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•»' yol. i. awy CHEROKEE NEW ECU OTA, WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6, 1828. NO, 23. EDITED BY ELIAS B0UD1N0TT. PRINTED WEEKLY BY ISAAC H. HARRIS, FOR THE CHEROKEE NATION. At $2 50 if paid in advance, $3 in six months, or $3 50 if paid at the end of the year. To subscribers who can read only the Cherokee language the price will he $2,00 in advance, or $2,50 to be paid within the year. Every subscription will he considered a'S continued unless subscribers give notice to the contrary before the commencement of a new year. Any person procuring six subscribers, and becoming responsible for the payment, shall receive a seventh gratis. Advertisements will be inserted at seven ty-five cents per square for the first inser tion, and thirty-seven and a half cents for ■each continuance; longer ones in propor tion. jCjF^All loiters addressed to the. Editor, post paid, will receive due attention. Oivy J«rJJU0-A J1D h8i JEC.I3X Y>eAT,XcSU[ TA^lP IM" Jhd'BA.J B9J1E KTJl D-J5P # o’ojb.i' TCTZ TEiSSOiT 3 * TGTZ fhP ToBOA TB DeJ*$c*!l-M),I, KT a>eJBa i v 4o©J[. i)»Jt/5o®Ez tb yw De.ir5i®p-<»a, o-y/iT d^p o’ejiut P4cS.i. eivyz cpaR ^hC5ha«;y, \vf«v Dt-a 0»ejBJ r*-4o£wl TGTZ TE^O-fT 5 D9’ kt^iz d^p yw ah. o^ib-s' Ri-IR AGENTS FOR THE CHEROKEE PHCENIX. The following persons are authorized to receive subscriptions and payments for the Cherokee Phoenix. Henry Hii.l, Esq. Treasurer of the A. B. C. F. M. Boston, Mass. George M. Tracy, Agent ofthe A. B. G. F. M. New York. Rev. A. D. Eddy, Canandaigua, N. Y. Thomas Hastings, Utica, N. Y. Pollard & Converse, Richmond, Va. Rev. James Campbell, Beaufort, S. C. William Moultrie Reid, Charleston, S. C. Col. George Smith, Statesville, W. T. William M; Combs, Nashville Ten. Rev. Bennet Roberts—Powal Me. Mr. Titos. R k Gold, (an itinerant Gen tleman.) MOURNING. “ Black is the sign of mourtiing,” nays Rabelais, “because it is the color of darkness, which is melancholy, and the opposite to white, which is the color of light, of joy, and of happi ness.” The early poets asserted that souls, after death, went into a dark and gloomy empire. Probably it is in consonance with this idea that they imagined black was the most congen ial color for mourning. The Chinese and the Siamese choose white, con ceiving that the dead become benefi cent genii. In Turkey, mourning is composed of blue or violet; in Ethiopia, of gray; and at the time of the invasion of Pe ru by the Spaniards, the, inhabitants of that country wore it" of mouse co lor. Amongst the Japanese, white is the sign of mourning and black of re joicing. In Castile, mourning vest ments were formerly of white serge. The Persians clothed themselves in brown, and they, their whole family, and all their animals, were shaved.-— InLycia, the men wore female habili ments during the whole time of their mourning. At Argos people dressed themselves in white, and prepared large feasts and entertainments. At Delos they cut off their hair, which was deposit ed upon the sepulchre of the dead.— The Egyptians tore their bosoms, and covered their faces with mud, wear ing clothes of the color of yellow, or of dead leaves. Amongst the Romans, the wives were obliged to weep the death of their husbands, and children that of their father, during a whole year.— Husbands did not mourn for their wives, nor fathers for their children unless they were upwards of three years old. The full mourning of the Jews con tinues for a year, and takes place up on the death of parents. The chil dren do not put on black, but are obliged to wear, during the whole year, the clothes which they had on at the death of their father, without being allowed to change them, let them be ever so tattered. They fast on the anniversary of bis death, every year. Second mourning lasts a month, and takes place on the demise of chil dren, uncles, aunts. During that pe riod they dare neither wash them selves, shave, nor perfume them selves, nor even cut their nails. They do not eat in common in the family, and the husband and wife live sepa rately. Slight mourning continues on ly for a week, and is worn on the de cease of a husband or of a wife. On returning from the funeral obsequies, tlio huoband, wearing Vue mourning habits, washes his hands, uncovers his feet, and seats himself on the ground, remains in the same posture, and con tinues to groan and weep, without pay ing attention to any occupation, until the seventh day. The Chinese, when they are in mourning, wear coarse white cloth, and weep three years for the loss of the departed. The magistrate no long er exercises his functions, the coun sellor suspends his suits, and husbands and wives, as with the Jews, live a- part from each other, Young people live in seclusion, and cannot marry till the end of the three years. The mourning of the Caribbees con sists in cutting off their hair, and in fasting rigorously yntil the body putri- fy; after which they indulge in de bauches, to drive all sadness away from their minds. Among certain nations in America, the nature of the mourning depended upon the age of the deceased. At the death of children, the relations were inconsolable; while scarcely a tear was given to the aged. Mourning for children, in addition to its longer du ration, was common, and they were regretted by the whole town in which they drew their first breath. On the day of their demise, persons dared not approach their parents, who made a frightful noise in their house, yielded to the most violent fils of despair, bonded like demons, tore their hair, bit themselves, and scratched them selves over the whole body. The fol lowing day they threw themselves up on a bed, which they watered with their tears. The third day they com menced their groaning for the loss of their child; this lasted a whole year, during which neither father nor moth er ever washed themselves. The rest of the inhabitants of the place, in or der to evince their sympathy for the affliction of the parents, wept three times a day until the body was borne to the grave. RICHARD BAXTER. The following striking interposition of Providence, is said to have taken place during Mr. Baxter’s residence in Coventry. Several ministers e- jected by the act of uniformity, who resided in that city, united with Mr. Baxter in establishing a lecture in a private house on a neighboring com mon. The time of worship was gen erally a very early hour. Mr. Bax ter left Coventry in the evening, in tending to preach the lecture the fol lowing morning. The night being dark, he lost his Way, and wandering about a considerable time, he came to a gentleman’s house, where he asked for direction. The gentleman think ing it would bo unsafe for such a per son to be wandeiing on the common at so late an hour, requested the ser vant to invite him in. Mr. Baxter readily accepted the kind proposal, and met with a very hospitable recep tion. His conversation was such as to give his host an exalted idea of his good sense and extensive information.’ The gentleman wishing to know the quality of his guest, said after supper, “As most porsons have some employ ment or profession in life, I have no doubt, sir, that you have yours.’ “Yes, sir, I am a man catcher.”—“A man catcher, (said the gentleman, are you? i am glad to hear you say so, for you are the very person I want. I am it justice of flic peace in this district, and am commissioned to seize the p(*-son of Dick Baxter, who is expected to preach at a conventicle in this neighborhood early to-morrow morning; you shall go with me, and I doubt not we shall easily apprehend the rogue.” Mr. B. agreed to ac company him. Accordingly, the next morning, the gentleman took Mr. Bax ter in his carriage to the place where the meeting was to be held. When they arrived at the spot, they saw a considerable number of people hover ing about, for seeing the carriage of the justice, and suspecting his inten tion!!, they were afraid to enter the house. The justice observing this, said, to Mr. Baxter, “I am afraid they have obtained information of my design; Baxter has probably been ap prised of it, and will not fulfil his engagements; foi you see the people will not enter into (he house. 1 think if we extend our ride a little farther, our departure may encourage them to assemble, and on our return we may fulfil our commission.” When they returned, they found their efforts useless, for the people still appeared unwilling to assemble. The magis trate, thinking he should he disappoint ed of the object he had in view, ob served to his companion—“That as the people were very much disaffected to government, he would be much o- bliged to him to address them on the subject of good behaviour.” Mr. Baxter replied “that perhaps this would not be deemed sufficient; for as the religious service was the object for which they met together, they would not be satisfied with advice of that nature, hut if the magistrate would begin with prayer, he would then endeavor to say something to them.” The gentleman replied, put ting his hand into his pocket, “Indeed, sir, I have not got my prayer hook with me, or I would readily comply With your proposal. However, lam persuaded that a person of your ap pearance and respectability, would be able to pray with them, as well as to talk to them. I beg, therefore, that you will be so good as to begin with prayer.” This being agreed to, they alighted from the carriage and entered the house, & the people, hes itating no longer, followed them. Mr. Baxter then commenced the service by prayer, and prayed with that se riousness and fervor for which he was eminent. The magistrate standing by, was soon melted into tears. The good divine then preached in his ac customed, lively, and zealous manner. When he had concluded he turned to the magistrate, and said, “I am the very Dick Baxter of whom you are in pursuit—I am entirely at your dispo sal.” The justice,"' however, had felt so much during the service, and saw things in so different a light, that he laid aside entirely all his enmity to the non-conformists,& ever afterwards became their sincere friend and advo cate, and it is believed also a decided Christian. EARTHQUAKE. At twenty-one minutes past eight of the morning of the twenty-third of February last, the shock of an earth quake was felt simultaneously at Liege, Maestrecht, and Tongres, in the Netherlands; which lasted about ten seconds at those places. The previous night and the earlier part of the morning portended, from the ap pearance of the sky, a high wind from the south-west; but the weather became suddenly calm a few moments before the earthquake was felt.— What renders this visitation the more remarkable, is its having been appa rently confined to the low countries, which have been peculiarly exempted from such occurrences; and none has been remarked since that of 1755, when Lisbon was destroyed, and near ly the whole of Europe experienced, in some degree, the earth’s commo tion. • The cities wc have alluded to above, were those where the shock w*s the severest. Liege being under- mired in its whole extent by coal pits, its inhabitants were greatly as justly teniiied. At Maestrecht, a catholic priest was in the act of performing the birial service in the public ceme tery, flacecl, as it would seem, on the very liie the earthquake most forcibly evinced itself. Alarmed at the unac countable phenomenon, he, with the mourner!, most unceremoniously left ‘the dead to bury the dead,’ and took to his heels, none of the party pausing to take breath until they had attained the town. At Tongres, the mass lor the dead was saying in the ancient and remarkable church of that oldest of the cities of the Netb orI ""' 1e ; nnr! corpse of a young woman was lying before the altar, when the coffin was observed to move upon the tressels that supported it, and a strange moan ing sound was heard to fill the church: unprepared for these unusual events, fear got the better of devotion. With out the ‘let us start fair’ formality of the Cornish Curate, the Priest headed his flodk in the attempt to escape from the church, but the doors opening in ward, were at once closed by the rush of the affrighted congregation; and long and fearful was the struggle, and the cries and shrieks of the candidates for Catholic Emancipation most, alarm ing, ere a sortie could be effected. FLOOD AT ST. PETERSBURGH. The following account of the flood of St. Petersburgh, in 1824, is given by Mr. Wilson in his “Travels in Russia,”&c:—“On the night of the 24th of November the signal lamps were hung round the top of the stee ple, in consequence of a strong west erly wind impeding the rapid current from Ladago, and thereby causing a tremendous swell in the Feva and all the canals. By 12 o’clock the follow ing day, nearly the whole city was laid under water, and a scene of hor ror ensued that absolutely baffles de scription; for sentry boxes, timber, furniture, and all kinds of provision might be seen floating in enormous masses along the streets, while dark rolling clouds added to the frightful spectacle, and the water dashed over the roofs of the highest houses. In one quarter of the town, that is called the Smolensley, the very mansions of tile dead were invaded, graves torn o- pdn, and the coffins every where float ed about. The water was now 7 feet above the pavement in all parts of the city. Many persons never sup posing it would attain such a height, had left their houses to witness the increase of the Neva; but alas! on at tempting to return to them, per ished in the flood. All the bridges were swept away, and the broken barges, rafts of wood, galliots, and vessels of various descriptions carried along with them the lamp-posts, smashed the windows, where hurling to and fro, and some of the streets were choked up by them. In another quarter, th3 Vissilli Ostov, where most of the houses are of wood, the destruction was tremendous; for these buildings were torn up from their 1 * very foundations, and entirely swept away, with the dead bodies of their in mates. Amidst these scenes of hor ror, many instances truly wonderful, and almost providential rescue from destruction occurred, among which the following deserves to be noticed: In one house that was surrounded with water: there were several children, who as the flood increased, first had recourse to a chair, and when it reach ed top of that, they mounted a table. In this situation, perilous as it was, they fell asleep, and on awaking, found that their floated couch nearly touched the ceiling; by this means, however, they were miraculously saved. The second instance is that of a cradle being carried away by the flood with a male child in it, who like another Moses, was wonderfully pre served. A wooden bouse having been lifted from its foundation, was alloat and washed into the Admiralty yard, and on searching this, it was found to contain much property. On the wa ter subsiding, the dead body of a fe male was found kneeling, in the act of supplicating to the image of a saint af fixed to the wall. Throughout the city all was terrour, despair and dis may; for the terrified inhabitants im agined a general deluge was about to take place.” From the N. Y. Journal of Commerce. Some things cun he done as well as others.—On Friday last, at half past 4 P. M. agreeable to appointment, a hair-brained fellow in Patterson, whose name we do not recollect, leaped from the Passiad Falls just to gratify an. Gil©'uhim of h!s own. This is the third time he lias done it—the first time lie did it privately oy way of ex periment—he then gave out that he would do it publicly for the gratifica tion of any who pleased to attend.— The authorities in Patterson were justly alarmed, & put him under keep ing till they supposed he had abandon ed the purpose, hut he watched the opportunity after lie was freed from restraint, and when a number of per sons were present, in a favourable po sition, he carried it into execution.— Since that time, the authorities have allowed him to consult for liis own safety, and he leaps from a precipice of a hundred feet whenever it takes his fancy. It does not appear that he receives or expects any compensation for performing this daring feat. He says he ‘■'■merely wants to show that some things can be done as well as ethers.'”— The position from which he leaped on Friday is a few rods below the bridge on the side towards the village, and, if the falls are 70 feet (as commonly estimated,) about 85 or 90 above the water. The giddy precipices around the chasm were covered with a pro miscuous multitude of both sexes, whose curiosity had brought them to gether to see this singular feat of te merity. The universal anxiety of the multitude was manifest in their coun tenance, and still more perfectly in the silence that prevailed. When the man made his appearance a dark cloud had come over the spot, adding to the sublimity of the cataract that of an approaching storm. As he walk ed deliberately forward to his position you might have heard the beating of their hearts had it not been for the mingled thunders, from the chasm be neath and the clouds above. When he had divested himself of his coat, vest and shoes, and laid them careful ly by, as if debating the question whether he should want them again, he commenced a short speech to the spectators which hut few of course could hear. He then stepped for ward to the edge of the rock and look ed down, and the spectators on that side supposing that he was going off, came forward as their curiosity, or their fears moved them, and seemed to those opposite as if all were about to make the fatal leap; indeed there was great danger of a whole line of those in front being crowded off. Af ter he had looked down a moment, he stepped back a few feet, ran forward, and leaped into the abyss. He went down with his feet foremost, though drawn up somewhat. For this reason, or some other past comprehension, he did but just go under the water, for he was immediately seen swimming off as quietly as if he had done nothing, and nothing had befallen him. The maniac, (for what else can he be call ed?) was greeted with a shout from the spectators when-they saw that ho was still safe; and when lie had reach ed the shore, he marched round to his clothes with a look of composure and satisfaction, and they to their homes, some admiring his courage, but more pitying his temerity. CHEROKEE CONSTITUTION, Printed in both languages in parallel columns, for sale at this Office.