The Republican ; and Savannah evening ledger. (Savannah, Ga.) 1807-1816, April 18, 1807, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

From the National IntUigrnccr. SURVEY OF TIIK UNITED STATES. There arc few objects more important than the accurate survey of the territory, embraced within the limits of nations. The advantages which .re derived from such surveys arc so numerous, and so intimately connected with the advancement of national as well as indivi dual interests, that it is by no means surprising that the governments of Europe have devoted considerable attention and incurred much ex pcncc in effecting them. It is, however, sur prising, that the United States, where the bene fits derivable from such surveys would be so much greater, have betrayed so little solicitude about them. We can only account for this ap parent apathy from the multiplicity of impor tant concerns which have claimed the attention of a government yet in its infancy, and from the varying opinions, which in some measure prevail on this point, and which have created ;i doubt in some minds whether such a work ■would Ik the legitimate province of the govern ment of the United States. It is high time that the public mind should he awakened to the importance of this object, that it should de cide on the necessity of its attainment, and pointout the proper organ and means of effect ing it. This is the end of the following re marks. Is it necessary to go into any details to prove tlic importance of accomplishing a complete survey of all the lands within the limits of the United States? There cannot surely he a man in the United States so ignorant as not to ac knowledge its importance. As, however, its importance may not be fully appreciated ever, by those who tire not a!together insensible to it, it will not be useless to enumerate some ofthe leading advantages that would (low from it.— It is not perhaps a vain hope to calculate upon thus dissipating the apathy of some men, and animating the zeal of others. 1. It would enable the governments, gener al .is well as state, to lay and collect taxes with a more discriminating judgment than at pre sent. 2. It would enable the general government to exercise with w isdom, and on a permanent plan, the important power of designating mail roads. To do this it is essential that the nature r>f the ground, the exact situation midsize of the livers, and the distances of towns and counties, should be known. 3. It would afford satisfactory information to persons disposed to emigrate from one part ofthe union to the other. 4. It would enable the state governments to lav out roads, cut canals and improve the navi gation of l ivers, so as to combine the greatest present and future utility. 5. It would give an opportunity to our vouth to acquire correct ideas of their country, and prevent them from imbibing local prjudiccs ; and o. It would not fail, from the splendor and magnitude ofthe work and the display of talent made in it, to impress the European world with a more true and respectful idea of us, thus furnishing them with new inducements, if not to court our friedship, at least to avoid provok ing our enmity. It is confidently believed, that a full and can did dcvclopcmcnt of these considerations w ill satisfy every dispassionate mind of the neces sity of attaining this great object. The next enquiry that presents itself res pects the proper organ to effect it. All will allow that it is a work far beyond in dividual attainment. The only difference of opinion that can arise is, whether it ought to be effected by the gen eral or the slate governments. 1 contend that it is the peculiar and legiti mate province of the general government; that i: only is competent to accomplish it; that the states arc totally incompetent. It is true that the constitution ofthe United States denies to the general government all those powers which arc not specifically bes towed upon it. A little enquiry will, however, suffice to shew that such a measure as is here proposed is hut an incident of power unequivo cally conferred, or is the best, if not the only mean bv which they can l>e effected. It is the duty ofthe general government to defend the tounlry ; and it is among its powers, to lay and collect direct taxes, and to designate the routes to be pursued by the mail. The United States have already, young as they are, been invaded by a foreign force, and disgraced by an insur rection. In both these events, it actually be came necessary to march armies, and in one of tuem to fix military garrisons and to erect for tifications on a large scale. Ect those who en countered the difficulties of the revolution (for they alone can) recount the complicated incon veniences, embarrassments and evils they met with from the want of a correct knowledge of th? precise situation of the country through which they had to pass; and let transatlantic events prove the infinite advantages derived from this knowledge. It is a fact that the li terature of France has contributed almost as powerfully as the sword to the unprecedented splendor of her triumphs. \V ill it then he said that knowledge, thus important, and without which the highest power, with which the ge neral government is invested, cannot be fully carried into effect, is not constitutionally within its reach. As well might it be said that the power to build and raise a navy did not give the government authority to send their armed vessels on die ocean, inasmuch as the purposes for which they are to be raised are not designa ted. I* is sufficient to have shewn that the country cannot be effectually, or at least, as well defended without the possession of Uiis powfir as with it, to cotivif.ee U3 that it legiti mately belongs to the government. If I have a right to build a house, have I not likewise a right to raise the scaffolding, without which it cannot be erected. The same reasoning applies to the power given to the general government to lay and collect taxes. To carry this power into effect, so as to render the taxes laid, equal and unop pressivc, it is absolutely necessary to ascertain the quantity of land m each district, and its va lue, which knowledge, cannot be acquired in any other way than by such a survey as is pro posed ; the power- to make which survey is therefore an essential attiibuteof the power to lay taxes. But'.hat power of the general government, which, in its actual exercise, hears most direct ly on this point, and requires, towards its esta blishment, less implication or inference, is that of designating the routes to be pursued by the mail. This subjo? t might be dilated on to a great extent; but ihc object ol this piece is merely to oiler a text, which, it is hoped, will receive an ample commentary from other pens. • MOM THE SAME. ‘I he follow ing letter has been pul inlo our hands by a gentleman who thinks with us that the strange transactions to which it relates have not been sufficiently developed. We all know something of the horrid scenes of tyranny, of which Ireland, miserable Ireland has been re cently the theatre. These scenes were tire na tural offspring of monarchy and oppression— they are every where to be found where kings and priests govern. Shocked therefore, as our techngmay lie at their recital, they occasion but little surprize. But that the American govern ment, or its representatives should become the engine es carrying that opprssivc system into effect; that they should aggravate the sufferings of the. oppressed, that,-in violation of the con stitution and laws, established principles, and deep rooted feelings of the nation, they should deny them an assylum in this country, when offered to them by their tyrants is surprising and merits perpetual remembrance. The cor respondence between Mr. Adams, or his Sec retary, and Mr. King, on this subject, has ne ver been published. It could scarcely’ fail to be the best comm entry on the time of alien and sedition bills. 1 or prudential reasons relative to the gentle man who wrote the letter given, we surpress his name and some circumstances of a person al nature. ‘1 he letter is from a respectable Irish gen tleman, ri sident in the state of New-York, and is date,. Match 2, 1 807. “ My deau rmr.sn, God knows with wlut sentiments cf fond re membrance 1 read your letter, again and again —lt is long since l reckoned you among the dead, lor I had heard of such an event taking place, before l left Ireland. But to find you alive, ami in such respectable circumstances as your situation indicates, gives me a degree of pleasure which I cannot well describe. “ ou desire me to give you an account o! my affairs and my situation. Just 1 leaven 1 was 1 to relate the occurrences of my life, since 1 saw you, ’twould fill more than a hundred pages. 1 will in a few words tell you that I have been for four years shut up in a dungeon—l was arrested in the beginning of ’93 and effected my escape from Dublin Castel ; got on board ot a ship ot my own, and arrived in Norway ; thence passing through Zealand and Germany, 1 got to France, where I heard that an expedi tion had just sailed lor Ireland, I then made the best ol my way to Hamburgh, and entered (as a common sailor) on board of a vessel bound for Liverpool. When I arrived there, I found that the handful of French (1087) that landed iu Killalla, attcr having formed prodiges of valor, were obliged to surrender—that the principals ol the Irish adherents were hanged, and there was a reward ot five hundred guineas for my apprehension. I then fled from Liver to Cumberland, in the north of England, where partly with a friend, and partly in a thick wood, near his house, l remained four months; at the end of which time, I learnt that the state pri soners, then confined in the different jails in Dublin, had made a stipulation with the go vernment, that they should banish themselves lor life to the United Stales ; and they also sti pulated, that, it 1 thought proper, 1 might sur render my self on the same terms. I availed myself of this, and accordinly gave myself up, in an unhappy hour. At this time, federalism (hut a more appropriate term would be arristo cracy) in this country, was in the wane, and vei gins last to dissolution : the minister from this to the court of St. James’s was Rufus King, who being directed (as he said) by his government, preferred a memorial to protest against ns, and easily obtained the promise of the British government not to let us come here, without his consent first had hi writing, per mitting such emigration. There was two per sons of our party, Henry Jackson and John Lynch, who through the interes ff>f some duke or dutches (I suppose) got leave to come to America, I also wrote to him, and received an answer, that, “ as I was so highly recom mended, if l would transmit him a petition, praying for leave, he would inclose it to his government, and he made no doubt (by accom panying it with the document he then held in my favor) but I would obtain the desired per mission.” “ This letter I answered, telling him that I never would so solicit; that the crime I had committed (by the bye, he made use of the word) formed in my mind, his countrymen’s best distinction; that I would he in goal ’till mv locks grew “as white as the foam of the .'rn, Lr. icc.’ 1 and other such language Ilf suited to a courtly ear. In consequence, 1 laid in goal three years after this; in the mean time, the great philosopher was placed at the head of the government of this country, but owing to some commercial or other reasons, King was not recalled, neither could vve tell at the distance, and shut up as vve were, in a tomb ofthe living, but Mr. Jefferson also coin cided in our exclusion from this country. Be ing now almost four years in close confine ment, and growing grey indeed ; my affairs all deranged, my fortune broken, my (natural strong) constitution beginning to give way, I obtained leave to go to Portugal. I had a little before this time, sold seventeen ships by auc tion, for less than half the value, the remainder of thirty-two of which I was entire ar.d part owner at the time of my arrest, were either lost, taken, or the captains took them off, and I never heard of them. But now I have time to make some woeful calculations. I have lost about 120,000 dollars, and more than half of this I might have saved, only for Mr. King’s prohibition.—As I said before, I brought my family to Portugal, where I remained a short time at a monstrous expcnce, and finally got to America. I sunk a few vats here, and com menced tanner, though a business I knew no thing of, however, by working hard at it for these two or three years, I have got some know ledge, of it, and am just able to support a family of a wife and seven children.” From a Greenock Paper. EXTRAORDINARY EVENT. The following singular and interesting event isdescribed in the Grenole Journal of the 14th January. In July last a corpse was found on the moun tain of Hamas, in the commune of ValgoufF rey, district of Grenoble. The hand was bruis ed, an old sesr was observed on the right shoul der, and one thigh was contracted. The peo ple of the neighborhood soon began to talk of the affair, and they recollected that one Peter l ure, of the commune of Venose, had about a month before complained of having been robbed of a nude, and intimated his suspicion ol James Ttirc, his youngest son, who was married, and resided at Valgouffrcy. They said that the father went into a violent passion on the occasion, and that his two other sons took his part, and implicated their absent broth er in the robbery. Several of the neighbours pretended to re member that James 1 urc had a scar mi his left shoulder, and it was known that his thigh was contracted ; —that a report was spread, that the skellcton was that of James, who had been murdered by his father and brothers; even some of the relations of the family declared, that they had recognized the body. James had left his father’s house some time before this event, but his lather and brothers used to say, that they supposed lie had come in the night and taken off” the mule. A short time before the discovery of the body, a quantity of blood had been observed along the road which led to the mountain, and the father was met the same night with a sack on his back, when being asked what it con tained, he said, fresh meat which lie had just killed! J It unfortunately happened, that James Tore had absented himself from home at the time of this discovery; his father’s family were in consequence, thrown into prison, and James’s wife went into mourning for her murdered hus band. On the 29 th of September, while the family was in confinement, a letter was receiv ed from James by a friend, at Valgouffrcy, which stated that he was in good health, but had been obliged to leave his residence. This letter, however, was supposed to be a fabrica tion, to save the family, and they were brought to trial; a bloody shirt was even produced, which had since been found on the mountain, and every thing seemed so strong against the family, that they were on the eve of condemna tion ! While the examinations was going on, a man rushed into tile court in a proxysm of despair, declared that he was the identical per son supposed to have been murdered, and de manded the release of his father and brothers. The magistrates, overcome with surprise, sent for his wife, who flew into the arms of her husband, and every doubt was decided. The father and his two sons were instantly acquit ted ; but their grief, occasioned by the charge, had afflicted them with a serious illness. The interview was so affecting, that the whole of the spectators burst into tears. Thus a family, which was despised by all the neigh bourhood, was suddenly restored to honor; a wife found her husband; a daughter, whose marriage had been broken off', through the ac cusation, was united to her lover; in short, six persons were restored from misery to happiness by an act of providence. It was soon after wards proved, that the corpse was that of a traveller who had been overwhelmed by an av alanche. PUBLIC EXECUTION. The execution of John Holloway, Owen I laggerty, and Elizabeth Godfrey, took place, pursuant to sentence, on Monday morning last, at halt past eight o’clock near Newgate. The woman appeared to be overcome with terror ; but the men discovered, on the scaffold, a wish rather to appear to brave death, than to show contrition. Before coming out of the prison they had joined in exercises of devotion. ’ Beth continued to protest their innoceence to the last. But in this case, as in that of Patch, where similar protestations were made, there can be no doubt of the justice of their sentence. Hag gerty was a Roman Catholic. Melancholy as is the task of relating a p .iclii execution, vve wculd to God that we had a not more painful duty to discharge. But the guil ty have not been the only sufferers on that day. The immense crowd which had collected from all quarters of the metropolis, to witness the spectacle, proved too vast for the space and a venlies that surrounded the place cf execution, and many lives have been lost in consequence. At Green Arbour-court, opposite to Newgate, a cart loaded with pcopie broke down ar.d sev eral were crushed to death. The wooden rail ing across the Old Bailv likewise gave way, and caused much confusion, and the loss of several lives. On the side adjoining to Smith field, the alarm from the castle increased the pressure of the multitude, and caused crowds to rush together with fury and confusion which made many be trampled under foot. In all directions the numbers were so much greater than there was room for, that the fainting and wounded were carried into every adjoining al ley. We understand that the number who were killed on the spot, or have since expired, exceeds thirty persons : twenty-seven of whom lay dead in St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; twen ty-four of these are men and boys, and three are women. We much fear that the melan choly catalogue will be increased by the death of several others, who were maimed and bruis ed on this unhappy occasion, but whose fine is not yet known. The report from St. Bartholomew's Hospi tal includes nearly the whole ofthe dead bodies, occasioned by this melancholy catastrophe.— 29 killed—l 4 maimed or bruised. ■ A CHRISTMAS DITTY. An Orphan, who not long before, Had loft her parents kind and tender, Stood near a lord and laay’s door, Who had no child and liv’d in fplendnr, She warbled ftraint of genuine woe, In hope to catch the ear of pity, Her little heart’s pulie beating low, She tweedy fuug her simple ditty.— “ Oh, Fortune’s fav’rites, great and good, “ Afford rn helpless Orphan food; “ For Christmas comes but once a year, “ And when it comes it brings good cheer.” In vain thus flow’d her tuneful breath Great folks sometimes have little feeling Poor child ! the clay-cold hand of death Benumb’d her frame, and hufh’d her thrilling, The neighbouring maids, wii h many a flower, Bedeck the Orphan’s grave, with pity ; And fancy hears each midnight hour, When winter chills, her simple ditty “ Oh, fortune’s favorites, great and good, j “ Afford a helpless Orphan food ; “ For Chiiftm ab con:e3 Lut once a vear, “ Ar.d when it conies it brings good cheer.” THE BALM OF SORROW. A'O T studied consolatory speeches, not precept* from the Cynic's tub , not a volume of last cen~ iury sermons, but employment.-— Let the victim of ingratitude, cf grief of love, plunge into the whirlpool of busincs, and he will feel like the valetudinarian, Armstrong prescribes like a physician, and exhorts like a philosopher. —Boston Centinel. 1 ‘ Go, foft enthusiast, quit the cypress groves, Nor to the rivulet’s lonely moaniugs tune Your fad complaint. Go ftek the cheerful haunts Os men, and mingle with the bustling croud ; I.ay fehemes for wealth, nr power, or fame, the wife Os noble minds, and push them night and day, Or join the caravan iri quest of feenes New to our eyes, and fluffing every hour, Beyond the Alps, beyond the Appenines; Or, more adventurous, rufli into the field Where war grows hot, and raging thro’ the fley. The lofty trumpets fvvelb the mad’ning foul ; And in the hardy camp and toilsome march Forget all fofter and lei's manly cares.” A rich citizen, lately deceased, left each of his two daughters, as their fortunes, their weight in one pound bank notes ; on being put in the scale, the eldest weighed 7 stone 21b. the youngest, 8 stone. The eldest, in conse quence, became possessed of a fortune amount ing to 51,2001. and the youngest, being the heaviest, to 57,3441. and it was ascertained ovC the following scale—32 bank notes, of one P°und each, weign an ounce averdupois ; 512 notes will therefore weigh a pound; 51,200 notes will weigh 7 stone 21bs. or !00 pounds weight; and 57,344 notes, will weigh 112 pounds weight,or 8 stone. A gentleman one day said, he had no doubt lie could carry a million of one pound bank notes; but they will actually weigh 19S& pounds weight— London paper. Mr. Tierney’s friends have discovered, that bv a statute passed in tlic ninth year cf the reign of king James the first, it is enacted, “ lhat#no person standing convicted by a jury ot the crime of adultery, shall hereafter be deemed eligible to sit in parliament.” A meet ing of .Mr. Tierney’s friends has been held, and a petition is preparing against the return, cn the grounds of this act. —London paper. An Apprentice TO the PRINTING BUSINESS is want ed at this office. A iad of from 13 t 16 years o: age will be well treated. February 27 ij