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4 J- -4 THE IILMNOI FREE TMABEM Our Country, her Commerce, and her Free Institntioiis. VOLUME I. OTTAWA, ILLINOIS, FRIDAY, JULY 17, 1840. NUMBER 9. V PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY GEORGE F. WEAVER & JOHN HISE, Canal Slrtet, nearly opposite the Mansion Jtutist. terms: Two dollars and fifty ccnU per annum, if paid in advance; Three dollars if not paid before the expi- ratinnnfthft first hit months: And three dollars nd twenty-fire cents if delayed until the end of the year. Advertisements inserted at $1 per square for the first insertion, affd 35 cents for each sub sequent insertion. A literal discount made to those who advertixc by the year. All communications, to ensure attention, must be post paid. JOB WORK Of every description, executed in the neatest man ' manner, at the usual prices. Ottawa i the scat of justice of La Calle ' county ; is situated at the junction of the Fox river with the Illinois, 200 miles, bv water, from Saint Louis, and mid-w ay between Chicago and Peoria. The population of Ottaw is about one thousand. LITERARY MISCELLANY xm: cottage wooit. by t. k. nunvY. How sweet the rest that labor yields The humble and the poor, ' Where sits the patriarch of the fields Before his cottage door ! The lark is singing in the sky, . The swallow in the caves, A nd love is beaming in each eye, Ueneath the summer leaves ! The air amid hi fragrant bowers Supplies unpurchased health, And hearts are bounding 'mid the flowers, More dear to him than wealth ! Peace, like the blessed sunlight, plays Around his humble cot, And happy nights and cheerful days, Divide his lowly lot. And when the village Sabbath bell Kings out upon the gale, The father bows his head to tell The music of its tale A fresher verdure seems to fill The fair and dewy sod, And every infant tongue is still, To hear the word of God ! Oh ! happy hearts to Him who stills The ravens when they cry, A nd makes the lilly 'ncath the hills . So glorious to the eye The trusting patriarch prays, to bless His labor with increase ; Such "ways arc ways of pleasantness," And all such " paths are peace." Consideration for Young IUru. Reading is a most interesting and plea sant method of occupying your leasure hours. I am aware that men of business have, usually, little time to devote to the -improvement of their minds. Their active 'occupations must necessarily en gross their chief attention. And yet in the business of lite there are many unoc cupied hours, fragments of time, which, if carefully gathered up and duly improve cd, would afford oppertunity for reading a great many useful volumes, and of ac quiring much useful knowledge. If there are any persons so deeply engageu in business, that they can find no time to read, I would say to them, take lime. It is not meet that you should spend the whole of your life as a mere beast of burden, providing only for the body wliile you leave the mind, the immortal rabid, to famish and starve. The truth is, all men have or many have time enough to read. The difficulty is, they are not careful to improve it. Their hours of leasure are either idled away, or slept away, or talked away, or spent in some other manner equally vain and use less ; and they complain that they have . no time for the culture of their minds and hearts. This is all wrong. The infinite value of time is not realized. It is the most precious thing in the world, the onlv thing of which it is a virtue to be cove- '' tous, and yet the only thing of which al men are prodigal. 1 lme is so precious that there is never but one moment in the ' world at once, and that is always taken away before another is given. Only take care to gather up your fragments of time my friends, and you will never want leis ure for the reading of useful books. And in what way can you spend your unoccu . pied hours more pleasantly than in holding converse with- the wise and good thro the medium of their writings t To mind not altogether devoid of curiosity books open an inexhaustable source of enjoyment. And it is a high recommen dation, of this sort of enjoyment that it always abides with us. Nothing can take it away. It is the mind ; and go vuore we may, if our minds are well fur nished and m good order, we can never want of means of enjoyment. The grand volume of nature will always he spread before ns : and if we know how to read ' its wonders, the whole world will pour at our feet its treasures, and we shall hold converse with God himself. But to those who are unaccustomed to read other books, this sublime volume must of course appear an unmeaning blank They cannot read the glorious lines of wisdom and power, of majesty and love, which the Creator has inscribed upon it, all is to them a sealed book, and they pass through ' the world none the wiser for all the wonders of creative power and .good ness by which they are surrounded. A taste for useful reading is an effectual preservation from vice. Next to the fear of God, implanted in the heart, nothing is a better safeguard to the character than the love of good books. They are hand maids of virtue and religion. They quicken our sense of duty, unfold our responsibilities, strengthen our principles, confirm our habits, inspire in us the love of what is right and useful, and teach us to look with disgust upon what is low, and grovelling, and vicious. It is with good books as it is with prayer ; the use of them will cither make us leave off sin ning, or leave off reading them. No vicious man has a fondness for reading and no man who has a fondness for this exercise is in much danger of becoming vicious. He is secured from a thousand temptations to which he would otherwise be exposed. He has no inducement to squander away his time in. vain amuse ments, in the haunts of dissipation, or in the corrupting intercourse of bad compa ny. He has hiffher and nobler source of enjoyment to which he can have access. le can bo happy alone - and is indeed never less alone than when alone. Then te enjoys the sweetest, the purest, and most improving society, the society of the wise, the great and good ; and while he holds delightful converse with these, lis companions and friends, he grows into a likeness of them, and learns to look down as from an eminence of purity and ight, upon the low born pleasures of the dissipated and the profligate. The high value of mental cultivation is another weighty motive for giving atten dance to reading. What is it that mainly istinguishes a man from a brute? Know- edge. What makes the vast difference then between men, as they appear in the same society ? Knowledge. What rais ed Franklin from the humble station of a printer's boy to the first honors of the country ? Knowledge. What took Sher man from his shoemaker s bench, gave him a seat in congress, and there made his voice to be heard among the wisest and best of his compeers ? Knowledge What raised Simpson from the weaver s oom to a place among the first of mathc maticians ; and llcrslicl lrom being s poor fifer's boy in the af my, to a station among: the first of astronomers ? Know- edge. Knowledge is power. It is the philosopher's stone the true alchemy that turns every thing it touches into gold. It is the sceptre that gives us our doinin ion over nature ; the key that unlocks the store houses of creation, and opens to us the treasures of the universe. And suppose you that her last victory has been won, the utmost limits of her dominion reached? Nay, my friends, she has but commenced her march. Her most splendid triumphs are yet future What new honors she has to bestow on her followers, into what new fields of conquest and of glory she will lead them, no one can tell. Her voice to all is, to rally around her standard and go forward and aid her victories, and share in honor of her achievements. None are excluded from this privilege. Her rewards are proffered to all, and all, tho in different measures, may share in her distinctions, her blessings, and hopes. l he circumstances in which you are placed, :is members of a free and intelli gent community, demand of you a care ful improvement of the means of know ledge you enjoy You live in an age o great mental excitement. The public mind is awake, and society in general is fast rising in the scale of improvement At the same time the means of knowledge are most abundant. They exist every where, and in the richest variety. Nor were stronger inducements ever held ou to engage all classes of people in the diligent use of these means. Usefu talents of every kind arc in great demand The field of enterprise is widening and spreading around you : the road to honor. to wealth, to usefulness is open to all and all who will, may enter upon it with the most certain prospect of success. In this free community there arc no privilege ed orders. Every man finds his level If he has talents he will be known and estimated, and rise in the respect and con fidence of society. Hawes Lectures rtrnatiftil Extract. The following beautiful extract it from Gallath er'a Hesperian, a monthly publication, issued in Cincinnati, Ohio : "Young Womanhood ! the sweet morn on tho horizon's verge," a thought ma turcd, but not uttered a conception warm and glowing, yet not embodied the rich halo which precedes the rising sun th rosy dawn that bespeaks the ripening peach a flower " A flower which is not quite a flower, Yet is no more a bud." (0 Upon this, the Sunday News makes the following capital parody : "Young Womanhood! molasses touch ed with a little brimstone spread on bread not buttered a being all joints and angles, not filled out an uninformed form, deformed by stays a pallid thing that loves the ripening peach a young wo man A woman which is not quite a woman, Yet something more nor a gal." The Koae and the Zephyr. ut n. iiiMiLTox, sa A wild Rose in fragrance was blushing, All gemm'd with the diamonds of deW J A Zephyr on pinions camo rushing From the chambers of morning, all blue ; Hekiss'd the young llossom of beauty, And the tears from its soft petals fell, Then sped on his balm-breathing duty, Sighing, "Rose of my bosom farewell." When cvrtiing in glory was glowing, I saw then th rose but how changed ! O'er earth were its crimson leaves blowing, And Zephyr o'er other (lowers ranged. True symbol, I cried, of love plighted, Art thou, my frail, perishing flower ! Dy falsehood too often thus blighted Are the blossoms of youth's rosy hour From the Philadelphia Chronicle Iniiuortnlitr and Ibe Orarc. We had a little boy that was advancing towards his fourth vcar. He was our only son ; he had nothing of the boister ous happiness of childhood about him ; but seemed to live m the tranquil enjoy ment of the delights that nature had scat tered at his feet; and lie grew in the breeze and the sunshine, a creature of pure and gentle elements. He had few affections, but they were unusually strong Two beings he loved with an intense pas sion ; his mother and a kind and singlc- hcarted man, who delighted to have my lttlc boy by his side when, he weeded his garden, who culled for him the brightest rosebuds, and who would hold him for lours in his arms, to look upon the swal ows as they dipped their rapid wings in to the clear and silent stream that flowed y my cottage. If ever human beings. were entirely happy, it was this honest man and my poor child, as tliey wander ed about from the rising to the setting of the sun, exchanging those most innocent thoughts, which the rough touch of worldly feeling will in a moment destroy but which rest upon the untainted soul, ike bloom upon the ripening fruit. The boy gradually sickened ; there was languor in his eyes which told of growing disease ; there was a torpor in his movements which spoke of feebleness and pain. The spring came, but he did not float upon its gale like the butterfly V hue the crocus leaped out of the earth to proclaim the approaching hours of re novation, the work of decay was begun in the sappling whose blossoms and fruit shone so richly in my day dreams. I saw him once more enjoy the sunshine but it was in his nurse s arms. The crisis quickly approached. I sat by his bed for two days and nights, re gardless of anything in the world but my sick boy. The wrestlings with death of a firrt mind and mature body must be fear ful; but who can gaze without shudder ing upon the agonies of infancy ? Who can see the burning fever pass over the trembling lips of childhood, like the hur ricane sweeping the lily, without shrink ing from the sight of this contest between weakness and power ? I looked out for a moment from the chamber of suffering, upon the face of the bright and tranquil world when I turned again to my boy the hand of death was closing his eyes. I now knew, for the first time, what it is to have death about our hearths. The excitement of hope and fear in a moment passes awav ; and the contest between feeling and reason begins with its alterna tion of passion and listlcssncss. It is some time before the image of death gets possession of mind. Wc sleep, per chance, amidst a feverish dream of gloomy and indistinct remembrances the dbject of our grief, it may be, has seemed to us present, in health and animation we wake in a struggle between the shadowy and the real world and wc require an cf fort of the intellect, to believe that the earthly part of the being wc have loved, is no more than a clod of the vallc. I followed my boy to the grave. I looked down into the deep, deep resting' place they had prepared for my child. At that moment a gleam of sunshine sud denly burst upon the scene. I thought of the dim morning of death, and the " day spring" of immortality ; and I turned for comfort unto Him who said, "Suffer lit tie children to come unto mp, and foTbh them not." Provineial Journal. A Romantic Adventure. An English paper says the following adventure has of late been the subject of much conversation. On an evening early in March last, about dusk, a commercial traveller was proceeding from Chelten ham to Gloucester in a gig, when he was accosted by a respectable dressed lady, who informed him that she had been dis appointed by the coach, and requested him to give her a seat in his gig to Gloucester. Commercial travellers are proverbially gallant and good naturcd: and the gentle man of the road, in this instance, posses sed all the best characteristics of this or der.' He was happy at the opportunity offered him of being of the least service to the lady, whose petition was couched in the most moving terms; and delighted rather than otherwise with his good for tune, which had thrown such a companion in his way to beguile the solitariness and tedium of his journey, he at once granted the request; and handed the lady to the scat at his side. The lady's proportions were oomewh of the largest, and the arm which the traveller assisted as she sprang into the vehicle appeared capable of defending its possessor from any improper liberties. Whether this circumstance induced the traveller to cast his eves downward, to ob serve whether all proportions correspond ed, or whether, like many other gentle men of his craft, he boasted of being a connoiscur in fine ancles, wc do not know but the story goes that, while his eyes did wander towards the lect ol lus companion his sight was far from being gratified by detecting something which bore very much the appearance of a man s trousers peeping f:om beneath a silk cloak and flounced petticoat. All the comfortable reminiscences of past dangers, and all the anecdotes which he had ever heard or read from the 'New gate Calendar,' came fresh to his recol lection. He had no doubt he was riding, cheek by jowl, with a second Dick lur pin, who was only waiting a suitable op portunity to rob, and perhaps to murder him. A lucky idea rose m his mind : he drew his silk handkerchief from his pock et; it fell into the road; it was a splendid wipe,' and as valuable as tho one that an Egyptian gave to Othello's mother ; he could not think of losing it, but his horse was too hasty-tempered to allow him to trust the reins into strange hands a thou sand apologies, but would the lady be kind enough to step out, and pick up the handkerchief which was now some yards in the rear of the gig. The lady readily assented, and while she was performing this errand, the commercial gentleman gave the whip to his fiery courser, and soon left his suspicious fellow voyagcur far behind him. When he felt it prudent to moderate his speed, he discovered that the lady had left in the seat, when she dismounted, a handsome muff, and putting his hand inside of it, he found a brace of pistols, loaded, capped and balled ; and, with the muff and its formidable contents, the traveller arrived safely in Gloucester, congratulating himself most heartily on the narrow escape which he had experi enced. Original Anecdote of Decatur. The late gallant Decatur was a sailor to the very heart s core, and loved to tell the 1 t . 1 V anecdotes oi the common sailors. 1 re collect one which he used to relate, to the following purport : In one of the actions before Tripoli, while fighting hand to hand with the captain of a gun-boat, De catur came near being cut down bv a Turk, who attacked him from' behind. A teaman named Reuben James, who was already wounded in both hands, seeing the risk of his commander, rushed in and received the blow of the uplifted sabre on his own head. Fortunately the honest fellow survived to receive his reward. Some time afterwards, whrn he had re covered from his wound, Decatur sent for him on deck, expressed his gratitude for his self-devotion, in presence of the crew, and told him to ask for some reward. The honest tar pulled ttp his waist-band and rolled his quid, but seemed utterly at a loss what to claim. His messmates gathered around him, nudged him with their elbows, and whispered in his car He had all the world in a string, and could get what he pleased ; the old man could deny him nothing, fcc." One advised this thing, another that; " double pay "boatswains birth, u pocketful of money, and a full swing on shore," &.c. Jack elbowed them all aside, and would have none of their coun sel. After mature deliberation, he an nounced the reward to which he aspired ; it was, to be excused from rolling up the hammock cloths! The whimsical re quest was of course granted; and from that time forward, whenever the sailors were piped to stow away their hammocks, Jack was to be seen loitering around, and looking on, with the most gentlemanlike eisure. He always continued in the same ship with JJccatur. " I could al ways know the state of my bile by Jack," said the commodore. " If I was in rood liumor, and wore a pleasant aspect, Jack would be- sure to heave in sight, to receive a friendly nod ; if I was out of humor, and wore, as I sometimes did. a foul Veathef physiognomy, Jack kept aloof and skulked among the other sailors." It is proper to add, that Reuben James received a more solid reward for his gal lant devotion than the privilege above mentioned, a pension having been granted to him by uovcrnment. On another occasion, Decatur had re ceived at New York the freedom of the city, as a testimonial of respect and grat itude. On the following day, he over heard this colloquy between two of his sailors : Jack," said one. " what is the meaning freedom of the city,' which they've been giving to the old man 1" ' U hy, don't you know ? Why, it's the right to frolic about the streets as much as he pleases ; kick up a row ; knock down the men, and kis9 the women !" " Oh, ho 1" cried the other, " that's worth fighting for !" Knickerbocker, I'.reuintr. I think there are two periods in the life of man m which the evening hour is pe culiarly interesting in youth and old age. In youth, you love it for its mellow moon light, Us million stars, its then rich and soothing shades, its still serenity; aiH there we can commune with our loves, or twine wreaths of friendship, wliile there is none to bear us witness but the hcav ens and the spirits that hold their endless there or look into the deep bosom of creation, spread abroad like a canopy a hove us, and look and listen till wc can almost see and hear the waving wings and melting songs of other beings in other worlds. To youth the evening is delight ful, it accords with the flow of its light spirits, the fervor of his fancy, and the softness of his heart. Evening is also the delight of virtuous age, it affords hours of undisturbed contemplation it seems an emblem of the calm and tranquil close of busy life serene, placid and mild, with the impress of its great Creator stamped upon it ; it spreads its quiet wings over the grave, and seems to prom ise that all shall be peace beyond it. Franklin. London. " I hat stilled hum ol midnight, says Carlyle, " hen trafhc has laid down to rest, and the chariot wheels of vanity 6til rolling, here and there through the distant streets, are bearing her to halls roofed in, and lighted to the due pitch for her, nnc only vice am' misers, to growl; or the like night birds, are abroad that hnm, I say, like the sturtorotis, unquiet slumber of sick life, is heard in heaven. Oh! am under that hideous coverlid of vapors what a fermenting vat lies simmering and hid. The joyful and sorrowful arc there, men arc dying there; men are being born; men arc praying on the other side of a brick partition men arc cursing; and around them is the vast void night. The proud grandee still lingers in his perfumed saloons, or reposes within damask cur tains; wretchedness cowers into truckle beds; or shivers hunger stricken into his lair of straw. In obscure cellars, Rouge- et-noir languidly emits its voice of destiny to hungry villians; while counsellors of State sit plodding, and playing their chess game, whereof the pawns are men. The lover whispers his mistress the coach is ready; and she full of hope and fear, glides down to fly with him over the bor ders; the thief, still more silently seta to his picklocks and crowbars, or lurks to wait till the watchmen first snore in their boxes. Gay mansions, with supper rooms, and dancing rooms, are full of light and music, and high swelling hearts; but in the condemed cells, the pulse of life beats tremulous and faint, and blood shot eyes look out through the darkness, which is around and within, for the light of a last stern morning. Riot cries aloud, and swaggers in his rank den of shame, and the mother with streaming hair, kneels over the pallid, d)ing mlant, whose cracked lips only her tears now moisten. All these heaped and huddled together, with nothing but a little carpentry and ma sonry between them." Hhe would be ftol.tlrr." The following thrilling anecdote of a young South Carolina girl is copied from a work entitled " I ales of Marion's men:' Sally St. Clair was a beautiful, dark eyed Creole girl. The whole treasure of her love was freely poured out to Sergeant Jasper, who, on one occasion, had the good fortune to save her life. The pros pect of their separation almost maddened her.' To sever hrr long jetty ringlets from her exquisite head, to dress in male ' attire, to enrol herself in the corps fo which he belonged, unknown to him, wsi a resolntioh no sooner conceived than ta ken. In the camp she attracted no par ticular attention except the night before the battle, when she was noticed bending over his couch, like a good and gentle spirit, as if listening ;o his dreams. The camp was surprised and a fierce conflict ensued. The lovers were side bv side in the thickest of the fight ; but endeavoring to turn away a lance aimed at the heart of Jxsper, the poor girl received it in her own, and fell bleeding at his feet. After the victory her name and sex were dis covered ; there was not a dry eye in the corps when Sally St. Clair was laid in her grave in a green shady nook, that looked as if it had been stolen out of Par adise. Washington's Name among the brat ttUhl Mr. Hackett, the actor, gives the fol lowing account of an occurrence at the Dublin Theatre : " The first flight 6f Rip v an Winkle, when in the midst of the scene when he rinds himsell lost id amazement at the change of his native village, as well as in himself and every body he meets, a person, of whom he is making an inquiry, mentions the name of ashington. Rip asks who is he? The other replies, "What! did you never hear of the immortal Washington, the Father of his country?" The whole audience from pit to gallery seemed to raise, and with shouting huzzas, clapping of hands and stamping of feet, made the very buil ding shake. These deafening plaudits continued some time, and wound up with three distinct rounds. To describe to you my feelings during such a thunder gust of national enthusiasm, is utterly im possible. I choaked the tears gushed from my eyes, and I can assure you it was by a great effort that I restrained myself from destroying all the illusion of the scene by breaking the fetters with which the age and character of Rip had invested me, and exclaiming, in the ful ness of my heart, "God bless Old IreJ land:1 Dialogue in a Court of Justice; The attorney in the case attempted td invalidate the testimony of the witness, by declaring him to be too ignoiantto be a competent one ; said he to the judge, I can convince your honor of the incom petency of the witness in a very few mo ments ; he has been reared in the country, has never been out of sight of his father's barn, never saw a school house ; and your honor permitting, I will propound a few questions tnd upon his answers, yor hon or can decide. The Judge assenting, he turned to the witness and asked who made you ? Witness. I don't know I reckon it was Moses. . Attorney.--Tin re, your honor, to the satisfaction of yourself and the jury, i have proved the witness a non compos mentis, totally unqualified to decide upon the serious nature of his oath. , Witness. Now, Mr. Lawyer, may I ask you one question ? I've answered yours. Attorney. A thousand, sir, a thous and, if you please. it ness. Who made you ? Attorney. Why,.! dontknow, I reck on it was Aaron. Witness (turning to the Jury) Well now, I have read in the good book, that Aaron made a calf, but I dont know how the darn'd fool got here. - The Court was convuUed with laugh ter. . . " Keeping truth in the dark.' s A very good widow lady loved porter ay, dearly, and ore day just rs she was receiving half a dozen bottles from (he man who usually brought her the com forting beverage, she perceived (O, hor ror !) two of tue grave elders of , the , church approaching her door. She ran the man out the back way, and pat the bottles under the bed. The weather was: lot, and while conversing with her friends. pop went one ot the corks. " Dear me !" exclaimed the good lady; yesterday just the same way I past have a new rope that's sartin." In a few moments pop went another. followed by the peculiar hist of the esca ping liquor. The bed cord wouldn't an swer this time, bat the good lady was not at a Kiss. , ' . " Dear me J" says she, 44 that black cat of mine must be at some mischief there.' S'catvon torment !'.', ," . ... Another bottle popped" off, and' the pos ter came stealing out from under the bed curtains ! This was the hardest caM of all to get over but our good old . oai was yet " on hand" v , . t 0 dtfar me 1" said she, " I'd forgot- its the yeast i Prudence 1 come her tod take WBy these bottles of yrMTi r i. f : 0 j . . i :'