^Tfjr flMir'uiltt j.jannrx'.
44 LIBERTY AND MY NATIVE SOIL."
YOL. 4. ~ ABBEVILLE C II., s7c.," JUNE"23,"mi. NO. 17.
_?- -? ? ??? ???? ? i mwmrmmmmma?o?j?n
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v
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ESTKAYS, Tolled TWO DOLLARS, to be
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For announcing a Candidate TWO DOLLARS,
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Tbo Postage must be paid upon all letters and
communications to secure attention.
At Chambers?Abbeville C. II.
12th June, 1817.
: j Upon application for a
> Prohibition, or for a
Giles, a slavp. ol f ?.t ,P .
' I} ,, JNcw 1 rial.
\\ m. l'ratt. J
This is a second trial, of which the proceedings
arc now before me: and I regret
*0 perceive, that in a matter so important,
;as every matter aftecting the life of a human
creature must be, notwithstanding the plain
directions given in the Magistrate's Act of
1839, there arc yet many and great errors
in the proceedings. Magistrates who preside
at the trial of cases like this, should rcmember
that the law requires the various
warrants and returns thereof, the steps by
which the Court is organized, the offence
distinctly stated, the evidence, the judgment
and the sentence, all to be in writing. It
is not sufficient that an essential matter did
actually exist: it must appear on the faco
of the proceedings, and be there shewn to
have existed. What is written must be taken
to have been all that appeared ; for
here especially the rule applies, that part
cannot be in writing and part be left to the
memory of witnesses.
In these proceedings the following particulars
do not appear, which should have
appeared, viz;?
I. That the owner of the slave had one
day's notice of the time and place of the trial.
No recital of this is in the minutes of
the Court; and it* we look to a separate paper,
the return of the Constable does not
appear to have been sworn to.
2. That the freeholders were neighboring
freeholders of the District in which the
offence was committed.
3. That thfe freeholders were summoned.
4. That by the selection of the owner,
or other means authorized by the Act of
1839, the freeholders who sat on the trial
were regularly taken out of eight that were
summoned.
5. That the free white witnesses examined
in the case were sworn.
6. That after the evidence 011 the part of
the prosecution had been heard, the prisoner,
his owner, or any person in his behalf,
was called on for testimony in answer to
the charge.
*7. That the sentence is to be executed in
the year 1847, or any other particular
year.
B; That the place of execution is certainly
fi^ed, vyitliout an alternative left to the
choice of the executioner,
9. That the execution is to be done by any
particular constable, or by any constable at
all.
10. That there was a distinct statement
in writing of the offence, for which the prisoner
was put on trial, to which the testimony
was annexed.
I have enumerated these errors and omissions,
that care may be taken to avoid them
and all similar ones in future. I do nol
n
is not required in a case like this, but a dis"
tinet, that is, an exact and accurate, state*
ment of the offence is required, as well by
the principles of justice, as by the positive
words of the law. Time, to a reasonable
certainty, should be stated?place also : and
that the place is within the District where
the trial is had ; and the essential ingredients
of the offence must be set out, either
by some word which contains them, or by
separate enumeration.
Now what has this slave been tried for?
rs i i i r* * i
ror uurning ; 11 is noi every uurning, 01
the burning of every thing that is unlawAil,
much less punishable by death.
1. Was he charged of burning-a stable,
as arson at common law? Then it should
have been stated and proved that the stable
was an out house, appurtenant to a dwelling,
and that it was burnt wilfully and maliciously.
After conviction, sentence of
death could not have followed ; for a slave
(except for particular offences enumerated
>n the Act of 1740. Sec 16, 7 vol., p. 402
Statutes) can bs> punished capitally, only
for some offence which is felony without
/o..~ i r. \lfAn \
ui'iiirin ui tiuiijy, yocu i?? ui 1 riVj^ auu
arson at common law, although felony, is
entitled to the benefit of clergy.
2. Was lie charged under the 10 Sec. of
the Act of 1740, of burning fodder, or some
other article, which was amongst the "goods
or commodities of the growth, produce or
manufacture" of this State ? Then it should
have been stated and proved, that the article
burnt was of the growth, produce or
manufacture of this State, such as is contemplated
by the section above mentioned,
and that it had been " wilfully and maliciously
set fire to, burnt or destroyed." After
conviction, sentence of death might have
followed j hut in the discretion of the Court,
according to circumstances, a milder punishment
might have been imposed.
3. Was he charged of burning a barn |
having grain in it? an ofiencc from winch
the benefit of clergy has been tulcen away?
by Statute 23, Henry 8, c. 1, (2 Stat., 450,)
and Statute 4 and 5, Philip and Mary, c. 4,
(2 Stat., 484). Then it should have been
stated and proved that the house burnt was
a barn?that is, a house used for storing
grain or provender?and that grain or corn
(that is some breadstufl) was in it; and
that it had been wilfully burnt. After conviction,
sentence of death, oi of milder punishment,
according to circumstances, m ight
have been awarded.
4. Was ho charged under the Statute
122 and 23 Charles 2, c. 7, (2 Stat., 521,)
of having in the night time maliciously unlawfully
and wilfully burnt a stack of grain,
or a building ? Then it should have been
stated and proved, that he did wilfully, unlawfully
and maliciously in the night time
burn a stack of grain, (not loose straw,) or
some house or building contemplated by
that Statute. After conviction, sentence of
death could not have followed ; for although
the olFence is made felony, punishable by
death, the benefit of clergy is not taken
awav. See 1 Hawkins. PI. C. 306.
J '
Of any one, two or more of these lour distinct
ofienc.es. the prisoner might have been
accused and tried. But of whatever lie was
tried, there should have bcea a distinct
statement: and before conviction, proof to
sustain the statement. If he had been
charged of several forms of offence upon one
trial, the judgment should have ascertained
the particular form or forms of offence, of
which he was guilty, and sentence have
i 1: i..
uueu iiwuiucu ucuuiuiu^iy.
' There was error and irregularity in admitting
against the prisoner evidence of his
bad character, and of previous misdeeds
committed by him. If the defence of good
character had been mad ?, the prosecution
1_
irgecu He is not presumed to be
character; but unless he attempts
the charge by shewing its inconj#ith
the general tenor of his conpep
ce of bad character can at most
hr t^at he is fit for crime, not that
Lie this act; and like evidonce ol
I previous misdeeds, may sonic times take by
surprise an innocent person, who comes
prepared to meet only the charge of which
he is to be tried.
The remedy by new trial is much mere
convenient than by prohibition. It is therefore
Ordered that th^ judgment be set aside,
and that a new trial bo had. Ol this Order,
let notice be given by the .Sheriff to the
prosecutor, John Clink'scales, and to the
Magistrate, John E. Ellis, Esquire, that
proper proceedings anew may be had : and
let the Sheriff detain the prisoner under
this order, as under warrant of arrest and
commitment for house burning, until he be
delivered by due course of law.
D. 11. WARD LAW.
Washington's Generals.
The closing- career of those Generals was
various, and as it may have been forgotten
by many, we will give a summary, as we
find it in Head ley's recently published work,
"Washinton and his (Jenerais."
In 1770, when in service, Gen. Putnam
was prostrated by a. stroke of paralysis, but
he lived seven years after the diclaration of
peace, and died at Brooklyn, Con., May 27th,
1790, at the good old age of 72.
Gen. Montgomery, born in Ireland in
173G, came to this country as a Lieutenant
in the British Army, and was stationed on
our Northern frontier; but be sold his commission
in England and m 1772, returned to
this country, purchased a farm in Duchess
INI \ mul ennn nmrrietrl n
<..^1 ' ^
daughter of Robert R. Livingston. His
military education probably induced Congress
to make him a brigadier General?
when, after a variety of events, as is well
Uno i, he fell in storming Q.uehec, in an
ey jition, if somewhat Gtuixotic, certainly
distinguished for the gallantry and heroism
thai a 11 concerned in it, from first toiast, displayed.
Arnold, whose treason has so associated
his name with infamy, has more juslicedone
liis good qualities in Mr. Headley's book,
than in any other sketch we heve ever seen
of his life; The cause of his treason, next
to his own want of principle, is imputed,
and with apparent justice, to the neglect
and had treatment of him by Congress,
which was often such that even Gen. Washington
could not refrain from remonstrating
against it. Gen. Schuyler was also treated,
if possible, more unkindly, but Schuyler was
a patriot, and such treatment had no eilect
upon his patriotism, whereas the passion for
revenge made the unprincipled Arnold a
traitor. The march of Arnold through the
wilderness of Maine, with his subsequent
onset upon Quebec, is set down as one of
the boldestachievcments on military record;
and but for the treachery of an Indian, to
whom he had entrusted letters, there is but
little doubt he would have succeeded in surprising
that important fortress, and thus
have secured the Canadas to the U. States.
At the capture of Burgoyne, Mr. Headley
represents Arnold as the principle actor,
and Gates, the nominal commander-in-cheif.
but little more than a looker-on. After the
close of the war, Arnold went to England,
but, detested there for his treachery, removed
to St. John's Brunswick, and established
himself as a merchant. Me rapidly acquired
a fortune ; but even there he become
so odious, that the people burnt him in effigy,
which they named the traitor. When
the war broke out between England and
France, he solicited an appointment in the
army, hut the officers steadily refusing to
associate with him, his request was denied.
He died in London in 1801?sixty-one
years of age.
Gen. Stark was born in New I-Iampshirp.
nf Si'ntnh rln.3r.ent. Hn sn.rved in the
old French war as commander of a company
of Rangers, and was with Lord Howe
before Ticondcioga. This sort of military
education, united with his enthusiastic patriotism,probably
induced Congress to make
a General of him. At the battle of Bennington
he immortalised his name, and it
was there he rallied his men with the exclamation?"See
those men! There are
the red coats. Before night they are ours,
or Molly Starke \s a widow!"
Gen. Schuyler was born at Albany, in
1833. He was also with Lord Howe in
l^is ill-^ cxpc(1 i^S1 i' '/0ll^T?
chief, he goon lost his rep
mand of the Southern armj^S^^W'nffF
self superceded by Gen. Green. He was
an Englishman by birth, and served as an
* officer in the English army; and having,
- >-V* ' .
{ ' ' ' ' ' ? . ' " -
afler thy old French war, settled Berkley
co., Va, his military education pointed him
out as a proper man to command in our armies.
At the battles on Bemis' heights,
according to Mr. Hcadley, he kept himself
<ii cump, aiiu iook no active p;iri ill me
bloody contests j bnt such was the cclat attending
the surrender of liurgoyn, that he
was selected to relieve the falling fortunes
of our countrymen in the South, where,
however, in the battle of Ca.mdcn, he was
defeated and disgraced. After the war, he
settled on his old estate in Virginia, but in
1790 he removed to New York, and was
elected a member of the Legislature. I?e
died in 1800, 77 years of age.
Baron Steuben was o:ic of the most interesting
characters among our military heroes:.
He was the great drill oilicer of the
rr?v<il 111 inn n?wl firO ?nti* rnw caIiIkhv I
discipline, and so prepared them for victories.
He was aid-de-camp to the King of
Prussia, atid learned the art of war under
the groat Frederic ; bwi ho finally resigned
his military position, and honored with various
civil appointments, and enjoying a
salary of about $3U()0 per annum, lie sacrificed
all, it seems by the solicitation, and
under some promises of the French Court,
to come to flic United States, in .order to
teach us the art of war. He first saw
our army at Valley Forge, famished,
half-naked, looking more like beggars
than soldiers, and i'resh as he was Jrorn
the well-fed and well-disciplined corps of
Europe, the conirast must have been painful
enough. He, however, undiscouraged,
began his drills, and in the very next campaign.
his soldiers becrnn to retrieve the
losses thcv had suffered as raw troops heretofore.
From that time on. our regulars
were never beaten in a fair fight, and subsequently,
at Eutaw Springs, some of his
men, to the utter amazement of the English
troops, beat them with their favorite weapon,
the bayonet. At the close of the war, lie
tried in vain to obtain from Congress a fulfilment
of its contracts with him, and only
after seven years trial, could he, through the
instrumentality of YVashingtoand Hamilton,
finally obtained a pension of 82,500 a year.
The New York Assembly voted him a
township of land near TTtica, in that State,
where he built a log-house, died, and was
buried in 1797.
We have no room even to abbreviate
what is said of Gen. Wayne, the hero of
Stony Point, who died at the age ol"51,soon
after his successful expedition against the
I 1 * ^1. il nr r ? t-*
uiuiiius uu ine men v\ esiern ironuer. r or
his life, and for the lives of the others, we
must refer our readers to IVlr. HeadJey's
book.
COMETS.
Comets are light vapory bodies, which
move round the sun in orbits much less circular
than those of the planets. The orbits,
in other words, are very long ellipses or
ovals having the sun near one of the ends.
Cornets usually have^two parts, a body or
nucleus, and a tail; but some have a body
only. The body appears as a thin, vapory,
luminous mass, ot globular form; it is so
thin, that in some cases the stars have been
seen through it. The tail is a lighter or
thiner luminous vapor, surrounding the
hotly, and streaming far out from it, in one
direction. A vacant space has been observed
between the body and the enveloping
matter of the tail ; and it is equally remarkable
that the tail has in some instances appeared
less bright along the middle, immediately
behind the nucleus, as if it were a
stream which that nucleus had in some
measure parted into two. In ignorant ages,
the appearance of a comet in the sky, never
(ailed to occasion great alarm, both on account
o'f its threatning appearance, and because
it was considered as a sign that war,
i . ? r 1 ? _ m .
pcsuicuce or laminc, was uooui to airici
mankind. Knowledge has dispelled all
such fancies; but yet we arc not well acquainted
with the nature of comets. Out of
the great multitude?certainly not less than
1,000?which are supposed to exist, about
150 have been made the object of scientific
observation. Instead of revolving, like the
planets, nearly on the plane of the sun's
equator, it is found that they approach his
body from all parts of the surrounding space.
At first, they are seen slowly advancing,
with a comparitively faint appcaratice.?
A_ ' _i. .i._ iu.. ?: i..
/y5 iu?-;y ujijjiuui;ii uiu siiiij iue luuiiuu uucomes
quicker, and at length they pass
r o u 11
M ly^L?.j,|||? jifi*
the remote parts of space their motion must
be extremely slow. Three comets h&ve
been observed to return, nnd their t jriods
' ' " ;'V
a*
of revolution have been calculated. The
most remarkable of these is one usually
denominated Halley's Comet,from the astronomer
who first calculated its peaiod. It
revolves round the sun in about seventy five
years, its last appearance being at the close
of 1835. Another, called Enlc's Comet,
from Professor Enke of Berlin, has been
found to revolve once in 1207 days, or 3
!-?. vears; but in this case, the revolving1
body lsTfbynch at each successive approach
to the sun. to l?e a lifil'i earlier than on the
previous occasion, showing its orbit is
gradually lessening, so that it may be expected
ultimately to fall into the sun. This
iact has suggested that some part of that
space through which the coinct passes must
be occupied by a matter presenting some
resistance 10 the movement of any denser
body; and it is supposed that this matter
may prove to be the same which had been
described as constituting (he zodiacal liffht.
It is called a resisting medium; and future
observations upon it arc cxpectcd to be attended
with results of a most important nature,
seeing1 that, if there be such a matter
extending beyond the.orbit of the earth, that
planet, in whose welfare we arc so much
interested, will be exposed to the same ultimate
late with Ionic's Comet. The third,
named lieila's Comet, from AI. LJeila of Joscphstadi;
revolves round tho sun in (> 3-4
years. It is very small, and has no tail.?
in 1S32; this comet passed through the
earth's path about a month before the arrival
of our planet at the same point.* If tho
earth had been a month earlier at that point,
or the comet a month later in crossing it,
the two bodies would have been brought
t An>/?t n it/I I It A nnrflv i n n I I
i , (iiiu iiiu wiiuiij i ii mi |HUuauiiuy9
would havn instantly become unfit for the
cxistanceof the human family. Cornets arc
often affected in their motions by the attractions
ol the planets. Jupiter, in particular,
lms been described by an astronomer as a
perpetual stumbling block in their way.
In 1770, a comet got entangled amidst the
satelitcs of that planet, and was thereby
thrown out of its usual course. while the
motions of the satclites were not in the least
affected. Comets often pass "unobserved,
in eonscqucr.ce of the part of llic heavens
in which they move being then under daylight.
During a total eclipse of the sun, "
which happened sixty years before Christ,
a large comet not lbrmerly senn, became
visible, near the body of the obscured luminary.
On many occasions, their smallness
and distance render them visible only by
the aid of the telescope. On other occasions
they are of vast size. The comet now called
Halley's, at its appearance in 145G, covered
a sixth part of the visible extent of the
heavens, and was likened to a Turkish
scymitar. That of 1780, which was observed
by Sir Isaac Newton, had a tail calculated
to be 1*23,000,000 of miles in length,
a space greater than the distance of the
earth from the sun. There was a comet in
ii.I.I i :i,~
x # Jt-xj ?v iiiv^ii urni oi a uut.^j ojiiuuu uui iiau
a fan across a large space oi' the heavens.
The tails of comets usually stretch in the
direction opposite to the sun, both in advancing
and retiring, and with a slight wave in
the outer extremity, as if that part experienced
some resistance.?Saturday Gazette.
Violating the parole.?Gen. Canalizo,
a famous Mexican General, in addressing
"the ene my," takes occasion to say that his
force will be strengthened by the brave defenders,
"ic/to so heroicly defendei Vera Cruz.*'
These expected reinforcements were the
troops dismissed on a parole by Gen. Scott
after the surrender of that city. It will be
remembered that after the battle of "theCth",
(ren La Vega refused to take his parole,
Iipc.hisp. lio snirl " his rrnvpvn mp.nt. "wntiM
not respect it." The Mexicans are not
more honourable now than they Avere then,
and to presume that they will respect a parole
is ridiculous. This fighting them, taking
six thousand prisoners, and letting
them off. to fight us again, seems to give a
prospect of interminable warfare. If breaking
a parole is punishable, the laws should
be executed with singular severity against
the Mexicans. We have got into this war,
and unless the government is prepared to
carry it on with all the rigors necessary to
end it, our troops had better b*e withdrawn.
At Cerro Gordo many soldiers were recognized
who had been captured at Vera Cruz;
among the dead were discovered officers
| known to have been released on their par
"If over I reach Heaven," said Dr. Wa^.s,
WI expect to find three wonders: lsU/ibe
presence of some that I had not thought to
be there. 2d, The absenco of ^mej^ohi l
expected to meet there. 3d, The^ri'eatest
wonder of all, will be to fifcd myself
I there." ^
it - ' \\?Y -