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THE
oimiti DEIlOtlttT.
I have stvorn upon the Altar or tidd, ctcriial hostility to every form of Tyranny dv6r tho Atlild dfian. Thomas Jefferson
-A. Printed Afofl Published by h. webb
Volume VII. BL.OOMSBURG4 COlilTMBIA COUNTY PA SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 1843. Xumhar 8.
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THOMAS JEFFERSON.
His agency in bringing about (he Revo
lution! and in guiding it, and in shaping, our
free institutions, which have so .blessed our
country and benefitted the world, may be
learned from this brief synopsis of his views
and asts. Let them speak fur themselves,
and let him be judged by his works.
He was 32 years old and a member of
the Legislsturc, when in 17,74 the news of
the Boston Fort Dili reached Virginia. In
the evening, he and a. few kindred spirits
met in the Council chamber (o consult on
the proper course to be taken. Then and
Uiere it was agreed to recommend a day of
fasting an-i ptayer thloughout the colony.
The Legislature approved of the proposal,
and he prepared the proclamation. The
day was the first of June; then the Port
Bill took effect. Soon after, he wrote the
.ty - ' - - - iiVrpws;' "
deputies to meet in Congress. J he first
Congress met in Philadelphia, Sept. 5th
.1774. During 1775, he was member of
Congress, acting on the maxim, 'the Goil
who gave us 'ife, gave us liberty too."
June 28th 1770. the youngest member of
Congress, ho as chairman reported the
Declaration of Independence, which had
been written by him at the unanimous re
quest cf the committee. The Declaration
was adopted, July the 4th; the debate was
warm, and while going on, Doctor Franklin
told Mr. Jefferson the famous story of 'John
Thompson, the hatter.' July 4, '70 he
was appointed on a committee to devise'
suilabtej'coat of arms' for the U. States.
The declaration of independence having
gone forth, and Washington being at the
head of the army, and fighting the battle
nunfullv, Mr. Jefferson concluded to retire
from Congress. Still he was reelecledjbut
on the 2d of September he resigned On
the last day of September,Congress appoin.
ted him one of the commissioners to nego
tiate a treaty wi'h Franco. But he declined
tho appointment. He. thought that the great
moral revolution just begun, would be more
aided by him in the legislature of Virginia,
than jn any other station. He was elected
fend took his seat in the legislature in Octo
ber. He wished to .have his state walk in
the right path in passing from her monarch
al to her republican condition; and ho
thought it all important to the great cause
cf liberty, to have a state government which
should be a pattern for all the states which
would compose this great confederacy. j
While a member of the legislature from '76
to '70, he turned his great mind to tho ac
complishment of the following objects; to
reform the Judiciary system; to repeal the
law of Entails tyvhich destroyed aristocracy
to abrogate the right of primogeniture: and
thus preparo the way for an equal division
of inheritances among all the children and
other representatives in equal degrees; the
assertion of the right of expatriattonjlhe es
tablishment of -religious freedom upon the
broadest foundation; the emancipation of
slaves born after a certain period the aboli
tion of capital punishment in all cases ex
cept for treason and murder; the ettablish
ment of a systematic plan of general educa
tion reaching all cUsoes of citizens, and
adapted to every grade of capacity. 4 Most
of these objects were accomplished! and
other kindred ones of great importance.
June '79, he was elected Governor of Vir
ginia. His first act was to amefiorcte the
sufferings of American prisoners, who had
been taken by the British. On the right of
suffrage his maxim was, to allow those to
vole who pay or fight for the support of
government.
In '81, lie was appointed minister pleni
potentiary (with others,) to negotiate a
peace; but he declined. In '83 was again
elected to Congress. In December, Wash
ington delivered up his commission to
Congress: and Mr, J. prepared the noble
reply to Gen. W.
In '84 he reported to Congress the money
system consisting of the dollar unit. This
year he was appointed minister plenipoten
tiary to negotiate treaties of commerce with
foreign nations.
In '85 he was appointed embassador to
France, and remained there four years.
In '89 he was appointed Secretary of
State by President Washington. Soon af-
ler lie mado his famous reports on coins
weights and measures. While he was
Secretary of State, Gen. Hamilton was
Secretary of tho Treasury, and tlcn it was
that the questions sprung up, nut of which
grew the two parties the Republican and
Federal which have substantially ronlin,
ucd to the present day. Tho former parly;
by the same name, the latterly by various;
names but always the same ends and aims
in view.
In '94 he was chosen President of the
American Philosophical Society.
In '97 he was elected Vice Picsidenlof
the U. Stales;
In 1801 he was chosen President of the
II.Ii.J u r .1.. .u:...
sixth ballot, and on tho fifth-flay oi toting:
the federalists until then voted for Aaron
Burr. President Jefferson soon put the
ship of state on the republican tack, by re
pealing the internal taxes reducing the ar
my and navy discharging useless officers
allowing the sedition laws to die pur
chasing Louisiana, and thus doubling our
territory treating our 'red brethern' hu
manely keeping slates' rights in full vigor
and by aiming at peace, commerce, and
honest friendship with all nations, and en
tangling alliances with none.
In 1805 he wsp re-elected Piesident. In
1809 he retired to private life, 'with hands
as clean as they were empty.'
Among his favorite maxims were equal
and exact justice to men of all persuasions.
There is an eternal connexion between lib
erty and knowledge. Improvement is the
moral condition of man. Do right, and if
approbation is denied in the beginning, it
will eventually follow in the end."
In his retirement, he continued to act on
the great and equitable principles which had
governed him through life.
July 4th, i82G,ho died. His last words
were 'I have done for my country and for
mankind all I could, and I resign my soul
to my God, and my daughter to my coun
try." His own epitaph.
(Here lies Thomas jErnmsoN.
Author of the Declaration of Independ
ence of tho statues of Virginia for religious
freedom, and father of the University of
Virginia."
Xrnlr nf thf Preen )r. IT.
called at the Times office, to inquire the
price ui iiiariui wo uvaui ui 4 iu,aiivo.
'Tan sliillmtTs: said a surlv clerk. Dr. H.
o f -
remonstrated, and said he had only paid
.... 1 . . - 1
8even Tor the last, 'un, saia mo ciers
'that was a common death, but this is sin
cerely regretted."' 'Well, my friend' said
tho Doctor, laying down the ten shillings,
'vour executors will never be put to that
that expense." London Paper,
Boston, the celebrated racer, has been
withdrawn from the turf,. The reason is
said to Jjo because he did not keep vj with
the Fashion, ' ' -
RIGHT AND WRONG POSITION. J
BY SUSS SEDGWICK.
Gray, in the most familiar of his exqtii'
site Stanzas in a country Churchyard,
(Full many a gem,' &tc.) has expressed
most poetically the wbbIs of a false posi
tion in life. The fond partiality of every
village generation finds in its own burying
ground some'vlllage Hampden, 'some 'mule,
inglorious Milton,' or
'Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood.'
It is a signal gnod fortune, when an indivi
dual has a right position in life. The office
of President of the United States is one of
the highest among men, and he who
worthily fills it is the peer of kings and
autocrats. Washington,, the elected head
of the American! people, was truly king
of kings. But if the nation put in thai
high place a man only fitted to be a clever
ward politician, or a skillful overseer of a
plantation, he is a mark in the pillory, not
the light set on a hill.
We see every day men in a false posi
tion; no places of ill, fitting as a garment a
world too wide, or perchance loo narrow
Men arc raised to offices of trust and hon
or, lit at arc worthy neither ef the one nor
the other; and stout frames, which nature
has built of muscle and sinew able to sub
due the wildest of our wild land, are in
places behind counters, that woman of right
'and trace should fill. Do we not all know
ladies in drawing rooms, cumbeiers of that
ground, who would have figured as first
late milliners? And mistresses of our city
palaces, who would have been inestimable
market women? And yellow, languid
fide ladies, who, in their right vocation of
chamber maids, would have been brisk' and
blooming? And do we not know those in
their right position would biing with them
the graces so much wanted .to give a zest
to men Wef J here are men born to the in
heritance and minislraiion' of a princely
fortune, who are only fit to. keep a livery
stable, or drive four in hand; a.id there are
spiritual teachers, whose wh ole lives should
be passed in the humblest class of learners.
Bachelors there are, who would have been
pattern husbands and idolized fathers; and
husbands and fathers, who should have been
roaming and growing alone through life.- It
is this prevailing disorder and unfitness,
that makes It is so peculiarly delighlfull to
see a friend in the right position that
gives to fitness the effect of harmony.
ECCENTRICITIES OFA MADMAN.
Mr. 7-7-, a lawyer in Vermont, doing
a good business, at once became ineane,and
took it into his head to abandon the prac
tice of law, and engage in baskets making.
Ho was at first an awkward hand at his
employment, but, by dint of perseverance,
he soon became very akilful, and could
weave a basket as well as he had formely
woven an argument at the bar. He follow.
ed this business about six months, when,
taking a new notion into his head, he aban
doned it for that of chair bottoming.
The materials used in this occupation
was bark, which ho stripped fiom the trees
in summer, when it peels most easily. Hav.
ing come home one day coveted from head
to foot with mud, he was asked where he
had been, that he had got so thorougly
bedaubed. He answered; that he had been
in a neighboring swamp after elm balk, of
which he exhibited a strip about forty fret
long.
Do you reirurk this?' said he triumph
ant ly.
'Yes, but how does this accoun t for your
being so mudy? It ins't usual to find mud
on the top of a tree.'
-.'No, but ynu may, sometimes find it
at the bottom, though, I'll tell you how I
found it. I cut the bark near the root of
the tree, it then stripped it upwards.expec
ting it would come to an end and break off,
and rank itself out after a while.But it hung
on like a suit in chancery and I stript,
until it tun up forty feet, and strong as ever.
Thinks I to myself, there's no use in
pursuing the thing any farther, anil so I'll
enter a nolle prosequi. But not to lose
the benefit of what I had done that wa.
the point (0 be decided. I wished at least tn
save ensts but pshaw 1 lorgot 1 m not a
lawyer now. Well, as I was saying, I
looked at the subject to see how I could
secure the bark. It was too strong for me
to break off. At any rate, thought I, there's
more than one way to skin ajcat(as a butch
er would say. If I cannot break off this
bark, I can climb up by it. No sooner
said than done, t seized hold of the strip,
and placing my feet against the trunk, of
the tree, ran up hand over hand. By
this method of climbing, you will perceive
my back must have been downward ; and
and nearly in a horizontal position my
feet being braced against the tree, and my
head standing from it an angle of nearly
ninety degrees. Having arrived at the
proper height, I was then in a quandary,
how to get my knife out of my pocket,and
how to get it open when it was out. If I
let go with one hand, I was fearful the oth
er would not hold me. However.savrf I, its
neck or nothing. I ll try the experiment
at any rate so I gripped powerfully with
my left hand, and opening it with my teeth
whipped off the batk as clean as the law
would dock an entail. And what do you
think was the result?'
'Why, you came flat on your back of
course?'
'Right, gentleman of the jury a very
correct verdict indeed. No man came down
flatter on his back than I & never was one
so completely bedaubed with filth and mud.
But thanks to the yielding nature of the
soil, I saved my bones, and only brought
away the mischief on my coat. I gained
my cause too which is more than, I can
l'he company, laughed heartily a the
lawyer's account of his exploit while the
latter hanging his coat up in the sun, said,
that tho mud, like the old woman's grease,
would rub off when it was dry.
He contined a while longer to follow his
occupation of chair bottoming, when sud
denly becoming sine again, he resumed
the practice of the law, and has, ever since,
preferred laying his opponents on their
backs in a legal way, to being laid on his
own in so ludicrous a manner as that above
related. N, Transcript.
SSH5SWSE 5ES
HOOSIER ELOQUENCE.
The following is a speech, verbatim, as
delivered in the legislature of one of the
western states. The question was, the
chartering of a bank. .In the debate, the
speaker had been wrapped over the nuckles
by a very small man pretty severely. But
here's the speech :
Mr. Prcsidant.I had no idea that I should
be compelled to say another word upon
this here question. But since the mountain's
torrents have been let loose upon my devo
ted head since the slucegates of calumny
have been opened, and the slandoiers tongue
have lacerated my fair fame, I must 'cast
back the billows mountain high,' as the
poet says. Sir if a man do not 'stand up to
the rack,' in his own defence, sir, I should
like to know sir, who in the devil would do
it? Sir, I'd rather fight my weight in alle
gators than be caught back biting any man
I'm in favor of gouging, and am willing
to give a fellow a chance at my noso and
ears, and he who can get tho first bite sir,
let him take out a whole mouthful sir. But
the back biter sir, is like a thief in ancient
history, he seekest you in the dark sir he
comes when you look not, he creepest in
the grass like an Ingcn sir, and before you
know anything sir, he has all under bolt,
and ten to one if you ain't a gone coon sir.
But sir, let me say, sir that I was brought
up on the broad plat form of civil and reli
gious principles principles as wide and
enduring as the prairies of cur own land
and sir, is it expected that I will be driven
from this platform by a little would-be
jackleg lawyer? a thing a possont could
lash around this terreslial world with, his
tail ! Sir I pity poor human nature, and am
willing to take tho roan to ray bosom and
feed him upon milk of human kindness I
Let him sir, come lo my arms, and I will
protect and, guard him ,as .tlje hBn her brood
from the snares of the hawk or the owl.
Sir, come to me, and when tho whirlwind
of the angry world is dealing destruction all
around when nature is convvlBed with
unspeakable strife and luimoil when tho
vengeful volcano of an outraged and hum
hiiirued nonnle are dealing death and anni-
--00-- I r-- - , ,
hilation to their enemies and those of theif ,
country. Yes sir; wh,ch all this comes, I
say fly to my arms and you shall be saved
from the 'wreck of matter, and the crash
of worlds.' Sir, I'm no prophet.bnt I sin- t
cerely hope the bill will pass. I have air,
always been opposed lo that old gentleman j
called monopoly, and 1 hope Dutuh Dick ,;
will give him hell, if he dont completely, i
annihdate him as soon as he enters this '
house; and if I don't I'll be.' and your )
hide mister speaker, won't hold shucks ! - ,
So sir, look out, you'll git my mortal
all-fired spirit up, and then whoop yo'll J
catch h 1 I'll tell you? Sir, the lamb laid ,
down with the lion, but you need not .
think that I can bo caught in such compa
ny human nater forbids it a duo regard
for my standing in the, world ajsenso of
my own importance and, above all, a duo i
regard for the honor of my constituents,
forbid I should lend my almighty power
and influences in riveting upon them a
curse. Forbid it! ye Gods! Sir, when I ,
look around and see all nature smiling ap- '
proval the genial sun imparting, with' '
lavishness, his lesplendid effulgence in j
glotifying assent a miglity people shout !
ing in chorus,' go on faithful defender of j
our civil and religious rights,' is it, sir, a
time for me to stand back and speak r.ott
fallt Sir, General Jackson is a great manj ,j
he strangled the great monster of Phlladel- ,
pliia; he whipped the British at Orleans, ''
and I 'follow his foot-steps,' and, I will
throttle the young hyena youarp attempting-
to raise within the borders of our land if
I don't I'll be d ! Sir; 'cow's thar
day.' and if you don't vote down this bill, j
hury it in the tomb of oblivion, you'll catch J '
the d dst flogging you ever did! This is ,
a freo country sir, and the man that would
betray her, is 'fit for slralagen and broilsf
Cease, then, sir, tryinglo subvert the dear
ly bought liberties of our happy home
Wo cannot, sir, too dearly prize the boon.
Will men sir, stand by with indifference,
arms folded, and not make a struggle to
avert (he threatened avalanche? Sir, I call
upon you to step forward with (ho sword,
and battle axe, and with heaits 'resolved,
and hands propared, the blessing we enjoy,
to guatd! On then to the rescue, sir, and
let future generations g.ory in our wonder
ful deeds! Where, sir, is the man so lost to
a love of country, so craven to his duty, so ?
ignoble, so pittiful and puppyish, as to flee jj,
this land when danger approach? Sir, show '(
me the man, and I'll make hiir bite the f
earth! Sir, this vast fabric, this almighty 'I
world, created by God;vvill totter and cium 'j
ble to atoms,, sooner than the undying halo v
of frame which encircles jour brows! Then '
sir by all that you hold dear, by all that is L
in heaven, and by your hope of glotions '
immortality, I cor.jure you to vote down
this bill. But, sir, if you won't tako my
advice, but are determined lo rush on to''
destruction, I will have the consolation to '
know, that like the great Alexander, who
conqured the world and sighed becamo
there was no more to subjugate, I'll shed
tear?! Sir I'm dono. And in conclusion,)1
I'd advico you all- .to sing 'O tako
your time, Miss Lucy Long.1 j
A young lawyer who. was pleading tho J
cause oi an mum plamtill, took the child
up in his arras, and presented it lo the jury
suffused in tears. This had a great effeel, '
until the opposite lawyer asked what mado
it cry. 'He pinched me,1 answered llmtj
little innocent. The whole court was con- 1
vulsed with laightcr.
Aboul tight. Tho weather.-
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