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About News & planters' gazette. (Washington, Wilkes County [sic], Ga.) 1840-1844 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 1844)
full a positive ilisinelination to annoying the young man ; nay, a sort of pity for his hard ease made him pause. But while lie was thus hesitating, Wallowmire, who had crept in bchinJ the cullers, approached tho old leather ttunk and gave it a kick which started tho cover and threw the loaf of broad into the middle of the room. Crim son with rage, and stung to the soul at this insulting exposure of his poverty, the young man sprang forward, and aimed a blow ut Wallowinirc, which that individual dodged with considerable activity. livery thing was instantly in confusion. The ‘train ers’ had been gradually getting nearer, and now they all rushed upon him, and clinch ed him at once, lie struggled fiercely, and broke away once or twice before they secured him. But they were sixteen to his one, and wlrnt could lie do ? Two of the stoutest clasped him round the body, and pinioned his arms, while another, after re ceiving a pretty severe kick in the mouth, managed to hamper his legs with an old handkerchief. In this condition they drag ged him across the room and forced him to sit down on the bed-side, two of the wor thies, confining his arms, as I have men tioned, arid a third kneeling on the bed clothes behind him with both hands resting affectionately on the collar of his coat.— When the young man was secured, Wal lowmire came up and grinned in his face. The sullen expression with which he submitted as soon as he saw that resistance was ridiculous, excited great amusemont among his captors. ‘ Don’t go near him,’said one, ‘ or he’ll bite !’ ‘ lie looks mad enough, said another, ‘to make a bite very dangerous !’ ‘ Fellow-students,’ said Marshall, ‘lt has been observed by the immortal Shakspcare that— Music hath charms to soothe a savage— Chop a log, or cut a cabbage— ‘Suppose we give him some V ‘Yes! yes!’ vociferated his auditors.— ‘That’s your sort, Marshall! Silence! for the song!’ ‘Whatshall it he ?’ enquired Marshall. This simple question created immense confusion, for no two could hit upon the same tune. ‘Mol Row !’ Old Zip Coon!’ JimCrowfor me!’ ‘S'ng Canaan!’ —‘Give us Old Hundred !’ were some of the various demands, while one patriotic Student in the corner sung out at the top of his voice for ‘Yankee Doodle!’ ‘Fellow Students,’ said Marshall, beck oning for silence—‘this is a land of liberty, (cheers, and cries of ‘that’s a fact!’) —You do not seem to agree about the music, and 1 have no right to choose for von. Igo for the largest liberty, (‘Hurrah!’ from the company,) therefore gentlemen, let every man sing his own tune !’ and at it they went, roaring with all their strength in e very variety of voice and key. ‘Moll Row,’ occasionally prevailed over ‘The land of Canaan.’ ‘Old Zip Coon,’ was heard at intervals mingling in the strangest manner with ‘Jim Crow.’ Some who had no mu sic in their souls, took it out in shouting and stamping ; the most outrageous confusion prevailed, until an enterprising genus, mounting on the table, struck up anew tune which appeared to be an universal fa vorite ; and the whole company finally joined in the magnificent chorus of— Get out ob de way, Old Dan Tucker! Out de way, Old Dan Tucker ! Out do way, Old Dan Tucker, You’m too late To come to supper! The ardor with which his guards entered | into this, gave our hero an opportunity of working the handkerchef off his legs. He freed himself by a sudden efiort, and sei zing one of the chairs he laid about him with such good will as to knock several down, and drive the rest toward the door. Wallowmire was the first to run—but there were two or three who stood in the door way, and as he could not get out until they did, he fluttered round, panting with terror, expecting every moment to feel the chair on his back. In shear desperation, he turn ed about and saw Marshall and Rogers rol ling on the floor, and the exasperated young man, grasping the chair with both hands, and coming right at him with flashing eyes. Quick as thought the oward thrust his hand into his vest pocket, and taking out a common pewter syringe, discharged it at him, but Marshall, who suddenly rising, had stepped in between the two, received the entire contents in his face. The poor fellow instantly fell on the floor screaming horribly, and scratching the boards with his nails, for tho syringe had been loaded with nitric acid ! Stupificd with horror, the two young men stood, while a man might count ten, without a breath, without a motion, Wallowmire holding the syringe between his fingers, the other with the chair vet uplifted in his hands. At length Wallowmire threw a way the syringe and burst through all op position into the entry, which began to be filled with students attracted by the noise of the training. ‘ Wallowmire,’ said one of them as the horrid screams of Marshall now struck upon his ear, ‘what in the name of Heaven are they doing with the Freshman V ‘I guess they are training him a little too hard,’ replied the wretch', in a voice which quivered with terror, as he struggled through the crowd towards the entry door. When he reached the open air, he ran with all his speed toward his own apartments. In the meantime, the agonizing screams of young Marshall had crowded the room with students. Every one was affected with uncontrollable sympathy. ‘Poor fel low !’ ‘God help you, my poor fellow !’— ‘Bear it a little longer, dear Marshall, it will soon he over!’ were the exclamations that hurst from all sides. Some ran for the doctor, some lifted him into a chair, and others tried to relieve him by pouring cold water on Jtis face, which was now of a deep scarlet color, and quivered with ago ny wherever a drop of the accursed liquid had fallen. O.oly two had seen Wallow- I mire when ho committed this diabolical act, namely, our hero the Freshman, and Rogers, who was one of the first to be knocked down in the scaffle, and wlto had seen the whole as he rose, for it was all dono in an instant. But this last was e- I nougli. Burning with indignation, he told ! the whole story in a loud voice, and in an ! incredibly short time ; every one in the vast crowd of students which filled the room and choked the entries and scrambled up :on each others shoulders to look in at the I windows, knew all the circumstances of the | infernal deed. At length soma of tho medical faculty made their appearance. By their advice, Marshall was to be conveyed to bis own room and closely attended with cooling ap plications. This was done, and the students dispersed to their rooms. Wallowmire shought his room trembling in every limb. Locking the door, he threw himselfon the sofa and covered his face with his hands. It was there that tho consequences of his cowardly notion forced themselves upon him in all their horror. He would have given millions to live the last twenty min utes over airain. Again and again did he curse his own folly, and In: tore out his hair by tiie handful when he reflected that but for this, he might have been entirely at his ease. ‘Oh Lord!’ he groaned, ‘What a fool—what a blind fool I was! Couldn’t I have done it sly ? Couldn’t 1 have taken some dark night when nobody could see ? No! like an idiot 1 must do it before the whole gang ! And then to miss after all! To hit Marshall instead of that beggarly scamp ; hut it was good enough for him, 1 what business had he between us ? and now 1 suppose I must be taken up, and pointed at and Itisspd at, and carried to pris on ! Oh! I could kill myself for a fool !’— And lie flung himself upon the sofa, grind ing his teeth. Presently the noise of the people running past his window made his heart leap. ‘Per haps he thought, starting up ‘they may bo after mo now !’ His knees trembled un der bint and the cold sweat stood in large drops on his forehead at the thought. For one anxious minute—a minute which seemed like eternity—he listened for the expected footsteps on the stairs. Atlength when lie was satisfied that there was no one coming, he began to think of providing for himself. Hastily cratning a few necessa ry articles into a carpet bag, he locked the door behind him, crept steadily down the stairs, carefully opened the entry door, and ran for his life. Next day an investigation of the whole matter was made by the faculty. Rogers and some others who had taken an active part in the ‘training,’ were suspended for three months. The heavy blow on the head which Marshall had received, coupled with the effects of the acid, brought on a se vere fit of sickness. During this lie was constantly attended by our poor young Stu dent who watched day and night with him. At length he recovered, but the loss of an eye disfigured him for life, and formed a lasting memorial of the ‘training of a F resh man.’ The boldness of our hero in defending his rights, and the humanity which he dis ’ played in attending Marshall during his | sickness, procured him the respect and es ; teem of those who had scoffed at his niiser \ able apparel ; the ability he manifested in iiis class deepened every favorable impres • sion ; and when at last, the calumnies were refuted which Wallowmire had circulated 1 concerning him, he had not an citoiny in the college, who was not converted into a stead fast friend. As for Wallowmire lie never returned, nor could any body tell what had become of him until about eight months afterwards, when a wandering acquaintance of mine saw him or somebody that looked very much like him chained by the leg to a fel low convict and sweeping the gutters in Ha va nna h. How lie got there, and what be came of him afterwards, no one ever knew, nor should any body care about the fate of the cowardly rascal whose character was so fully and so detestably displayed in the above mentioned circumstance of ‘training a Freshman.’ [g. s. THE WAY IT’S DONE IN MISSIS SIPPI. Mr. E. Percy Howe, thus presents him self a candidate for Congress from DeSoto county, Miss. : Fellow-Citizens : Such an opportunity as the present one of honoring modest merit, and, at the same time, honoring yourselves generally and the State particularly, does not present itself oftener than once in a cen tury. Doctor Franklin, the ornament of the last century, died on the 17th of April, 1790; I intend to institute no “odious” comparisons. To my contemporaries, his tory and posterity, belongs the pleasing and sacred duty of “ designating the ornament of the present century;” but this 1 will fearlessly (and, I trust, modestly) assert, that if you want an open, candid, untem porizing, thorough-going republican—an opponent of all banks, bonds and bubbles ; a genuine unadulterated repealer, radical, real,straight-forward, stand-up-to-thc-raek fodder-or-no-fodder subterranean repudia tor—no mongrel — no neutral —l am your man? —for me you will cast your votes! and if you elect me, I will serve you zeal ously, faithfully, and to the best of my abil ities ; so help me God ! Yours, affectionately, E. PERCY HOWE. All the editors in the State will of course publish the above, and on my return from Washington, I will pay them $2 per square for its insertion. E. P. H. “Look here Tom, what do you think of this here printing* business, ain’t it a ston ishinating thing to you ?” “Well horse it is ; they may talk about their national con ventions, and these here other conventions, but I think the art of printing is about the greatest convention that ever I sawed in my born days.” STRATEGY EXTRAORDINARY. There is a law in Boston against smok ing cigurs in the street. There is a cer tain captain of the watcli in that city, Mr. Barry, w ho is at the same time very activo in rigidly enforcing the penalty attached to the infraction of the ordinance, and fond of smoking a good cigar at his own fireside of , ter dinner. There is in his neighborhood a 1 gang of wags, some of whom have “ suf | so red some” from the former indefatigabili- I ty of the Captain, and determined to avail I themselves of his latter propensity to re venge their sufferings ; so while lie was quietly enjoying his Principe last Friday, after dinner, they raised a ory of riot near his domicil, and he in his anxiety to main tain the supremacy of the laws, rushed into tho street, and toward the scene of suppos ed outbreak, without once thinking of his cigar. The wags caught him in the trap they had spread, marched him up to the police, and the magistrate exacted from him the penally he had forfeited—two dollars and costs —which, as a good honest citizen, he “ forked over,” and “ kept his temper” ; like a martyr. j INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF MESMER ISM. Tito popularity of Mesmerism appears to have descended from tlie higher to the j poorer classes, and without giving credit to ! its curative effects, there can he no doubt, that either by imagination or otherwise, some very palpable effects are occasional ly produced upon the brain. A melancho ly case of this kind has occurred within the last few days, to a fine intelligent hoy, a bout ten years of age, named John Hewitt, the son of a coffee-house keeper, in Bunhill row, which has caused much excitement in tho neighborhood. The youth was opera ted upon by one of those pretenders who are now in the habit of giving lectures and performing demonstrations on this subject, ; at this end of the town, where it is now very \ popular. At several trials the experiments were said to be successful ; but the final result has been that although healthy be fore, the poor child has since been subject toil series of fits, his mind has become per manently affected, and lie is in fact, fast approaching to a state of fatuity. The child has been under the care of Dr. Elliotson, for the purpose of being de-mesmerised, but without any chance of permanent suc cess in his treatment. This case should be a warning to pretenders not to tamper with what may or ina v not be a powerful agent, ; as a remedy, or upon the imagination, and which has, in this instance, been proved to possess very l ad influence. English paper. Frightful Excitement. —An amusing fright occurred last Wednesday night, ort board the steamer New Haven, while she was lying to at New London in a gale of wind. While nearly all on board were asleep in their berths, a passenger was at tacked with the nightmare. He made a most hideous noise, crying “murder! fire!” and threw the rest of the passengers into a fright the most laughable that can be ima girted. One or two hundred of them leap ed from tlipir berths, some in a state of na ture, some with a sheet hanging to their shoulders, and some without. They rushed through the cabins and upon deck, crying “fire! fire!” at the top of their voices, and had not the captain and offi cers and Adams messengers been possessed of a good deal of presence of mind, some serious accident would have happened. In an hour or two, however, they were quieted down, the man with the nightmare waked up, and the boat was again in a state of quietness and repose, except with an occasional start in a berth here and there, whenever the boat gave a lurch. These passengers, in their fright, thought of nothing but the destruction of the Lex ington.—Boston Mail. A Cruel and Brutal Murder. —The Ce dar Blufl‘(Ala.) Gladiator, of the 21st ult. gives an account of a murder committed by one John Smith. Smith it seems, at tempted to kill an old man to whom lie was indebted. He beat in his head with a hoe and left him for dead. Smith’s son, however, soon after seeing that he was likely to recover, beat him again, leaving him tho second time for dead.—Ho howev er recovered and procured a process against Smith, but the officer knowing the reckless character of the ruffian summoned a Mr. Berry to assist him. Berry as soon as he arrived at the house entered it, and Smith snapped his gun at him. Berry immediately took hold of him, and while engaged, Smith drew a pis tol and shot Berry through the head—he fell dead. While the rest were fasten ing Smith to carry him off, Smith’s wife knocked down one of the company with an andiron, and snapped a gun at the whole crowd. Smith is in jail at Warrenton.” A Singular Incident. —A gentleman from Marlborough informs us, says the Hartford Times, of a singular circumstance connec ted with an affray between a hawk and a hen, on Sunday last. The hawk, a very large one measuring from wing to w ing, over four feet, pounced upun a hen, and raised her a short distance in the air, when from some cause, the hen became disen gaged, or so much obstructed the progress of the hawk, that lie pitched downwards, and went directly into a well! A colored woman named Clara Burden, seeing them go into the well, ran to see how matters progressed and found the hawk lying upon iiis back in the water, and the hen standing upon him ! The woman lowered the buck et and safely secured the hen- She then held the head of the hawk under water with a pole a while, and finally secured him al so. All hawks should learn from this, that they cannot steal with impunity. Triumphant Retort.. —A young couple recent ly stopped at a country tavern. Their awkward appearance excited the attention of one of the family, who commenced a conversation with the female, by inquiry how far she had travelled that day. “ Travelled!” exclaimed the stranger, in dignantly ; “ we did’nt travel —we rid !” ANOTHER COMET. A correspondent of the New-Ilaven Cour ier announces the discovery of a Comet in tho constellation Orion. It was first seen in the Clark Telescope, belonging to Yulo College, on the 27th of December last. Observations wore repealed on the 29th, j and tjte morning of the iiOth. Moonlight and clouds have since prevented ohserva | lions till Saturduv evening, January Bth, ’ when a change of placo was very evident. Its approximate place on the 29th ult., was in A. R. sth, 10m. Heel. 2 degrees North. ‘The apparent motion is towards the N. W., while that of tho oomet disoov. j ered at Paris in November last, and which j was in the same region, was towards the |S. W. It is possible that the latter has at ! tailied a maximum of southward motion, and is now returning northward. Connecticut Clocks. —The value of the clocks made in Connecticut, amounts to one million of dollars annually. They are sent to England, the north of Europe, India and China. One firm, since 1841, has sold in England 40.000 clocks. Last year there were about 500,000 manufactured. | The Germans and Dutch have been cele brated for their skill in making wooden | clocks, but the Yankees bid fair to drive ! them out of the British market. However, their manufacture was set down only at a bout 70,000 annually, a year or two ago. Another invention, —Physical instead of Steam power. —An ingenious and very use ful invention has just been exhibited, and its power tried on the Brighton and Croy don Railway, in England. It is called a pedomotive machine, and was constructed by Mr. England, the Engineer of Hatcliain iron works, Kent road, for the London and Brighton Railway- It weighs about 270 lbs., and is manufactured almost entirely of wrought iron. It carried four or six per sons, two of whom propel it by means of treadles, applied on anew and advanta geous principle. Its greatest speed for a short distance is at tire rate of twenty-five miles an hour; its average rate is fifteen miles an hour, carrying in both cases foot passengers. Its utility on a line of rail way remarks a London paper, requires no com ment, as, without the slightest delay, one man can convey a message from station to station at a far greater speed than a horse express, and should there he any fear of encountering a train, it can be lifted up from, and replaced on the trainway with as much ease as a sedan chair. A distinguished chemist recommends the following compound asa safe and excellent dentrifice, viz: of white sugar and powden and charcoal, caclt one ounce, of Peruvian bark half an ounce, of c-ream of tartar one drachm and a half, and ofcanella twenty four grains, well rubbed together into an \ impalpable powder. He describes it as ! strengthening to the gums, and cleansing | to the teeth, and as destroying the disagrec- I able ordor in the breath, which so often a- I rises from decaying teeth. Asa preventa tive of tooth ache, we have heard washing the mouth and teeth twice a day with salt and water strongly recommended by gen tlemen who have experienced much bene fit from it.” Not even in this repudiating land, and nowhere hardly but in England, would such a fact as here follows need recording : Suicide by a Child 9 years of age. —On Friday week, a little girl, daughter of one James Colley, was sent by her mother to get some eoai from one of the pits, and be ing gone longer than usual, she was met by her brother, who told her that she would catch it when site got home. The child it seems, dreaded the thought of going home, which she did not like, because, she said, her mother was not kind to her. She threw away Iter bonnet and pinafore, con trived to creep to the edge of a pit, and threw herself into it. The pit was about two hundred yards deep. YVhen her body was got out it was in an emaciated state ; and it was a mere skeleton. A coroner’s inquest was held, but the jury could not come to any other verdict by such as was produced in evidence. The coroner would not close the case without thinking it his duty to censure the parents for npglect and unkind treatment. The very English paper from which we cut this, says: “The criminality of Penn sylvania cannot be extenuated. Happily, by a wise ordination of Providence, not on ly does virtue bring with it its own rewards, but vice brings with it its own punishment.” True. A wise editor. And what a store of punishment is there laying up for both Pennsylvania and England ! North American. The Punishment of Death. —As tending to show that recent discussion of the law fulness of the punishment of death, seems rather to have confirmed rather than sha ken the conviction on the public mind, both of its lawfulness, and in extreme cases, high expediency, it is mentioned, in the New York American, that of 25 jurors challenged at the recent trial of Babe for mutiny and murder, one only and he a Qua ker, answering yes to the question addres sed to each—whether he had any consci entious scruple about the application of the punishment ofdeath in case of conviction of a capital crime. Get Insured. —lnsurance against fire can be obtained at so cheap a rate, that no one should suffer his buildings to remain an hour uninsured. If a man refuses or neg lects to insure his dwelling and furniture, what right has he, should the “devouring elements” of a cold winter’s morning, leave him houseless and shelterless, to claim the sympathy and aid of his neighbors ? Insu rance can almost be had for the asking. A trifling sum will insure a man a tolerable compensation for loss, should his dwelling, from some unforeseen accident, be reduced to ashes. Would not a man, thus protect ! ed, sleep sweeter ? Is it not very consoling to know, that although devastating fire may 1 sweep away the shelter which protects us 1 from the pitiless storm, we have something in the “ locker, which, Phcenix-like, will cause another to rise upon its ashes.” Hampshire Gazelle. POLITICAL. From the Savannah Republican. > I i; THE ST AT 11 FIN ANO ES-TIIE CENTRAL BANK. \ | The Millodgeville Recorder has a very | sensible editorial upon the affairs of the I State, w hich we shall publish at a future ’ : day. The Federal Union is silent us the tomb, while our friends of the JournaLnnd Recorder omit no opportunity of spreading before the people the blessings conferred j upon the Slate by Whig legislation. The people have not heard enough of it yet, hut they will hear more of it, so long as there ] are Whig Editors in Geosgia. We have published “the documents” at least twenty five times, and we are going to do it fifty ’ times more, for we are resolved that the people of this State so far as we can do any thing towards it, shall know the differ: nee ’ between Democratic and Whig Legislation, between timid and partial, and honest and hold legislation, between make-shifts, and r expedients and promises, and a course which has redeemed the credit of Georgia, j and placed her high among the most hon orable States of this Union. Under Democratic swuy for years past | public debts were paid in promises, in part at least, and in order to pay the interest, ! the State had to lose 20, 30, 40 cents on the dollar, and even more than that, if the los ses on bills of exchange by unskilful nego tiation, be reckoned together with the dis „ ference between tho value of specie and of the Stale’s funds. Now-, we can actually reduce the amount of the debt—we can 1 pay that reduction and the interest on the whole of it, in specie funds, i. e. without 1 loss to the State—the Treasury receives and pays out specie funds alone—there are but about $200,000 ofCentrai Battle notes in circulation—even these notes will be re -1 deemed very soon with specie, if the debt -1 ors of the bank avail themselves of the pro ’ position to reduce their notes w ithin sixty days—the money borrowed in order to en -1 able the Treasury to resume specie pay ments pays an interest of one per cent less than the bonds which would have been is sued to redeem the Central Bank notes whose place it takes, while that amount of the notes have been burned, the specie funds being substituted—all this bus been done and more than this, without any increased charge upon the Treasury, and we would challenge any one to produce a more dex trous piece of legislation in any State of ; this Union. Georgia State Bonds—How will they stand hereafter ? There is no question that they will be number one, or on a par with those of the most honored States of the Un ’ ion. The Recorder says that the bonds bearing an interest of 5 per cent of Caroli na, a State inferior in resources of every description to Georgia, are eagerly sought at par, while we know that Massachusetts and New York 5 per cents command a pre mium. There is no doubt that Georgia 6 per cent bonds at par now present one of the most advantageous investments on long time that can be afforded in tho United States. Such is tho advantage of sound credit. When credit is suspected as that of Georgia has been under the Democratic administration, her 8 per cent bonds are sold at a prodigious sacrifice, and the peo ple of the State pay tho high interest which cats like a moth, and makegood the depre ciation besides, for they receive for each bond which they issue, less by far than the face of it. Such are some of the advanta ges of wholsome legislation. Such are some of the benefits conferred hv wise and honest laws. From the New York Express. “THE NORTHERN MAN WITHOUT SOUTHERN PRINCIPLES.” As long as “New York’s favorite Son” could carry on his game “under the rose,” there was no great difficulty in showing a ffattering face to both parts of the Union. — And this is equally true as regards both the tariff and slavery. But the unlucky practice among warm partizans, of insis ting upon it that the seekers after popular ity, shall come out openly, in the face of day, and declare themselves on such thor ny questions as those above mentioned, is not only inconvenient to those concerned, but too often fatal to the hopes and pros pects of an aspiring ambitious man. Very few men, and particularly politicians, can safely go through the process of having their thoughts turned inside out before the world,especially in such a country as this. At the South, they like slavery, and strong ly dislike a protecting tariff. At the North, they detest slavery, but think it is a duty of the government to encourage and cher ish some of the great national interests, par ticularly that of domestic industty. Now what is to be done in the case of a man, who has set his heart upon being President of the United States, and in order to realize his wishes, wants votes from both ends of the Union? Ashe cannot safely declare his feelings to be in favor of either descrip tion of politicians, there is a kind of harsh ness, to say the least of it, in calling upon a man thus situated, to avow himself openly the friend of one side or the other, and for the best possible reason, viz: that by taking part of one, he is sure to lose the votes of the other. Mr. Calhoun does not hesitate to avow himself a friend of both free trade and slavery. This will proba bly secure for him the votes of all those who approve his sentiments. But Mr. Van Bu ren knows full well, that if he were to de clare himself a friend of the tariff and op posed to slavery that it still would not es tablish him as a safe and popular candi date with a large proportion of the people in the free and manufacturing States. Over and above liis views on the subjects alluded to, they have no confidence in tho man.— They have known him long, and seen him tried in nil situations in public life, they have thus far found nothing in his tal ents or liis principles, which qualifies him for the highest ollieo in the Government. And he bids fair to enter the field ofcompe tition, under different circumstances from : any in which he has heretofore been placed. Ho will now be obliged todepend in a great measure, upon liis own merit. To gain J the esteem of his former opponents, he must I set up some new claim to their confidence. 1 For the first time in his life he will stand i alono, He has no General Jackson to ca*. ry him forward, no packhorse on which to | ride into office. If lie relies upon services | already rendered to the people, he will ho j loudly and earnestly called upon to spcci !fy them. It will hardly do merely to et j up the undefined claim so democracy; that which the party once called republicanism, seems to have grown out of fashion with them, and to have been dropped, by a sort of silent consent. ‘Fite simple question be fore the people will he, what claims, per sonal or patriotic, has Martin Van Buren to theoflico ofChief Magistrate of the na tion? And their votes will depend on a categorical answer to the inquiry. From the Baltimore American. < THE RIGHT OF PETITION. 1 Since the discussion of this questioi J the House of Representatives, in connectio. “ with the subject of abolition petitions, much has been said on both sides. It would be useless to undertake to give anything like an abstract of the arguments on both sides; for the matter has been so long in contro versy that (lie public is no doubt pretty well familiar with the merits of it. The follow ing passage, however, from a speech by Mr. Cliugrnan, of North Carolina, is so very much to the point that it is worth of special quotation : * * + I have for a long time been of the opinion that woof the South have been, on this subject, pursuing a wrong course ; and the mote I see of its consequences, tho more lam confirmed in that opinion. The 21st rule is, as all concede, a restriction of the right of petition. But it is attempted to be supported on the ground that Congress, acting in this matter as the local Legisla ture of the District of Columbia, should not receive petitions of this character, coming from tiie inhabitants of the States of this Union. Were this position true, which for reasons that I shall presently advert to I do not admit, it would not support the justice or propriety of this rule ; because its prohi bition prevents the people of the District from petitioning on this subject as much as it does all others. None surely will deny that the people of this District have a di rect interest in the matter, a.id of course ought to possess the right to have tiieir pe titions presented, should they ever think proper to offer them. *** * * * But I do not assent at all to the position taken by the gentleman from New York, (Mr. Beardsley,) that when the people pray for objects in themselves unconstitutional, they have no right to be heard. How can you ascertain that their prayer is unconsti£ tutional till you receive it? They come and present their requests at your door; you. may reject theirprayer if you please, but surely you ought to receive their peti tion, so as to ascertain for what object it is presented. The right to petition the Gov ernment exists in all countries. It exists unquestionably in England, where all the subjects have a right to petition Parliament and to petition the Crown, and where their right to do the one is as much admitted as to do the other. The liberal party have al ways stood on this ground in that country. I remember one of the most eloquent speeches ever delivered by the great deba ter and statesman, Mr. Fox, was on this sub ject. Not on the proposition to receive pe titions. Oh, no; nobody disputed that; but against a law which prevented large assemblies for the purpose of petitioning Parliament, because it might interfere with the universal right of petition. In the hill of rights of North Carolina the right of peti tion for a redress of grievances is declared to be the inalienable right of the people.— But what are their grevances ? Are not they to judge? It is said that the contin uance of slavery is no grievance, and so they have no right to petition against it.— But if the Government is to be the judge of what is and what is not a grievance it may, on that ground, refuse to receive any peti tion whatever. All it has to do is to de cide that the thing complained of is no grie vance, and refuse thereupon to receive the petition. As to what is a grevance, the pe titioner ought to be allowed to judge for himself: it is enough for us, if we possess the right, to reject the prayer of his petition. If we esteem the matter he complains of no grievance, it is an easy thing to refuse his petition. Is it not a reproach that the right of pe tition, a right so sacred and so important, should no where be restricted but in this fair republic ? The right of petition should every where be as free, in my view, as tho right of all created beings to petition the Supreme Ruler of the universe. Ifthe pe titioner thinks he is aggrieved, that is e nough to entitle him to a hearing. Mr. Clay on Abo/iton —We find the fol lowing (says the Richmond Whig) in the Madisonian of the sth, and thank that next* ally (?) for having given it publicity from a paper we do not see: MR. CLAY’S OPINION. We find the following extract from an alleged conversation with Mr. Clay, in the last Hartford Times, the Connecticut Van Buren organ: “My dear Sir” rejoined Mr. Clay “while these are my opinions conscientiously, 1 am the son of Virginia, a slaveholder in Ken lucky- 1 WOULD SUFFER THE TORTURES OF THE INQUISI TION BEFORE I WOULD SIGN A BILL HAVING
