, and counselled him to sleep and to deter the discourse to a more seasonable op portunity." "In the morning all wastranquil and serene. Toward evening arose a terri ble storm, the casement shook with the mighty winds, and the branches of the thick oaks were torn down and scattered in the forests. ' There hung in the apartment in which the young mau lay, a large painting, over which was thrown a linen covering. When the storm was at its height, and the thunder broke and rolled incessantly over our heads, he beckoned me to ap proach, and in low and tremulous tones requested me to remove the veil. 1 did so, and there appeared dimly in the twilight a painting of wonderful skill and power. It represented the inter lorof a house ot worship. At a long table beneath the desk, sat seven or eight men clothed in black habiliments,1 whose countenance were stern and threatening. A few feet before them, wrapped also in a dark mantle, stood a female of great beauty and comman ding figure. ISach ot her hands was held by a person of mean and malig nant visage, who at the same time seemed to be urging a little girl to ap proach him, who had fallen before him apparently in convulsions.- Tears streamed down the pale cheeks of the lady, and her eloquent eyes were lifted, in sorrowful and reproachful appeal, to the solemn face of a ma n, who clasp ing to his bosom a book,- reclined a- gainst one of the pillars of the desk and looked composedly upon her a- guish. Out oi the great clouds which oversnaaowea us came ionn iigntmng and fitfully revealed to us, in startling radiance, the mournAil beauty of her countenance. ; Truly, I thought I be held in it the appearance of the likeness of an angel's glory; but suddenly while Ilooked,:the features of the chief of those who sat there, as it seemed in iudgment, appeared familiar to me. 1 recognised also other faces. The room itself was not unknewn to me; then'I plninly discerned that it was the trail of one accused of witehcraft, and could not doubt that one to be the weeping woman The persons clad in dark robes were the justices. An offi cer held the prisoner's hands, lest she should afflict her accuser, the little girl who had striven in 'vain to ap proach her, that she might be touched by her, and thereby escape the suffer ings wherewith the agents ot the King of Hell tormented her. The leaning figure 1 knew not. lhea I remember ed the singular emblem delineated on the heart of that young man, nnd also a rumor of his origin, which 1 heard at his joining the college; but regarding it as a relic ot . the false days, which, blessed be lod! have passed away, I had long since forgotten it. Also 1 recollected the earnestness of his dis course respecting the phantoms, and the sad conviction ot a mystery, a pro phetic sense of ill possessed my soul. But combatting these most distressing thoughts, I turned to the poor youth who lay with perfect tranquility, alter nately watching the workings of my features and looking mournfully upon the exquisite painting. 1 refrained from further inquiry, and entreated him to permit me to draw the ample curtain to exclude as far as possible the vivid flashes, which, when he consented, I did; and seating myself apart from him, I trustei that God would regard my prayer and visit his eyelids with slum ber. ' ' '( ';'. ;.; :; " "About midnight the door of the a partment was opened nnd I saw upon the threshhold a man of melancholy as pect and grey locks which fell unre strained over a long Genevan robe. The rays of a. lamp which he held in his hand streamed forth into the room upon the face of the. sleeping youth, which when he saw, without seeming to observe my presence or warning gestures, he'noisely crossed the apart ment, and stood by the bed. He mur mured with rapid 'Utterance what 1; deemed to be a prayer, -l.turbed by the sound, slight as it was, the poor suf ferer suddenly opened his eyes. ' For a moment he seemed unable to recall his wandering consciousness, but then a terrible gleamof recognition shot from his eye; a wild cry burst from his lips; and recoiling as far as the bed would permit, he clenched and drew about him its coverings as if to shield himself frem an expected attack. Horror and detestation disfigured the lineaments of his countenance, then all was still; but the chest of the old man heaved violently, and sob after sob broke from his half-broken heart. I saw there the spirit of the strong man shaken, and beheld great drops roll down his quiv ering features, r ailing upon his knees beside the bed, he cried in a voice of aDguish: "My son, forgive! forgive'. "But the young inan.pointingsolcmn ly to the portrait, only answered him: M y mother!' "Slowly, almost fearfully, the aged man turned his head and looked upon the mournml figure. "'It is indeed your mother,' he said 'So she stood: so she appealed to me, when I believing erring' "Sobs choked his utterance; strong shudder thrilled his frame, and with a powerful effort at self-control, he looked up to heaven and exclaimed with so lemnity: " 'God knows the secrets of all hearts! You thought me dead, my child, but often, often from the deep forests,. the abode of savages and wild beasts, I have enme unseen to watch and pray for you, the offspring of a love which neither delusion nor the grave could extinguish. How have 1 mourned to sec you day by day pining and fading away under the curse of bitter memory; to know that for me you never felt the love of a son; that from myself you inherited that fatal tendency to believe in the su pernatural, which led me to violate the principles of nature and destroy her who is now an angel of light! When I heard, that sad and lonely, you lay up on the bed of sickness, I resolved to see you, hear you speak, and then leave you till God unites us again in Heaven. And now I will tell you all; how by the wiles and subtlety of the Devil, 'I; Tell and dragged to the tomb my innocent wife. 1 was, you may have heard, foremost in the councils of our people. Death had taken from us the most of those citizens on whose strong wisdom we were accustomed to lean. The province was exhausted by taxation. The savages crossed the interior fron tiers, and burned and plundered our towns, captured and slew many of their inhabitants, and pirates sailed up and down our coasts unpunished. We had lost our character; the new one did not shield us from political jealousies and changes. All was afloat upon an ocean of uncertainty. Theological controversies embittered the inter course of the brethren, while terrible prophecies were declared to be in the course of fulfilment. It was perhaps our peculiar tendency to trust in the vagaries ot a credulous imagination. Seeing all these things, we did. believe that Satan had begun to reign. "There was then in my family a girl twelve years of age, whose inexplicable behaviour excited oursurpriso and won der. She would sometimes leap up, and falling from her chair, roll beneath the table, and with violent screams, and the most extraordinary contortions, ut ter a wild gibberish. 1 asked the o pinion oi a physician, who declared that she was afflicted by the malignant pow er of some person who was in league with the Arch-Fiend himself. This crime was not new to me; I had read of it in the sacred volume. It was for bidden by our laws, and recognized by the wisest and holiest men of the time. The fit continued for many days, and after much entreaty, the girl declared that her tormenter was my wife; that in the night she felt her body pierced with pins, and her joints wrenched by an unseen hand; that once she saw a venomous spider fasten itself upon the wrist of the accused, which for a long time she did not remove, but gazed up on it with pleasure; and when at last it crawled away, she said she saw where it hnd lain a strange mark which was the seal of Satan! ' , ' '., "My soul was filled with horror. I believed her not. The news spread through the colony; my friends came to me, and together we sought of God to know the truth. ' We kept a solemn fast: the violence of the attack did not abate: others exhibited the same symp toms! the congregation met. and a court was organized. Then it was the Foison began, to work with me.' Long "struggled with the fiend,' who ever seamed to say :' lThy Wife or thy soul ! wiiicnr At msi i y leiuea up my earin- ly attachments to what I believed was the command of God, I no longer in terposed my influence to prevent her trial. She was carried before the judg es, 'tried, and on the testimony ot her foresworn accuser, sentenced to an ig nominious death. Alasl how supersti tion steels the heart against compas sion! The sighs, the tears, the loveli ness of my deserted wife, seemed to me only the powerful charms of the sor cerer, I pressed the Bible to my heart, and suffered her to be borne away to prison, There, in the midst of grief and agony, you, my beloved son, were born. How bitter was the agony, let the symbol on your bosom witness And from those dreary walls your mother never went, till from the fatal hill her pure spirit rose to Heaven 1' "When the truly penitent man thus concluded his sorrowful history, his son sternly regarding him with eyes which seemed about to start from their sock ets, in a low, impressive voice slowly pronounced these words: " 'Thou art a murderer!' "Then heaving a deep sigh, he fell backward, and a death-like paleness overspread his face. "His eyes were closed, and for many minutes we strove to dispel the faint ness. At last the expression of his features changed; the frown relaxed, and a smile seemed to hover about his mouth. His lips moved, and we heard him softly whisper: (('I hear thee, sweet mother! Oh! leave me not. I will obey." "1 hen he rose from the bed. like one whose strength is miraculously renew ed. He gently - took, the old man's hand, and said: "'I too have a tale to tell, my father. I did believe you dead; that I alone re mained of our unhappy family; that kind uncle who protected my infanc) told me the story ot our misfortunes, and while he deplored your error, said you only yielded to the spirit of the age. This 1 knew; and through sympathy with my mother's fate, strengthened with my strength, I thought you also had suffered and were dead. I did not wrong your memory with abhorrence then; I strove to forget you; yet how fdhdy was I in the world. My origin was known; I perceived that I was pit ied. I did not like to mingle with mankind because I lacked the energy which hope inspires.' I looked upon myself as inferior to my fellows. My frame, always delicate, could not en dure their vigorous sports, and I fled to books for solace. J enjoyed abstruse inquiries, especially regarding the na ture of the soil and intellect. Une night, when, after such employment, I had retired, and was reflecting, before re signing myself to sleep, upon the sub ject of my evening's reading, I beheld a beautiful female approaching my bed. She was dressed like my mother. At the dreadful trial it is strange that I did not experience terror. No; all the love which years of sad reflection had wrought up even to devotion, now ral lied at my heart. 1 sprang from the couch; but gently waving her hand she retreated,. and avoided my proffer ed embrace. Often since that night has she appeared to me, and once, in pity of my tears, she spoke and told me she was happy, I never revealed my secret; it would not be believed; yet I look for those interviews as the only enjoyment of my existence. Gradually the lingering compassion for your sorrows, my father, took flight; and in its place 1 felt scorn and indig nation; and when to-night for the first time I beheld your face 1 knew at once that the slayer of my mother was be fore me.' "His voice trembled and his features quivered with excitement, as the sur face of a lavely lake is ruined by sud den winds. "'You were alive, and had come to vex my troubled spirit. I thought you were a fiend! 1 1 heh,in the trance Which followed, I saw again that angelic be ing; oh! beautiful and radiant, in gar ments of dazzling purity. She bent over me, and the rustling of her robes was like the waving of the silver trees of Paradise.'- She kissed me with cold lips, and bade me, as I laved her mem ory, forget that she had suffered, and tell. you that your cruelty was forgiven. I had sworn never, except in death, to forgive you; but now I feel that the sands of life are ebbing. Behold how sweetly she smiles upon us! Come! let us look together upon that hallowed form. . Oh! '.my- father! how couldst thou destroy a being so innocent, 'so perfect? thou, he? only,! her natural defender! 1 She was the beloved of thy youth; bore within-her bosom ; the pledge of mutual, affection.- See hew those cruel, meri .frown upon her. They rudely grasp her "delicate limb; they tear her away: the cunning girl laughs at her frenzied appeal to thee, her friend, her protector, her husband! And thou, and I forgive , . "He sank back fainting into nay arms; a sudden trembling seized hu ex hausted frame; a cold dampness gat& ered upon his forehead; his eyes open ed closed: the strings of that delicate harp gave way, and the soul of . thai poor enthusiast fled for repose to. thai great Rock, whose shadows reached him even in this weary land." . " '.' ' . Thus the pious man concludes hia entries; and though I often ransacked, the library and papers of the Professor, and again and again turned over tha leaves of the Magnalia,! found no clue to the subsequent history of the unfor tunate father. A Long Mooted Point Skttlsd. It is a common opinion that if a condern ned criminal is not executed at the time designated in his sentence the o mission is equivalent to a pardon, and he must be discharged. The case came up in Canada, recently, before tha "Resident Judge" of the district , oC 2Voii Rivieres. One Roberts was sen tenced to be hanged on the 20th of No vember; for certain reasons, pertaining to the nature of his crime, he was not hanged, and subsequently a motion was made by his counsel, on habeas corpus. for his release from prison as a man, virtually pardoned. The "Resident Judge" decided against the motion, on the following grounds "The penalty of death pronounced, against a convict is like a pecuniary condemnation pronounced against a defendant; the debtor must pay the. judgment unless the creditor acquit him. In this case the Sovereign is the creditor of the life of Roberts for the -crime which he has committed. Ha who has been condemned to death can not be relieved except by the Sover eign authority, and - in the manner re quired by law. Thas.so long as the sentence of death is not abrogated by a pardon in lorm. the condemned person may always be executed and no one has the right to save him but the Sover- . eign or his representative. . : ,f ; . .i n i . .- noDeris is 10 oe imprisoned in the nnif pnf inrv fnr lif nnlaiaa tli finv. prAirrri ithar finrrlnn Yxtm rr Cm waw w sasuwMW aailAB Vs) V41 IV. his execution. J , California, From all accounts, the Californiana - are heartily averse to Mexican rule, , and have virtually declared themselves -independent of Mexico.- Proof of this-: appears in a letter from Mr. Col ton, . recently chosen Alcalde of Monterey alta California.) In this letter he says: . "the citizens ot Monterey elected me on the 15th inst. Alcalde, that of Chief Magistrate of this jurisdiction. I had been performing the duties of the post under appointment of the com mander-in chief of the American forces here. This mission expired on the ISth when I was elected by the suffrages of the people. The vote polled was a very . large oue, though' no officer or seaman, connected with our squadron, went to the polls. : pmu.j 'The masses are thoroughly with usv and right glad to get rid of Mexican, rule. Had it been otherwise they would- never have elected me to the chief ma gistracy of Monterey. We are all re garded more in the light of benefactors than victors. 1 heir friendship and confidence must never be betrayed. California must never be surrendered to Mexico. If that country has still geod claims to her, let those claims be liqui dated by an equi valen t in money. But it would be treason to the lives of the best inhabitants to surrender the pro vince itself. Let Congress at once an nex her to the Union as a territory, and establish a civil government." Saint Louis Union. Indian Troubles THREATawaiv The St. Louis Republican gives a la mentable account of the warlike feel ing at present prevailing among soma of the more powerful Indian ' tribes on the western borders. A letter from Port Scott says, that the Sac and Osaga Indians had recently held a council, tha object of which was to unite their for ces and influence in robbing and plun dering the whites. The principal men of the Creek nation, It ' is also itattd were sending hostile messages to tha Osages, demanding remuneration . for alleged losses, and threatening if their misting property should not be return ed, to rally their forces and take it The savages are probably 'tinder tha hope of receiving aid from Mexico. We must send an adequate .force into that country and punish tkose tnarder rs. " " r' .