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history of .his hopeful youth From the gen
tleman who was with mo on the occasion 1
have described. A ve*r before l lie had
come in the possession of an estate worth
one hundred thousand dollars. Two beau
tiful and accomplished sisters were depen
dent upon him, but, scorning their affec
tionate entreaties, lie plunged into vice, and
in twelve months was penniless ! l)id the
wretch hang himself? Oh, no ! —-the very
next morning after the scene I have men
tionod, I'saw him on the levee, with a book
in his hand, superintending the unlading of
a steamboat! He had already obtained a
place, and betaken himself to the subordi
nate occupation of a steamboat clerk!’
It is a pity to spoil this capital story of the
gallant Captain,—but the truth must be
told. The young man whose history is so
graphically described, was for years the
Clerk of the steamer , and never pos
sessed over one hundred dollars of his own
during his lifetime. We met him a few
days ago on the levee, looking as good na
tured as ever. The gambling party, Cap
tain, was the worst kind of a saw.— N. U.
Pic.
•From the Philadelphia United Stales.
THE RESOURCES OF THE COUN
TRY.
Mr. Ellsworth, the intelligent and inde
fatigable Commissioner of Patents, has pre
sented to Congress, through the Depart
ment of State, bis second annual report
upon the operations of the Patent Office du
ring the last year ; and we may justly say
that it is one of the most valuable public
documents which has yet been issued upon
the agricultural resources of the country.
Our present object is not to give any ana
lysis of this report, but merely to call the
attention of our readers to certain subjects
included in it, connected with the agricul
tural resources ofthe country. These re
sources are almost boundless, and a due
cultivation of them will create great chan
ges in the general condition of society.—
Especially will such cultivation essential
ly affect a very important branch of naviga
tion, and perhaps lead to its abandonment
and the increase of another branch much
less perilous, and much less fluctuating in
its results.
The report contains a table of agricultur
al statistics ofthe thirty States and Terri- 5
lories, estimated for the year 1841 ; and in
this table, the number of swine for that year
is 26,301,293. If we assume, for the sake
ot round numbers, 26} millions as the whole
number and fifty pounds as the average
weight of each, wo shall have an aggre
gate of 1,325 millions of pounds; and if we
■assume one halfof this as the quantity of
lard, we shall have an aggregate of 62.'.
millions of pounds. A late discovery is
that lard yields an oil, in all respects, and
for all purposes, equal to the best sperm oil.
Eight pounds of lard are equal, in weight,
to one gallon of sperm oil, and the whole is
convertible into oleine, or oil, and stcarine,
or spermaceti. The proportion of these two
substances in lard is not mentioned in the
report; but we will suppose what must he
near the truth, that a pound of lard will i
yield two thirds of its weight in oleine , or
fluid oil. Then the whole 062'. millions of
pounds of lard will yield 44 U millions of
pounds of oil, equal to 55 j millions of gal
lons. The proceeds ofthe whole fisheries
in 1841 were about 5 millions of gallons of
sperm oil, and about 0} millions of gallons
ofwhale and fish oil, or airaggregate of 11 j
millions. Ifthen all the swine now in the !
country were converted into lard for oil,
the product would be five times greater than
that ofthe whale fishery. Hut we must
assume that not more than halfof the mini
her of swine are slaughtered in anv one
year, that the average weight is not less
than one hundred pounds, and that one half
of this weight is lard. Upon this calcula
lion, the annual, product of swine slaugh
tered will he 662,} millions of pounds, and
oflard 441} millionsof pounds. We will
next suppose that only one fifth of this quan
tity is used for oil, the rest being consumed
as pork ; and ive shall have eleven millions
of gallons of oil, or a quantity equal to the
product of the whale fishery. But to this
we must add the stearine from lard, in the
proportion ofone third. Ifthen 662} mil
lions of pounds of lard yield one third, or
221 millions of pounds of stearine, and one
fifth of the whole quantity of pork he used
for oil, the product will he 44,200,000 lbs.
of stearine ; and thus if only one fifth ofthe
pork now produced annually he converted
into oil, the product, in articles equal to
spermaceti and pure sperm oil, will exceed
the whole proceeds of the whale fishery in
•spermaceti and oils of all kinds !! The’ re
sult is truly surprising.
The expense of procuring these substan
ces from pork is an important consideration
and according to the report when lard is at
six cents for the pound, the oil can he sold
lor a good profit at fifty cents for the gallon
and the stearine is a clear gain besides.—
Hut the present average priceoflard in the
Western States is only four or five cents.
With these facts before us, we see anew
and almost boundless field of wealth opened
to our agriculture, especially in the new
States. In 1840, the quantity of sperm &
whale oil exported was about five millions
of gallons and the consumption at home a
bout six and a quarter millions. There
fore the present agriculture of the country
would alone supersede the whole whale
fishery, both for exportation and domestic
consumption ; and to this we must add that
this agriculture will increase with the pop
ulation oftlie country, if no new field bo
opened for its products, and in a much more
xapid ratio with this new field for enter
prise.
The effect might he the total destruction
of the whale fisheries ; a result very desira
v hie to all philanthropists. These fisheries
are a fertile source of wealth to our country
and a nursery of our best seamen. But if
a greater source is to ho found in the pro
duction of the same oils from agriculture,
the country, and society generally, will
gain much by substituting a peaceful and
safe occupation for one replete with hard
shirs and perils, The consumption of hit.
man life and health, and of property, in die j
whale fisheries, is f arfully great, when
compared with the same consumption in ag
riculture ; and we nmy safely suv that the 1
annual loss of life and property in this sin
gle branch of navigation far exceeds the
annual loss of life and property in agricul
ture, from storms, and casualties of all
kinds. And if the whale fisheries be aban
doned, we shall find a substitute in tiie edu
cation of seamen, in the increase of naviga
tion required for exporting these agricul
tural oils. The United States can supply
all Europe with these substitutes for sperm
oil and spermaceti, and thus destroy the
whale fishery in all parts of the world.—
Other martime nations cannot pursue these
fisheries cheaper than the United States ; I
and when we consider the certainty of ag- |
ricultura! returns, compared with those from
the fisheries, and the difference of capital
invested in favor of agriculture, we are safe j
in saying that agriculture can always tin- !
dersell tne whale fisheries in oil and can
dles. If then the United States can under
sell Europe in the whale fisheries, and fur
nish agricultural substitutes cheaper than
whale oils, their agriculture will have the
monopoly of these oils, and the consequent
increase of their navigation will far more
than compensate for the abandonment ofthe
whale fisheries.
As the oil trade is extensive, and involves
a variety of oils, applicable to a great va
riety of purposes, the whole of which can
he supplied from our own agriculture, we
shall reserve some portions of Mr. Ells
worth s valuable report for future considera
tion.
No. 2.
THE CULTURE OF SUGAR.
Until the production of Sugar from the
Maple, and more recently from Beets, the
production of this necessary of human life
was supposed to lie confined to the tropics.
But though maple sugar is the produce of
temperate regions, its cultivation is neces
sarily too limited to supersede extensively
the use of tropical or cane sugar, and this
cultivation must decline with the settlement j
of the country. Most of the trees which!
afford sugar are found in the primitive for
ests ; and as thirty years at least arc re
quired to produce a maple tree of sufficient
size for sugar, the cultivation of sugar or
chards by the present generation, for its
own use, is impracticable, and we cannot
expect that a people will labor for posteri- j
ty, in anew country which demands all !
their labor for themselves in immediate rc- I
turns. We may add that in our mode of i
clearing land of forests by fire as well as j
steel, the preservation of the spontaneous I
growth of maple is out of the question.— j
Therefore we can only manufacture maple j
sugar in new settlements, and by an expen- j
dilute ol labor that might he more profita- j
biy employed. The whole quantity of su- j
gar produced in the United States in 1840, !
was 155 millions of pounds. Gfthisquan- j
tity, Louisiana produced about 120 mil- j
lions, Georgia about 330,000, and Florida I
about 275,000 pounds, the whole of which j
was doubtless cane sugar. This quantity, j
about 120} millions, deducted from the |
whole quantity, leaves 34} millions for ma- j
pie and beet sugar. Os this quantity, New j
A ork produced 19 millions, Pennsylvania!
about 2} millions, Virginia about 1} mil- |
lions, Kentucky about 1} millions, Ohio a- !
bout 6} millions, Indiana about 3} millions, :
and Michigan about 1} millions; and of!
this 34} millions, the whole was maple su- !
gar, excepting, perhaps, a small quantity ]
produced in Pennsylvania, in the vicinity of |
Philadelphia. The whole of this sugar |
was consumed at home ; for nothwithstand- j
ing all this production, 120 millions of Ins. j
was imported for domestic consumption, the I
whole of which was cane sugar. Tints of
275 millions of pounds of sugar consumed j
in the United States, about 240 millions are !
cane sugar. These facts show that the j
quantity of maple sugar manufactured |
hears it small proportion to the whole con- ‘
sumption, and that this quantity must an- |
Dually decline with the removal ofthe for- j
ests.
Os beet sugar, 150 millions of pounds |
are annually manufactured in Europe ; but 1
as cane sugar is cheaper, protecting duties |
are necessary for the cultivation of the for- !
mer. But in the United States, the quanti
ty of beet sugar produced is trifling, and
probably it will not become a substitute,
extensively, for sugar cane. Nevertheless,
our country does produce a species of su
gar which might supersede entirely the
consumption of cane sugar, foreign or do
mestic, and even become an article of ex
portation. Indian Corn contains sugar in
large quantities, and might be profitably
cultivated for it in every part oftlie Union.
According to Beaumes’ saccliarometer, or
apparatus for ascertaining the quantity of
saccharine matter in plants, the corn stalk
reaches to 10 degrees of saccharine matter,
which is three times greater than that ofthe
beet, five times greater than that of the ma
ple tree, and fully equal to the cane in the
United States. Experiments prove thatsix
quarts of the juice of corn stalks produce
one quart of crystallized syrup, or sugar, j
which is a product of 16 percent., while ‘
thirty-two quarts of maple sap will yield
only one quart of syrup. And besides fur
nishing as great a proportion of saccharine
matter as the cane, the corn stalk can be#
produced, for sugar, within 90 days, while
the cane requires at least 18 months of
careful and laborious cultivation to bring it
to maturity.
To produce the greatest quantity of sac
charine matter in corn stalks, the ear must
be plucked so soon as it appears ; and by
this process, all the saccharine matter that
would have been used in forming the ear,
is retained in the stalk. One thousand lbs.
of sugar may easily be produced front an
acre of corn. Those to whom this seems
incredible, will remember that a bushel of
ripe corn will weigh about sixty pounds,
and therefore that fifty bushels, an ordinary
crop to the acre, will weigh three thousand
pounds. Then as nearly all the flour or !
meal of corn is convertible into starch, and j
as starch is controvertible into move than ‘
its weight of sugar, one thousand pounds of
sugar to three thousand pounds of corn is
not an extravagant product. To this we
may add that in some parts of the country,
especially South Carolina, Georgia, Alaba
ma, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida, j
two crops yearly for sugar might easily he !
produced. By the removal of the ear so
soon as it appears, this whole quantity of
saccharine matter is retained in the stalk,
in addition to the quantity which it contains
when the corn is allowed to ripen.
By proper cultivation, we believe that
fifteen hundred pounds of sugar might he
produced from an acre, in a single crop, and
not less than twenty-five hundred pounds
in two crops. We must add that while the
machinery for manufacturing cane sugar
is cumbrous and expensive, that for corn
sugar is light and cheap, the stalk requir
ing only one-fifth of the pressure necessary
j for cane. Besides, cane being an exotic in
the United States, only a small portion of it
| yields saccharine matter, while the whole
of the corn stalk j’ields it, excepting the
spindle or top. The stalk, after pressure,
with the leaves, are worth enough, it is said,
as food tor cattle, to defray tile expenses of
cultivation.
Though no experiments have been made
to test tlie value of corn stalks for sugar,
when dried, we doubt not that they are as
valuable for this purpose, as when green ;
for as nothing but the water evaporates in
the process of drying, all the saccharine
matter must remain ; and by the process of
straining, the stalk may afterwards be sub
jected to the press without any loss. This
process of drying and subsequent straining
is used in the cultivation of beets for sugar;
and if it can he applied to corn stalks, as
we believe, the cultivation of corn sugar
will he greatly facilitated ; for in that case,
tiie manufacture can he postponed until the
winter or end of the autumn, when most
other agricultural labors are ended.
Corn being indigenious in all partsofthe
Union, while the cane is an exotic, and cori
fined to a small Southern district, the culti
vation of coni sugar may entirely super- j
sede that of the latter. The average crop
of sugar in Louisana is 900 or 1000 pounds
to the acre, about one third of the product
in Cuba and other tropical regions. And
besides, the capital necessary for cane su
gar being great, it cannot he cultivated by
landholders of moderate means ; and of all
modes of Southern cultivation, cane sugar ;
has been the least profitable. All parts of.’
the United States are subject to frosts, arid t
when they occur in Louisiana, u’here they j
are not uncommon, tliesugar crop is des.
troyed or injured ; and to escape them, the
sugar planters are obliged, when the cane
is ripe (or cutting, to employ their laborers
incessantly during day and night, in cutting
and pressing. But on the sugar lands of
the South, two crops of corn for sugar might
be produced annually, before the appear
ance of frosts, both yielding 2500 or 3000
pounds of sugar. Hence, besides being a
profitable crop in all other States, corn su
gar would be a far more profitable crop
than cane sugar in Louisana. We com
mend this subject to the notice of sugar plan
ters, and advise them to make an experi
ment in the cultivation of corn. Tlieir pre
parations for the manufacture are already
made in their machienery for cane sugar
and they would be merely required to raise
the corn. In Louisiana, com grows not
less than twelve feet in height, and like all
other plants produced in Southern regions,
must contain more saccharine matter than
Northern corn. Hence, if an acre of Nor-
them corn would yield, at the rate of fifty
bushels of ripe corn to the acre, over one
thousand pounds of sugar, an acre in Lou
isiana would yield fifteen hundred or two
thousand pounds. Then if it he a proffita
hle crop at the North, much more so will it
lie in Lou isiaria and other districts of the
Union where sugar cane is now cultivated.
According to Mr. Ellsworth’s report, the
quantity of corn produced in the Union, in
1840, was 387 millions of bushels ; and if
the whole of this had been converted into
sugar, at the rate of twenty pounds of sugar
to the bushel of sixty pounds of corn, which
is a very moderate estimate, the product of
sugar would have been 7740 millions of
pounds. By twenty pounds of sugar to the
bushel, we mean that the quantity of corn
stalks that would have produced sixty
pounds of ripe corn, will produce twenty
pounds of sugar. Therefore, if only about
a twenty-fourth part of this corn had been
converted into sugar, the product would
have equalled the whole quantity of sugar
foreign and domestic, consumed in the Uni
ted States. This quantity as we have al
ready stated, is 270 millions of pounds ;
and at tiie rate of twenty pounds to the
bushel, it would require 13} millions of
bushels. This beieg a small proportion to
387 millions of bushels, and at the rate of
fifty bushels to the acre, and one crop an
nually, could he produced on only 275,000
acres of land. Then if 275,000 acres of
land, cultivated for corn sugar, will give a
substitute for the whole quantity of sugar
consumed in the United States, how bound
less are their agricultural resource! for su
gar alone ! With such a reserve, the South
I have no cause to tremble for the loss of their
i cotton crop for England, through the culti
i vation of cotton in India.
A fellow from Kentucky went yesterday
’ into the store of a fashionable milliner in
Canal street.
“ Have you any skirts?” asked lie.
“ Plenty ofall kinds,” answered Madam
W.
“ What do you ask a cord ?” said the
chap.
“ A cord !” replied Madam W.
“Yes—l want about a cord—up in our
diggings the petticoats and things has gin
out. 1 see you advertise “corded skirts,”
and I thought while my hand was in, I’d
take what you had, corded up.”
The milliner fainted. —Crescent City-
Ala debating society out west the ques
i tion was, “if a man saw his father and
] mother drowning, which would he save
I [* was decided in the affirmative.
JOIIN TYLER’S NOSE.
Every body knows, that knows anything
about Mr. John Tyler, that his nose is the
longest nose in Christendom. Os course his
Accidency’s Mr. Jones is for making politi
cal capital out of the executive snout. He
records, in his Madisonian, the following
striking certificates in favor of his master:
“ Napoleon used to say : “ When 1 want
any good hard work done, I choose a man,
provided his education has been suitable,
with a long nose. His breathing is bold
and free, and his brain, as well as his lungs
and heart, cool and clear. In my observa
tion of men, I have almost invariably found
a long nose and a long head together.”
There’s a hint to the whole corps of pen
sioned editors to guide them in their cam-
I paign. At present they are all at a sad
I loss as to what matter they can possibly
! seize hold of, in order to elevate their mas
j ter to the next Presidency. Let them at
[once seize hold of his Accidency’s long
- nose, and lift him into the Presidency by
} that. Prentice.
From the Philadelphia Chronicle.
Highly Important Decision. — U. S. Bank
rupt Law, vs. the Stale Insolvent Late —A
; highly important legal decision, touching
| the influence of the U. S. Bankrupt Law
I upon the Insolvent Law of this State, was
| made by the Judge of the Court of Common
Pleas yesterday. The Sheriff being in
j doubt as to the operation of the General
j Bankrupt Law recently gone into opera
[ tion, upon the old Insolvent Law of the State
and how far he was justified in continuing
to discharge prisoners from custody upon
their filing the usual insolvent bond in the
office of the Prothonotary of the Court of
Common Pleas, and wishing to clear him-
self of all personal responsibility, in consul
tation with the U. S. District Attorney, took
the necessary steps to have the question de
cided by the proper tribunal. That it
might come before them in a tangible form
he refused to discharge an individual from
custody who had, in conformance with the
actof Assembly for the relief of insolvent
debtors, filed an insolvent bond in the office
of Prothonotary of the Court of Common
Pleas, and sent him to prison. The prison
er was brought before the Honorable Judg
es ofCommon Pleas, yesterday, upon a ha
peas corpus, before whom, sitting in bank,
the question was fully argued—the oppo
j sing counsel assumed that the U. States
law does, upon constitutional principles,
i supersede the law of a State. The court
! decided that the prisoner was entitled to
i his discharge, he having previously given
the bond required by the Insolvent Law of
| this State, to appear at the next insolvent
j court, tocornply with the requirements of
| said law. It was moreover, the opinion of
the court that Congreesin framing the Gen
; oral Bankrupt Law, never contemplated
j the annulment of the insolvent laws ofthe
! States, and that such an operation of it in
! Pensyl vania would be fraught with the most
j serious consequences. It would he extreme
ly oppressive to the poor, and those whose
estates are completely exhausted, inasmuch
as the proceedings under it are not only
more complicated and expensive, but relief
could only he offered at one place of sitting
in the Eastern and Western judicial dis
tricts ofthe State, instead of in every coun
ty, as at present, so that insolvents would
■ be obliged to travel fron the most remote
i parts ofthe State, to Philadelphia or Pitts
i burgh, for relief, at a ruinous and opressive
i expense and delay.
From Ike N. Y. Sint.
“Thai Unruly Member.” —An extraordi
nary case of’ slander was lately determined
in the Supreme Court of Ohio, which illus
trates the necessity of women holding their
tongues, and that iron ruleofthe law, which
makes the husband responsible in damages
for the slanderous expressions of his wife.
About three years ago Mrs. Copeland
charged Mrs. White with stealing her “ge
ranium pot,” and published the words to
several persons. Mr. White and wife com
menced an action against Mr. C. and wife
in an inferior court, and obtained a verdict
for one thousand dollars—the defendant’s
counsel moved upon a bill of exceptions, al
legingthat no slander would lay in the
words, because the geranium was in the
nature of a tree, and the taking of a tree
was only a trespass, and not a felony.—
The cause was sent down again-was tried,
and the plaintiff waved the tree and w’ent
for the pot. The jury on the second trial
were incensed at the quibble, and gave a
vindictive verdict—s3ooo damages and
costs !—it being proved to them that he re
ceived SIO,OOO by his wife on his marriage.
The defendant, by his counsel, moved for
anew trial on the ground of excessive dam
ages, and a rule was granted on payment
of the plaintiff’s whole costs, which amoun
ted to over one thousand dollars. The
cause was again tried, and by an untoward
fatality, which his eminent counsel could
not control, although every effort was made
in his behalf, the jury returned a verdict of
three thousand five hundred dollars dam
ages, and costs. By this time the defend
ant was heartily sick of the law, and not
willing to agree with his adversary, deter
mined to avoid the payment of the judg
ment, by transferring his property to his
brother-in-law. The powerful fangs of a
bill of discovery drew out the fact of the
transfer, and the perjury of the defendant’s
answer put this affair in anew, but more
fearful light. When the truth flashed on
his mind that ruin was fast gathering a
round him, he had a conference with the
plaintiff, and settled the difficulties by pay
ing him the verdict and costs, $7529.31 be
sides the fees of his own counsel. This is
certainly a terrible lesson for slanderous
women, and although this rule appears se
vere, yet we hear of its prevalence in our
own courts almost every day. It must cer
tainly be a grievous case to a good man to
suffer the perils and penalties of the law
for his wife’s depravity, and we can see
how a few bitter words can destroy and
drive happiness and peace from the domes
tic circle forever. “Woman, put a guard
upon thv mouth.”
SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCE.
Some ten or twelve years ago the wife of
a Methodist Minister, named Isaac Taylor,
of Jefferson county, Alu. was missing.—
The circumstances was as follows : She
laid down at night as usual with her hus
band ; sometime after she arose and went
out and came hack two or three times. At
last she took up tho least child, and after
kissing it. laid it in Mr. Taylor’s bosom, tel
ling him to keep it till she returned. She
then left the bouse and returned no more.
Diligent search was made after her, but all
to no purpose. Suspicion rested strongly
on her husband, and bones having been
found in a hollow stump near his house
some years after, he was brought to trial,
but acquitted for want of evidence. He
was however generally believed to be the
murderer, and on this account was prohibi
ted from preaching and was much persecu
ted.
A short time back a letter was received
by the Postmaster at Blountsville, near
where the occurrence happened, from a
man in Texas, who, it appears, had been at
tached to Mrs. Taylor before her marriage
and meeting her some time afterwards, he
persuaded her to flv with him to Texas.—
They accordingly secretly equipped them
selves and started, she travelling all the
time in men’s clothes, and arrived there,
where they lived afterwards as man and
wife. She died in that country, hut exac
ted on her death bed a promise from her pa
ratnour to write hack and disclose the cause
of her disappearance. Thus has the c har
acter of a most pious and worthy man been
exculpated from a most foul and unjust
suspicion.— Sc/ma Free Press.
HwilNP GAZiftL
WASHINGTON, GA.
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1842.
MclanchoSiy Accident.
During the violent storm on Sunday
night last, four very likely and valuable
negro fellows, belonging to Daniel Lee,
Esq. of this place, were drowned in Little
River. The accident happened by the
breaking of a platform, upon which they
were standing, while raising the flood-gate
of Mr. L’s. Mill.
!S4. J’ali'icli’s Way.
To day (March 17th) is celebrated by
every true son of “Green Erin,” as the an
niversary of his Patron Saint Patrick, a per
sonage whose existence is considered by
historians somewhat dubious, but who is
none the worse saint on that account.
Patrick is supposed to have exercised his
profession of saint, sometime about the
fourth century. lie was horn on the 17th
of March in what year never has been clear
ly ascertained, it not being of so much con
sequence for the purposes of celebration to
ascertain the year as the day upon which
lie condescended to he born. lie was a
Scotchman or a Frenchman, nobody knows
which. We have however the assurance
of the old song that,
“Saint Patrick was a gentleman
“And born of dacent people,
“He built a church within a town
“And put thereon a steeple.”
He is considered the apostle of Ireland
being the first to introduce Christianity into
that island. Before his time the Irish were
barbarous and naked savages, he planted
the germs of civilization among them and
inculcated upon them the propriety of em
ploying the tailors.
It is said that preaching on one accasion,
he found it very difficult to make his hear
ers understand the doctrine of the Trinity,
the existence of three divine persons in one,
upon which stooping down he plucked a
sprig of clover and showed them the three
leaves seperate, yet united on one stalk,
which very apt and beautiful illustration
convinced his hearers much better than all
his arguments. Since then the Irish have
adopted this species of clover as their na
tional emblem under the name of “The
Shamrock.”
Voltaire, very dubiousauthority in saint
ly things, but generally considered accu
rate in matters of History, tells us that the
saint once being in want of a conveyance
from Ireland to France, jumped upon a lit
tle hill and ordered it to play the part of a
steam boat and ferry him over ; the hill, as
in duty hound, did as it was told. “When
he was landed he bestowed his blessing on
the hill, which made him many profound
reverences and returned back to Ireland by
the same road it came.”
We are told that St. Patrick being dis
turbed in his repose hv the vermin that in
fested Ireland cursed them heartily—most
of them immediately died—and to this day
no frog, snake or venomous insect will live
in the island and if carried there will die.
The modern invention of combs has great
ly tended to diminish, in Ireland, those spe
cies of vermin that St. Patrick forgot to
curse.
The death of this Saint is another exempli
fication of the proverbial ingratitude of men
to their benefactors. He suffered martyr
dom by the hand of those he had labored so
zealously to civilize and christianize. The
common story that, after his decapitation,
he swam over tho river Lissy, carrying his
head in his mouth, we consider
ypi,al—in fact, to tell the truth at the risk of
bein” thought a heretic, we don’t believe a
word of it.
We hope after this notice of St. Patrick,
our readers will consider him a pretty \ *-
er fellow and reverence him and his eTifii
versary accordingly.
“Auld Lang Sync.”
Sixty years in this country, where man
plays so brief a part on the stage of life,
and where generation after generation pass
es away so quickly, where doath claims his
share, and where the tide of emigration car
ries off those whom death, for an unusual
time, spares—confer as venerable a stamp
of antiquity as treble that number of years
passing in countries in which the popula
tion is more stable —where men live and
die in something less of a hurry, and where
as in England, the son is contented to trans
mit his father’s possessions, not increased,
hut undiminished, to his children. Trans
actions of half a century ago become with
us matters of history, not of reminiscence;
things to he read, not to be told.
We. were led into these reflections, from
having taken occasion lately to examine
some of the earlier records of the county of
Wilkes, contained in several queer looking,
parchment covered old books in the clerks
office, and we were induced to write this
article because we have nothing much bet
ter to write about, and that we might give
our readers some idea of the way in which
law was li ladled out” in the days of tho
revolution. The men of that time have
passed away ; the “ far west,” or the grave
lias won them, and the little we are able to
glean from these old records, makes us re
gret that we have no actor in those stirring
scenes remaining to tell us ofthe early days
of Wilkes.
The first Court of which we have any
record, was held in Wilkes, in 1779, two
years after the county was laid out —it then
comprising all the lands North of Little
River, just before obtained from the Indians,
out of which Lincoln, Elbert, Taliaferro,
and several other counties, were afterwards
formed. This Court was a little remarka
ble, in that no civil suit was brought to it;
its whole session being occupied with crim
inal cases. The first cases on record are
those of Joshua Riall, tried and found guilty \
of high treason, for acting in conjunction
with “Tate, and a party of Injuns,” (so
spelleth the Record,) and of James Mobley.
The trial of this Mobley (who it seems
w'as a tory,) would be deemed out of all
rule in these latter days. He was indicted
for “high treason against the State, Iloivl
Stealing, Hogg Stealing, and other mis* l
meanours,” rather a singular conjunction
of crimes! A verdict of not guilty was
found by the Jury, but so far was this from
entitling him to his discharge, that the
Court, (after the Attorney-General had mov
ed, without success, that ho be carried to
! Augusta for anew trial,) immediately or
dered another trial for the same offences
and u|>on the same indictment, upon which
the same Jury found him guilty; he was
sentenced to be hanged “ untill his bodic
was dead,” and accordingly there is good
reason to believe he was hanged.
Nine unfortunate tories who had strayed
into the “Whig hornet’s nest,” as Wilkes
was then called, and had been caught, were
at the same time tried for divers crimes,
found guilty of high treason, and sentenced
to death, and but short shrift was given, for
they were executed in a week after.
O ye Solicitors-General of the present
time, who with all your care, caution, and|
legal knowledge, find it difficult to weave!
thatnetofthe law called an Indictment, so I
that some of its intricate meshes will not I
break, let us present you a verbatim et liter- I
atirn copy of one of the indictments of 1779, I
which, simple as it is, was strong enough I
to hang five stout fellows all in one baton :
State of Georgia, “)
vs.
Clement Yarborough, | Indictm s.
John Watkins, for High Treason
William Crutchfield, against the State.
John Young, and
Edward Downey. J
We the Grand Jurors of the County”
of Wilkes, for the State afores’d. on Our
Oaths do Present that Clement Yarborough
John Watkins William Crutchfield John
Young—Edward Downey are Guilty of
High Treason against this State—it being
contrary to all Laws & Good Order of Go
vernment of the Said State & to the Evil
Example of Others JOHN DOOLY ,
Att’y. Gen’l. 28th August 1779.
But although the Whigs of that day took
such summary means of getting rid of their
enemies, it seems they could not mahft a
clean sweep of them at once. Hanging the
tories, when caught, was the easiest partot
the business—catching them they found
more difficult we presume —for they pre
sent 27 for anew crime—that of running at
large. Here are the presentments :
“We the Grand Jury do Present as a
! Grievance the Running at Large of Thom-
