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VOL. I. CtlDGX, SOUTH CAROLINA., SATURDAY JANUARY ?T, ?*SS. * Hi. W, <
* I " -r *' ^ - : - - - J
*BUMS
or THB
OOMSfiaMIAL .OOXTRiaJVt
Published waoklyly ovory Saturday morning at $3
par annate if paid in advance, or $4 if not paid
until the expiration of the year.
Persons subscribing out of the State, oro required to
pay in advance.
9 No subscription received for a less term than one
year.
Advertisements will be inserted at One Dollar por
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in" All Lettors addressed to this Office, must be post
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11 if fffflEnftrff
LAWS OF THE U. STATES, PASSED AT TIIE
FIRST SESSION OF TIIE TWENTYFIFTH
CONGRESS. '
* Public.?No. 1.
Am a T to aulhorizc the President of
the United States to cause the public
vessels to cruise upon the coast in the
winter season, and to relieve distressed
navigator^.
lie it enacted by the Senate and House]
of Representatives of the United States
of America in Congress assembled, That
the President of the United States be,
and hereby is, authorised to cause any
suitable number of vessels, adapted to
the purpose, to cruise upon the coast, in
the severe portion Pf the season, when
the public service will allow of it, and
?to afford such aid to distressed navigators,
as their circumstances and necessities
may require; and such public vessels shall
go to sea prepared fully to render such
assiaiuucu*
JAMES K. POLK,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Rll. M. JOHNSON,
Vice President of the United States and
President of the Senate.
Approved, Dee. 22, 1837.
* T ;M. VAN BUREN.
Public.?No. 2.
AN ACT to ratify and confirm certain
official acts of John Pope, late Uovcr/
nor of Arkansas.
Be it enacted by the Senate add [louse
of Representatives of the United States
of America, in Congress assembled, That
the locations, sales and transfers of John
Pope, late Governor of Arkansas, of a
quantity of the public land, not exceeding
ten sections, (or six thousand, four
hundred acres,) which was granted by
Congress to Arkansas, to build a Stale..
r :*.i- n ?i. .i. . ^
jiuuau ui uuiiu'ivuuii, iiiu Keai o! uroverninentof
Arkansas, to sundry citizens of
Arkansas, in pursuance of an authority
vested in him by an act of Congress of
the fourth day of July, in the year eighteen
hundred and thirty-two,; be, and the
same are hereby, ratified and confirmed:
Provided, said location, sales and transfers,
were in conformity to legal subdivisions,
be those divisions fractional quarter
sections or not: And provided, also, That
the gross amount of acres of land thus
located, sold, and transferred, for the
purpose aforesaid, does not exceed four
thousand six hOndrcd acres; and the President
of the United States is hereby authorized
and directed to cause patents to
issue to said purchasers, their heirs, or
their legal representatives, for the late
Governor's several locations, sales, and
transfers, whenever the applications are
properly made by said purchasers or their
legal representatives.
Sec. 2. And be it turther enacted, That
the northeast nnd southwest quarters of
section twenty-seven, township eighteen
south, range one west, the Southeast
quarter of section twenty-eight, same
township and range, the southwest quarter
of section fifteen, township nineteen
south, range one west, the northwest and
southeast quarters of section nine, same
townshin and rnntr** all in
1 ?* t> v # ? ftt? ftiftv iiAigaioaiji|/i
land district) State of Arkansas, be, and
the same are hereby excepted from the
provisions of this act.
Approved, January 16ih, 1938.
Public. No. 3.
AN ACT to provide for the payment of
the annuities which will become due
and payable to the Great and Little
Osages, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and thirty eight; and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate ond House
of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That
the Secretary, of War shall cause to be
purchased for the use of the Great and
provisions as
tsill, tn his opinion, be most useful to
them, to the value of eight'thousand Are]
w : t
hundred dollar*, and When purchased,
ball cause said provisions to be distributed
among said Indians, by their agent,
furnishing to each family,, as near as may
be, their proper proportion; Prowled always,
That such purchase and distribution
shall not be made, unless said Indiana
agree to receive the same in discharge
of the annuities due them for the
year one thousand eight hundred and
thirty-eight by virtue of treaties between
them and the United States.
I. Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That
I the Secretary of War cause as many ad|di^ional
farmers to be employed as may,
in the opinion of the President be deemed
necessary to aid and instruct said Indians
in clearing and cultivating their
lands, jmd such additional stock, implements
of husbandry and seeds to be nur
chased for the use of said Indians, as the
agent or superintendent may judge necessary;
Provided always, That the whole
expense incurred under this section shall
not exceed the sum of three {housand five
hundred dollars.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That
to enable the Secretary of War to carry
the provisions of this act into effect, the
sum of twelvq thousand dollars be, and
the same is hereby appropriated io be
paid out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated.
Approved, Jan. 16th, 1838.
From the Saturday Evening Post.
The following narrative is communicated
by a valuable correspondent, and lias
the merit of a staid conformity to truth
in its detail. The story was related to
me writer by those who wore immediately
engaged in the transactions it records* and
whose veracity and intelligence cannot be
doubted.
The Fatal Silver Bullet.
A TRUE STORY OF THE REVOLUTION.
In the summer and autumn of 1777,
while Sir William Howo tvith a fleet and
part of the royal army were lying at N.
York, General Burgoyne with his army
were advaucing from Canada toward Albany.
t > The object and design of the enemy
were to possess themselves of Lake Chaplain,
with the whole of the Hudson, and
thereby cut off all intercourse and communication
between the Eastern and
Southern States. For the purpose of
watching the motions and annoying the
operations of the hostile armies, General
Washington had directed small bodies of
froops to be stationed at Fish Mill, Redhook,
Grecnbush, and several other pla
ccs on the East side of the river, beUVecn
New York and Albany, with strict orders
to take up and down the river, either by
land or water, and if delected in espionage,
or employed in communicating information
between the British armips. in
be punished according to the rufes of war.
About the Jiist of Semptembei', a pedestrian
passing northwardly, was hailed
and stopped .by a sentinel of the guard
stationed at Redhook, and commanded by
Captain John Mansfield, of Connecticut.
The rtian was about thirty years of age
and clothed in the habit of a farmer. He
was conducted to the guard honse.?
Capt. M. inquired of him his name, the
place of his residence, as well as that to
which he was going, his business there, |
See. . He replied by giving a name, and
stated that he belonged to the place below
Redhook, and was a farmer?that he
was now on his way to the next, town
above, with a view to purchase a pair of
oxen from a farmer of Ms acquaintance
living there. He was asked whether he
had about him any letter or other communication
from Lord Howe, or any other
Qritish officer of New York, addressed
to Gen. Burgoyne, or any officer in his!
army? To which he promptly Answered I
in the negative. Capt. M. then told him
that such were the orders of his superior
officer, that it became his duty to search
the person of every traveller under similar
circumstances; t$ which he replied he
had no objection to being searched?
Capt. M. then directed two or three of
the guard to take off his coat and examine
pockets, folds, lining, and every other
part critically. While this was doing,
one of the guard observed the prisoner
to pass his hand with a quick motion
from his Vest pocket to his mouth, and by
the motion of his chin seemed to. be swallowing
something that "went down rathei*
hard,'' as he expressed himself.?The
search howeVer, continued and was finished.
without any discovery which WoOld
justify the farther detection of the prisoner.
Capt. M. was then informed of the.
suspicious circumstances noticed by the
guard.
What was now to be done? Strong
suspicion had attached itself to the stcanger,
but no positive proof had yet appeared
against him. An expedient soon sug
1# . - .1 . .. 1 - '?
g?B?vu useii 10 me reaay tnougnui 01 our
Yankee Captain.?-He observed to the
prisoner, "we have detained you on yopr
journey for some length of time, and sub*
jected you to a pretty strict examination.
I feel bound by the rules of civility to
treat you to a bowl of toddy, before you
prdceod on, and if you will drink with
us you shall be made welcome.'" The
man xr%9 pleased with the invitation, and
%
_ .. ? vi*
/ fi .
readily agreed to accept it. The Captain
took upon himself the affice of bar-keeper,
and soon prepared the toddy. T
make it genuine and answer the ourpose
for which he wanted it, he stirred in a
Stood and sufficient dose of emetic tartar.
Our stranger being thirsty and somewhat
fatigued by travelling, drank very freely
of the beverage, while the Captain and
others present barely tasted and passed
it round."
A free conversation soon commenced
between the stranger and his new acquaintances.
lie inquired Cupt* M. the number
of men under his command, and at
the different military stations above Redhood,
whether they were furnished with
field pieces or any kind of cannon?what
number of centinels were placed on the
watch at a time?how often, and at what
time in the night thfy relieved, &c. &c;
About twelve or fifteen minutes after the
toddy went .round and went down, our
guest .began to grow pale, and looked
IVllfl? ?Al*l*?>h?rr'rr ' oniil Ka 'io tli. mntta.
W * ! yvMiwmi WUIU IIV>) 10 ilie UKIiliVI
matter with me?I feel very eick at my
stomach all at once!" lie rose immediately
from his scat and went out into the
wood-yard, where a quantity of chips!
were lying, and soon began to evacuate
his stomach. Ile was carefully watched
by Capt. M. and several of the guard,
and was seen by them to draw with his
foot a parcel of the chips over the matter
emitted from his stomach, before he returned
into the house. While he was
rinsing his mouth in the house, Capt. M.
directed a search to be made among the
chips, where was soon found a silver ball
of the size of a small musket bullet, made
I ..... ? ! r - 1
ify iwu |iieces 01 very miniy piaicu suver
bcnl round and lightly soldered together.
Inclosed in this fatal bullet was found a
letter on a sheet of silk paper signed by
Lord Howe, addressed to Gen. Burgoyne,
giving information respecting the situation
of the royal fleet and army at New
York, and requesting advice from the
Gen. by the bearer, what progress he
was making with the army under his
command toward Albany; at which place
he hoped and expected soon to meet him.
But the deciphering and reading the letter
presented at first another puzzle to the !
Yankee Captain. It commenced in the
words and figures following, viz. 44M6 d21r
S3r, bG lh2 b21rlr y45 w3ll 12lrn," ?k.c.
After a little examination and study, however,
the difficulty was overcome. It was
discovered that the arithmetical figures up
to 6 inclusive were substituted for our
vowols, thus al, e2, i3, o4, u5, y6. The
key being now found immediately unlock
ed the whole contents of the silver bullet.
The bearer of course was continued in
custody, and a court martial speedily
formed, by whom, on the clearest evidence ,
of gnilt, the unfortunate prisoner was
convicted, sentence I and executed.
Female Influence.
BV MRS. P. W. BALL, OF THE ZANESVILLE VISITOR.
It has been asserted by a great French
writer, that women mould the character
of a nation. Napoleon said the mother
formed the man. It this be true, the importance
of early female culture is too
[ obvious to need pointing out to the most
superficial observer of national character.
It has been conceded on all sides that
nearly all the eminent men, eminent cither
for good or evil, have had mothers to
whose training they owe that eminence.?
The mother of Washington is a brilliant
modern example of maternal influence,
wisely and judiciously exeited, producing
the most glorious result. She pointed
the son , to a high aim; she taught him
that virtue and greatness are synonimous;
that moral courage is the soul of phisical.
bravery; that dissimulation and falsehood
are incompatible with true greatness. She
had he): reward; for her son stands recorded
on the historian's page, pre-eminently
good as great. In reading his life, the
hero, the warrior, the statesman and the
philosopher are all combined in the good
man we love. The mothers of several of
the Roman Emperors, we are told, exercised
unbounded itifluenre over their sons;
but they were generally vicious women,
and accordingly, their sons were great;
ouly in infamy. Others were good so far'
as the glimmerings of natural virtue could
break through the pagan gloom of the
age in which they lived, and they taught
their offspring to wade to empire through j
seas of blood, content with the result, !
without regarding the means by which it
was accomplished; means which generally
originated in treason and perfidy. It was
reserved for an American Christian mother
to form a head for a great nation, the
lustre of whose name will live so long as
otur Republican Statos exist, a broad
shrine fot the worship of freedom. If
then the greatest as well as the brightest
example of woman's forming influence
existed with us, in our own happy land.
Why is not the cultivation of that power
as highly esteemed as it should be by our.
fair countrywomen? In no country, perhaps,
in the world, where Christianity is
taught, is woman so little Sensible of her
wast powers an?! influence as in the American
States. The reason of this is obviously
because women here are domestic in
their habits beyond th.?se of other eountries,
and do not mingle in fubjjc gifegg*
blagcs. At the fireside is the stronghold
of her power?there is that influence diffused
and felt, while she, who exercises it
is totally unconscious of the great momentum,
towards good or evil, she is giving
the growing characters around her.?
Could American girls be made sensible of
this, could they know that upon them devolved
the responsibility of making, jmen
virtuous or otherwise, how lightly would
they deem mere external decoratipn that
only catches the eye and imagination o(
the other sex, in comparison to the cultivation
of mind that controls and influences
them. It has been said by an eminent
author, that the color of a nation's
morals is imbibed from its women. If
this be the case. Americans should be less
corrupt than all nations; for certainly
their women are as yet, more modest and
religious than those of any other country.
Among us the marriage tie has ever been
regnrded 'sacred, and society sternly
irowns down its violator.
In other countries some fcmals, with
their daring ambition that characterizes
strong intellects when combined with undisciplined
passions, have avoived themselves
infidels, and striven to shine as stars
in the hemisphere of metaphysical philo -,j
sophy- but where, in all america, with one
extraordinary exception, can the traveller
point to an athicst woman; and that exception
has sunk too low even to attract the
finger or scorn.
'Travels In Palestine nnd Svrl*.i
Mr. Robinson's Tour, of which these
volumee give the narrative, slows how
much may be done in a short period by
an active and intelligent mind, Mr. Robinson's
travels originated in accident.?
After a summer spent in Spain, and a
winter in Itally, he visited the Ionian
isles in 1829. lie was now within the
region of temptation to a well informed
traveller. Before him lay Greece. He
plunged into it, traversed its romantic hills,
sailed over its pellucid waters, and still
found its horizon enlarging. Before him
lay Egypt, Palestine and Syria. To prepare
for this tour, he spent the winter in
Smyrna. In 1830, he commenced his
excursions in Egypt, where he went up
the Nile to the second cataract. Rodescendino
the Nile he vi?ite<l the whole of
Syria and Palestine, with the vast coun|
try east of Jordan. In 1831, he passed
I through the more interesting portions of
1 Asia Minor, and wintered in Constantinople.
In the following year he returned
home, by the way of Adrianople, and
Athens, having completed this striking
tour, and seen the most remarkable and
lovely portions of the earth, within exactly
three years. Books of this order are
valuable to every man; to the student
who stays at home they serve fot succinct
displays of the general features of the
land; to the traveller they are important
as the most useful of possible guides; to
the philosopher they give the clearest and
most unprejudiced views of life as it
exists under the most ancient forms of the
earth; and to the reader through mere
curiosity, they suggest perpetual novelty
of scene, circumstance and cheracter, in
lands at once the most familiar to our his
toric recollections, and the most remote
from the manners of Europian lite,
i One of the subjects that peculiarly and
'naturally attracts attention in Jerusalem,
is the slate of the Jews there. Mr.
-Robinson paid a visit to the chief Rabbi.
In Jerusalem as in all other eastern town*.,
the Jews are confined to a particular
quarter. Here it is the hollow space lying
between the site of the ancient temple,
and that part of Mouul Sion which is included
within the walls. Their houses
are mean without, but often well-furnished
within. The look of beggary and the
reality of opulenco follow the Jews every
where. Their houses are generally
built on the same plan. A gateway opens
into a squre court, round which several
distinct families often reside. The several
apartments are generally on the first
floor, ond are reached by a stone staircase.
Mr. Robinson's visit to the Rdbbi is described
with delicacy and interest. The
tone in which the Jewish family complimented
the travellers on their nationality,
sho ved that more was meaut than met
the car, and that they looked to the European
nations for deliverance from the
yoke of their barbarian oppressors. In
Jerusalem they arc few. Mr. Robinson
calculates their number at rather less
tnan three thousand. The absence or all
trade and of all activity of life naturally
prevents the growth of the Jewish population.
But Palestine ha* been an utterly ruined
country these thousand years. It has
the look of a land swept by more , than
numan power. . With the loveliest climate
of the world, atjhe head of the medeteranian,
lying within the most opulent parts
of Asia and the direct road to the Western
World, Palestine ought to be one of the
richest, most fertile, and most popalous
regions of the East. It is now the direct
reverse of these: wijh tho exception
of * few plsis and valleys, the land seems
covered with the ashes of a furnace, and
people, with exception of a few lordly
families, seem condemned to perpetual
begfiry. . .
'
<0Ql Syria is slit the garden of the Fstal,f
(s vast jranges of mountains. *its valletf&^j
covered with verdure, it* river# file motjBB
tain pastures, fed by rivulets of crysti^HJH
its plains covered with the mulberry (jBflr i
olive; and the marble ridges of its Ldptf
non, crowded with the population of the
Druses, hardy, handsome, Warlike end
free, present a,powerful contrast tdflhe
effeminate languor of the East, sndlitHI
more to the scorched landscape Md ^wif
ed children of Palestine. The view" Of
Tripoli from the interior is strikinglyf.Jktc*
turesque. - It lies at the foot of the lciiweut
range of Lebenon, anu siauuitig eft ft
plain covered wfth fruit trees, and with
azure of the Medeteranean for a back* t
groud, it looks at a distance worth Of
all its fame. The view of the plain is
craml?a lftror? trinnnrln nmnteri wIlK
? _ o - D" I ..
promontory extending into the sea. At
the base of the castle, lies 4he town qf
Tripoli, surrounded by a green belt of
orange and mulberry plantations. The
city i^elf is picturesque from the trasi
number of cypress shooting up from tbtf^
courts and gardens..: To the north lien* a*
the valley of the . Kadisha, covered withthe
luxuriauce of eastern vegitatipu.
In tliU region remains one the oldest
and most memorable monuments, of the '
world, perhaps older than the Pyramids*
but no work of man? the grove of Lebanon.
It stands in a hollow at the foot of
the higher range. .of mountai.1* which
forms a natural amphitlifeatre. opening at
the south.. Of the oldest treea there vare
not more than >seven or eight. These
patriarchs of the vegetable world are
distinguished by having four or five
trunks, each equal to a large tree, spreading
from one base.. The circumference
of one of those trunks as measured by
i Mr. Robinson, was nearl) (,thirly feet.?;
Besides these, there are abdut forty or
fifty good sized trees, and a great number
of smaller ones. The trunks of the
older.treet arc covered with tho names
of travellers.. . The cedars stand upon
uneven ground, covered with rocks and
stones, and form a small wood of about
a mile in circumference. ..
Every where in this fine country we
are struck with scriptural recollections.
The summer retreat of the Trtpoliiane ia
in the vales of 4Edcn.* This is a delicious
spot among the mountains; it am
ply supplies three great luxuries of the
East?cool shade fine air ami pure water*
The view of the plains and the aea is
boundless and lovely; above Libemi#
soars in all his grandeur?the air is so
; delightful that it is itself almost a euro
for intermitting fever, the scourge of tho
East. Patients at the point of death in
the plains, revive as soon as they arc
sent up the hills, and the most desperate
cases constantly yield to the genial power
of the breezes of Eden. *
! The contrast of Mehometthlsrn and
Christianity is forcibly displayed! in these
regions. The Turlrib mastery of tho
plain, live in brutality and barbarism.
With the most luxuriant ,soiLin/thw**rorld,
only wait.nc for . their "labor, thev arw'
I indolent, savage and'poor. On the other -*
{hand, the Maronites, imperfect Christians .
as they are, fill the rugged sides of theif
mountains with an active and animated
population, and cover their wild landscape
with plenty and beauty.
"Equally grateful,*' says Mr. Robinson,
"to my Christian ears was t,he tolling of
the chapel bells calling the inhabitants
to vespers-".) lie now found himself in
the village of Bohirrai, (containing about
a hundred houses, built on the edge of a
rocky descent, and inhabited by M^ronitPe \
families, occupied in the silk and dfyiqg
trades, or in agriculture, for both tobacco
and cotton were seen growing in the
neighborhood It was an interesting
sight to see this little colony of Christians
thus industriously employed in this ele*
vated region, the highest inhabited part
of Libanius.
But Damascus is the glory of the East.
From the summit to the lowest range of
the Anii-Libanus, the vast plain of Dames*
cus, with the city in the foregrund^ bursts
suddenly upon the eye. Seen under the light
of evening, with the sun in the west,
and the glare, of day passed by, nothing
can be more lovely. The extreme purity
of the atmosphere brings the most distant
objects to the traveller's feet. Tne plain
is covered with gardens, and. from the ?
midst of this immense circle of verdure^
touched with all the hues of sunset, start
up mosques and minarets without nnnrt*
her, light, elegant, and symmetrical.?
For the breadth and brilliancy, of
eastern landscape, there is no.architecture f
equal to the Oriental. The, solemnity
and (rrmirlfiir of the Gothic ere soiled to
our climate of cloud and Vsfopest. The
seyere or even the florid b^tjr of Greek
architecture belongs to eeohntry. where
the spectator sees it under the fights'hod
shadows of a sky as picturesque as the
hills and valleys which it eovefp.; Bet
the magnitude; strong coloring, ind yet
fantastic finish of. Eastern ajrchnectore are
made to be. seen across mjwjwp<
under the unclouded eky?,end ftowie*
with the powerfii) aplertdooty,with
Ihe rising and setting tttfljeie iil^ttjjet
then Ihfleme. the
u? n*v tne arevn-iiKo w?
\ i
* o-s