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THE GEORGIA JOURNAL
OL.I.
MILLE 1)0EVILLE, TUESDAY, MARCH 13, IS 10.
No. 20
published by r.katon grantland,
(PRINTER TO TUB STATE,) ON JEF
FERSON STREET, OPPOSITE THE
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BIOGRAPHY.
Thus accommodated lie travelled
eastward through Siberia (>000 miles
to Yakut/, where he was kindly re
ceived by Mr. Billings, whom he re
membered on board Captain Cook’s
ship, in the situation of the astrono
mer’s servant, but to whom the em
press had now entrusted her schemes
of northern discovery. ,
From Yakut/ he proceeded to
Oczakow, on the coast of the Kams-
chatka sea, from whence he meant
that arc requisite for an Egyptian means, men of sense in any succeed
traveller.
Forcibly imptessed by the objects
which he saw, and naturally led to
compare them with those which o-
ther regions of the globe had present
ed to his view, he describes with the
energy of an original observer, and
exhibits in his narrative the varied ef
fects of similarity and contrast. But
as the travellers who preceded him
have obtained and transmitted to Eu-
to have passed over to that pcninsu-jrnpe whatever knowledge, either an-
la, and to have embarked on the eas- e'ent or modern, the Lower Egypt
tern side in one of the Russian ves- affords, and as the examination of
Mr. LEDYARD.
The subject of this notice was a
Native of Connecticut, and has abro-! se i s that trade to the western shores'that country was no part of the busi-
thci now living on Long Island, the i0 f America j but finding thenaviga-
same who attended Dewitt Clintonjt‘ lon was completely obstructed bv
as his surgeon in the duel he foughtjthe ice, he returned again to Yakut/.,
with CoLSwartwout. We have seen ; n order to wait for the conclusion of
tin J( urnal of Mr. Lcdyard’s voyage
with Captain Cook, which was ex
tremely interesting, and marked an
extraordinary man—The character
which he has drawn of the fcnj^Je
sex, equally elegant and just, is suf
ficient of itself, without the fame ol
his enterprize and sufferings, to give
immortality to his name.—Star.
Mr. Lcdvard was an American by
birth, and seemed from his youth to
have felt an invincible desire to make
himself acquainted with the unknown,
or imperfectly-discovered regions of
the globe. For several years he had
lived with the Indians of America,
had studied their manners, and had
practised in their school the means of
obtaining the protection, and ol re
commending himself to the favour of
savages. In the humble situation of
a corporal of marines, to which he
submitted rather than relinquish his
pursuit, he had made with captain
Cook, the vovage otthe world ; and
feeling on his return an anxious de
sire of penetrating from the north
western coast of America, which
the winter.
Such was his situation, when, in
consequence of suspicion, not hither
to explained, or resentments for
which no reason is assigned, he was
seized, in the Empress’ name, by
two Russian soldiers, who placed
him in a sledge, & conveying him,
in the depth of winter, through the
desarts of the Northern Tartarv, left
him at last on the frontiers of the Po
lish dominions. As they parted they
told him, that if he returned to Rus
sia he would certainly lie hang
ed ; but that if he chose to go back
to England, they wished him a plea
sant journey.
In the midst of poverty—covered
with rags—infested with the usual
accompaniments of such cloathing—
worn with centinued hardship—ex
hausted by disease—without friends
—without credit—unknown and full
of misery, he found his wav to Kon-
ningsberg. There in the hour of his
utmost distress, he resolved once
more to have recourse to his old be
nefactor, and he luckily found a per
son who was willing to take his draft
‘ for five guineas on the President of
Cook had partly explored, to the
eastern coast, with which he himself
was perfectly familiar, he determin- ^ K^Xdetv"
ed to traverse the vast continent from • / ,
the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. ^ With th.s assistance lie arrived m
... r , c i England, and immediately waited on
His first plan foT the purpose was Banks, who told him,
that ot embarking m a vessel wluch^. histem that he believed
was then preparing to sail on a vovage,.
he could recommend him r o an ad-
ness ivhich was given him in charge,
his descriptions, generally speaking,
would add hut little to the instructi
on which other narratives convey.
During his residence at Cairo he
sent to the committee many remarks
on the people of Africa. The views
which they opened were interesting
and instructive, but they derived
their principal importance from the
proofs which they afford of the ar
dent spirit of enquiry, the unwearied
attention, the persevering research, Ik
the laborious, indefatigable, anxious
zeal with which their author pursued
the object of his mission.
Already informed that his next
dispatch would be dated from Sen-
nar ; that letters of earnest recom
mendation had been given him by
the Aga; that the terms of his pas
sage had been settled ; and that the
day of his departure was appointed—
the committee expected with impa
tience the description of his journey.
Great was therefore their concern,
and severe their disappointment
when letters .from Egypt announced
to them the melancholy tidings of
his death. A bilious complaint,
the consequence of vexatious delays
in the promised departure of the ca
ravan, had induced him to try thcef-
p fects of too powerful a dose of the
acid of vitriol; and the sudden un
easiness and burning pain which fol
lowed the incautious draft, impelled
him to seek relief from the violent
action of the strongest tartar emetic.
A continued discharge of blood dis
ing epoch will not blush to follow me,
xnd perfect thos’e discoveries I have
only abilities to trace out roughly, or,
x disposition to attempt.
“ A Turkish sopha has no charms
for me, if it had I could soon obtain
me here. I could to-morrow tain-
command of the best armament of
Ismael Bev.—I should be sure of
success, & its consequential honours.
Believe n)e, a single “ Well-done”
from your association has more worth
in it to me, than all the trappings of
the East; and what is still more pre
cious is the pleasure I have in the jus
tification of my own conduct at tile's
tribunal of my own heart.
To those who had never seen Mr.
Ledyard, it may not, perhaps, be un
interesting to know, that his person,
though scarcely exceeding the middle
size, was remarkably expressive of
activity and strength ; and that his
manners, though unpolished, were
neither uncivil nor unpleasing. Lit
tle attentive to difference of rank, he
seemed to consider all men as his e-
quals, and as such he respected them.
His genius, though uncultivated and
irregular, was original and compre
hensive. Ardent in his wishes, yet
calm in his deliberations ; daring in
his purpose, but guarded in his mea
sures ; impatient of conyoul, yet ca
pable of strong endurance ; adventu
rous beyond the conception of ordi
nary nu n, yet wary and considerate ;
and attentive to all precautions, In
ippeared to be formed bv nature for
atchicvments of hardihood and pe-
will faithfully perform in its utmost
extent, mV engagement to the So
ciety ; and if I perish in the attempt,
my honour will stiff be sale, for death
cancels all bonds.”
DOMESTIC
of a commercial adventure, to "Ai coverec ^ ^ lc t * an ^ er °* his situation,
America ; and with this view he ex
pended in sea-stores, the greatest
part of the money which his chief be
nefactor, Sir Joseph Banks, (whose
generous conduct the writer of this
narrative hasoften heard him acknow
ledge) had liberally supplied. But
the scheme being frustrated by the
rapacity of a custom-house officer,
who had seized and detained the
vessel for reasons which, on legal en
quiry, proved to be frivolous, he de
termined to travel over land to Kams-
chatka, from whence to the Western
Coast of America, the passage is ex
tremely short. With no more than
ten guines in his purse, which was
nil tliat he had left, he crossed the
British Channel to Ostend, and by
the way of Denmark and the Sound,
proceeded to the capital of Sweden,
from which, as it M as winter, he at
tempted to traverse the Gulph of
Bothnia on the ice, in order to reach
Kamschatka by the shortest way ;
but finding, when he came to the
, middle of the sea, that the water was
not frozen, he returned to Stockholm,
and, taking his course northward,
walked into the Arctic Circle,
and passing round the head of the
Gulph, descended on its eastern side
to Pctersburgh.
There he was soon noticed as an
extraordinary man. Without stock
ings or shoes, and in too much pover
ty to provide himself with either, lie
received and accepted an invitation to
dine with the Portuguese Ambassa
floi-..—To this invitation it was pro
bably ou’ing that he M as able to ob
tain the sum of twenty guineas for a
bill on Sir Joseph Banks, which he
confessed he had no authority to
draw, but which, in consideration of
the business that he had undertaken,
and of the progress that he had made,
Sir Joseph, he believed. M ould not
be unwilling to pay. To the Am
bassador’s interest it might also bt
owing that he obtained permission to
accompany a detachment ol stores,
which the Empress had ordered to
be sent to Yakuts, for the use ol Mr.
Billings, an Englishman, at that time
in her service*
ka Sound on the Western Coast of|r t,,,u ‘ as perilous as the one| j summoned to his aid the gene-
# Sound, on the Goast o f whlch hc h d returned ; .nd- friendship of the Venetian Con-
then commumcatedto him the w.sh-| su , and the ineffectual skill of the
es of the Association fordiscovenngi^ approved physicians of Cairo,
the inland countries of Africa. Hc Mas decently interred in the
Ledyard replied, that he had a - , ne ]ighfiourhood ofstich of the Ei iglish
ways determined to traverse the con-1 haJ cn ded their days in the capital
tinent of Africa, as soon as he had —
explored the interior of North Ame
rica ; and as Sir Joseph had offered
him a letter of introduction, he came
directly to the writer of these me
moirs. Before I had learnt from the
note the name and business of my vi
sitor, I M’as struck m ith the manliness
of his person, the breadth of bis
chest, the openness of his counte
nance, and the inquietude of his eye ;
I spread the map of Africa before
him, and tracing a line from Cairo to
Sennar, and from thence westward
in the latitude and supposed directi
on of the Niger, I told him that was
the route by which I was anxious
that Africa might, if possible, be ex
plored. He said he should think
himself singularly fortunate to be en
trusted with the adventure. I ask
ed him when he would set out—
“ To-morrow morning,” M r as his an
swer. I told him I n as afraid that
we should not be able, in so short a
time, to prepare his instructions, and
to procure for him the letters that
were requisite, hut that if the com
mittee should approve of his pro
posal, all expedition should be used.
To Mr. Ledyard was assigned, at
of Egypt.
The bilious complaint with which
he was seized has been attributed
to the frowardness of a childish im
patience. Much more natural is the
conjecture, that his unexpected de
tension, week after week, and month
after month, at Cairo, (a detention
which consumed his finances, which
therefore exposed to additional ha
zard the success of his favourite en
terprize, and which sonsequentlv
tended to bring into question his ho
nour to the Society) had troubled his
spirit, had preyed upon his peace,
and subjected him at last to-the dis
ease that proved in its consequences
the means of dragging him to his
grave.
Of his attachment to the Society,
unci of his zeal for their service, the
follou ing extracts from his letters are
remarkably expressive :
“ Money ! it is a vile slave !—I
have at present an (economy of a more
exalted kind to observe. I have the
eves of some of the first men of the
first kingdom on earth turned upon
me. I am engaged by those verv
men in the most important objects
NEW-YORK.
Fhe Legislature of this state met at
Al : A iy on the 30th Jan. The Fe
deralists have a majority of 13.
File folloM’ing extracts from Go
vernor Tompkins’ Speech will be
read with interest.
The nations of Europe have per-
C’ ed, during the past year,in their
sanguinary struggle with increased
animosity. Whole districts of coun
try have been desolated; kingdoms
subjected, and hosts of innocent sub
jects sacrificed. These occurrences
present a mournful picture of the ra
pacity and ambition of princes, whilst
they afford a momentary lessort to
the American people. The situation
of the United States has been, in the
mean time comparatively happy and
enviable, for it has pleased the Great
Disposer of events to ordain peace in
our borders and to crown our year
with goodness.
The prosperity of the nation, hou’-
evcT, has not been uninterrupted.
Connected aS the United States are,
by commercial intercourse, with o-
ther nations, w'e could not avoid feel
ing the shock of the contending pow
ers. At an early period it was feared,
that our commerce would experience
material impediments from a Widely
extended foreign war ; and more es-
pec'aHv, as one of the great bellige
rents controlled the destinies of the
European continent, and the other
possessed the means of domineering
upon the ocean. But their professi
ons of respect for the rights of others,
and their avowed homage to the au
thority of the law of nations, forbade
us to anticipate those gigantic strides
which have overleaped the settled
principles of public law, M-htch con
stitute the barriers between the ca
price, the avarice or the tyranny of a
belligerent, and the rights and inde
pendence rtf a neutra'. It won! 1 be
painful to (hvell upon every aggres-
ing, tender, and humane ; that thevjsion, injustice, violence, and insult,
are ever inclined to be gay & cheer- which we have witnessed and experi-
ful, timorous and modest ; and thatlenced for several past years. The
they do not hesitate, like men, to per-iinterdiction of neutral commerce
form a generous action. Not haugh from a part or the whole of the terri-
ty, not arrogant, not supercilious, tories of one belligerent by a decla*
they are full ol courtesy and fond ofjration of blockade by the other,
They who compare the extent of
his pilgrimage through the vast re
ions of Tartar)’, M’ith the scantiness
ol his funds, will naturally ask h\
what means lie obtained subsistence
on the road ? All that I have ever
learned from him on the subject was,
that his sufferings were excessive,
ind that more than once he owed
his life to the compassionate temper
of the women. This last remark i
strongly confirmed by the following
extract from his account of his Si
berian tour
I have always remarked, that wo
men in all countries are civil, ohliu-
society ; mere liable, in general, to
err than man ; but in general, also
more virtuous, and performing more
good actions than he. To a woman,
whether civilized or savage, I never
iecorum and friendship, without re
ceiving a decent and friendly answer.
With man it has been otherwise.
“ In wandering over the barren
plains of inhospitable Denmark,
through honest Sweden and frozen
without actual investment by force,
and uithout a capacity therefor ; the
imposition of a tax or transit duty on
neutral commerce in the ports of one
power to legalize its transmission to
addresed myself in the language of the adverse power; the violent arrest
from our public and private vessels,
of seamen, almost without regard to
the place of their nativity ; the liabi
lity of neutral property to se>'/.i’re
and condemnation, by one party, in
consequence of search by the other,
Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, o r the ships transporting it, and the
his own desire as an enterprise of that any private individual can he
obvious peril and of difficult success,
the task of traversing from East to
West, in the latitude attributed to
the Niger, the widest part of the
continent of Africa.
Mr. Ledvard took his departure
from London the 30th of June, 1788,
and after a journey of six-and-thirtv
davs, seven of which M ere consumed
at Paris, and two at Marseilles, ar
rived in the city of Alexandria.
His letters of reconmendation lo
the British Consul secured him from
the embarrasments which the want of
inns would otherwise have occasion
ed, and procured for him the neces
sary instructions for assuming th
dress, and adopting the manners
engaged in : I have their approbation
to acquire or to lose ; and their es
teem also, which I prize beyond e-
very thing except the independent
idea of serving mankind. Should
rashness or desparation carry me
through, M-hatever fame the injudici
ous might bestow, I should not ac
cept of it; it is the good and great I
look to; fame from them bestowed
is altogether difft rent, and is closely
allied to a “ Well done” from God :
but rashness will not be likely to car
ry me through any more than timid
caution. To find the necessary me
dium ofconduct, to vary and apply it
o contingencies, is the ceconomy I al-
lude to ; and if I succeed bv such
unprincipled Russia, and the wide
spread regions of the wandering Tar-
r, it h isgry, dry, cold wet, or sick,
the women have ever been friendly
to me, and uniformly so ; and to add
to this virtue (so worthy the appel
lation of benevolence), these actions
have been performed in so free and
so kind a manner, that if I was dry
I drank the sweetest draught; and
if hungry, I ate the coarse morsel
with a double relish.”
But though the native benevolence
lich even among savages distin
-pushes and adorns the female r a-
racter, might sometimes soften the
severity of his sufferings, yet at o-
thers he seems to have endured th,
utmost pressure of distress.
I am accustomed (said he in out
last conversation—’twas on the morn
ing of his departure for Africa) I am
accustomed to hardships, I have
known both hunger and nakedness
to the utmost extremity of human
.suffering. I have known what it is
to hue food given me, as charit
to a madman, and I have at time
been obliged to shelter myself under
the miseries of that character to a-
void a heavier calamity. M v distres
ses have been greater than I have e-
ver owned or ever will own to ant-
man. Such evils are terrible to bear
but they never yet had power to turn
me from my purpose. If I live, I
total prohibition of neutral commerce
with one belligerent by the other,
without blockade of any description,
are amongst the prominent usurpa
tions which have sacrificed much of
>ur property, enslaved many of our
citizens, insulted our sovereignty,
and almost proscribed neutral com
merce from the ocean. Some neu
tral vessels have been seized, robbed,
lestroyed, or condemned, upon fri-
olous and provoking pretext, not
even justified by the arbitrary ru
inous restrictions above mentioned;
and one of our public armed ships
has been insultingly attacked, several
of her crew killed, and others taken
forcibly away ; an act acknowledged
by the nation, whose officer commit
ted it, to be wholly unwarrantable,
but which still remains unatoned.
The constant evidences of a de
sire on our part to maintain a strict
and impartial neutrality—the earn-
este and able appeals for redress by
our rulers to the honor and justice ot
the belligerents, and our continual
remonstrances against their inces
sant and unprovoked encroachments
upon neutral commerce have all been
disregarded or evaded. No revoca
tion or material relaxation ot the of
fensive decrees of France has been
obtained. With Great Britain an ar
rangement was effected in April
last, which at the same time itevin-