OUT.
I liavo sworn ufcou tho Altar of God. eternal hostility to crory form of Tyranny over tuo Mind of Man," Thomas Jefferson.
PRINTED AND PUBLISUED BY IT. WEBB'.
Volume II.
BLOOMSlBUl&Gi COLUMBIA C0OTTY; FA. SATURDAY, -tANUARY 1839.
Number 37.
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laagMumiJ ' -""ajaiwtfijiilijiAWJintajjwiiiiiJii urea
CURIOUS STORY:
' Jl Parallel to the Co'urtenay Madness,
We conclude this chapter .With relating,
aa wo, find it in "Hughson's Perambula
tions," art account Of a most extraordinary
iiffaif, Highly1 illustrative of the ignorance
bnd credulity of the last century, which
happened in this place in the year 1751.
Some country people were possessed of the
opinion, that an old man and woman of that
town, John and Ituth Osborne, were wilch
Jes, on account of several cattle dying of a
contagion, which then raged! great numbers
of them assembled, some du horseback', and
others oh foot; and went aiid had then! pro
claimed as such', in three different market
towns. These uniortun'ato people were;
afterwards, dragged from the vestry of the
church, where they had been concealed,
and so severely ducked that tho woman
'died on the spot, and the man a few days
afterward. Several persons were commit
led to custody oh the verdict of tho coron
ers' jury; atid one Thomas Colley (who,
though a principal.actot in this horrid affair,
Vas prompted by others, and by the liquor
:trhich he had drunk) was tried at the ensil
ing assizeB for Hertfordshire; capitally
convicted. It canie out', at the trial, that,
on the 18 tb of April, 1751t one Nichols
camo to William Dell, the crier of Hsmol
Hempstead, and gave him a piece of paper,
with four pence, that ho might cry tho
words, written thereon, in the market-place.
Tho words were these : "This is tb give
notice, that on Monday next! a matt and
Woman are to be1 publickly ducked at Tring,
in this county, for their wicked crimes."
The overseer of the parish where these peo
ple lived, having heard this cried at Wins
low Leighton Buzzard, and Heuicl Hemp
Btead, on tho several market-days, and boing
informed that the two people John Osborno
bid Rutht his wife; he sent them to the
workhouse for safeiyi Tlie master of the
Workhouse, to make still more secure, re
moved them, in the middle of tho night of
ttie 21st, into the vestry room of tho churclr,
thinking tho sanctity of the place would
have some awe upon the mob, if they came.
However, on the day appointed, more than
five thousand people were collected togeth
er at Tring; declaring revenge against Os
borne and his wife; as a wizard and a witch:
ttiey pulled down a latge wall belonging to
tho workhouse, (the ancieut priory,) and
'demolished the windows and window
frames. .Thb niasler of the workhouse as
sured them they wore not there; the mob
would not believo him but rushed in, and
searched the house, the closets; and even
the 'boxes and trunks. They declared they
would pull tho house down if tho victims
were not produced, and some proposed eel
ting fire to itj at last, they nil swore, that,
if Osborne and his wife wero not delivered
to them, they would not only bum the work
house, but the town of Tring. The mas
ter being apprehensive tlldl they would do
aa they had promised, at length informed
them where tho unhappy peoplo wero,
Tho mob now wont off in triumph, with
Oolloy at their head. As soon as tho mob
entered tho vestry roomr they seized Os
borno And his wife, ami carried them to a
place called Gufblccotc, about two miles
off, where, not finding a pond to their pur
pose, they carried them to Wilston Green,
and put them into separate rooms, there',
they stripped them naked, and tied them up
separately in a sheet, but, first, Uiey crossed
the man's legs and arms, and bent his body
so as to tie his thumbs to his groat toes.
When they came to the pond called Wilston
Wear; a rope was tied under the armpits of
Ruth Osborne, and two men dragged her
into tho pond, and through it, and Colley
went into the pond and turned her, several
times, over and over with a stick. After
they had ducked the woman they' brought
her tb land; and then dragged tho old man
in; and ducked him. , Thou he was set a
sidc, and tlie woman ducked again as before,
and Colley made the sainousoof his slick.
Then the bid man was ducked again. Af
ter which the woman was, a third time?
ducked; and Colley went into the pond and
gulled iier about until the sheet wherein she
was wrapped came off, and she appeared
halted' She expired sodu afterwards. Col
ley then bame out of the pond, and went
round collecting money for tlie sport he had
shown them to ducking the old witch, as
lie called her. After the woman was dead
t'ic mob carried John Osborno to a house,
put him to bed, and laid his dead wife by
his side. Ruth Osborno was severity years
of age ; John was fifty-six. In conse
quehco of thoso circumstances of
cruelty; Colley was ordered for im
mediate execution; and his body was after
wards hung in chains at Gufblecote, in tho
parish of Tiiiig, three miles off. Another
instance of credulity and superstition occur-
cd, in this neighbourhood, in the year 17C9.
At Wingrove, one Susannah Ilannokes, an
elderly woman, was accused, by her neigh
bour, of being a witch; for, that she had
bewitched list spining wheel, so that she
could no! make it go round, and, offered to
mako oath of it before a magistrate; on
which, tho husband of tho poor woman, in
order to justify his wife, insisted upon her
being tried by the church Bible, and that
the accuser shbuld bo present; she was con
ducted by her husband to the ordeal, attend
ded by a great concoiirsa of people, who
docked to the parish church to see the cere
mony, where she was stripped of herclothes
to her shirt and under petticoat, and weigh
ed against the fliblo ! when, to the no small
mortification of the accuser, she outweigh
ed it and was honorably acquitted of the
charge; Railroudimxft.
YOUNG MEN, READ THIS..
A scene from 'ClenietU Falconer
Mr. Ciabbo entered his office lato one
evening, after having ptissed from the grave
to tho gav, in his usual manner at tlie table
of a friend, and throwing himself into his
own chair, 'Clem,' said he, 'lay aside that
book, and let us talk.' And tho volume be
ing deposited on the tabic, ho continued :
'I have turned out of my office a number
of very clever, and a few very distinguish
ed men, and whether you are to go in ad
vance of your predecessors, or to fall be
hind thcrri, mu3t depend in some measure,
upon nature to be sure) but mainly upon
yourself. I was sitting in this place one
morning in tho fall ol the year, when in
stopped along, lank, limber young Yankee.
His caub was thrown over his shoulder,
from which depended down his back a ban
dana handkerchief, containing all tho world
ly gooiU and clothes he possessed besides
those ho had on. He wore a slouched bea-
er, and a thread-bare coat, lirici; pantaloons,
and coarse shoes, and travelled, afoot from
tho mountains of New llamshlrc, on his
way to the West. But it occurred to him
that morning, as lie said, that bofore he ar
rived in tho now Slatesi ho would like to
study tho law, and requested jwmisbidn to
begin his studies forthwith, in my ollice, ue-
siring me to state, at tho same time, what
was the customary student s feo in these
parts. Bomowhat started at tne apantion,
I had thoughts at first of not receiving him;
but thero was something in the quiet deter
mination of his eye, and tho confident busi
ness air with which ho throw down his bun
die, and opened the subject of his wishes,
and still more in the hardy enterprise and
firmness of purpose implied in the whole
conduct of the young man, that pleased me
exceedingly, and I told him that he was
welcome to use my books, and to such aid
as I could afford him in the prosecution of
studies. That my charge for those young
gentleman who were able to pay me con
veniently, was one hundred dollars pcr.an
num; but those who could not afford this
expenditure; I willingly received without
charge. He replied that he had no money,
and could only say, that after he should be
qualified to practice, and got into business,
which ho hoped he would not be long in do
ing, he would remit my fee from the West.
He set in accordingly, paying- his board
and providing himself with clothing, by
taking a class of young men, to whom ho
gave instructions at nights, in Latin and
Greek, and was never absent from the of
fice one day for three years, at which timcfl
he was admitted to the bar, Ho now again
took up his cane and bundle; continued his
tramp over the montains; and sat himself
down in the then territory of Indiana.
whenco horeniitted mo, in. sums, from time
to time the whole amount .of my fee. I
wrote to him declaring that I was unwilling
to receive his money, and hoping that he
would consider mo satisfied; but ho insist
ed upon paying mo every farthing. And
now that man is a Senator in the Congress
from the West, building up a well earned
fame among the Amphyctyons of the U-
nion.
, CURIOUS OCCURRENCE.
The peasants of Ulster use an enormous
scythe, with the end of the handle sharpen
ed to a point, .that they may stick it into
the ground. When they go home from
-.'ork,they carry this formidable weapon ov
er their shoulders, in such manner that the
edge of tho scythe lies round their necks.
Two peasants were cauntering homo by
the side of a river; when they spied a large
salmon with his head hidden tinder tho roots
of an old treo, and his tail lying out into the
stream. "Look Paddy,,' said one, at the
stupid salmon, he thinks because he can't
see us, wo cant see him; if I had but my
pike I would lot him know thej differ
ence." "Och !"; said the other, creeping
down, "sure tho scythe handle will do for
that hero goe3." And so saying ho struck
at the salmon; and hit him truly enough,
only unfortunately, with the same stroke,
he took off his own head, which fell plump
into the water before the eyes of his aston
ished comrade. For a long time he could
not understand how it was that Paddy's
head fell off so suddenly, and maintains
that there was something not quite as natur
al a3 it should be, in the business.
T7ic capture of the Castle of SanJuatl dc
Ullowd.
From tho New Orleans Bulletin. . ,
The capture of the castle of San Juan de
Ullowa, has created quite a sensation here
not because it was an unexpected event
but the way it was done has excited the
surprise of all. This fortress was reputed
to be one of tho strongest in America.
the only modo by which tho Mexicans
got possesion, was by starving out tho
Spanish garrison. Thero were good
grounds therefore to anticipate a stout resist
ance. Several days at least, it was thought;
would be spent ore the formidable batteries
wero demolished., But when tho nows
came that tho work was done in three hours'
every one was astonished; and the impress
ion generally was made, that the French
wore indebted for their success ni a groat
measure to the weakness of thoir adversa
ries'; This may in part be truo the testi
mony of eye-witness provod : that the French
showed themselves to bo admirable engi
neers. The degtriiction effected by their
gunners in a few hours, upon a fort deem
ed hitherto impregnable, is sufficient cvi
denco of that fact. The Mexicans too,
stood their ground till their batteries wore
blown up, thoir guns dismounted, and tho
walls of the fort wero laid in rilins. ,Wo
hear no account of an offer to capitulate,
while there was any hope iri resistance. It
cannot bo said then, that tho conquest wa3
easy for want of a resolute defence. . Tho
Mexicans fought well, under the shelter
of their intrenchments, until they were
buried under the rubbish of demolished bat
teries and crumbling walls. Tho fact is
that the French excel in gunnery, and to
their consummate skill and science is to be
ascribed the conquestof San Juan dslloa.
Extraordinary Fcctdty. Thcreis in our
Institution for the Blind, a pupil named
Burras, who has the unaccountable faculty
of computation so rapidly, that you may
ask him what was any past year,, or what
will be any day of any year, or what will
bo any day of any year to come, and he
answers yon with perfect accuracy, almost
but immediately. For instance, you say
" Well, what day was the 20th of Janu
ary, 1830?" He tells you instantly. If
you ask "what day will be the Oth of Feb
ruary 18-10," again ho answers at once: In
fact, you can ask him no questions which
ho will not promptly and correctly answer.
And yet this boy never had the least in
struction in Mathematics to bring but this
faculty; When he entered the, Pennsylva
nia Institution he was regarded as almost
an idiot he was deformed, being drawn
down by tho negligence with which he had
been permitted for years and years to sit in
the corner by tho fiic-sidc in a stale of ab
solute vacuity of mind. By the excellence
of physical culture, ho is nearly erect; and
by the combined efforts of tho benevolent
leaders, he has also been astonishingly im
proved in his mental powers.
How this boy makes his computations
or time, is not known j but it is certain
that he goea by some mathematical rule of
his own.
dno morriing a party came into the pub
lic rooms at Buxton somewhat later than
usual, and requested some tongue. They
were told that Lord Byron had ealeii it all.
" I am very angry with his lordship,' said
a lady, loud enough for him to hear the ob
servation. "I am very sorry for it, mad
am," retorted Lord Byron; "but before I
ate the tongue, I was assured that yoii did
riot want it."
A jury in one of the Cinque Ports, being
charged with an old woman, accused of steal
ing a pair of boots, moved 'probalby by tho
infirmities and miserable appearance of the
prisoner, returned the following verdict.-r-"
Wo find her not guilty, and hope she will
not do so any more"
An Enigma. At a banquet, when solv
ing enigmas was one of the diversions, Al
exander said to one of his courtiers 'Whpt
is that which did not como last year, and
will not come this year V A disUesscd of
ficer, starting up, said 'It must be our ar
rears in pay.' The King was so diverted
that he commanded him to be paiii up', and
also increased his salary.
Long Beards. The longest beard recor
ded in history, was that of John Mayo,
painter to tho Emperor Charles V. Though
iio was a tall man, it is said his beard was
so long that he could tread upon it. He
was very vain of his beard' and usually fas
tened it wjth a ribbon to his button hole;
and sometimes he would untie it by com
mand of the Emperor,, who took great
pleasure in seeing the wind blow it hi the
faces of tho courtiers.
Off with his Nose. Art English news
paper says that the now Russian Minister
to tho United States is called Somonosoff
(saw my nose off.) An attache of tho
samo legation in Washington, Blowmano
zorf (blow my nose off.) Besides which
we have Col. Kutmanosof, of tho imperial
guard, (cut my noso off.) Marshal Pull
mauosof, (pull my noso off.) Gen. Noze
bogun, (noso begone) and many others.
Boston Journal
; . , From tho Wilkcsbarre Advocate. i
MESSRS. BUTLER & STURDEVANT.
, A number bC Whig citizens who were at
tho meeting at Pettit's on Saturday, and ap
proved entirely of tho proceedings so far as
they go, are yet, on further reflection and
seeing the unmeasured abuse poured out
on our members by the Telegraph' disposed
to go farther into the matter, we do there
fore set forth the following facts and princi
ples, believing them to be correct, and truei
First, We do pointedly condemn the
conduct of those return judges and other vi
olent partizans who attempted to rob Charles
Naylor of his unquestionable right to be re
turned to Congress, and hold up to repro
bation the factious and disorganizing course
of Charles J. Ingersoll, in stimulating them
to that measure: which we believe has
been the source of all the present rhischief at
Harrisburg. But two wrongs never made
aright; Their misconduct, in setting at
defiance the will of the maioriiy. can be no
justification for the whigs to cqmmit tho
Bame error. Their crime should operate
as a 'negative example,' and lead the whiga
to a more rigidly scrupulous fidelity to the
sacred republican maxim tho root and
fohpdation of (frce government, obedience
to the will of the majority. t , , ,f,
Second', That there are 17 election wards;
arid districts in Philadelphia county, and
mnst therefore be 17 return judges, of which
it takes nine to constitute a majority! and
less than nine could n'dt rilakc art official
That in the county the Van Buren o
democratic ticket had, taking tho highest
vote' 10,030, the highest whig vote, 0400J
giving a majority of &4G; that the loweat
on tho democratic ticket had a majority of
3B5 ovo the highest whig, and that there
fore, (what we are vcty sorry for,) tho dem
ocratic ticltet was elected their members
were entitled to be returned! and to take
part in the organization of the House, ac
cording to the immutable principles of jus
tice, and all former ptecedenti , .
That six judges of Philadelphia county
made up a paper, setting forth the votes in
only seven of out the seventeen wards and
dislricls,leaving out the Other ten shewing
a majority for the) whig members: that it
was sent off b an express messenger td
the Secretary bf thp commonwealth;
The judges of elections have the rightj
and it is thier duty to decide on the legality
of votes presented at the district where they
preside, while the election is going on; but
when the, poll is closed, their business is
purely ministerial; they ore bound to mako
up the returns as the votes were cast; they
have no right to know, .enquire, or decide
respecting the validity of votes cast in any
other ward or disliict the returns of votes
cast are to be made to tho Assembly when
"each house," says jhe constitution, "shalji
judge of the qualification of its members,"
and they alone;
That the number of election wards of,
districts in any county, being a matter of
law, need not bo pleaded; the secretary is
presumed to know the law, and the number
of judges,' and, therefore,' in no nacs, wero
he vested with judicial power, could a pa
per signed by less than a majority bb right'
fully regarded as 8 legal returni ?
That at the convention of members elect
for the purpose of organization, the Secreta
ry took in them as the Return from Phili'
delphia county ,onlyt lie paper signed by the1
six judges. -
That the paper sent in by the .six Judges
was not a legal return from Philadelphia'
county. , j . i . ,
That jhe paper sent in by the six Judges
did not pretend on the face of it to be the1
return from the whole county, but only sev
en districts; and therefore could not be re
garded as a truo and official return: . . ,.
(That the law demands the returns shall
bo placed in tho nearest postrofuce, sealed,
or directed to tho Senate orHouse.encIosed'
in an envelope to tho Secretary ofthe com
monwealth'. Tho pafer signed by the Six