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THE ALBANY PATRIOTS
“ Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.*
VOL. I.
ALBANY, BAKER COUNTY, GEORGIA, MAY 28, 1845.
NO. 7.
THE PATRIOT,
rrM-OTIED EVERY WEDNESDAY MORRITC, BY
NELSON TIFT & SETH N. BOUGHTON,
Editors and Proprietors.
TERMS.
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j like manner forty days.
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fe published forty days.
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nfOiiinary for leave to sell Land and Negroes, must
V published weekly for four months.
Monthly Advertisements, One Dollar per square
kr each insertion.
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POETRY.
From the United States Journal.
The Rally or llic Texas Volun
teers.
(Si/jycs/nf by a reported incasion rtf Texas by the
■ Mexicans.)
Unfurl the flag that bears the bright.
The lone, but proud, uncompleted star;
Unfurl, where beats for freedom’s right
A heart, or springs a standard spar:
From where tlic northern hill-lakes sleep
To where the Gulfs blue, bright naves curl,
Wherever float o’er dell or stoop.
The •* stare,” their sister star unfurl.
Shake out its folds, ’till high among
Its kindred" stars” they wave, till wake
The tones of Freedom's battle-song,
The land 'till marching myriads shake.
Rouse! beat the gathering roll that woke
The might before whose charge, of yore,
By flood and field the Briton struck
'llis flag—to rule the wave no more.
Shout for the lone, but onward star,
Unfurl it o’er your vales and hills;
Shout, ’till the land, from Maine-woods far
To Texan wilds, the echo thrills,
Blood, freedom, right :.re each a tie
Nor time nor tyrant hands shall sever;
Strike up! your starry ensigns fly!
Texas is ours and ours forever. ***.
Capt. Buffaloc, the leader of the band, and
ana the physical enduranco to sustain the
rigors of Indian slavery.
After various adventures he reached
Warminster in the winter of ’82-3, penny
less and dejected. .Here he resided when
the “ unfortunate” inspiration came across
his mind in regard to steam.
“From that time (1735) I have (says
he) pursued the idea to this day (1792)
with unremitting assiduity, yet ao frankly
confess that it has been the most imprudent
scheme that I ever engaged in. The per*
plexitics and embarrassments through
which it has caused me to wade, far ex
ceeded any thing that the common course
of life ever presented to my view.”
The first model of a steam boot was
completed in 1785 having its machinery
perfect, and bearing at the sides, wheels
instead of paddles. The paddles were
adopted in 1786, after experimenting on
wheels. The crotchets of the wheels were
found to labor loo much in the water, en
tering as they did at a considerable angle,
and departing at the same, they lost the
power by sinking the surface, and after-
wards by lifting themselves out of the wa
ter. This led to the substitution of pnd-
dlcs, which entered almost perpendicular,
and left the water inclined a little towards
the stern. The construction of such a
boat became to Fitch the highest object of
his ambition. He applied to the Continen
tal Congress for aid, representing the im
mense advantage its success would be to
the western lands lately conquered by the
American arms. He petitioned the legis
lature of_ Pennsylvania for money, repre
senting in high wrought figures of the
imagination the splendid consequences of
the project, if earned into effect. He por
trayed in _ the private car of the Wesiern
and Virginia members of Congress the
achievements in reserve for steam through
the agency of his contrivance. He wrote
to Franklin in October, 1785, affirming tire
MISCELLANY.
practicability of 6ca navigation by steam
vessels; and every where, and at all times,
boldly asserted as a prediction what we
observe ns facts. But none of his fervid
representations produced the money, and
he acquired the reputation of an insane
man. Finally, by tne construction, engra
ving and sale of a map of the Northwest
cm Territory, all of wliich was done with
his own hands in the work-shop of his
friend Cobc Scout, of Wnrminietcr, and the
impressions taken in a eider press, he raised
about $800 in February, 1787, formed a
company of forty shares, and commenced
a boat of sixty tons. After innumerable
vexations and delays, principally occasion
ed by the formation of the engine, the boat
was pul in motion, and made only three
miles nn hour. The machinery was so
rough that the expected power of a cylin-
John Fitch.
Tlic benefits which mankind is now de-
ring from steam navigation are incalcula-
ilc. This mode of “annihilating time
nd space,” is of peculiar advantage to this
oimtry, abounding in rivers of immense
iizc—the rapidity of whose waters prevent I dcr of twelve inches was not realized.-
be successful navigation by any other
node, and the man or men, by whose co
mprise, skill, and industry it was first in-
•onuccd, is deserving of immortal honors;
lis name should be handed down as one of
lie master spirits of the age in which he
ived. We received a short time since a
amphlct published in Cincinnati, Ohio,
milled “Justice to the Memory of John
"itch,” by Charles Whittlesey. This work
i written with a view to show the impor-
ant agency which Mr. Finch, had in es-
ablishing steam navigation on our waters,
knd the rescue from oblivion the name and
crriccs of a man, whose character and
aluablc labors were cot appreciated dunng
lis life.
We learn from the pamphlet referred to,
nat John Fitch was bom at Windsor, Conn,
anuary 21, 17-43, and remained in that
icinity until he reached the age of twen-
y-fivc years, receiving a very scanty com
mon s'-fiool education. He was ill-treated
y his father and his elder brother—his life
t home was rendered wretched, and lie
vas bound apprentice to a Watchmaker.
-Subsequently an unfortunate marriage
rowned the misery of his condition, and in
769, while yet a young man, he became
n adventurer of fortune. After many vi-
issitudes he became a resident watchma
ker at Trentoa, N. J., where he exercised
** iis trade at the commencement of the A-
oerican revolution. The demand for arms
I J educed him to undertake the business of a
tbo Kunsinith for the American forces, which
tposed his property to destruction when
ae British entered that village in Decern-
1*1.1776. He joined the troops of New
erscy, and endured the rigors of a winter
amp at Valley Forge. Reluming from
he camp, he recommenced the trade of a
wcrsmith in Bucks county Fa., occasion
al’ traversing the country on foot, to re
ef?* fair the clocks and Watches of the inhabi-
2***. Having procured an appointment
IgV * deputy surveyor from the state of Vir-
■ m ja. he started for Kentucky with » knap-
ack upon his back and a compass in his
“hod, m tha spring of 1780.
In the fall of 1781 he returned to Phil-
owphia, having made extensive surveys
**weetj the Kentucky and Green rivers.
0 the SDrino- of 171“ " * ! ~ **■ - A ~ ~
* spring of 1782, collecting the frag-
h*Ms oi $4000 which had been received
■^unenud money, he was barely aMe
*150 Pennsylvania currency as a
Pttw for Western adventure. At the
The company was discouraged, hut another
rally was nfiected, the shares doubled, and
the improvements commenced. In anoth
er twelvemonth they were ready for another
experiment.
The day was appointed—a mile was
measured on Front (now Water) street,
Philadelphia, and every precaution *was
taken by providing stop watches and wit
nesses, to show that the experiment was
fairly made. The boat was proved to the
satisfaction of all, to go at the rate of eight
miles an hour. This was in October, 1788.
The boat was called the Perseverance, and
afterwards made eighty miles in one day.
On the 12th of the same month this boat
ascended the Dclewarc to Burlington with
thirty passengers, a distance of twenty
miles, in three hours and twenty minutes,
and she ran on the Dclewarc some time as
a passenger boat.
But Mr. Fitch'was not satisfied with her
performances, and looked forward to grea
ter Jesuits, which he felt confident could be
accomplished. He abandoned the compa
ny, to make new and more extensive efforts,
and the Perseverance was laid up for the
winter. He found it very difficult to pro
cure the necessary capital, as Congress,
individual Stales, or corporations, which he
addressed on the subject, vould furnish
him with no money—-but several Slates
granted him valuable monopolies for a terra
of years. However, by dint of persever
ance, he contrived in the fall of 1789 to
complete another boat, which was tried,
and proved satisfactory—but on the same
night she took fire and was burned to the
water’s edge.
He subsequently met with other discour
aging accidents, and in 1790 he presented
a petition to Congress in which he says;
“ I have overcome every difficulty which
can cause doubt to arise, having done w hat
was never done before. I have exhibited
to the world a vessel going against strong
winds and tides—the vessel carrying the
engine—the engine propelling the vessel,
ana all moving together against the cur
with the drawings, models, &c. accompa
nying it, said—“The boats of Livingston
and Fulton were, in substance, the inven
tion patented to John Fitch in 1791, and
that Fitch, during the time of his patent,
had the exclusive right to use the same in
the United States.” Mr. Fitch in the fol
lowing year was in communication with
the Spanish Minister at Philadelphia, and
the Governor at New Orleans, respecting a
right to tlic Mississippi. In 1793, at the
instance of Mr. Vail, United States Consul
at L’Orient, he visited France with a view
to propose the matter to the National As
sembly, but the^ivil disorders of that king
dom prevented the accomplishment of his
wishes. In France he explained his object
and the principles of his great plan to Mr.
Fulton, who afterwards availed himself of
the information thus received, and secured
an honor which did not truly belong to him.
About the same time he wrote to Mr. Rit-
tcnhousc, and speaking of the power of
steam, he made the following remarkably
prophecy: “ This, sir, will be the mode of
crossing the Atlantic in time, whether I
shall bring it to perfection or not.” But
poor Fitcli was pronounced crazy, and
became discouragad by the numerous ob
stacles whith he met with on every side.
Mr. Fitch, disappointed and pennylcss,
withdrew to London, and worked his pas
sage to his native country ns a sailor! He
arrived here broken down in body and de
jected in mind, and disgusted at the stupi
dity of a generation who could not like
hint comprehend the immeasurable benefits
of the application of steam to watercraft.
In 1796 lie withdrew to his lands near
Bardstown, Kentucky, which he found in
tlic occupation of others. 1798 he took a
fatal poison, apd died in the chamber of a
tavern, attended by no relative or Iriend,
(his landlord excepted) and was buried in
the comer of the grave yard, in presence of
six or seven persons, without a stone or
other monument to mark the spot.
Such was the hapless fate of John Fitch,
who, while exhibiting an extraordinary
force of character, of genius, wisdom ana
energy, was regarded ns a visionary brain-
struck projector, who lived neglected and
died unknown—and such lias probably
been the fate of thousands, who deserved
honor and rewards without stint. The
biographer of Fitch, from whose work we
have the greater part of this notice, well
says that Fulton had a eulogist, who, while
the earth was still fresh upon his grave,
sounded his praises to the world. They
arc known wherever a steamboat cleuves
tlic water, on every shore which has echoed
with the sound oi’ its engine. But Fitch
has none. It was even doubtful until
within about two years, whether his grave
could be identified. His mnnuscripts were
sealed up in the year 1792, with directions
not to be broken until thirty years after his
death. He had withdrawn from the scene
of his sorrows and his triumphs, to an ob
scure village of the remote West. He was
in his grave, and his relatives were ignor
ant jf the time, place and manner of his
death.
But at the last session of the Legislature
of Kentucky, a memorial, embracing an
abstract of nis inventions, successes, eccen
tricities and trials, was presented at the last
moment of their sitting, reviving the sub
ject of a monumental notice. This me
morial received no action for want of time.
With Mr. Fitch it was a favorite desire that
his bones might he laid on the banks of
Ohio. In a moment of despondency, while
pursuing hisgigantict undertaking at Phil
adelphia, he exclaims: “Why these earn
est solicitations and cxcrutiating anxieties!
why not leave them and retire to rest un
der the shady elms, on the fair banks of
the Ohio, and there eat tny coarse but sweet
bread of industry and content, and when I
have done, to have my body laid in the soft,
warm and loamy soil of the banks, my
name inscribed on a neighboring poplar,
that future generations, when traversing
the mighty waters of the West, may fint I
my grassy turi.” And still later, he breaks
forth in the same poetical strain, refering
to the position of his grave, and hoping
that it may be made on the shores of some
of the waters of the West, in order that
the “ song of the boatman might enliven
the stillness of his resting place, and the
music of the Steam Engine sooth his trou
bled spirit. r
From NsaTs Saturday Gazette.
The Law Profession.
We arc astonished at the daily paragraphs
that meet our eye of the number of young
men lately admitted to the practice of law
in the different States of the Union. Pro
bably no avocation yields a poorer return,
or is so much overstocked, * To b6 a good
lawyer requires not only brilliant talents,
great tact and profund knowledge, but a
capacity for mental application, such as
few men have a taste Tor, a few constitu
tions can endure. As Lord Eldon remark
ed, ' a man must work like a dray horse
and lie paid like a pauper.’ Nor is success
at the bar sure, even with all the requisites
we have mentioned. Chance often cle-
vales the hard student to fame, hut as of
ten retains him in obscurity. Of the bar of
Philadelphia, for instance’, wc can speak
from an intimate knowledge; and wc could
point to more than one lawyer, with a head
already beginning to grow grey, who, with
every qualification to adorn its highest
walks, has been unable to struggle up,
because he has never yet had a case, or n
succession of cases of the right character to
devclopc his abilities. The fact is, there
five times ns.many lawyers as there should
be, both here ana elsewhere ; and in con
sequence, four-fifths of the profession must
starve. The evil is increased by tlic ten
dency of clients to seek nn attorney of ac
knowledged reputation, thus preventing
the man of as yet unknown fame from ob
taining a start. It is true some kind hear
ted friend may trust a case to the aspiring
young advocate ; but it is rarely such a
one as is calculated to make an impression,
and years may pass before this opportunity
occurs to a youth without influence. We
know two men who have had distinguish
ed success in the last ten years, but they
owe their position to an acquaintance with
foreign tongues and the foreign clients this
brought them. The greatest lawyers, both
of this and the past generation, were years
before they made enough to support them
selves; and few men, whatever their abili
ties, can hope to pay their expenses until
after many a long 'term of suspense and
heart burning.
The business of the Courts every where
during the last few years, Iras declined one
half, in conscquenco of the Bankrupt act,
and other laws cancelling iho claims of
rroditora. Tho'ro So ranlty morn wt
conveyancing, here nndefsewhere, than at
the more legitimate business of the law.—
Yet the number of lawyers has increased
two-fold in the last ten years, so that actu
ally the chances of success are scarcely one
fourth of what they were in 1835. But ail
the present leading attorneys had made
their reputation at that period. What
chance then has a young man now in the
profession ? Ten to one he will not pay
nis office rent the first year ; fifty to one he
will not make his expenses ; a hundred to
one lie will never rise to opulence or fame.
Amid such fierce competition there arc
scores of chances even against a man of
ability and acquirements, unless he is back- Infant.
But, says Mr. Whittlesey, the rubWsh of yanks. In no other pursuit are
forty-five years had almost obliterated his difficulties to he overcome; or in
grave, ana the.tide of tune has earned the
principal part of his contemporaries into
the same eternity with himself. But a few
still live, and with them the sense of his
merits, the remembrance of his achieve
ments, and the bitter sorrows that were bis
rewards, are not obliterated or even dim
med by agi. It is expected that before
* many years have passed, justice, though
rent. If I never carry it to any greater, »wdy in He amval, wUl be at last rendered, ,han trade—a notion derived frotriEng-
perfection, I. have, I presume, merited a j and Tns gemus will tecave the .homage, as land and fostered there, because the pro-
his misfortunes will the commiseration
generous reward. In tne same petition, he
also says; “Having at length fully suc
ceeded* in his scheme, he trusts he now
comes forward not as an imaginary prejec-
tor.*
91 Jafter spending nmSTrime, lie secured uniin, which shall mark the repose of Fitch.
his countrymea-r-t hat those who navigate
the noble rivers of the West, will from the
decks of numberless boats yet wit ness, up
on some commanding headland of tne
Ohio, * neat, white and conspicuous col-
°f M^Wnguro this renmant of I a patent UtAe United State* This
“fortune, invested In flour and goods, | patent was oMrttlevalue tohraq. It,was
ctpiarcd and destroyed by Indians, i destroyed by fire with the public buildings
* ‘heparty killed andirinettfcenpri-'ml8&. Butin 1817, a committee <>f «»«
Fitch ha d the address to conciliate 1 New York legislature, who examined it,
—Boston Evening Journal.
i IT
T»* St Aag^^'oftbeOhi-t.
Friaatbe N. Y. Journal of Conger.
AN EXCITING INTERVIEW IN ’
STATE 1
Greex, the Reformed GTambler, recently m»<t» an
excursion through the Auburn State’s Prison. He
gives the following account of' his interview within
murderer.
On my retam.to the Prison office I was introduc
ed to the chaplain. Rev. O. E. Morrill, which rever
end gentleman informed me tint a man by the name
of Wyatt, then confined in one of tbe cells for the
munler of Gordon, on the 16th of March, in the An-
bun State Prison, had confessed to him that he had
lived a gambler several yean in the South and West,
and he would Hite I should call upon him. I accom
panied him to the cell of tbo murderer. The door
was thrown open upon its grating hinges, where tbo
reverend gentleman introduced me as an acquain
tance of ms who had traveled South several yeaSt,
and thought that hef WyaU) would be glad to con
verse with him. tie raid he was happy to see aw,
and asked me to be seated.
After a short direr utec relative to the different
chuees of men then in confinement, I asked him what
he followed in his travels through the South, tie
told me, gambling. I asked him bow long he bad
been engaged in that nefarious business ? He mid
twelve or thirteen years. I asked him if he knew
many gamblers? He raid he did? I asked him
if ho ever knew one by the name of Green ? Ho
raid he did. lasted he. name? He answered,'John:*
said l.o knew him in 1833,3, 4 and 5. and saw him
iu 1812 in St Louis. I asked him if he was inti
mate with Green ? He raid he knew him as one gam
bler knew another. lacked if I favored him ? Ho
raid if I would stand in the light he wauldtcll me.
I did so. He raid I looked like the man. ’ I told him
I was the man, but that I never knew’him by the
name of Wyatt He said 1 did not; that Wyatt was
not his real name.
He then told me another, which was not his real
name, and asked me if I did not hear of a man being
murdered near St Louis in the year 1641,and of two
tnrn being arrested, both tried and convicted, ono
having a new trial granted him, the other being
hung. I told him that I thought I had. He said lie
was the man that had the new trial granted, and
was acquitted and,” raid lie, “ they btmgtbe wrong
inan-.liewas innocent;! am tlic guilty man;but
they linn g him and cleared me.” “But,” says I, “your
were under different name still .at that time.” He
raid “ ves, by none of those names do you know me,
hut my red namo you are familiar with. Your
name, raid he, “ I knew in the year 1832; die gam
blers called yon John, but Jonathnn is your real
name.” My curiosity was highly excited at the
strange management of the murderer. But you may
imagine the increase of it when he told me his real
name. I looked at the murderer and could scarcely
believe uiy own eyes: yet he stood before me a living
marvel.
I have pledged secrecy as to his real name until
after his execution. 1 interrogated him on his first
ftMJo^^h^femfSobtsteVv^i iiSs
the Lynchers* lash at Vicksburg. I did, hut my eyes
could scarcely credit reality. I had known him in
1832,3,4, and in the early part of ’35 as a bar-keep
er in Vicksburg. He was never a shrewd card-play
er, but at that time was considered an inoffensivo
youth. The coficc-bouae ho kept was owned by
North, who, with four others were executed on the
fifth of July, 1835, by I .ynch law. Wyatt and three
other? were taken on the morning of the 7tb, strip
ped, and one thousand lashes given to the four, tarred
and feathered, and put into a canoe and set adrift on
tbe Mississippi river. It makes my blood curdle and
my flesh quiver to think of the suffering condition of
these unfortunate men, set adrift on the morning of
the 7th of July, with the broiling sun upon their man-
t gled bodies.
man oi Two died in about two hours after they were act
ed by an influential family, or meets with
some lucky case which at once lifts him
into notice. Wc could point to young men
of ten years standing at the bar, well rend
and of’strong intellects, who do not make
as much ns a market street clerk. Wc
could point to others who started life under
the same auspices, but who now arc irrevo
cably doomed to the lowest walks of the
profession, because they took to pettifo;
ging to keep themselves from starving.
We do not mean to say that a man with'
out influence, must fail at the bar, or that
another with it, must succeed. Far from
it. But if n young lawyer has a moderate
income, sufficient for the superfluities of life,
he is in the best possible condition for suc
cess ; for, while lie can afford lo wait un
til be can build up a right bind of a repula'
tion, he is yet thrown upon his cxerticu t<
achieve both position and fortune. On the
contrary, many a young man of ability, in'
dustry and acquirements,, is actually driven
from the profession, because he cannot af
ford to wait long enough tobuild up n name.
Parents who are seeking a pursuit for
their sons, and young men who arc ambi
tious of sucecss'in life, should take these
things into consideration. The fame ac
quired by some of our great lawyers, is wc
grant, a fncinating thing in the eyes of
young ambition ; but it should bo recollec
ted there is but one Webster and ten thou
Wyatt and another remained with their
hands and tcet bound forty hours, suifering more than
tongue can tell or pen describe, when they were
picked up by some negro slaves, who started with
die two survivors to their quarters. His companion
died before they arrived. Wyatt survives to tell tho
horrors of the Lynchers’ lash. He told tne seven
murders bad been occasioned by their unmerciful
treatment to him and one innocent man hung. I
know his statement to be true, for I had known him
before 1835, andhis truth in particulars cannot U>
denied. He murdered his seventh man, for which
crime l.e will be executed. I have another communi
cation for your paper concerning the murderer and
liis prospect in the world to come.
Yours truly, J. E GREEN.
Auburn, April 10, 1845.
Tlic Idolatry of Wealth.
This insane and insatiable passion for
accumulation, ever ready, when circum
stances favor, to seize upon the public mind,
is that “love of money which is the root of
ail evil,” that “covctousncs, which is idol
atry. 9 It springs from an undue, an idola-
other is die amount of talent and labour
required so great. Many a youth who
might have succeeded os a mechanic, mer
chant or farmer, has dragged through ''life
a broken-hearted lawyer,. Ok sunk at the
outset after a struggle or two into a kna-
^^wKathijSiereason, for this? A false
notion that the law is tt more houorable pqr-
becn the denar resort of
aristocracy. Butintbiscoun-
we should learn to know, and act up
to'the knowledge, that all pursuits whicl
are honest, are alike honorable. • ••
11833, Chicago Fontaine
only ifr? inhabitants and half a dozen leg
houses.' When tho census was taken in
t84ftit e©tttaf»wd ! 4S5JL_imd-inl833»£bs
weMmrtraim'OweonTsad fafoibeo crops are suffer- population was 7580, and in December last
ing severely for wart ofa few genial showers. it contained 10,691.
■■■ (hem, < .
not a good character, nor well trained and
well executed faculties, not virtue, not tbe
hope of heaven—nothing but wealth. It
is iheir god and the god of their families.—
Their sons arc growing up to the same wor
ship of it, and to an equally baneful reli
ance upon it for the future; they are rush
ing into expenses, which the divided prop
erty of their father’s house will out enable
them to sustain; and they are (fepanng to
be, in turn and from necessity, slaves to
the same idol. How truly is it written,
that “ they they that mil be neb, fall into
many temptations and a snare, and fall in
to many foolish and hurtful lusts, which
drown men in destruction and perdition 1”
There is no need that they should he rich,
but they toil! be rich. AlLthe noblest func
tions of life may be discharged.without
wealth* all its bmfcest honors obtamc H, all
it* purest pleasures enjoyed ; yet I repeat
it, notiiing—nothing wifl do but wealth.—
Disappoint a man of this, and he mourns
as if the highest end of life was defeated.
Strip him of this* and this gone, all is gone.
Strip him of this, and I shall point to no
unheard of experience, when I sa>, he had
rather die than live. • -
-i: t n--..': ja»» n-rad trari
1 Fifteen huddfetfcdifldbtsdatwedhKdtid'qt
the public schools of New. Orleans, at an
annual expenses of $27 80 each.