giE DOLLAR AND FIFfY C2NIS PER ANNUM INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
Thursday Morning, April 2, 18C3.
GDrigiital
(For the Reporter.)
DIED LAST NIGHT.
BY L'ASPIKANT.
DIED LAST NIGHT. —An old vagabond by the name of
. ptt \\*. , better known as " Old Beggar JOE," died
h-t ni"ht in the old tea intent hou.-e. corner of Green
wich and Laight St.— Morning P eper.
■' Leaves hae their time to fall,
And thovers to wither at the north wind's breath,
The star: to set—but all,
Thou hast all season tor thine own, 0. Death !"
I.
In a dirty old garret, gloomy and dim,
Where all was cold, cheerless, and dreary within,
There a spirit immortal sped its heavenward flight,
There a poor, wretched old beggar died last night-
Yes, died last night!
>'o companion was near when his spirit fled.
But this morn, iu the garret, they found him dead—
Stiff, and cold, and dead!
n.
He was summoned last night—the Angel of Death
Swept over his path its invisible breath,
Gut the span ot his life—his spirit set free
From the tumult aud toil of Lite's stormy sea-
Bursting the bonds—Mortality.
Xonc but the good Angel his couch watched beside,
For 110 mortal was near wheu the old man died—
Alone—all alone, ha oied.
HI.
The morning daws slowly, the papers they tell,
In a careless, an unthinking way—ah, well!
Of a poi-r old vagrant that passed away,
When the stars shone bright—when the sky was grey-
Passed to that bourne— Eternity.
-In the old house in (1 St., corner ot L ght,"
I read—" An old vagrant died last night! '
Aye, died last night!
IV.
I have read those words over and over again.
For they leave in the heart a Inhering pain ;
■' Old JOE' - was not always a beggar 1 ween,
For over the harp of the years that have been—
Are sweeping fingers unseen!
Calling, conjuring from Time's deep abyss,
The hours that have faded—of sorrows and bliss—
Of joy, and sorrow and bliss!
v.
Tie past comes tiefore me— throush the vista of years,
Lre nine and its changes, ere Irouble and tears.
Etc the tumult and turmoil with which earth is rife,
Had withered his heart—ere sorrow and stile—
ila,l embittered the old life ;
Tie years brought tire changes—for once he could claim
Youth, aud weitli, and station—a name— fvain.
Ail ihese ace scattered—useless and
VI.
Tie years pass along—time, trouble and care,
H.id furrowed his brow and silvered his hair,
'Mid tlic changes of fortune which swept o'er his way,
His wealth and his fortune were scattered away—
Scattered, scattered for aye!
Pv-erted by friends, wheu Hi- iic'u<-s lud flown,
While one dearer than all. Death claimed as his owu,
Aud left him to journey alone.
VII.
Tl:eeasons roll on—many changes they tiring,
Of Winter and Summer, of Autumn and Spring,
Of j -y and of sorrow, of hope and of lears,
Oi blight hours and liaik. affliction and tears—
With liis slow journeying years.
Downward, still downward, in life's swift decline,!
Li a-jpuiv had writ deeper age-marks th m Time,
lie..v. i, (inper than time.
VI IT.
Th o Civr- w! i--!i hhisiomed his pathway beside,
At iu-t hud all faded, and Withered aud liied,
ll.id laded forever—thorns only remain
lbs hunt but a dreary Golgotha of pain—
Weary and heartsick with pain.
Uthe hour came at last—when the stars shone L ight,
His earth-worn spirit winged its homeward flight,
Yes, that old beggar died last night.
|fl is t c 11 anto us.
(From the "Camp-Fires of the Everglades.'')
Dangers of Fire-Hunting.
" The pass was steep and rugged,
The wolves they howled aud whined,
But he rati like a whirlwind, up the pass,
And leit the wolves behind."
—Macaulay.
" Mike, what kind of a night would thL be
for tire shooting ?*' said the Doctor to llie
meditative Nuurod, who was hu.-y sewing tip
his moccasins by the light of the camp life,
alter a week of travel.
" so, so," replied Mike, without looking
up.
" I am going, I think."
No answer. Mike put on the mended moc
cadn, ami (drew off' the other.
"Do you think we cau kill anything,
Alike ?'
" S'pnse," replied he.
" Come, Charlie, let us try it for a little
while."
This was all a rvse on the part of Polk, in
order to make Mike tlnuk our great hunt wa
B:I unpremeditated affair, and thtrely in
crease ike glory of killing so much game. It
had been arranged between us, during the
hay, that we should try fire-hunting that
night. It promised to be a cloudy niglu.
winch was ot great advantage, as it prevented
'he game from seeing anything of the hun
ters, and at the same time render their eyes
nu re reflecting when exposed to the torch
''ght. We hud even gone so far as to make
our pitch pine torches, and the whole prcpa
ration was complete. It was a party of two
—the Doctor and myself. There would be
Q| tre interest in getting the game alone; and,
titles that, Mike's opinion on fire shooting
*as well known, and we knew he would not
g° with us—so constant a hunter scorned so
primitive a snare as the one we proposed.—
ihe negroes we did not want, for the fewer
Hi the party the better. So, one of us, tak
a gun, and the other carrying a torch, we
feft the camp.
Dm boys were chuckling together as they
*Aiched us go, tire dogs howled because they
C j a!d not go, with tn, and Mike gave one of
tlis expressive coughs, that said, as plainly as
words, " Now for it."
We were scon outside of the glare of the
camp-fire, the little creek was ciossed, and our
torch flu-htd brightly in 'he taper trunks ot
the pine tress, the climbing vines, and the
broaO-leati-d plauts that grew by the pools of
Water. There was no wind, and, walking in
the pine woods, there was no souud. Once,
in a long while, a sand hill crane, disturbed
in his wandering, would be Seen stalking
away, with his red head high in air, like a
sentry on duty, or the sudden motion of the
underbrush viAouid tell us that some one of the
many liuie harlequins of the wood, that gam
bol most wheu men do sleep, had deed from
his unusual spectacle of a moving light. But
no deer rewardvd our search; no bear showed
us his heavy coat.
" Faith," s-ud the Doctor, " this romantic
promenade is getting somewhat long."
" Think of the deer—one buck will well
reward us."
" Hush 1" whispered the Doctor, suddenly,
with a .spasmodic pull at my coat-tail, "there's
a deer."
I was just wondering at this absence of
deer, and could not account for it, as it was a
ruru thing to go a mile iu Florida without
seeing one.
" Where 1" I whispered ; " I don't see
it."
" Ilush ! it has gone now ; but we will
see it in a moment again.
We advanced ou tiptoe, both in body und
expectation.
" There ! there 1" said the Doctor, point
ing with his finger a little distance t the left;
but tne luminous spot was gone before I Laid
iy got my eye ou it.
We were in the very place for a deer. A
heavy wiud-falf lay ahead of us, and the min
gled trur.ks And twi.->led branches looked like
j the chevaux dt /rise to some great encamp
ment. The il.ckeriug light made the shadows
move bark and forth with spectral tOYet, as
I through dune ng, and the hush of the
forest was unorokeii by any sound. Every
moment I expected to see the two pho.-phores
cent sparks that indicate the deer's eyes, and
then t.'ie true shot would bring us the prize
i for our labor. It seemed a long time iu com
i iug again.
j " The deer must be very shy, whispered
the Doctor, just above his breath.
The next nine I saw it first. It was some
I distance ahead, and there were but two ; but
! before I could point them out to my c unrade,
' thev had disappeared : Presently we saw it
' 011 one side of us.
" Charlie, that's a willo v o' the wisy," said
Poke, in father a subdued tone, "or the devil;
who ever heard of a deer going around so ?"
i "He is examining vou to see what maimer
if
' of man you are
" Perchance it is some spirit of a departed
' buck, leading us a wild chase to destroy us "
" There it is right behind tue, as I live !"
ejaculated the Doctor, in evident trepidation.
I Sure enough, as 1 turned my head, 1 saw*
j the two blue lights that indicated the r fleet
\mg lenses of the eye. t'ne Doctor was tak
ing aim, but I noticed it was not very steady
He pulled the trigger —the dall snap an
nounced a miss fire. He pulled the other
trigger—it snapped the same way. The gun
1 was wet with rain.
" Was anything ever so p'ovoking ?" said
Puke, us tli ey s vanished iu the dark
: ness.
j "Ifit is the devil, he w!i have yon now'!"
" How c' u von talk so ? sod the Doctor,
with a strong accent on the " cm."
" There is your deer. Poke, in the wind
fall," said I, as ' caught .-ig;.t of the eyes
moving rapid Iy along over the IHDJ of 'lie
limber that lay heaped and knotted together.
" That's no deer," said Poke ; " no cloven
foot could ever go over that windfall that
| way, I would rather see the night hunts
man of the llartz Mountains than see those
: eyes again."
As lie was speaking, I saw in the inky
j daikiiess ahead of us, another pair of eyes,and
two or three pares on the left. The truth
flashed on me. The scarcity of the deer, the
pioximity of the wind fall, the restlessness of
those baleful eyes, all give tue the clue—tile
' wolves were "around us !
A word to Poke, and the affair was ox
pl lined, and we stood soil for consultation.—
We tried new caps on our gun, but it was of
no u-e —the cones were saturated wilh water.
We turned toward the camp, but, in ou' con
fusion, re forgot the direction To highten
the misery ol the scene, our torch was almost
I out —let that die, and the rest could be easily
divined.
We were standing, at the time, under a
small grove of pecan trees, and at the instant
a low short cough was heard from the shadow
near us, l.ke the cough of a dog.
Poke did not say a word ; but, dropping
the gun and seizuig a limb of one of the trees
, over his head, with an agility for which I had
j never given him the last credit, elevated him
self to the crotch, üboul ten feet from the
I ground.
I did not want to do anything of the kind,
of course not; I would rather have placed mv
i back agiin.-t the tree, and won a glorious
| death in battle against my numerous foes ;
but, alas ! for a bad example, I dropped the
j torch, which bioke in pieces in failing, and
| ela.-ping the nearest tree, which happened to
be a mediun-sized gum-tree, soon scrambled
up to a place of safety. Lucky was it for me
that I had that torch in my hand, for when
it fell, it lay scattered around the base of the
tree, still flickering and dishing in the dark
ness, and the animals that had surrounded us,
as they saw their prey escaping, rushed for
ward with an angry voice ; they saw the
glorious embers, and held back just long
enough to permit my escape. As 1 drew on
the first limb, a rush of gratitude passed over
my soul, and my feeling were as warm as a
child's. Nothing could be seen, for the som
bre forest shut out the light there was in the
atmosphere, but i beard the pattering of feel
beneath my fortress, like falling rain. Back
uod forward tbey came aud went, and snort-
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY AT TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., BY E. 0. GOODRICH.
iug sounds and champing teeth made the black
night ulive wilh imaginary shapes. I won
dered how it fared with f.he Doctor, yet dared
not call, for the uncertainly was less fearful
than the might be. I pictured Iriro
fallen, dragged back from his half attained ref
uge, and divided Among the hungry pack ;
and the ve*y tioi>es beiow might be the mum
bling of his bones.
•• While their white tusks crunched o'er his whiter skull.
As it slipped thruujjU their jaws wheu their edge
grew dull."
At length I summoned courage, aud called
" Poke 1"
" llulioa !" was the grateful response—
more, grateful to my ear than any souud iu
the world.
" How are you, my boy ?" I called
again
" Safe, thank the Lord !"
" What a disgraceful situation to be iu, aud
how ate we to get out of it ?'
" I will be grateful if I can only keep in it;
for this tree is so small that the wolves can
almost reach me when they jump ; and, as I
climbed up, one caught my coat tail aud tore
it entirely off "
" Climb up higher, then."
" I can't ; the tree is so small that when I
get any higlier.il beads over ami lets me down
oh, dear !"
" Haven't pistol with you ? Try
and shoot one, and it may frighten tiieru."
" Oil, dear, no; there are hundreds of them.
Just look at tiiciu below."
I looked down, and surely I could see a
drove of them. They were evidently the gray
wolf, for, in spite of the darkness, I could,
oi.ee in a while,detect their motions from their
light coats.
Poke suggested that they were phantom
wolves, and declared tlmy were all white.
All the feuriu! stories I hud ever read came
cour.-ing thiough my brain. 1 saw snow
buried hsllsnuffed out and ravished by these
prowlers, and heard the shriek of the child,
thrown from the sleigh by its fear-maddened
mother, and many an old dream re-shaped in
my mind the terrors of nights of fever. Were
we to be tired out by their devilish patience ?
Was one gang to relieve another, until we
wearily lell into their hot, tainted jaws, thus
to be hurled into oblivion ?
I shouted, iu the hope that some otic might
hear me ; but w hat good to shout iu that
midnight forest '( I heard a voice—it was
Poke saying Lis prayers, i listened devout
edlv, but could offer none myself.
When he had finished, I called to him.—
He answered faintly
" What is it ? Speak quickly— l can't
hold out much longer."
" Ftre your pistol—do try—it may bring
sotnr* help i veii if it tio-s not kill."
" I will trv," answered Poke.
There was a momentary pause, and the
sharp crack of a pistol was followed by the
singing (d a bullet close by my ear. 15y the
flash 1 saw Poke, hatless and almost coat less
hanging on to ilie topmost branch of a young
pi can, that bent with liiiu like an orange tree
under a heavy load of fruit. With the report
oi the pistol, there was a a scrambling among
the voracious crew at our feet ; but they did
not go away permanently, aud were back iu
a moment.
" Fire the other barrel, dear Poke, but
try and lire iu the other way—poiut it
down."
Bang ! sounded the pistol arid I heard a
thump on the ground, as tlie poor lellow
threw away the now useless weapon.
" Hold on, Puke ; take heart,my dear hoy.
" On, it is easy enough to say, lake heart ;
but, wheu the tiee bends a little mora than
UMiul, I am withiii a foot of these hell-hounds.
Oi', deal' ! '
At tins moment, I thought I saw a light
flashing through the foliage. A moment
more, 1 was sure of it. ' Poke, Puke, they
are coming ! some one is coming."
" Win re—where ? Oh, dear J can't turn
my head, least 1 slip off."
" There they come ! I see them—three
torches and men and dog."
" GOD bless tiiem !" I heard Poke say,
faintly.
1 was afraid he was faint. " Hold on,
Poke*" 1 said, aud scivmaing to the men, I
told them to hurry. On they came at a run.—
I recognised them us they came up, with their
torches flashing through the woods ; they
were Jackson and his men. He had been in
our camp only the day previous, and told us
he had a sheep farm in this neighborhood.
" Quick ! this way !" 1 shouted—" the
wolves ! the wolves 1
He answered me. How blessed a thing
was tlie sound of a human voice in our ne
c ssity. They came under the trees we were
in.
Hulloa there, where are you ? where are
the wolves ?" he snouted, iu a stentorian
tone.
" Dare's the sheep I'm bin hnntiu', in nil
this blessed night," ixclnmed the negro who
accompanied Jackson on his search.
I looked around, and there was Jackson's
big flock of sheep, staring blandly at us up
in the tree, and at their master, by turns. It
had been their eyes we had seen in the dark
ness. And there was Jackson, see sawing on
a fallen tree, hiccoughing, and laughing and
crying, by turns—ati(l there were the negroses,
aud they called in the sheep.
" 110 ! ho ! ho I Oh, laws a massy ! did
I ever ? Ho ! ho !ho ! Wolves ! Oh, laws
a massy J"
Poke slid down the tree lie was in, picking
up llis coat tail, that had been torn off'by a
broken limb, singing :
"Ob, that I had the wings of a dove !"
fisgf- Mrs. Partington says she don't won
der at it, that there is so much stealing in
Congress, wheu they always lay their bills
right ou the table.
" All maidens are good,"says one moralist;
" but where do the bad wives cctne from ?"
THE child thatcried for BD hour didn't get it-
" REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER."
SF.CRF.TS OF MASONARY— Free Masonary, I
said Benjamin Franklin, I admit has secrets
peculiar to itself, but of what do these princi
pally consist ? They consist of signs aud to
kens, which serve as testimonials of character
and qualifications which are conferred after
due course of instruction and examination;
they are of no small value; they speak a uui
vet sal language and are a passport to the
whole world. They cannot be lost as long
memory retains its power. Let the possessor
of tliem be expatriated, shipwrecked or itnpris
otied, let him be stripad of everything he has
in the world still these credentials remain, and
are available for him as circumstances may
require The good effects which they have
produced are established by incontestable facts
of history. They have stayed the uplifted
hand of the destroyer; they have softened the
aspirations of the tyrant; they have subdued
the rancor of malevolence, and broken down
the barrier of political animosity and sectional
alienation. On the field of battel, in the sol
itudes of the uncultivated forest, or in tiie bu
sy haunts of the crowed city, they have made j
men of the most hostile feelings, and the most
diversified conditions, rush to the aid of each
other with special joy ond satisfaction that
they have beeu able to afford relief to a broth
er Masou.
(From the Cincinnati Times.)
The Copperheads in 1314 and 1863.
Faction, the child of unhallowed ambition
and low instincts, is a cosmopolite It is also
noiuudic—as migratory as tent dwellers. It
has been found in uil countries and in all
ages, from Abraham of old to Abraham of
now. Its character has ever been the same.
It is a charlutar, yet it never lacks dupes
arid admirers. History is spiced with its pun
gent elements. Our own is full of it. It was
known in the Continental Congress and in
the Continental Army. It ran riot during the
weak Co life racy, and was impudent and de
fiant to the last degree, under the name of tie
moeruey, while Washington was Chief Magis
trate of the Republic. Wiien Jefferson be
! came President, it It ft Virginia, its genial scat,
and for a dozen years made New England ri
diculous by its follies and vices. It took pos
session of South Carolina more than thirty
years ago, and left the brood of vipers that
have hissed honiably for a few years past. —
It is now planting its stations and endeavor
ing to gain a foothold in the loyal States, un
der the specious name of " Peace party," the
title by which it was well known in Netv Eng
land, aud pilloried by the patriotism of the
nation during the war cf 1812 l5.
Then, us now, the Peace party was hypo
critical and vulgar. Then, as uutv, its com
poneiit parts were few and often obscure, and
its strength was iu its impudence and blaster.
Then, as now, it worshiped party and forsook
country. Then, as now, it clamored loudly
about the sancity of the Constitution, while it
constantly violated the dearest principles of
its spirit, and sought to purulize the arm ear-
I uestly endeavoring to preserve it and save the
' Republic from destruction. I'iieti (as it will
I now) it utterly failed, because of the vicious
j ness of its motives. The New England " cop
j per head" of IS 14 was like the " copperhead"
j of New York and other hjiatcs iu 1603, with
I this essential difference—he was never mean
! enough to abuse the cradle in which he was
! rocked, or kick the mother that bore him.
The Federal or Opposition party during
j the war of 1612, was then known as the
j Peace party, but it was only factious few of
i tiiat party who were willing to have peace o.i
: any terms. Leading nun, like Quincv, of
! Massachusetts, and E umott, of New York,
while they depricuted the war as unnecessary,
; frowned indignantly upon those who were rea
dy to embarrass the Government when engag
ed in a struggle with a powerful foe. The
; "copperheads" of fiiy years ago held the same
relation to the Federal party, as tlie " cop
j pet heads" of our day do to the Democratic
party. The preut muss of the Federal
party were patriotic, the great mass of
I the Democratic party are patriotic. The " cop
! perheads"—the peace nt-any price men —then,
:us now, were generally second rate puliliti
: cians, hopeless of any but Ephesian fame ; pos
' sessed ot more cunning titan talent, utterly
1 without, moral convict ons, selfish, loving party
and their own lusts more than country and
! tlitir fellow men, and possessing wealth enough
I to purchase, directly or indirectly, the services
; of a few venal presses.
TACTICS or TIIF. PEACE MEN IN IS 14.
; Among others of their wicked schemes—a
! scheme about to be adop'ed by the " copper
' heads" ot today—for embarrassing the Gov
! eminent, was an assault, upon the public cre
dit. They sought, by that and other means,
! to place the destinies of their country in the
; hands of Great Britain. The same class of
j politicians now seek to place the destinies of
i their country in the hands of a few slavehold
ers by the same means. Let as cou?dder a few
fac s of the past :
For several years previous to the war, and
during its earliest stages, embargo acts and
other measures restrictive of commerce had
been adopted to compel Great Britain to be
•just. These nets were naturally distasteful to
commercial New England, ami the " copper
heads" of that day so inflamed a large inter-
I ested class against the measures of tiie Gov-
I ernment, and even the Government itself,that
the navigation laws were openly defied, and
magistrates would not take, cognizance of their
violation of them.
Smuggling'became so general in that region
during the war, that one of the most eminent
of the New England opponents of the Admin
istration was constrained to confess that a
class of citizens " encouraged," as he said, "by
the just odium against the war, sneer at the
restraints of conscience, laugh at perjury,mock
at loyal restraints, and acquire on ill gotten
wealth at the expense of public morals, and
of the more sober, conscientious part of the
community." He charged the Administration
and the war with the authorship of mat' mon
strous depravation ot morals," that " exer
crable course of smuggling and fraud."
Boston was the great centre of this contra
: band trade, a business very' little engaged in
south of the Connecticut river. The conse
' qucnee was that foreign goods, shut oat from
I other seaports, found their way there. Many
( valuable British prizes were also sent into Bus
ton, and added greatly to the stock of foreign
1 merchandise there. Tiie merchants of New
| York, Philadelphia and the cities further south
i were necessarily dependent upon Boston for
| a supply of such goods, for which thev paid
partly in bills of the banks of the Middle and
; Southern States, and partly in their own pro
missory notes. By this means Boston became
j u financial autocrat, having in its hands ties i
' potic power to control the money affairs of j
the whole country. This fact suggested to j
■ the New England " copperheads" a viiiianou- ; (
' scheme for crippling the Government und '
! budding up their party upon the ruins of a j
dishonored republic. They were quick to act i
; upon the suggestion and put their scheme into i ,
j operation.
DEPKICATING THE CURRENCY IN 1814.
From the beginning of the war the Govern- ; '
ment was compelled to ask for loans. The
' Peace party, at political meeting*, through 1
! the press, and in the pulpit, cast every possible ;
j obstacle in the way. Iu tiie spring of 1814, j
! the darkest hour of the war, th s opposition ;
j took the form of virtual treason. The Gov |
' eminent was weak, and its internal enemies
i knew it; and in proportion to its exhibition i
J of weakness they became bold aud outspoken, j
' " Will Federalists subscribe to the loan ? !
j Will they lend money to our national rulers ?' ; ,
I a leading Boston paper significantly asked.—
i " It is possible, first because of the principle,
and secondly because of pnncipnl and inlrre.il.
If they lend money now, litey make themselves !
1 parties to the violation of the Constitution, ,
i the cruelly oppressive measures in relation to,
I commerce, and t<> ali crimes which have occur- i
red in the field and in the Cabinet. * * * |
Anv federalist who lends mouy to the Go- j
! verument will be called infamous !' The peo- j
! pie wt re then adroitly warned that money j
i loaned 'o tlie Government would not be ,-ufe. i
| " How, where and when," asked this " cop j
perheau" newspaper, "are the Government!
: to get money to pay interest ?" Then, in lan-1
; gunge almost, the same as that of a dis'inguisii- j
ed Democratic leader in this State, a treat of!
! future repudiation wns thrown out, to create :
! disturb in the Government securities. " Who ;
I can tell," said the wr.t r above alluded to, j
j " whethe future rulers may think the debt
! contracted under such circumstances, and by ;
| men who lend money to help our measures .
! which they have loudly and constantly con-1
: -<k-tnticd, ought to be paid ?"
! Another newspaper said of the 80-ton mer- ;
! chants : " They will lend the- Government i
i money to retrace their steps, bat none to per
severe in their present course. Let the high
i wayman fir.d his own pi-tols." And a Doctor
! of Diviuity shouted from pulpit at Bloomfi-dd:
I" If the rich men continue to furnish mom i
j war will continue till the mountains are m It :
led with the blood—till every fieid in America
|is white with the bones of the people vvltde
i another said : " Let no man who wishes to ,
continue the war by active means, by vote of;
lending money, dare to prostrate himself at '
j the aiter on the Fist Day, for snc'.i tire acta- j
i ally as much partakers in the war as the sol
dier who thrusts his bayonet, and tbejudg
i merit of GOD will await tln-m."
i These extracts give but but a fahit idea
! ofihe violence of the "copperheads" : n the
I New England capital at that time. By in
flammatory and threatening publications and
personal menaces, they intimidated many cap
italists. These were afraid to negotiate for
the loan openly, a fact which the advertise
ments of brokers, at that time,have placed on
record. Gilbert AD am advertised that the
" name of all subscribers shall be k*i( wn only
i to tiie undersigned." Another made it known
i that " tiie name of every applicant shall, at
i his request, be known only to tiie subscriber."
i Another assured the people that lie had made
! arrangements "for perfect secrecy in the trans
j actions of his business."
j The advertisements excited tho venom of .
i the " copperheads ' excedingly.nud thev pour |
| ed abuse upon tiiesut scibers and the Govern- j
; meat together. " Mousy," said one ol the
I most prominent among litem, with great bit
i | ternes*. "is such si drug (the surest sign of
, the former prosperity and present insecuritey
j of trade) that men against their consciences,
j their honor, their uuyt, their profes-ions and
promises, are willing to lend it secretly to -up
; port the very measures which are both intend
ied and calculated for their ruin." Another
i said : "How degraded must our Government
!
i be, even in our own eyes, wneu tney resort to
' j such tiicks to obtain money, which a common
: Jew broker would be ashamed of. They muat
. be well acquainted with the fabric of the men j
; who are to loan them money, when they uf-
I fer, that if they will have the goodness !o do
i it, their name shall not bo exposed to tho
! world."
This last expression refers to the hopes of '
j the " copperheads," of bringing about a dis-j
. 1 solution of the Union by mentis of the Hart
, ford Convention, which hud adjourned to meet
. • again, if necessary. It is proper to add that
! their hopes would have been frustrated, for I
i that Convention was too essentially patriotic
' in the designs of a great majority of its mem- j
: , bers to have given the vile traitors any com
. j fort. It may also be proper to add, for the ;
j gratifieat'on of the reader, and as a warning
, ; to the " Copperheads" of today, that many of
i those of 1814 suffered severely by the very
. j distresses their villainies had produced, and ;
: that they were ever detested by all honorable
men. They were consigned to everlasting so
cial and political obscurity.
Similar enemies of the country are now, in
( various ways, endeavoring to alarm the people
I concerning the National finances. Every art
which wickedness can divine will be used to
! accomplish their vile purpose. They toll up
j their eyes und cast up their hands in pretend
! Ed horror because of the "crushing national
debt.'.' They hiut darkly of rapodUtiou by a
VOX,. XXIII. —J5T0.44,.
PATRIOTISM OF THE PEOPLE, AND NEW SCHEMES OP
THE PEACE MEN.
But oil these efforts at intimidation failed
to prevent the loan. Patriotic men in New
England, of the opposition-school, subscribed
to the loan ; ami in the Middle Stales the
Federalists did so openly and liberally, to the
disgust and mortification of the traitorous
'* copperheads." Tisis caused them to try an
other and tnore infamous scheme, as follows :
We have observed tbar, for reasons named,
Boston became the centre of Onaucial power.
The " copperheads'* determined to use that
power to embarrass the Government. The
banks in the Middle and Southern States were
the principal subscribers to the loan, and the
traitors determined to drain thetnef their spe
cie, and thus produce an utter inability to pay
their subscriptions. Some of the Boston
banks became parties to the scheme. Tho
notes of the banks in New York, Philadelphia
and places further south, held by their hank?,
were tran-mtttea to thern with demand* for
specie, and at the same time drafts were drawn
on the New York batiks for the balances due
the Boston corporations to the amount, in the
course of a lew months, of about eight mil
lions of dollars.
The New York bankers were compelled to
draw largely on those of Philadelphia. Phil
adelphia bankers 0:1 those of Baltimore, and
so on A panic was created. No one could
predict tho result. Confidence was shaken.
Wagons were seen loaded with specie leaving
bank doors, with the precious freight going
frora c.ty to city, to tied its way finally into
the vaults of those of Massachusetts. The
banks thus drained were compelled to curtail
their discounts. Commercial derangements
and bankruptcies ensued. Subscribers to tho
loan were unable to comply with their prom
ises, and so uncertain was the future to tho
minds of many who intended to subscribe, that
they hesitated. When the Boston bankers
were called upon by public opinion to explain
their movements, they made the spacious plea
of their right to the ha a nee duo theui from
other bu:ks. ThisjWas not satisfactory. Ma
thins Carey, one of the ablest publicans cf the
day, says that the demand was made at a sea
son of the year when freight on the spe
cie, on account of the bad state of the roads,
wasfiom twenty to thirty per cent, more than
it would have been had they vveited a few
weeks. That they could have waited without
detriment to i.ny iutersst, is made manifest by
the following statement of the condition of tho
banks of Massachusetts in. January,lßl4, just
before the movement was made ;
A Totes in
Specie. Circulation.
Massachusetts Drr.t: $2,114,163 $662 u S
Union 057, 7y5 233,223
lio>u>a 1,152,572 SR.S.YOJ
State 659,066 809,000
New Kngland. *... 2*4,436 161,170
3 4 ,3'JL 44,5 a J
$1,945,414 $2,900,601
By this statement, I f appears that they had
in their vaults about $250 in specie for every
SIOO of notes in ciuJalien, "ft state of
things," savs Carey, "probably unparalleled in
llieJiistory of bunking, from the days of the
Lombard-) to the present time."
iJO effects of the conspiracy were potent
and i uhiOUv and for a while it was thought
impossible for the Government to sustain its
army and navy. The banks of New Eaglaud
were compelled to su-ueiid specie payments,
and the injurious effects of the piper curren
cy of the country may be seen by toe follow
ing prices current, published on tho Tib of
V . ~w
J. vJi Udi Y, ioioi
J),!ois pz>.
All the bunks hi New York State. Hud
.-oa ami Ur.iageL'MjfiJita .... 19@2) percent.
Hudson Bank. *. 2t> '■
tbiltniKae 11, inks 7) "
T.eas o „• : . UO2S
United states Six per cents 49 "
Stocks of banks, insurance companies and
ether corporators suCVrcd great depreciation,
to the iijii y of thousands cf innocent people,
such a; widows and orphans. Had the eon
s', oi'utors lull ' succeeded, toe National armies
must have "been disbanded, and the Govern
; meat reduced to a dependency of Great Bri
tain.
INTRIGUES WITH THE PL'CLIO ENEMY.
To make the blow against the public credit
still more effectual, the " copperhead-." made
arrangements with agents of the government
authorities of Lower Canada, whereby a very
large amount of British Government bills,
drawn on t> 1 -bee. were transmitted to N .v
York, Philadelphia and i> il'.iiuore, and So'd
on such advantageous terms to capitalists, as
induced them to purchase. These transactions
were made so bo'.uly that advertisements LEO
the following appeared in the Boston papers :
1 bill fw £-'0 i British Goveruiueiit bi'tli far
i 1 do. for 50 I sale by
I Jo. lor 2J3 Cii VRl.r.s SV. GREEN,
V No. 14, Indian Wharf.
£1253]
By this means an immense amount of gold
was transmitted to Canada, placed beyond the
reach of the Governin nt of the United States,
and put into the hands of the enemy to give
! sinews to the war they were waging against
i the independence of tiie Republic. So great
was this drain and the demand for specie to
pay for smuggled goods brought from Canada
1 and Nova Scotia, that the specie in the Mas-
I sachusetts banks was rednvd in the course of
six months nearly three iniLi >n and a half of
| dollars—t! ,e amount being so.4'jS 004 on tho
[irst of July, 1814, and only uu
the first ot January, 1815.
REJOICINGS OF THE PEACI MEN AT THE COUNTRY 5
MISFORTUNES
This injury to the Government credit w..s
j gloated over by the " copperheads." One of
them, writing from Boston to a New York
newspaper in February, 1815, said exultingiv:
" This day twenty tnotisaiid dollars six per
cent, stock was put up at auction, live thous
and dollars of which only was sold, for want
of bidders, and that ut forty per cent, under
par. As for the former war loan.it would be
considered a i ttle short of an insult to ofl'er it
in the market, it being n very serions question
who is to father the child in case of National
difficulties."