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POETRY.
From the Forget Me not.
EVENING SONG OF THE TYRO
LESE PEASANTS.
BY KR8. HEMANS.
Come to the Sun-set Tree!
The day is past and gone;
The woodman’s axe lies free,
And the reaper’s work is done.
The twilight-star to heaven,
And the summer dew to flowers,
And rest to us is given
By the cool, soft evening hours.
Sweet is the hour of rest!
Pleasant the wind's low sigh,
And the gleaming of the west,
And the turf whereon we lie.
When the burden and the heat
Of labor’s task arc o’re;
And kindly voices greet
The tried one at his door.
Come to the Sun-set Tree!
The day is past and gone;
The woodman’s axe lies free,
And the reaper’s work is done.
Yes, tuneful is the sound
That dw ells in whispering boughs;
Welcome the freshness round,
And the gale that fans our brows,
But rest, more sweet and stilly
Than ever nightfall gave,
Our longing hearts shall fill,
In the world beyond the grave.
There shall no tempest blow,
No scorching noon-tide heat;
There shall be no more snow,
No w T eary wandering feet.
And we will lift our trusting- eyes,
From the hills our fathers trod,
To the quiet of the skies,
To the sabbath of our God I
Come to the Sun-set Tree!
The day is past and gone;
The woodman’s axe lies free,
And the reaper’s work is done.
From the British Magazine.
AN UNCOMMMON PARTNER AT
CARDS.
In our regiment whilst in the Indies,
were several wild young fellows none
more so than I; and as our life there
was very monotonous, the officers be
took themselves to gaming. One day
after dinner, cards were brought and
all of us entered with such energy in
to the fascinating game that every
thing else was in a manner neglected.
At length we changed it and betook
ourselves in couples to separate games.
I and ensign A , as gay and rakish
a rascal as ever turned out from En
gland, that we might pursue our game
uninterruptedly, ordered the servant
to carry out into a sort of summer
house a decanter or two of wine and
the cards: and thither we soon follow
ed. We played with intense eager
ness for several hours, till it grew so
dark that we could hardly see what
was before us. I had been the
gainer all the evening. “Come,
A .” said I, addressing my com
panion, I’am sure it’s high time we
should quit the cards and return for
we’ve a good deal of regiment’s busi
ness to do to-night. “Stay,—And finish
the game, you will not move an inch
till then. “I tell you A——, I must
and will be gone; why should we thus
make toil of pleasure and beside gain
another rebuke from the colonel! I’ll
away. “Stay and try one more game,
said A laying his hand on my arm;
and I’ll win back what I’ve lost! I
may perhaps to morrow, but now go I
will. “Then, replied my companion,
“if you do go, I’ll stop and finish the
game, if I have the devil for a part
ner! “A merry game and pleasant
companion to you—farewell? said I,
and left the room, I hastened to my
apartment, where I had a good deal
of regimental business to transact. I
had not been so engaged long when
the door was flung hastily open and in
rushed ensign A , and his eyes
staring with horror and his cheek as
pale as marble. He sat down on a
chair, looked fixedly on me but with
out speaking a word, I called for wine,
and got him to swallow a little.—The
cold perspiration burst from his fore
head and his eyes glared into every
ry corner of the room, as though ap
prehensive that some wild beast was
ready to spring upon him. “Why,
A , said I, shaking him, what is
the matter with you? Are you mad?
He made no answer, except by a faint
murmuring kind of distinct whis
per. “Are you frightened—or—
what! continued I, motioning to the
servant to leave the room. By de
grees my companion became compos
ed. “Oh, T. said he faintly and
slowly—“I am a lost man—a dead
man! “Pshaw my good fellow what
is the matter with you! You’ve been
too free with wine; and that added to
your heated spirits, has nearly over
turned your brain. “No, T , he
replied, I am sober now, if I never
was before in my life. But my days
on earth are numbered!—Next Tues
day I shall be no longer an inhabitant
of this world! There was something
so indescribably affecting, I may say
shocking in the deep deliberate tone
of voice with which he uttered this
as well as the steady ashy hue of his
countenance, that I sat down by his
side without speaking. At length
taking his hand in mine, I asked him in
as soothing a manner as 1 was able
what had caused his terror. “Do
you remember what I said T , on
your leaving me to-night? Faith yes:
was it not that you would play if you
had the devil for a partner; Yes, re
plied A , with a sickening smile;
I did so, and he took me at my word,
continued he gasping as if for breath.
Why, why, stammered I partaking of
his freight—Why, A , you don’t
mean to say that—I mean to say sim
ply this, replied my companion, with
deadful calmness, that Satan has
taken me at my word. A few moments
after you had left me, I leaned my
head on my hands, and shut my eyes.
Immediately I heard a rustling among
the cards on the table before me, I
started, and, a convulsive shuddering
shook his frame “there, sat opposite
to me, in the chair which you had just
left vacant a tall, pale man, dressed
in black. Why, how in the s
name did you come here? said I, in
amazement. To finish the game with
you, as you wished, said the stranger,
deliberately, at the same time ar
ranging the cards. I saw that
his hands were as white as alabaster,
and he put the cards in order with
amazing care and skill. He offered
me a pack. Why, why, who are you,
and whence did you come? stammer
ed I, at the same time that my eyes
seemed dancing in my head, and my
knees smote together with agitation.
“I come to finish the game with you at
your request, said the stranger, pre
cisely in the same tone and manner as
before. I would have answered but
my tongue clave to the roof of my
mouth. Why do you not take the
cards! said the stranger, in a hollow
tone—“Will you finish the game ac
cording to your promise! “No! I
contrived to stammer out. His eyes
glared on me, as though his head was
filled with vivid fire. He rose and
bending his fiendish face close to mine,
thundered in my ear, this night week
then shall thou finish it in hell! My
eyes closed, unconsciously, as though
they would never open again; when I
looked up, however, none but myself
was in the room and as fast as my
trembling limbs would carry me have
I come hither. Oh, T 1 am a dead
man!—I am doomed!—lam doomed!
Such was the fearful narrative of en
sign A . We got him to bed. A
delirium seized him, the brain fever
followed, and that night week he died.
From the N. Y. Journal of Commerce.
We made, same time ago,
some observations on intemper
ance, and related several extraor
dinary cases of spontaneous combus
tion of the human body in persons who
had been habitually intemperate.—
We thought at the time that such in
stances were extremely rare, but sub
sequent enquiries have satisfied us
that they have been more frequent
than we had supposed, and we shall
give some of them, from the authors
in which they are found.
In the transactions of Copenhagen
we have found the case of a woman
who for three years had used spiritu
ous liquors to such excess that she
would take no other nourishment.—
Having sat down one evening on a
chair to sleep, she was consumed in
the night time, so that next morning
no part of her was found but the skull
and extreme joints of the fingers.—
All the rest of the body was reduced
to ashes.
The annual Register for 1773, con
tains the account of the sudden and
spontaneous combustion of the body
of the Countess Cornelia Bandi of the
town of Cesena.
The same work mentions two other
facts of the same kind which occur
red in England, one' at Southampton,
and the other at Coventry.—The Re
gister also gives the particulars of
the' rapid decomposition of the
body of Mary Clues, aged 50,
who was much addicted to intoxica
tion.
The circumstances of the case of
Mary Clues, have a great similarity to
those of one related by Vicq D’Azyr,
in the Encyclopedia Methodique. A
woman aboufhO years of age, who in
dulged to excess in spirituous liquors
and got drunk every day before she
went to bed, was found entirely burnt
and reduced to ashes. Some of
the osseous parts only were left, but
the furniture of the apartment had
suffered very little damage. Vicq
d Azyr adds that there have been oth
er instances of the like kind.
A woman of Paris who had been ac
customed for three years to drink
spirit of wine to such a degree that
she used no other liquor, was one day
found entirely reduced to ashes, ex
cept the skull and extremities of the
fingers.
The transactions of the Royal Soci
ety of London present an instance of
human combustion no less extraordi
nary, and which was attested by a
great number of eye witnesses.—
Grace Pitt, the wife of a fishmonger,
aged about sixty was consumed by an
internal fire, on the 9th April, 1744,
having previously drunk a large quan
tity of spirituous liquor. Her body
was in some measure incinerated & re
sembled a heap of coals covered with
white ashes.
Le Cat, in a memoir on a sponta
neous burning, mentions several instan
ces of combustion of the human body.
The wife of Sicur Millet of Rheims
was one. She got intoxicated every
day. This woman was found consum
ed on the 20th February, 1725, at the
distance of a foot and a half from the
hearth of her kitchen. A part of the
head only, with a portion of the low
er extremities, and some part of the
back bone had escaped combustion.
Le Cat relates another instance.—
Madame de Boiscon, 80 years of age,
exceedingly meagre, who had drunk
nothing but spirits several years, was
sitting in her elbow chair before the
fire, while her washing maid went out
of the room for a few minutes. On
her return, seeing her mistress on fire,
immediately gave the alarm, and some
people having come to her assistance,
one of them endeavoured to extinguish
the flames with his hands, but they
adhered to it as if it had been dipped
in brandy, or oil on fire.—Water was
brought and thrown on the body in a-
bundance, yet the fire appeared the
more violent, and was not extinguish
ed till the whole flesh had been con
sumed.
The Journal de Medicine relates a
case which occurred at Aix, in Pro
vince, in the month of Feb. 1779, that
of Mary Jauflret, a woman who was
exceedingly corpulent, and addicted
to drinking. Mr. Rocas was commis
sioned to enquire into the circumstan
ces of her dissolution, and he reports
that he found only a mass of ashes, and
a few bones calcined in such a man
ner that on the least pressure these
were reduced to dust. The bones of
the cranium, one hand and a foot had
in part escaped the action of the fire,
the rest of the body having been en
tirely consumed in the course of a
few hours, without the appearance of
fire in the chimney or the apartment.
Another instance, related in the
same Journal, happened at Caen in
June 1782. Made-moiselle Thurus
was ezceedingly corpulent, above 60
years of age, and much addicted to
spirituous liquors, previous to the sud
den decomposition and dissolution of
her body. The remains were found
with the crown of the head resting a-
gainst one of the andirons, at the dis
tance of eighteen inches from the fire;
the remainder of her body was placed
obliquely before the chipmey, the
whole being nothing but a mass of ash
es. Even the most solid bones had
lost their form and consistence.—*■
None of them could be distinguished
except some small portions, and these
were so calcined as to become dust on
the least pressure. None of the fur
niture of the apartment was damaged;
and nothing around the body was burnt
but the clothes.
The town of Caen affords several
other instances of the same kind.—
One, a woman of the lower class,
who was known to be much addicted
to strong liquor. She was found in
her house burnt to ashes. The ex
tremities of her body only were spar
ed, but the furniture was very little
damaged'. Another similar case oc
curred at Caen in an old woman ad
dicted to drinking.
These cases are related more at
length in the Emporium of the Arts
and Sciences by Dr. Coxe of Philadel
phia, & they are all cases of women.
We have cited the case of John Hit-
chell, from Ewell’s Medical compan
ion and other cases of men are also on
record.
MADNESS OF A WHOLE FAMILY.
A very singular case of sudden and
nnaccountable madness in an entire
family, of the Commune de Treverree
(Arrondisement Brieux,) has excited
much local interest, and has even cre
ated an ineffectual inquiry into its
cause on the part of the most celebra
ted physiologists of Paris.
Jean Lepage, a farmer and proprie
tor of lands, the produce whereof en
abled him to support, in comfort and
respectability, his wife, his sister-in-
law, a son and a daughter, and whose
conduct, as well as every member of
his family, had been marked by regu
larity and inoffensiveness, who had
lived on the most kind and friendly
terms with his neighbours, some time
since wholly withdrew himself from
all communication with his acquain
tances; and, imitated by the rest of
the family, retired wholly from other
society than that which his' own roof
sheltered.
They refused to reply to any one
they met—they spoke not even to
each other—as they passed along,
signs were the only means by which
they conveyed their sentiments. The
hitherto well cultivated farms, hold-
en by Jean Lepage were abandoned
and neglected, and laid open to the in
gress of every species of cattle; his
grange which was well stored with
corn was never resorted to; and, final
ly, after long indulging their gloomy
reserve, the characters of himself and
his relations assumed all the marks of
highly excited derangement. Whoso
ever was met on their passage as they
walked forth in company, was certain
of being assaulted. They visited the
church of their parish, but not for the
purpose of devotion; on the contrary,
their irreverent and riotous behaviour
interfered frequently with the due
celebration of its rites, and at length,
‘in excess of frenzy, Jean Lepage
struck the curate even while he was
in the performance of his sacred func
tions at the foot of the altar.
Repeated violence offered to their
neighbors, coupled with this last out
rage, induced an order for the arrest
of the family; they were conducted to
prison; and subsequently brought up
for examination before the magistrate;
but they refused to reply to inquiry-
treated exhortation and remonstrace
with disdain, and were wholly inac
cessible to reproach ^r entreaty.—
The two women and the children were
called separately before the magis
trates, without the latter being ena
bled to induce them to speak. They
were as a necessary precaution, re
conducted to prison, but every atten
tion to their singularly unfortune state
was shown them. Lepage here re
fused all nourishment; for eight days
he never suffered aliment of any kind
to pass his lips; his strength decayed
rapidly; he sustained all the horrors of
voluntary starvation with the fortitude
of a martyr, & it was not until it be
came too evident that his existance
would be terminated by his obstinate
refusal of nourishment, that he and his
family were released from confine
ment.
They returned to their now wretch
ed home, but the former violence
they had exhibited was not repeated;
a deep and settled melancholy seemed
to have, possessed them. For the last
twenty two months they have daily
wandered forth, the father in compa
ny with his son, and at a short distance
behind them; the three females.—
They speak not amongst themselves,
nor do they address others; and the
only offensive peculiarity in their man
ner is that of never diverging from
their path, let them meet who they
may. All who encounter them, how
ever, from humanity or fear move
from their way; and thus they pursue
their miserable career to the astonish
ment and pity of those who, not long
since beheld the half-famished, rag
ged, and unhappy wretches, whom
they now see, the most contented and
most respected member of their small
community.
From the Tuscumbia Tel. & Patriot.
Mr. Editor:--We notice lately
the astonishing and salutary effects of
Doctor Chambers’ remedy for intem
perance, which has been thought and
doubtless has been of great service to
that part of our community that have
been afflicted with the baneful desease
of Drunkenness; but whilst we ac
knowledge the beneficial results of
this truly valuable medicine to socij
ty in general, there is epidemic of,
dangerous a character, that is
prevalent in our town and country,
cure of which has been too much nei
lected for the good order and peaces
society in general; I mean an “infet
tious disorder of the tongue called
slander.” I herewith send you a prJ
scription from the Southern AdvocatJ
hoping it may be beneficial to some i
your readers; as I am convinced tha]
if followed, it will be servicable,
not an effectual remedy.
CRUTO.
Cure for Scandal.—Take of Goal
Mature one ounce, together with
grains of a root called Reason; com]
pound these with a little Charity, (f<J
failings) and a few sprigs of an herlj
called by the natives Jllind your owi
business; simmer them together for
short time in a vessel called Circuffi.lL-
spection, and it will be ready for usei. ' ’
Application.—When you feel a tunf
of it coming on, take tea-spoon full!
of the above medicine; hold it to youtl
mouth, keeping it shut, and you will beg
immediately relieved from all incon s
veniences arising from this terriblef
disease.
The symptoms are, a violent itch
ing of the tongue & roof of the mouth,®
which invariably takes place when!
you are with a kind of animals called
Gossips. It would be advisable t»L.
keep a phial full of the medicine withy 1
you, and in case of relapse repeat the 1,4
dose.
Amusing.—It is not a little extra
ordinary how many of our most impor
tant discoveries owe their existence
to chance. Every body knows the
anecdote about Sir Isaac Newton and l
the apple; Jenner and the milk maid;
John Bunyan and drunken Perken, &c.
&c. But every body does not know
the anecdote of Sir Peter Pontop,
who found the bottom of a coal mine
by chance. I proceed, therefore, to
relate it. Sir Peter had been quar
relling with one of his workmen, the
day previous to the catastrophe I am
now narrating relative to wages.—
There are two modes of descending
into coal pits. The usual way is U
be wound down in a machine; but thq
to whom the exit and entrance are
matters of custom, content themselves
in descending by grasping a rope,
which communicates to a counteract-,
ing pully. The weight of the individ
ual thus carries him downward with
out dislocation. Sir Peter on the
in question, adopted the latter expe
dient, as usual, in utter darkness.—
Judge of his horror, when on reaching
the extremity of his journey, he found
that his feet failed to touch the ground.
He instantly thought that the work
man with whom he had quarrelled,
had in revenge cut short the rope.—
He screamed and bawled till he was
hoarse, but all the operatives had : so
journed to their dinner. At length
his strength failed him; he let go his
hold, expecting to be dashed to atoms
in the unfathomable abyss, and found
that he had been for a full half hour
screaming about three inches from
the ground. Here was a chance dis
covery which nettled Sir Peter sore
ly insomuch that he actually felt half
angry with himself for not having been
precipitated some hundred feet, ac
cording to his reasonable expecta
tion.-—New Mo. Mag,
Rather Queer.—A Western editor
makes the following apology for the
non appearance of his paper on t.He
regular day of publication:
“I feel ashamed to own the fact,
but “murder will opt.” The plain
reason was, my readers, that my dear
wife said I must stay at home and
take care of the children, while she
went to a Camp meeting; and, as 1
am a peacemaking sort ofa rqan, I did
as 1 was bid, which is the only apolo
gy I have t6 make.”
ft is stated that a person recently
gave five thousand guineas for a twen
ty-fourth part of the London Courier
establishment; and expects to receive
ten per cent interest on the invest-'
ment.
The Legislature of Connecticut ad
journed on Tuesday last. A bill sub
jecting dealers of foreign lottery tick
ets to a penalty of $20 fpr the first- of
fence, and $50 and imprisonment not
exceeding six months for the second,
passed tne House of Representatives
by a large majority on the 27th. ..