JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICAN
Thursday, January 24, 1S50.
Notice.
Tho third Lecture, in ihc series, before the
"Leni Lcnapee Institute," will be delivered by S.
S. Dreher, Fsq., on Tuesday Evening, January
29th, at the Court House.
The citizens of Stroudsburg and vicinity are
respectfully invited to attend.
S. C. BURNETT, Secretary.
IG3 We are under obligations to John 1). Mor
ris, Esq. of the House of Representatives, for pub
lic documents.
Congress.
Several of our exchanges are complaining that
Congress has been so long in session, and that so
little has been done. The complaint is well foun
ded, but we fear that there will be a necessity for
its frequent repetition, long before the adjournment.
Last week's proceedings. are wholiy without inter
est. The election of officers has been the princi
pal business for; the last seven weeks in the House,
and up to Saturday last had not succeeded in elec
ting a Doorkeeper or Pastmastcr; which question
has been deferred to March 1851 the end of Con
gress. Unless the Locofocos succeed in reconsid
ering the vote, the oh! officers (Whigs) will con-1 '
unue to act.
Appointments Confirmed.
The appointment of A lexandeu Ramsey as Gov
ernor of Minesota, E. Joy Morris as Charge to
Naples, and IIeKrv D Maxwell, of Easton, as
Consul at Trieste, have been confirmed by the
Senate.
IScimticratfcii of Taxabies.
The septennial list of laxables in the various
counties of the State is nearly completed. It
shows an increase of nearly twenty four percent.,
and taxable inhabitants to the number of nearly
500,000. In IS42 the number was about 330,000.
The increase as far as Known is 89.2SG. Phila
delphia county has an increase of 20,992, or at the
rale of G2 per cent in seven years. Philadelphia
city has an increase of 5171, or 29 1-2 per cent.
This shows that the taxable inhabitants, and con
sequently the population of Philadelphia, has near
ly doubled itself in the last seven years. Alleghe
ny has an increase of 54 per cent., Berks an in
crese of 13 per cent., Bucks of 9, Chester of 10,
Cumberland of 10, Delaware of 18, Schuylkill of
59, Monroe of 17, Susquehanna of 23, Wayne of
29 i-a, Lehigh ol lb 1-2 I hree counties are yet j
to be heard from, viz: Pike. Wyoming and Mifflin, j
The ratio of representation will be about 5000 for !
a Representative, and about 15.000 for a Senator, j
'Ommmees lor ine purpose oi districting the Stale
have been authorized in
gislalure.
both branches of the Le-
Bitssrir
Retort. !
The Burlington Free Press comes down pretty j how has the designs of the Creator been frustra
hard upon senator Hale for sneering at the resolu- j ted by man's disobedience. It is with terrible fear
lions of the State of Vermont in relation to slave- j we behold the rapidly descending numbers of man's
ry. Among other things, the Free Press says ! years, from the long age of Adam and Methusala,
"Vermont never disgraced herself, nor dishon- J down to about twenty, now the average period of
ored the principles of her people, by voting for his earlhlv stay: and during even these few days,
TZ i. gh, but disease,
don't know how; and when she wishes to learn su"e"g and death, hat, all this in lime! then,
the dirty lesson, she has only to enquire of Loco j
Foco New Hampshire, which utters 'great sound
ing words ol anection lor Ireedom, and straight
vaT votes for Cass and Butler! ! Vermont enacts
no such solemn faice as this!"
Bark anl Cold.
In an account of the recent expedition in search
of Sir John Franklin, it is stated they were eighty
days without seeing the sun, and had the ther
mometer fifty decrees below zero. They served
out their rations of fifth proof brandy by chopping
it up with a hatchet, it being frozen solid. We
don't believe they're troubled much in that region
with fees or bed bugs.
Another Victim.
While Mr. Bradbury is urging the Senate to call
upon Gen. Taylor for his reasons for removing Lo-
cofoco office holders, very good reasons have been j
developed in another quarter why one of the "vic
tims of- this ruthless proscription" should now be
removed if he was not already, lie is a certain
B. F. Brown was a clerk in the Pension Office
was announced in the Washington Union as "one
of the first victims' and for his martyrdom, was
nominated as the Locofoco caucus candidate for
Doorkeeper of the House, and would doubtless
have been elected had noi the election been de
layed by the difficulty in electing a Speaker and
Clerk. A few days ago, when the lime came to
elect the Doorkeeper, Mr. Brown, as the Irish
would say, was "found missing." Upon inquiry
it was ascertained that, by forged and fraudulent
papers and certificates, he had been drawing large
sums of money from the Treasury, as agent for
claimants for corfipensation for serrices in the
Mexican war. Air. Brown, finding that his frauds
were about lo be discovered and exposed, and
himself called to account, suddenly decamped to
parts unknown. His party was therefore obliged
to seek another candidate for Doorkeeper. They
seem to be peculiarly unfortunate with the Browns
;and iSiill lucky in not electing them before the
exposure of their plots and crimes.
This Mr. B. F. Brown has been one of the most
active and unscrupulous maligners of Gen. Taylor
and the Whig party, and was the author of the
two lives of Gen. Cass one for the North and the
other for the South that were so profusely scat
tered among.the people, by hi3 co-adjutor and com
panion in political labor and disgrace, the Hon.
Vcn. J. Brown, during the campaign of 1848.
For these services, and tp rebuke the Administra
tion for turning him out oi an office, the duties of
which he had neglected to attend lo electioneering
he was adopted by his party in the House as their
candidate for Dooi keeper. Verily, if no other good
should come from the election of Gen. Taylor, it
will at least satisfy the people that the honesty of
ihe country was not all embodied In the persons
of tho Locofoco office-holders.
'Bui'.r 'ovt Jntrfhrrvrcr.
--rjr
XOBA'CCO.
JAR VIS,. DENTAL SURGEON OF NIW YORK. '
. (Continued from last week's JcflersonianHepubhcan.)
It will be well for i he reader to bear in mind,
' during the course of these remarks, that death is
not, in general, the result of a single cause, but the
! result of a combination of causes. On the same
principle, a particular disease may not be the re
sult of a single cause, but of a combination of cau
ses. Hence, we cannot affirm the results which
I shall proceed to point out, as exclusively result
ing from the use of Tobacco. The human system
is corrupted, filled with disease, the seeds of death;
death follows. Now death, we are told, and we
believe, was brought into the world by sin. Adam,
we say, committed that sin. But every member
of the human family has sined, and we cannot say
whether less or more'than our first parents. Again,
what was the sin of the first, and, till then, happy
pair Was it by tcords, rebellious words, blas
phemy against Deity ? Was it by turning the hand
in death against each olher, or against other beings,
likewise placed on this then lovely Earth to en
joy existence ! No, none of these constituted Ad
am's sin. It was eating; yea, simply eating. And
we might almost with propriety say, that this has
been the great, the inherited sin of man from that
day down the stream of time till the present; and
that all other sins, or forms of sin,' has been ihe
product of this.
Ask that divine, what he means by original sin,
by human depravity ? If he tells you it consisted
in rebellion against God, ask him what constitu
ted that act of rebellion! He can but say; It was
partaking of forbidden fruit. Here it is then, eat
ing and drinking. Bui who ever thought, and who
is going to believe, that this is ihe first, great sin
of which we are all guilty Yet it is neverthe
less true ; though I will not claim it iii too strict
and exclusive sense. But, say you, do we not sin
through other passions ? Yes. But let it be un
derstood, that the fust, the strongest passion or de
sire, throughout the whole animal creation, is for
food and drink ; and lhat in so far as this is cor
rupted and depraved, the other passions, through
this, will inevitably be depraved likewise. But
you ask if eating and drinking too much, or that
which is not adapted to his nature, will causo a
man-to swear, to murder, or to commit crime of
any character, sin against himself or against his
God, and h cannot sin against himself, or vio
late any law of his being, without the same consti
tuting a sin against God, or, in short, you ask if
this act will deprave, corrupt and lead astray the
mind. Most certainly it will. What does it if
this does not Has Creative Intelligence im
planted in man's nature that principle, that some
thing, which was calculated ever to lead him as
tray and make him rebellious Utter not such
blasphemy. We must admit lhat these are the
great first acts of man's depravity, or consent to
consider original, inherited sin an indefinable, in
explicable something which no earthly intelligence
can ever comprehend. Death was brought into
the world by sin 0l in olher wordSj death is the
result 0f crime. As our first parents have not com-
milted all the sin that has been committed, so thev
have not brought all death, etc., into the world.
M an was created lo enjoy happiness, and con-
tribute to the happiness of other beings. But oh!
on Eternity, what terrors wilt thou unfold to guil-
ty man. Do we not consider sickness, suffering
and death as being sent or inflicted by Providence;
and if we call it punishment for our sins, do we
stop to consider in what those sins consisted
Oh what absurdity, how foolish, to think that dis
honest dealing with our neighbor will give us the
head-ache, or induce consumption. And it is the
deepest ignorance and folly, the highest wickedness
and blasphemy to impute to Divine Benevolence
this charge. We have done it ourselves these are
ihe applied penalties of God's broken law, which
man has invited on his own head.
Reader, this is no digression. The object is to
show you that effect must have a cause, and that
such effects are visible in our own bodies, as
must result from the violation of certain fixed laws
But can the guilty be induced to believe it 1 No :
And why ? " Because sentence against an evil
work is not executed speedily." if we were told
that using tobacco would make us blind, and we
found that it always did, then, perhaps, we would
resolve to desist : at least we would be forced to
believe that blindness was the consequence of us
ing the article. But as it is, because its evils
make their appearance in various forms and ways,
we will not believe they are the results of this
cause: not stopping to consider the difference of
constitution; not knowing that what is one man's
food is another man's poison; that what would be
a medicine for one man would possess no medicin
al qualities for another ; that because a man with
a good pair of lungs, robust and powerful consti
tution, can for years use tobacco with comparative
impunity; another, with general debility of frame
and vital organs, of consumptive habits, etc., can
do likewise ; when, in fact, it will tumble him into
the grave in a few months or years.
Whence come all your aches and pains ; lame
ness, blindness, deafness, the loss, partial or com
plete, of any sense ; impaired memory and rea
son : whence come all your sores and fevers ;
your rashes and rheurns ; scrofula in its various
forms; larengitis and bronchitis; lung and liver
complaints ; palpitations of the heart; great ner
vousness and general debility; costiveness and
other bowel complaints; long fits of sickness, to
rid the system of large accumulations of corrup
tion and disease ? Whence come all these 1
You have eaienand drank enormous quantities,
insomuch that the syslem has been taxed almost
to death to get rid of it, and said it did not hurt
you : you have taken your half dozen or dozen
cups of strong tea or coffee per day, and said it
dicUiot hurt you; you have swilled down your
beers and brandies, and say they don't hurt you :
on the one hand you liave over.-taxed tho powers
of your physical system, and on the other hand
failedSTo do enough, and say it don't hurt your you
have slept on, the remains of a picked-to-pieces
goose,---feathers breathing into the lungs pu -
tresrent nartfcles of animal matter, and say it
don't hurt yotff you have slept in close rooms,
with confined, impure and stagnant air, and say it
don't hurl you : you have chewn tobacco and spit
away gallons of. vital, fluid secreted. Xrpm... your
blood for important purposes, and say jt don't
hurt you ; you have smoked tobacco and drawn
the noxious effluvia into the delicate air cells of
the lungs, and say it don't hurt you. Whence
come all your aches and pains and all your suf
ferings ? The great ocean of human corruption
becomes so filled and overflowing, that death, on
the wings of tho wind, blows a terrible gale, and
makes a general sweep every few years;
Let us take the case of a single one, the wreck
of a man : his upper extremities and shoulders in
cline forward ; his cheeks and chest are all caved
in, his breathing is faint, short and quick; his hair
presents a dull instead of a brilliant appearance ;
the eyes are sunken and without expression, and
he feels a heavy and deep seated pain back of the
eyes on the sudden approach of light ; the counte
nance is pale and sallow, and. makes you think of
"death on a pale horse," but 'lis death on a pale
cheek; the muscles generally; are very much re
laxed, and ihe bones project ; there is extreme
derangement of the nervous system, which mani-
fests itself in tremulousness, instability, fretful
ness and easy excitement ; fits of melancholy and
depression of spirits ; he is troubled with restless
nights, dreams of fearful horror, etc.; the squalling
of a cat makes him think of the horrors of war,
and the slaming of a door sounds like near by
thunder: in all his actions and sayings he exhib
itsgreat weakness, indecision and uncertainty :
he continually anticipates troubles and calamities:
he is miserablo himself, and renders his family so,
as far as is in his power. Do you think he knows
the glorious sweets of intellectual enjoyment
much less does he know the pleasures of health.
But, say you, tobacco don't cause all this ! Yes,
indeed it does. From the examples of its power,
given in my article on this subject last week,
would you not suppose it capable of doing it
If a lady sits down to her spinning wheel, and
with her fingers moistens the thread from her
mouth, in a very short time it will make her sick,
and she will be obliged to quit it. The glands of
the mouth, six in numbei, make their secretions
from the red aiterial blood, and this fluid is in all
cases designed to go down, to answer an important
purpose peculiar to itself, and not to go up, or be
cast out, for, as we have seen, it is casting away
life itself. But this tobacco chewer, who in some
instances will use up a paper of tobacco in a day,
and smoke half a dozen segars, how much of this
fluid does he daily throw out Then how much
of the juice of the tobacco is mixed with the sali
va and the food which he swallows. The food
taken into the stomach is more or less saturated
with this tobacco juice ; and hence indigestion,
heart burn, head-ache, pains, etc., are consequen
ces. The nutricious properties taken up from the
alimentary canal by the lacteal vessels and intro
duced into the blood, is more or less tainted with
the tobacco. The lungs call for pure atmosphere;
which has no smell, neither can it be detected by
the unsullied instincts of our nature. Hence all
combinations or scents are deleterious, and unfit
for those delicate air-cells which serve as instru
ments for arterializing the blood. I, am aware the
smoker does not calculate to let the smoke go any
farther than the mouth, but it goes all through the
lungs, and he can noi avoid it: also the chewer
calculates to have it go no farther than the mouth;
but in the one case the passage from the mouth to
the lungs, and in the other case, the passage
from the mouth to the stomach, through the ali
mentary canal, till it reaches the blood, is lined
or impregnated with Tobacco: it destroys the pure
instinct, and deranges every part to an extent de- j
pendant upon the quantity.
The flesh and exhalations of animals will par- j
take of the nature, taste, and smell of substances J
taken into the body through the mouth and nostrils.
Cows which partake of leeks, onions, etc., will
emit a smell so disagreeable that other cows from
a pasture of pure clover, and enclosed in a yard
together, as is frequently the case, will get their
heads as far as possible from the others, and in a
direction from which the wind blows. Wild ducks
are frequently rejected by human beings, because
they taste so fishy, being impregnated with the
fish they have eaten. Many more such examples
could be produced, but I must be brief as possible,
as I am now making these articles tiresome, and
more lengthy than at first anticipated. Suffice it
on this point to say, that nowhere can we find
this more strongly demonstrated than in the case
of the user of Tobacco. From every part of the
beefy is sent off the strong perfumes of Tobacco,
contaminating the very air he and others
breathes. And it is absolutely impossible to have
the stomach in healthy tone, and the breath other
wise than foul so long as he uses tobacco. Let a
man chew and smoke Tobacco, and drink liquor,
then in the mouth with the Tobacco let him havo
a lot of "mouldering bones," and well might Ihe
poet exclaim :
The rocks can rend, the Earth can quake,'" ' " '
and
Of sweetness all things shqv morcsign
Than that most horrid breatli of thine.
What, the mouth, through which life every mo
ment passes, made and kept in so foul a condition!
The extreme nastiness of all objects, foreign
from the body, made so by the user of this article,
I am obliged, for different reasons, to pass over.
I will merely remark, that there is more money
expended by the citizens of this Borough and the
same is true of many other places for an article
--Toba ceo that only tends, at a fearful rate too,
to destroy and banish happiness and health, than
for all religious and educational purposes; than
which, . no objects have a higher claim on civilized
man.
It is not expected that the descriptive part of
this article will apply to every user of tobacco;
but many there be to whom it will apply in full;
let such take it ; and from such 'let others take
warning.
In another -article on this subject, I will point
out, to the "convirted," a remedy: one which has
proved "sure cure" in the most desperate cases
and conclude by an appeal to the ladies trusting
they may assist in applying the rcmedv.
j ID3 When the Loco-focos denounce Senator
! Best for voting for himself, it would be-manifest
1 ing a proper degree of fairness on their part, if
they informed their readers that the caucus nomi
nee of their party (Brawley) was required to do
the same thing whenever it was seen that his own
vote would eleel him. It would show some little
regard for honesty, while they tare.,pouring forth
their denunciations for that offence, if editors
would inform their readers that 720 Loco-foco could
Reelected Speaker of the Senate without voting
for himself.
Tlie Welsnqre Defalcation.
The defalcation of Prosper M. Wetmore, late
Naval Agent, in the city of New York, has been
definitely ascertained and placed beyond any
reasonable doubt. Its amount, as fixed by the ac
counting officers of the Government, is a little up
ward of S181,G00 as struck by Mr. Wetmore's
own clerk, it reaches 180,000. This ascertained
balance is after giving him all credits claimed by
him, except the charge for extra commissions
upon the disbursement of large sums of money,
forming, as he maintains, no part of his legitimate
duties as such agent. This question, however,
has been settled in the Supreme Court of the Uni
ted States by a decision, pronounced from the
Bench in the case of Purser C. Buchanan. He
had charged commissions upon disbursements,
upon precisely the same principle relied upon by
Mr. Wetmore for making similar charges against
the Government. The Court has decided that the
charge for such Commissions are wholly inadmis
sible, and their retention by the disbursing agent
illegal and unauthorized. Mr. Wetmoro's case,
therefore, is virtually settled by the highest legal
tribunal in the land ; and as he avowed in his card
to the public he was prepared to pay over what
ever sum was found due to the Government, and
such sum haying been fixed by his own clerk at
$180,000, he has nothing to do but to deposit that
sum to relieve himself from the penalty incurred
under the sixteenth section of the Sub-Treasury
act, and himself and sureties from the suits which
the United States have" directed to be instituted
against them.
The first suit is on his bond of 630,000 against
himself and sureties, and the second one against
him individually for the balance of the defalcation
amounting to $150,000. The first the Govern
ment expects to realize, the last amount is looked
upon as good as lost, notwithstanding the pledge
of Mr. Wetmore in his card.
T!se Sub-treasury.
A writer in the Banker's Magazine and Statisti
cal Register, edited and published by J. Smith
Ilomans, in an article on a National Currency,
gives us an insight" into the operations of the sub
treasury that is not without interest. President
Polk and Mr. Walker both told us that ihe sub
treasury law required modifications and amend
ments ; but we believe that the faithful are deter
mined to retain all its defects and absurdities.
We copy a paragraph from the article to which we
refer :
"A total of eight millions five hundred and seventy-nine
thousand dollars probably changes
hands every month. It is continually in motion.
Hosts of public officers and the clerks of mer
chants are employed, at a severe cost of labor,
time, and vexation, in counting and recounting
boxes and bags of coin that should be permanent
ly at rest or very rarely moved. Disputes and
differences of opinion are constantly arising be
tween the payer and payee, as to the values of
certain coins. A clerk is detained several hours
in making a payment of a few thousand dollars
into the sub-treasury, when the same sum could
be paid, satisfactorily to both parlies, in three
minutes, if a legitimate government circulation ivere
adopted. The singular spectacle has been recent
ly presented of transporting coin in a vsagon from
the treasury department to the capitol, (a distance
of one mile,) for the purpose of paying the per
diem of members of congress. Soon after being
received by them it is converted into bank paper,
as more convenient, more desirable, and more safe,
for their own individual uses, or it is deposited in
banks whose re-charter was refused by congress,
and checked for in bank paper, in sums to suit the
wants of the holder."
I?Iurier off Dr. George Parkinan.
Probarilitv of Another Murder. The grand
jury at Boston, it is understood, have found bills
of indictment against Prof. John W. Webster,
charged with the murder of Dr. G. Parkman.
Forty-two witnesses were examined, among them
the examining physicians and chemists, Dr. Wins
low Lewis, Charles T. Jackson, Dr. Keep, and
others, the officers of the police engaged in find
ing the remains of Dr. Parkman, and Mr. LittJefield,
the mam who found them. Also, Messrs. Isaiah
and Leonard Fuller, iron founders in North Grove
St., a few rods from the college, who saw Dr.
Parkman go into the building at half past I o'clock
on the 23d of November last, and did not see him
come out again. It is also said that a cabman
testified that he, on the night of the alledgcd mur
der, took Dr. Webster from his house in Cam
bridge, about ten o'clock in the evening, brought
him into the city, and left htm at the Medical
College, where he remaiped ail night ; and that
he took him back in his cab in the morning to Cam
bridge. A new feature has been added to the case, by
the knowledge of a singular disappearance that
took place on the night previous to the murder in
this street. It is a fact which has thus far been
kept studiously secret by the authorities. It ap
pears that a young woman, about twenty-two years
of age, named Catharine Sproulo.left the residence
of Caleb Howe, 20 South Grove street, on the
evening of the 22nd of November last, and has not
been seen or heard of since. She was a rather
good-looking young woman, of Irish parentage,
and resided in the family of Mr. Howe as a do
mestic. The circumstance of her disappearance,
at this fatal period, taken in connection with the
finding of the. dead body of an infant near the Med
ical College a few days after the murder of Dr.
Parkman, (buried in the dirt, on what is called the
New Jail Lands,) has given rise to terrible suspi
cions, and created another mystery, which it is to
be hoped the new Grand Jury will unravel.
There is,. certainly, a fearful tale yet to be told
concerning the North Grove street murder, but
since the establishment of secret Coroner's In
quisitions, the public must be kept in the dark con
cerning all matters of his description.
The Providence Mirror contains the following
singular paragraph relative to the Parkman mur
der :
" Within a few days we have learned, from pri
vate source, that since these old circumstances
have so signally failed to fasten guilt upon Prof.
Webster, a new version has been given to the af
fair, tending to establish his guilt, jf the testimquy
can be relied on ; but, at tho same time, involving
the witness in a most rascally deception. The
story is, that Littiefield now says he was called-in
by Brof. Webster, before suspicion, fastened upon
him, to help dispose of the murdered
he was knuning ;,11 Hie while to the whole trutu-
giction ! There may be no truth in it ; but it is the
subject of conversation in Boston, and gentlemen
in th'isigityve.are told, have been positively as
sured that such is now Littlefield's statement.
The idea seems to be, to make another Coolidge
affair of it, with- the difference that the new ver
sion implicates Littiefield much more seriously
than the new version of the Matthew's murder did
the student who was employed by Coolidge, on a
false representation, to.help disposo .of the lifeless
body. The story has not yet got into the news
papers, and may be unworthy of a place there ;
but it is believed by some in the city, and may be
true." ,
. 1
Philadelphia and Districts.-
The following, article infrelatidn ta. the growth
of Philadelphia and Districts, "is taken from a late
numder of the 'North American Farmer.''
Some of our . contemporaries at a distance seem
incredulous as to the extraordinary growth of Phil-;
adelphia within tho last ten years. They cannot
believe, that our population will be. found in the
neighborhood of half a million. We can only re
commend them to pay us a visit, and not confine
their attention to the. City proper, but to extend
their rambles to the Districts of the County, and
especially to those of them, that have advanced
so rapidly since the last census was' taken. Noth
ing p6rhaps, could more fuHy illustrate the onward
progress of Philadelphia than the successful exis
tence at-the present time of so many well conduct
ed omnibus lines, and the extent of ground over
whichthese .lines, travel, many times, during, each
day. Thus we have one line, the route of which
embraces the whole eastern front of Philadelphia,
from the Navy Yard tp the village of Richmond, a
distance of something HkeTive miles, and through
out thickly and derisely populated. This, then,
may afford the reader at a distance, some idea of
the Fjastc'rnv or Delaware front of Philadelphia.
The pace between the Delaware and the Schuyl
kill rivers, the two streams-which border our east
tern and western . limits, is something like two
miles long on the eastern extremity, and narrow
ing towards the west, or Schuykill, that our popu
lation of 450,000 and upwards may be found.- All
the outer Districts have improved very rapidly
within a few ye'ars, and are still improving. Our
omnibus lines pass in every direction, and thus
afford facilities which are only beginning to be
appreciated. The spirit, too, 13 still onward.
New factories are starting up in every quarter
and these soon become busy hives of industry, and
from the nuclei of new towns. and villages.
Slavery Among the Indians.
A correspondent of the Tribune, writing from
Fort Nisqually, Oregon, respecting the Oregon In
dians, makes the following important announce
ment : " You will probabiy be surprised that
slavery so generally prevails among these Indians.
This system exists among ail the the tribes in
every portion of Oregon. I have been among the
Indians as a traveller or upon business in most
sections of this territorv, and my personal obser
vation confirms the statement which I have made."
The Fulton countv CPa.) Democrat tells of a
panther hunt in that county which lasted several
days, and in which hundreds participated. Final
ly, they succeeded in shooting the animal, which
proved to bo a brindled dog with his ears cropped.
Political History.
A few days ago we published a communica
tion from " Berks," in reply to a statement of
Judge Woodbury, that, New Hampshire was
the first of the States to form a constitution, af
ter the Declaration of Independence, her con
stitution being dated in December, 1776.
" Berks" claims this honor for Pennsylvania,
showing that her constitution was dated on Sep
tember 28, 177G. With due deference, we
say that both are wrong ; though in correcting
a Judge of the Supreme Federal Court, we
may seem presumptuous 10 some of our read
ers. Judge Woodbury also says that, some
citizens of New Hampshire, timid, and waver
ing, protested against this early attempt 10 form
a conbiituiion, because the large Slates, such
as Virginia and New York, had not already ta
ken the lead. He is in error here also. Vir
ginia having already adopted a constitution be
fore the convention of New Hampshire assem
bled. The following is the order of time in
the dates of the first constitutions of the old
States :
New Jersey, July 2, 1776 ; Virginia, Julv
5, 1776; Maryland, August 14, 1776, Penn
sylvania, September 2S, 1776; North Carolina,
December 18, 1776; New Hampshire, De
rember, 1776; New York, April 20, 1777;
Vermont, December 25, 1777; Massachusetts,
March 2, 1780 ; South Carolina, June 3, 1790;
Delaware, June 12, 1792; Georgia, May 30,
1798.
According to this table, compiled from ? re
cords,-the honor of forming the first constitution
belongs to New Jersey, and not to New Hamp
shire. It also shows that New Hampshire. was
preceded by Jive States. Why any citizens of
New Hampshire should object to a constitution
in 1776, because the large States, as Virginia,
Massachusetts and others had not taken the
lead, wo do not exactly comprehend ; Virginia
having already taken thai lead. And if New
Hampshire wished to wait for the large States,
she already had precedents in three of them ;
for according to the census of 1790, Virginia
was first, Pennsylvania second, North Caroli
na third, and Maryand sixth, in the order of
population. Massachusetts was fourth, and
New York fifth. Thus New Hampshire had
five predecessors in all ihe States, and four in
the large States.
"Berks" is in error in claiming for Pennsyl
vania tho honor of forming the first constitution
after the Declaration of Independence; she
having already been preceded by New Jersey,
Virginia and Maryland We have not within
reach ihe date of the first constitution of New
Hampshire. Its present was adopted on the
second Wednesday of February, 1792, . as
amended from the constitution formed on Oc
tober 31, 1783.- Some of our readers may be
8urpri.ed at finding a consiiiuiion of Vermont
in 1777, when that region was not admitted as
a State till 1791. Hui Vermont being claimed
by New York and New Hampshire, resolved
to set up for herself in 1777, and afterwards
paid $30,000 to Now York for relinquishing
her claim. Beforo the Revolution, the British
Parliament had decided the contest in favor of
N. Hampshiro. The constitution of Georgia
was amended in 1798, from one amended in
1789. The dato of the constitution from which
ihu first was amended is not within our reach.
Will any correspondent inform us I South
Carolina made no constitution till 1790, and
.has, made none since, within our recollection,
linger, its ptosent Alio, State government
iHu hands of an oligarchy' of propory -FuVlic
lu' , Jail 1 I
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