The Columbia Democrat. (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, June 22, 1839, Image 1

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    V
Elf.
have 8Worn uou tUo Altar God, eternal hostility to every form of Tyranny over the Mind of Man.'-Thoms JeffmonT"
is
MINTED ANJ) PUBLISHED BY If. WEBB.
Volume MI.
OFFICE OF THE DEMOCRAT,
Opposite St. Paul's Church, Main-st.
TEHEES
The COLUMBIA DEMOCRAT will be
Fifty Cents, if not paid within the year.
No subscription will be taken for a shorter
period than six months; nor any discon
linuancc permitted, until all arrearages
arc discharged.
ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding a
square will be conspicuously inserted at
One Dollar for the first three insertions,
and Twenty-five cents for every subse
qucht nsertlon. IC7"A liberal 'discount
made to those who advertise by the year.
LETTERS addressed on business, must
be post paid.
Extractfrom a Speech, by David Paul
Drown, Esq.
'Why,-gentleman, who was it that shed
the brightest lustre upon the vast science of
astronomy? One David Iiittenhouse. a na
tive of Pennsylvania, who followed the
plough. "Who was it that tore the lightning
from heaven and the sceptre from tyrants ?
One Ben. Franklin, a printer's boy, who
protected himself from the inclemency of
the winter by exercise alone and lived upon
a single roll of bread a day. Who was it
when the veteran armies of Great Britain
faltered and fled, in the Indian war, safely
conducted the retreat, and secured the rem
nant of the army, though he had 'never set
a squadron in the field, nor the division of
a battle knew more than a spinster V one
' George "Washington, a- Virginia planter.
Who was it that shed tho brightest halo
around the brightest reign that tho world
ever knew; tho reign of Elizabeth the ago
of the Raleighs tho Bacons and Sidney ?
wh)it was one Ben. Johnson, a quondam
apprentice to a bricklayer; and one WiU
Shakspear, a peasant boy, shrewdly sus
pected of poaching upon his neighbor's
deer. Or, passing from astronomy and po
etry to law; who was it that rose from low
becinninss, to be Lord Chief Justice of
England! one Charles Abbot, whose father
was a barbar. Who was it that rose
to be Lord High Chancellor of Eng
land ? one Jack Copley, whose father was
nn American painter. Who was it that be
came the brightest star in the judicial con
stellation of Great Britain? one Phil Yorkc,
whose father no man knew. Or passing to
a Btil further illustration; who was it that
subjected tnree-iwrths of Europe, and con
fident against the world' n arms, made the
Autocrat of all Russia tremble w.'on his
throne ? one Napoleon, who rose from ' 1
station of corporal to such consummate
power, to such dazzling heights to enable
iim to look down upon emperors, kings,
princes, and tho other potentates of the
earth while he unmade them.
"Although I do not mean to say that
thero never was a great man among the
wealthy curled darlings of the nation, yet I
do mean to say, and all history sustains the
assertion, that luxury and affluence are cal
culated to enfeeble the mind, and that those
therefore, who nre great in despite of them,
would probably bo much greater if removed
from their influence. It is a well known
fact among gentlemen of tho turf, that
blooded horses, who for years have been
permitted to browse and career on broken
irregular and mountaincous pastures, have
acquired a much greater muscular strength
in sportsman's phrase better bottom, than
those who are fed upon a level surface.
The application of this, although a physical
illustation, is not difficult. Men, whose
lives have been an uninterupted course of
difficulty, a perfect uphill work, acquire in
time a self-independence, and -a self-sufficiency
and promtitude in every emergency,
which, those who have been accustomed
to stand for fame on their forefather's
feet.or to lean for all pleasure upon anothers
breast, never have known and nev er can
know."
published every Saturday morning, at
TWO DOLLARS per annum, payable
half yearly in advance, or Two Dollars
BliOOMSBURCr, COLUMBIA COUNTY,' PA. SATURDAY, JUTE 22, 1839.
ON MORAL INSANITY.
"Some thirty years ago a young lady,
the only daughter of a noblo house in the
north of, Germany, from having been one
of the most cheerful girls, becamo subject
to fits of tho deepest melancholly. All the.
entreaties of her parents were insufficient
to draw from her the reason of it; to their
affections ho was cold, to their caresses
rude, and though society failed to enliven
her, she bore her part in it with a power
and venom of sarcasm, that were as strango
to her former character, as they were unbe
coming her sex & youth. The parents con
trived, doing her temporary absence from
homo, to investigate the contents of her
writing desk, but no indications of a con
cealed or disappointed passion were to be
found, and it was equally clear that no pa
pers had been removed. -The first news
they heard of her was, that tho house in
which she was visiting had been burnt to
tho ground; that she had been saved with
difficulty though her room was not in that
part of tho building where the fire had com
menced; that her escape had first been taken
for granted.and that when her door was burst
open she was found seated in her usual
melancholy attitude, with her eyes fixed on
the ground. She relumed home neither
altered in manner nor changed in demanor,
and as painfully brilliant in conversation
when forced into it. Within two months
of her return tho house was burnt to the
ground, and her mother perished in the
flames ; sho was again found in the same
state as on the former occasion; suffered
herself to bo led away without eagerness
or resistance; did rot alter her deportment
upon hearing the fate of her mother made
no attempt to consolo her father ; and re
plird to the condolence of ):ei friends with
a bittcincss and scorn almost demoniacal.
l no iaincr anu uaugntcr removed to a spa
for change of scene; on the night of their
arrival, the hotel was in flames, but this
lime the fire began in her apartment, for
from her window were the sparks first
seen to issue, and again was sho found
dressed, seated, and in a reverie. The ho
tel was tho properly of the sovreign of the
little state in which the spa was situted; an
investigation took place; sho was arrested;
and at once confessed that on each of tho 3
occasions she had been the culprit; that she
could not tell wherefore, except that she
had an irrcsi.table longing to set houses on
fire; at each time she had striven against it
as long as she could, but was unable to
withstand the temptation; that this longing
first supervened a few weeks after she had
been seized with a sudden depression of
spirits: that she felt a hatred to all the world
but had strength to refrain from oaths and
curses against it. She is at this moment
, a mad house, where she was at first
allowed some liberty, but after an exhibition
of homicidial monomania towards a child,
of ferocity aYn?ost appalling, it was found
unecessary to apply the severest restraint.
Sho still possescd her.mmory, her reason
ing powers, her petulant wh, and observes
the most scrupulous delicacy.
Horrible Transaction. Tho Natchez
FrceTrader stales that in the circuit court of
common pleas of Copiah count), on the
10th inst. Alua Carpenter was put on trial
charged with the murder of Mr. Keller,
late judge of probate of that county. Tho
Jury, after being absent a short time, re
turned a verdict of manslaughter. As the
officer of Ihe court was on tho eve of ta
king the prisoner back to jail, a sudden up
roar took place, the lights were all put out,
and Carpenter was stabbed in thrco places
one of his hands cut off, and he fell a corpse
in tho 'hall of the court!' It is supposed
that the persons who were engaged in the
high-handed and horrible transaction, were
relatives of Mr. Keller.
An ingonious mechanic of Bangor,
Maine, is constructing a beautiful cairiago (o
bo propelled solely by the weight of the
passenger, applied to (readies.
From the Boston .Courier.
THE YEOTPJLOQTXISTo
CHAPTER I.
My friend and chum, .Tim Jocely, pos
sessed in a astonishing degree the singular
power ot ventriloquist. a nad entered
college together I was his room male
and many wcie tho times Hhat my friend,
while we wero sitting together of an even
ing, after all had retired to rest, had given
me proof of his astonishing faculty, by fill
ing the garret with tho sctcams of turkeys,
the squealing of pigs, and with different im
itations of the human voice, which he could
convey to some remote distance and then
gradually bring it nearer and nearer, until
it reached the place where he was sitting.
It was not known to any of the students ex
cept myself, that Tim possessed this power,
and he exercised it on so few occasions
while at college, and, in one instance
made it subservient to tho accomplishment
of at least his own gooc and thwarted the
purpose of villainy.
Tim was a humoious, yet frank and no
ble minded fellow, an exc:Vwt scholar, and
much beloved by his class mates. There
was a fellow in the Sopbmoro class, of the
name of David Benson, Ihe son of a wealthy
landholder, who possessed in reality, but
little talent, but had that Superficial and in
solent contemptuous bearing towards all
the students, whoso circumstances were in
ferior in wealth to his, that rendered him
deservedly unpopular among the class -yet,
notwithstanding as ho was the son of Major
Benson, who was an asrlstocrat of the old
school, and who was desirous that his son
should be placed in tho highest rank of aca
demic honors, tho tutors fas in dutv. or
rather, in interest bound J made much of
David, and did nutsctuirJ sucrue a len
iency and foibearance towards him, 'which
they did not extend towards others ; and
although dozens of the farmer's sons, among
whom was my friend Tim, out-stripped
him in study, and in the attainment of sci
ence, still there was evidently a desire on
the part of the tutors to put him ahead, and
to prophecy that he was destined to become
the greatest scholar of them all. This mis
placed favoritism, added to the insolent and
consequential demeanor of Benson, procur
ed for him the unanimous dislike of all the
school, and many were tho pranks that
were played off upon him. David affected
a sentimentality and a romance which was
in him perfectly ludicrous and would some
times perpetrate doggcrnl, which ho sub
mittcd to the criticism of the tutors, and
sometimes to the students, deficient in
meaning or measure, except where he had
stolen entire snatches from Byron's 'Hours
of Idleness," which never failed to gain him
the sneers of the school in the same propor
tion as his verses wero .commended bv the
teachera. On one oecaftHYTtopycaTcdTt
the adjoining village, lvith a copy of his
last effort tacked to lib gkirt of his coat,
which some inisclueyous student had pin
ned thero during Befool hours, and before
Benson s departure
ui.r,n(r a sumiijr yaca ion. a bal was
given at tho neighbong village, and Ben
son and Tim among other students who
had remained during tl.e vacation were in
vited to attend. Amoiig the young ladies,
in attendance at tho ball, was Eliza Ayers
a beautiful girl of eighteen, whom report
said was a great heiress. Sho was an or
phan, and under tho guardianship of her un
cle, a miserly old fellow, whoso tyrannies,
although extended over his own household,
had as yet been withheld from his ward.
Benson was here introduced to Miss Ayers,
and exercised tho wholo of his powers to
mako himself agreeable to her. Tim was
also introduced and before tho evening
drew lo a close, it waf easy to discover that
the beautiful and intelligent girl had drawn
in her own mind the difference between the
two young men. She seemed annoyed at
the viped fooleries of Benson, while she
listened with a respectful attention, and with
a smile, to tho conversation of Tim. The
amusements broko up for the evening.
Tim was standing by Miss Ayres, who af
er some remnrks as to' the happy manner
in which the evening had' passed away,con
cluded by inviting Tim to call upon her at
her uncle's. Before sho had finished this
sentence, Benson came up, and politeness
afforded her no alternative but to offer the
same invitation to him. Ho was about
to offer to accompany her home, but Tim
had been too quick for him there. Tim ac
companied the lady home, and Benson re
turned mortified to his room. He hewev
ci formed la determination of visiting Miss
Ayers, feeling the full assurance that Tim
would come off second, when it became
known that Tim was the son of a farmer,
in moderate circumstances, while he was
the son of Major Benson, with a fortune at
his command. He accordingly often called
on Miss Ayres; and her uncle for reasons
which will hereafter be explained, encour
aged his visits, and exerted himself to favor
him as a suitor to his niece. Benson was
fairly in love, ard as many lovers do,he as
sumcd a virtue and amiability of deportment
which was but ill feigned, and his real cha
racter would often appear in spito of him
self. Tim had also availed himself of Eli
za's invitation and often visited her. A
mutual attachment was the conscqucnee,
which soon ripened into an alYcction be
tween tho two an exchange of vows and a
promise of her hand was won from Eliza.
Benson, under the eucouragement of her
uncle, still continued his suit, proposed and
was rejected. He now grew amazing mel
ancholy, or at least affected to be so ; and
would wander in this mood to tho banKs of
the river, and gaze upon the stream proba
bly contemplating an acquaintance with su
icide, and giving his body to the fishes for
dissection. But Benson was not such
fool neither. Ilis disappointment became
known to tho college, and numerous wero
the jibes and taunts the poor fellow got
from those he had so insolently domineered
over. This of course, did not tend to
add much to tho amiability of his temper,
and on one occasion he showed his magna
nimity and courage by knocking down a
bright eyed lad, some five or six years his
junior, for saying " that a fellow who had
been in the habit of taking airs on himself,
had found Ayres that was not so easily
taken." Tim, who stood by, saw this ex
hibition of Benson's courage, and in return
gave him a blow under tho left ear which
sent him reeling on tho floor. At this the
whole school shouted, nnd Tim was ever
after hailed by the youngsters, as a protect
or against the tyranny of Benson.
But Tim himself was not entirely at ease
on tho score of Miss Ayies. The old un
cle had frowned upon him, as he entered
the house, and had given him sundry hints
that Eliza was not for him, while at thn
samo time heJaUeje
maiiQs upon Eliza respecting her accepting
of Benson. This uncle's name was Pell.
He had been rasde sole executor of the will
of Eliza's father, himself having the profits
of the large estate of the deceased gentle
man, afler supporting and educating the
daughter during her minority or until sho
should marry. An item in the will was to
this effect that if Eliza married a man of
moderate fortune, the whole estate amount
ing to sixtv thousand dollars was to become
hers, on her marriage day but if her hus
band was himself heir to thirty thousand
dollars, half the estate became the properly
of the uncle which sufficiently explains
tho anxiety on the pait of Mr. Pell, that
Eliza should marry Benson, as he would
thereby become possessed of a snug pro
perty. Tim visited Eliza one evening and found
her in tears. On his inquiring tho cause,
she informed him that Benson had on that
day repeated his suit, and had been again
rejected that on learning it her uncle had
come in and upbraided her, and that if she
did not acccept Benson, to dispossess her
of her property, alledging that he possessed
tho power of doing so, as nobody had over
read tho will of her father excepting him
selfthat the subscribing witness did not
know the contents that probate had neyc
Number 8.
taken care of it and that it was in his pow
er to insert therein a clause requiring that
if she married, it must be with the consent
of him, and as the guardian and executor
of the will: and then if she married Tim it
would be without his consent, and sho
would thereby become disinherited forever.
Can't you get possession of tho will r
cnqu'uvd Tim of Eliza.
I should think-it impossible, as my un?
cle keeps it well secured in an iron safe."
" I'll manage it, my dear," replied Tim,
and I'll procure the will of tho old tyrant,
or I am no conjurer. You have told me, 1
think, that your uncle was very supersti
tious." " He is," said Eliza. " He imagines
often that he hears the voice of Mr. Jones,
and others of his former tenants who are
now dead, and no wonder, for his oppres
sion was the ruin of those poor men."
" In what part of the house does your
uncle lodgel" enquired Tim.
" On the first floor of the wing at tho
extremely of the building," she replied.
Tim bade her good evening, and then
went to consult Mr. Fletcher, his attorney.
After sometime spent in consultation, Tim
departed, and was wending his way in a
brown study towards his boarding house,
when he was accosted by Peter, the black
servant of Pell, with
" Fjne evening, Massa Jocclyn, I want
'peak to you."
Tim stopped, and turned round to tho
negro. Ho was a stout, humorous looking
fellow, somewhat aged, aud approached
Tim very respectfully. He had been bro't
up by Eliza's father, and was a favorite do
mestic of that gentleman in his lifetime.
Peter commenced
"Look here Massa Jocelyn, you not
know what boon goin on at ' Massa Pcll'a
since I let you ontat ds gate dis evenin. Dat
feller Benson come agin to cee young mis
sus, and she scamped off to her room and
shet horsclf up; and den Benson went away.
Prelty soon Massa Pell (he wicked old chap
Massa Jocelyn) come and call young mis
sus out, and tell her she mus marry dat
Benson in a month or he turn her outdoor.
Poor young missus cry and talk on so, dat
I could't land it, and so I fell a blubering
too case you see sho my old massa's dar
ter, and I carry her in my arm when sho
little pickaninny. Dat old Massa Pell ber
ry cruel, Massa Jocelyn, and he say she
have no property if she not marry Benson.
Now Massa Jocelyn, what to be dono
Cant you lick dat Benson ? Be sure you
can.'
Peter was hero interrupted by Tim, who
finding from the tone of the ncgro'3 conver
sation, that he did not liko his present ma3
ter overmuch, !SamSt
service to him in furthering tho plan he was
about to propose, asking him where ho
slept.
'In little room in de wing; close by mas
ter Pell's bed room. He makes mo sleep
dare cause he feared and sometimes he
talk in his sleep and say he see ghost ; and
den he call me in de room, and make mo
sit up all night wid candle.'
Tom hero informed the negro of the cir
cumstances relating to the will that ho
was anxious to obtain possession of it for
the purpose of having it proved and record
ed, and that then it would be out of old
Pell's power to injure his yong mistress.
Tim I havo said before was a ventriloquist.
Ho explained this to Peter, and they togeth
er formed the project of frightening old
Pell out of tho possession of tho will. It
was arranged that Tim should come to the
negro's room about twelve oclock that night
and their preconcerted management when
there is about to appear.
It was 5 minutes to 12,the night was dark,
and! the wind howled over the tops of tho
trees, and creaked tho shutters of tho man
sion. Uld Pell had retired to nis room, nan
undressed himself, put on hi3 night-cap,
and was busy in his mind respecting tho
thirty thousand dollars ho was to obtain if
Eliza married Benson. He went to the
(ron f afe, and took out the will read it over
A