COLtlHBIA
I have sworn upon the Altar of God, eternal hostility to every form of Tyranny Over the Mind of Man1." Thomas Jefferson
HUNTED AND PUBLISHED BY II. WEBB
VohiBsic "VI.
BL.OOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA. SATURDAY, APRIL, 14 1843.
iV timber 49;
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MWMl.tT.
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7 : SKETCHES OF THE WEST,
tnu Indian's revenge.
Every 'Buckeye,' 'Concracker.'or 'Hoo
nier' has seen or heard of Simon Kenton,
the celebrated Indian fighter and hunter.
Born and raised amid scenes of strife and
danger, he was taught, at an early ;ige, to
rely upon his own energies foi support and
protection, and many are ill c tales we have
heard of hid indomitable bravery, presence
of mind and segacity qualities that distin
guished the pioieer of civilization in the
boundless West, and enabled them to tri
umph in the darkest hour, and compass
difficulties that a less hardy race would
have deemed insUrmuuntnble.
At one period of Kenton's eventful career
he was silting on a rude bench in frunt of
his cabin smoking a corncob pipe, and en
tertaining a number of 'responsibilities'witi,
narratives of by-gone days, and stirring
events in which he was a ' prominent ac
tor. The sun had 'gone down in a blaze of
glory,' as the novelists say, tinging the for
est with a nielluw light, nnd robing in gor
geous hues the giant oaks that stand like
pillars against llio herculean firmanenf
An Eden-like stillness reigned around the
humble dwelling of the war-worn veteran
the hum of insects ceased, and twilight was
stealing on apace, soothing the turbulent
passions of our nature, and lending an in
describable charm to the woodland scene.
At this moment, a noise was heard by Ken
ton, and in an instant the form of an Indian
vas seen emerging from a thicket in front
of the hut. The red man did not advance
with the caution of his tribe, but crushing
the reeds ihal obstructed his passage, march
ed with a bold step to the cabin, and stood
befpre Kentor. 'in all his native majesty.'
'Good evening.' said the Indian, who
spoke good English, 'how is Mr. Kenton,
the Eagle Eye, as we call him.'
Well, very well, you ied skinned vaga
bond! What brought you to Simon Ken
ton's cabin at such an hour as this!
Ilcvengo !'
Ah I you can't forget that brush, eh '
Never, old man. You killed my father,
and the Great Spirit says I must have blood
for blood.'
'Well, Ingcn you know where Simon
Kenton's hut stands, and when you call
upon him in dayligh't, like a while man,
vou'll find him on hand.
Enough ! W e will meet at the rising of
the sun to morrow, in the 'Fallen Timber
You know the place. I could hare reveng
cd my father, who has gone to a happy
hunting ground, by killing you at your door
but that would not have been according to
tny notions of honor among red men.'
.Yes, Ingin, we will meet at sunrise,
exactly, and recollect, as soon as we pass
the morning compliments.lhe work begins
You want to kill me for levenge, as you
ay, as I happened to kill your father.
Very well, Ingen. Simon Kenton knows
what's right, ai'd when we meet luck will
decide it. I will take my old rifle, and can
be found at the'cioiising you know where
All. you have got to do in the morning is to
make abee line fur the spot, and when you
see old Simon, blaze' away!
The two parted in apparent friendship,
and. the, old man retired to rest. At dawn,
he arose and made preparations for the con
flict, which heBknew must be deadly. Bills
were made flints picked powder exam
ined, etc. and without communicating to his
family his intention, he sauntered forth, and
was soon at ll'c appointed place. He found
the Indian hod anticipated his arrival, and
was leaning'upon his rifle, at a short dis
tance fiom the place hojliad designated,, in
a thoughtful mood. Signs Were exchanged
and then commenced a 'bush fight' never
surpassed. The Indian fired, and missed,
and then took shelter behind a large hicko
ry. Kenton was cool and collected, and
trying again the flint of Black Bet,' told his'
antagonist to stand forth. The Indian had
reloaded, and both chose a position, and
fired, without, effect. , Quick as thought the
pieces were reloaded,' and the 'artful dodg
ing that lollowcd can Uc better immagined
than described. From tree to tree the as
sailants glided, and every means ofingenui
ty could invent was icsorted to by them to
gain an advantage. This lasted for some
moments, when the Indian, finding he could
not outwit his while antagonist, in the
wooils, came forward, and proposed that
both should go to a clearing at hand, with
uncharged rifles, and at a signtl agiced upon
load aud fire. Kenton readily accepted the
offer and repaired to the clearing. The
remainder is soon told. As soon as the
signal was given; both began loading with
the utmost haste, being distant from each
other but a few yards. The Indians move
mcnls were hurried but certain Kenton
was more methodical, but no less effective,
and the ramrods were drawn out at the
same time. Kenton however made a faiul
misltke. Instead of throwing his rod on
(lie ground, as his antagonist tid.he attemp
ted to put it in its place, and while doing
so, received a ball that sent his spirit to a
belter world.
Years have rolled away since the occur
rence we have mentioned, but there are
many yet in the land of the living who re
member the sad fate of the old warrior.
Near the translucent Licking may be found
the grave of as noble a spirit as ever filled
a tenement of clay.
THE COSSACKS.
The origin of this singular people ac
counts in a considerable degrea, for their
peculiar chaiacter. Nature and man have
stamped an impress upon their minds,which
can never be effaced, Placed on the fron
tiers of Europe and Asia, they have always
dwell on the plains which, from the earliest
ages, have been the highway by which
Scythian violence passed on to civilized
plunder. Amidst tombs, which rising on
either hand amidst the boundless waste,
marked the bloodstained passage of the
multitudinous nations, whose names, as
Chateaubriand said, 'are known only to
God;' amidst walls raised by dnknown
hands, and cemeteries whitening of bones
of Russians, Hungarians, Lithuanians and
Poles, the Tartar still discerned the tracks
which led from the far distant steppes to
the seat of civilized man. Flights of rapa
cious birds announced their approach, and
the mournful omen was confirmed by the
glowing sky that reddened as their torches
consumed the villages: The barbarian
hordes, in their sudden attacks.overpowered
the inhabitants, soil seized the fruits of their
toil, before the warlike proprietors could
assemble from their castles for their defence
Prornpt in aggression, prompter still iii
flight, they dragged in captivity the youth
uf both sexes, driving of all the herds, and
leaving behind them only the silence of the
ashes, and the corpses ef the slain. Not
withstanding the ceaseless havoc, the
population still sprang up afresh upon that
beautiful soil; 'cut up as it was," says a
Slavonian poet, 'by tho tramp of horses,
fertilised by human blood, and white with
bonos, where sorrow grew abundantly.'
It was amidst this misery, and from the
effects of thjs constant devastation, which
continued for soveral centuries, that . tho
Cossacks nation look Us rise. M.'vyo. cor
ners of .and.oycrlooked of the great streams.
of conquest, to the south west, remained as
places of refuge, for the fugitives; one be
yond the Ddty towards iho sea ,of Ezoff;
and the other Beyond the islands of the
Dneipcr, towards the Black Sea; and these
were the cradle of this singular people
as the Lagunrc of the Po; were from a simi
lar cause, and at tho same period, of the
Venltian Republic. About sixty miles be
low Kieff, ihe Dhelpsr forms a variety of
islands, upwards of seventy, in number.;
The banks of the river, here fringed with
wood, there steep or marshy the deep
caverns in the rocky islands, concealed by
spreading trees or tangled thorn hushes
offered a favorable place nf refuge when the
open country was overrun by barbarians.
Al the epoch of the first general invasion
of the Tartars, and agaiu duiing the Lithu
anian wars, many persons found shelter
here, and their number was subsequently
increased by the arrival of adventures, guid
ed by necessity of ihe love of" change; by
deserters fiom the Lithuanian, Polish, Hun
garian and Wallachian ranks, by fugitives
from Tartar bondage, or by serfs escaping
from the oppression of their lords.
The motley crew was at first held togeth
er and prevented from overstepping its
limits, by a rule enforcing, during the com
mon cilamity.celibacy.fishing ir, hard labor.
Gradually as the danger rolled away, these
restrictions were forgotten and they ventur
ed upon secret excursions to the neighbor
ing plains, which, by degrees, extending
down the Dneiper, and along the shores of
the Black sea lo the very walls of Constan
tinople. In more peaceable times they
spread over the adjoining plains, fed vast
flocks on tl..teDnes. and cultivated the
earth; and then in huts built oi ciay, til
led a rude life, mindful only of the subsist
ence of the moment. But they retained
the character imprinted on them by their
origin, their necessities, and their situation;
fishing in the Don and the Dneiper ever
remained, and still continues a favorite oc
cupation of the people, and a principal
source of their wealth; the necessity of
flight to existence was constantly fell; and
the nation, true to its origin, still looked for
its riches in prosperity, its refuge in adver
sity, to the swiftness of its steeds. 'Let
the flams of invasion, '-said they, 'consume
our huts, in a week we shall plant new
hedges; fill up our ditches with earth, cover
our thorns with reeds soon others shall
arise. Sooner shall the foe be wearied with
destruction, than we with restoration.'
Independence amidst a world of serfs gave
charms to this precarious existencejfreedom
sweetened the toils and enlightened the
dangers of these unfettered rovers. Their
own indu.-try, the spoils of others brought
them plenty; mounted on swift charges, free
as the winds of the steppes, they enjoyed
their liberty, and generations grew up
amidst the clangings of swords and the song
of battle' Singing the airs of his native
wilds, the Cossack of former days left his
home on a cruise 10 Azoff, Sinope, or Con
stantinople; a beautiful captive often became
his wife, the richest stuffs his attire, his
enemies best weapon, his arms. He return
ed homo with his trophies, distributed his
and took no charge of the morrow: but tho
trophies of his prowess were religiously
preserved; his children played with his
sword, or arrayed themselves in the pano
ply of his enemies. These habits, still
continue, though the object and the scene
of his warfare are changed; and the Cos
sack youth point to tho cuirasses of the
French horseman, or the standards of the
imperial guard, preserved in their ehurches,
and honor these prizes of recent valor, as
ther ancestors did (he trophies of Trebi
zonde, or the spoils of Constanstinople.
Alison $ Europe.
A True Test. Nothing says a late
writer, sets so wide a mark between a vul
gar and a noble soul as (he reverential love
of womanhood. A man who is always
sneering at woman is generally a. coarse
profligate or a bigot, t. . .,
THE EMPRESS, JOSEPHINE'S,
. PRdi'HEcY.
The history of tho Empress Josephine
has been very remarkable. She was born
in t'le West Indies, and It had caHy been
ptnphcsted by an old negress that she
should Jose her first husband and be ex
tremely unfortunate; but she should after
wards be greater than a queen. (The au
thor heard the prophecy long before Na
poleon's elevation to the throne, from the
Itfe Countess of Ancram, who was educated
jn the. same convent with Josephine, and
had repeatedly heard her mention -the cir
cumstances in eariy younth.)This prophecy
the authenticity of which is placed beyond
a doubt, was fulfilled in the most singular
mangier. Her first husband, Alexander
Beauharnois, a gentleman of the irmy of
Rhine, had been guillotined during the
reign of terror; and she herself, who was
also imprisoned al the same time, was only
saved from impending death by the fall of
Robespierre. So strongly was the prophe
cy impressed upon her mind, that while
lying .in the dungeon of the Conciergerie,
expecting every hour to be summoned to
the revolutionary tribunal, she mentioned
it to her fellow prisoners: and to amuse
them, named some of them nsjadies to
the bed chamber, a jest which sho after
wards lived to realize on one of their num
ber. Josephine herself narrated this extraor-
dinary passage in her life, in the following
terms, in her memoirs.
'One morning the jailor entered the
chamber where I slept, with the Duchess j'
Aguillon and two other ladies, and told me
was going lo take my maitrass lo give it to
another prisoner. Why, said d'Aguillon
eagerly, win rim mauniuc u-DcjtiUdiiiuis
obtain a better one. No no, he replied, with
a fiendish smile, she will have no need o
one, for she is about to be led lo the Con
ciergerie, and thence to the guillotine. At
these words, my companions in misfor.
tnne littered piercing- shrieks, I consoled
them as well as I could; and, at length,
worn out with their eternal lamentations, I
told them that their grief was utterly un
reasonable; that not only I should not die,
but live to be Queen of France. Why,
then, do you not name your maids of honor
said Madame d'Aguillion, irritated at such
a moment. Very true, said 1, I did not
think of that; well, my deir, I make you
one of them. Upon this the tears of these
ladies fell apace, for they never doubled I
was mad. But the truth was, I was
not gifted with any extraordinary courage,
but internally persuaded of the truth of the
oracle.
'Madame d'Auillion soon after became
unwell & I drew her towards the window,
which I opened to admit through the bars a
little fresh air. I there perceived a poor
woman who knew us, and who was making
a number of signs which I could not at first
understand. She constantly held up her
gown, (robe,) a.id seeing she had some
object in view, I called out robes, to which
she answered yes. She then lifted up a
stone and put it in her lap, which she lifted
up a second time I called out pierre, upon
which she evinced the greatest joy, per
ceiying that her signs were understood.
Joining then the stone in her robe, sho oa.
gerly imitated the motion of cutting off Ihe
neck, and immediately began to dance and
evince the most extravagant joy. This
singular pantomime awakened in our minds
a vague hope that possibly Robespierre
might be no more.
'At this moment, when we were floating
between hope and fear, we heard a great
noise in the corridor, and the terrible voice
of our jailor, who said to his dog, giving
him at the sumo time a kick, 'Get out; you
cursed Robespierre!' That course phrase
at once taught us that we had nothing to
fear, 3nd that France was saved.' -Alisen's
History of Europe.
'That's my business,' as the. butcher said
to 'ho dog-that was killiftg his sheep,JJt
EXPEDIENCE'
' Two young rrieny both of them rriecliari-"
ice, were married nbodt the same time, and
entered life with apparently equal prospects'
except that one was rather given to extrav-
agance and fashion, while the other was
more prudent and frugal. The wife of the
latter hbwever, be'ing of a .different turrt
from her husband, bdearrie Uneasy because"
the former without any superidr advantages?'
ges- made more show than what he did,
and had many more firle ,lhings. She told
her iiuuband that his 'incdme must bo as,
much, as the other's, and that sho knew"
they Were able to" appear as well as her
neighbor.
'I want to do as other people do-' was
her all conquering argument. Her hus
band yielded again and .again to her en
treaties, though always prdfesslng' that ha
was not able.
At length bin more showy neighbor fail-'
ed. And seeing: their things sold under!
the hammer of the auctioneer his wife.whd
was (ar from being destitute of good feeling
began to mistrust whether byimitatihglherov
and 'doir.g'as other folks do,' they mightf
not meet, with a similar fate.- 3he inquired'
of her husband how his- affairs stood. Hoi
told her that his expenses had exceeded. his!
income, but he hoped to get through and
pap what he owed. 1
Before long he was sued for his debts;..
Then his wife was in panics! She kheHto
that hi i misfortune was chargeable to hei"
folly, although he never reproached her'-"
nor cast any unkind reflections. Disturbed
with conflicting emotions she tried td plan
some way to get along in this terrible dii-j
ficultyl But finding all 'her endeavors
fruitless, she said to her husband with un1'
feigned distress. What shall We do? Whit."
au wouu-- uo-caimiy replied:'we musmo -as
others folks do have our tine things
sold under the hammer!'
A 11,0 T am uiiuugu iui IIL.I,, wuc Udu 7UL.I1
the beginning and the ending of common
folly,- and she was satisfied. From that
time he had no trouble to persuade her to'
be frugal and prudent. They Were both
agreed in pursuing the same course. And
it is almost needless to say that their pros'
perity was in proportion to their wisdom
and prudence.
Mr. Hunt, the celebrated preacher on
Temperace, has been lecturing in Mifflin
town, Pa; and the Times of that place is
highly delighted with him. We also learn
by a letter from Lewistown, that he is in
that place, and created quite a sensation by
his peculiar style of lecturing. In one of his
lectures he attacked the intemperate extent
to which the ladies carried their bustling
habi's. Turning his back, which is hump
ed, around o the audience, he remarked
that had nature granted the ladies such a
bustle as ho had they would think it neither
a beauty not a convenience, and be, more
anxious to do without them than they now
are, to put them on! Good, for 'old Hunll!
Pa. Tel. "
Superstitious practices of the Ancients.
The Lacedonians always during war.put
up their petitions very early in the morning
in order lo be beforehand with their ene
mies, and by being the first solicitors, pre
engage the gods ir, their favor. We may
gather from Seneca that it was usual for tho.
votaries in the temples to make interest with
the beadle or sexton that they might have a
seat near the image of the Deity, in order to
best heard in their prayers and supplications
lo him. The Tyrians, when bese.iged by
Alexander, threw chains on the statue of'
Hercules.to pi event that deity from desert
ing to the enemy. Augustus, lia-jng twicer
lost his fleet by storms, forbade Neptune"
to be carried into procession along witfrffio
other gods; and fancied that he had sufii-
ciently revepged himself "sy thal.expedieiit.
After the death of Gerinanicqs; ihe people
were so enraged at their gods, that they
stoned them in the temples,.and, openly re
nounced all allegianca ilo,. them.-i-t.r7?ey
Essays, '
f
A.;