Newspaper Page Text
No. 2 Vol. Vl.]
From the JY. Y. Observer.
PROPERTY IN COMMON.
We believe that it is not generally known
-4hat a Society has existed for some time in
this city, entitled, 41 A Society for proraot
-1 ing the establishment of communities.” It
consists of about thirty members. Their
object is to induce persons to associate,
throw their property into common stock,
and emigrate to the newly settled countries,
where they are to purchase lands which
they are to hold in common. About fifty
individuals, including fifteen heads of fami
lies, formed themselves into a community,
and left this city early iD March to occupy
a tract of land in Bath county, Va. on Jack
son’s river, where they had purchased
about 13,000 acres of land, which they own
in common. A few weeks since, thirty-six
persons more went to join them; and eigh
ty or ninety stand ready to go whenever
the way is prepared. The constitution of
the community provides that any member
may withdraw when be is dissatisfied, and
take the amount of property which he car
ried with him, together with his proportion
of the increase.
We understand that the persons who
originated this plan, imagine that they have
discovered the true remedy for selfishness
and inordinate ambition, which they consid
er the two great sources of human misery.
We are inclined to believe, however, with
Mr. Jefferson, in the following letter to one
af the Society who requested his opinion,
that the world has more to hope from the
general diffusion of education, and particu
larly, we would add, from the universal
spread of the Bible and of sound religious
principle.
Letter of Thomas Jefferson , ex President of
the U. States, to ike Moderator of the Next)
York Society for promoting Communities.
Monticeli.o, Oct. 21, 1822.
Sir—i return thanks for the pamphlet
you have been so kind as to send me, on
the subject of commonwealths. lis moral
principles merit entire approbation; its
philanthropy especially; and its views of
the equal rights of man.
That small societies, on the principle of
a communion of property, may exist in hab
its of virtue, order, industry and peace;
hod consequently in a state of as much hap
piness as Heaven has been pleased to deal
out to imperfect humanity, 1 can readily
conceive ;—and indeed have seen its proofs
in various small societies, which have been
constituted on that principle. But Ido not
feel authorised to conclude from these facts
that an extended society, like that of the
United States, or of an individual state
could be governed happily on the same
principle. I look to the diffusion of light
and education, as the resource most to be
relied on for meliorating the condition,
promoting the virtue, and advancing the
happiness, of man.
That every man shall be made virtuous
by any process whatever, is indeed no more
to he expected than that every tree shall
be made to bear fruit, and every plant nour
iahment. The briar and the bramble can
never become the vine and olive ; but their
asperities may be softened bjy culture, and
their properties improved to usefulness in
the order and economy of the world. And
I do hope, in the present spirit of extending
to the great mass of mankind the blessings
of instruction, 1 see a prospect of great ad
vancement in the happiness of the human
race: aud that this may proceed to an in
definite, although not to an infinite degree.
Wishing every success to the views of
yoor society which their hopes can prom
ise, and thanking you most particularly for
the kind expressions of your letter towards
myself, I salute you with assurances of
great esteem and respect.
THOMAS JEFFERSON.
From the National Gazelle.
In the month of March last, Baron Wran
gel, a Russian officer, made a second at
tempt to perform a journey from the mouth
of the Kolyma to the northward, over the
ice. Jn the first attempt he was stopped by
an open sea, on which neither ice nor land
was visible in any direction. In the second
he had nearly perished. He had scarcely
advanced fifty wersfs, when a gale of wind
broke up the ice all around him, and he
found himself on an open sea tossed about
on a floe of ice eighty fathoms long and for
ty broad, floated about at the mercy of the
wind and current, which fortunately drove
him at length half dead with cold and hun
ger, to the Asiatick shore, not far from
Behring’s Strait.
The Quarterly Review observes that the
information gained by Captain Parry’s sec
end voyage, h?.9 finally settled the north
eastern termination of the continent of
America, and the communication round it
with the polar sea, though an impassable
one by ships. The latitude of that point is
69 deg. 41 min. N. longitude 82 deg. 35
min. W. It is the extremity cf a narrow
peninsula (named by Capt. Parry, Melville
Peninsula) which stretches out from the
general line of the continent like a great
bastion, and is connected with it by a crook
ed isthmus, which might, with propriety,
be called the isthmus of Little Darien.
The length of the narrowest part of the
strait is three miles in the direction of E.
by S. and W. by N. It is two miles across
THE MISSIONARY.
and nearly uniform in its width the whole
way. The length, which is the width of
the Peninsula, is about sixty geographical
miles. The Esquimaux said that there wa9
a passage round the island of the north
ward, but none of them could say that it was
navigable. It must extend either to Bar
row’s strait or very near.
The two ships of Captain Parry, in the
last expedition, depended entirely for
twenty-seven months, on the resources con
tained within them ; “an experiment,”
says the Captain, “hitherto unknown per
haps in the annals of navigation, for one
fourth part of that period.” Sylvester's
simple apparatus for distributing heated air
was fitted up in each ship, ahd it succeeded
beyond the most sanguine expectations; a
mean temperature being kept up through
out the winter of GO deg. of Fahrenheit,
while that of the air without wa at 30 deg.
below zero, (a difference of 90 deg.!) and
this too with the very trifling consumption
of a single bushel of coal in twenty-four
hours. The terrors of an Arctick winter
are thus disarmed.
The Quarterly Review (a high authority
on the subject) thinks that Capt. Parry’s
second narrative strengthens (he opinions of
the existence of a navigable passage from
the northern Atlantick to the Pacifick.
The density of the population in England
to that of Mexico, is as 30 to 1. If Mexico
was as thickly peopled as England, the in
habitants would exceed in number two hun
dred millions, more than the population of
Europe in 1817.
Humboldt states that the number of dif
ferent tongues spoken in Mexico by the na
tives, is upwards of twenty, of which four
teen have tolerably complete grammars and
dictionaries. It appears that the greater
part of these language*, so far from being
dialects of the same, differ as much from
each other, both in their words and in th*
construction of sentences, as the Greek does
from the German, or the French from the
Polish.
Captain Broke, in his recent Travels to
the North Capp, slates it as a fact well ao
thenticated, that thpre is the skeleton of a
whale on the very summit of the mountain of
Sandhorn, which is upwards of 3000 feet
high ; the south side descending nearly per
pendicular to the sea.
The April number of the Quarterly Re
view begins with an article written by Mr.
Southey, on Dr. Dwight’s “Travels in
New England and New York.” It is not
vulgarly abusive and malevolent, like
most of the articles on tbi* coun'ry, of the
same Review; but a great effort is made in
it to shew that the state of our society most
be bad, and our institutions short-lived and
calamitous.
Statisticks of the Presbyterian Church in
the United States. —From the Synodical and
Presby terial report presented to the Gen
eral Assembly at thpir recent sp*ion, it ap
pears that there are under the care of the
Assembly 13 Synod-, 77 Presbyteries, 1679
congregations 1027 ministers. The num
her of vacant congregation* is 769; licen
tiates, 173; and candidates, 195. The
number of communicants added during the
past year is 10,431, and (he whole number
of communicants is 112.955. The number
of adult baptism* during the year lias been
2120, and of infant baptisms 10,642. The
amount of collections for missions §6,795;
for commissioners 1 fund. §2,692, for Theo
logical Seminary, §1,465; for Presbyteri
an fund, §370; and for Education fund,
§7,928.
THE GREEKS.
Extract of a letter from Smyrna.
In Smyrna, we lodged at the hotel kept
by an Italian. The windows of the apart
meats commanded a fine view of the bay
and its romantick shores. Several Greek
priests and merchants dined at the table
d’hote, where we had a medley of Greek
& European dishes ; they lo -ked very care
worn and suspicious; and they had good
reason, for they could not go out of doors
without danger of being murdered. One
morning, as I stood in the street, a Greek
servant, for declining to buy meat at the
stall of a Candiole butcher oot far off, was
stabbed by him with his long knife, and fell
bleeding on the pavement About fifty
Greeks got on board a Ragusan vessel, in
order to escape, the captain having been
paid a large, sum of money by them. In
stead of instantly making off he continued
to loiter in the harbour, in spite of the
warnings of the consul; when one night
he was surrounded by three Turkish ves
sels, and all on board seized. The captain
and crew wpre hanged, and the Greek*
were beheaded in a small square in the city,
at sun-rise, during our stay.. .The French
consul, to his immortal honour, has saved
the lives of hundreds of the Greeks, by his
active and spirited interference ; and rescu
ed them from the hands of the soldiery,
about to put them to death. In walking
through the city you see these unfortunate
people looking over the walls, and half
opening their dodrs, and listening to every
pa*sing sound. At any sudden noise in the
streets, the faces of the women—and some
of them beautiful—were seen thrust out of
the windows of the lofty houses, where
they bad taken refuge; thereby exposing
Os all the dispositions and b£t/wbteb feadto poSfci Jp^speritV
osperity, Religion and Morality we indispensable support?.— Washington,
MOUNT ZION, (HANCOCK COUNTY, GEORGIA,) MONDAY, JUNE 28, 1824.
themselves to fresh danger, yet unable to
repress their anxiety and curiosity.—The
only Greek I ever saw, whose face and
form in any way realized the beau ideal of
antiquity, wa* at the entrance of a poor
dwelling in the skirts of the city: her fine
tall figure, reclined against the wall as she
stood, and her head bent towards some un
happy countrywomen, whom she was ad
dressing, gave additional interest to the
perfect symmetry of her noble and classick
features.
The inextinguishable lightness and ver
satility of character of the Greek* are real
blessings in their present situation; no vi
cissitudes appeartostrikethem with surprise
or despair: active, enterprising, and inde
lat'gable, they possess the materials for
making excellent soldiers: vain to excess,
and ever sanguine in all their hopes and
undertaking*, I heard them exclaim, as
they marched out of .Tripolitza to attack
the Turks, “We have beat them with
sticks ere now; and shall we not drive
them before us with our swords ?”—Call
on a Greek to die, and he will take leave of
the world, to appearance, passionless and
undismayed: bring the guitar and the wine,
and he will dance, talk with infinite gaiety,
and a ing the Morite songs all the night long.
A circum“tance of a very interesting and
affecting kind occurred at the same time in
one of the Greek isles. A number of the
islanders, terrified at the approach of a
Turkish force, hurried on board a large
boat, and! pushed off from the land. The
wife of one of them, a young woman of un
common loveline“s, seeing her husband de
parting, stood on the shore, stretching out
her hands towards the boat, and imploring,
in the most moving terms, to be taken on
board. The Greek saw it without concern
or pity, and without aiding herescape, bade
his companions hasten their flight. This
unfortunate woman, left unprotected in the
midst of her enemies, struggled through
scenes of difficulty and danger, of insult and
suffering, till her failing health and strength,
with a heart broken by sorrow, brought
her to her death-bed. She had never
heard from her husband; and, when wan
dering amongst the mountains, or lying hid
in some wre'ched habitation, or compelled
to urge her flight amidst cruel fatigues, her
affection for him and the hope of meeting
again, bore up her courage through all.
He came at last, when the enemy had re
peated, and the Greeks bad sought their
homes again ; and learning her situation,
was touched with the deepest remorse.
But all hope of life was then extinguished;
her spirit had been tried to the utmost;
love had changed to aversion, and she re
fused to see or forgive him. There is at
times in the character of thp Greek women,
as more than one occasion occurred of ob
serving, a strength and sternness that is
truly remarkable, Her sister and relations
were standing round her bed; and never
in the days of her health and love did she
look so touchingly beautiful as then—her
fine dark eyes were turned on them wilh a
look, as if she mourned not to die, but still
felt deeply her wrongs; he natural pale
ness of her cheek was crimsoned with a
hectick hue, and the rich tresses of her
black hair fell dishevelled by her side.
Her friends, with tears, entreated her to
“peak to, and forgive her husband; but
he turned her face to the wall, and waved
her hand for him to be gone. Soon the
last pang came over her, and then affection
conquered ; —she turned suddenly round,
raispd a look of forgiveness to him, placed
her hand in his, and died.
We took passage on board a French ship
bound to Alexandria, and for three days
had a favourable wiod, when we fell in with
a division of the Greek fleet: they obliged
us to bring to, and *ent an armed boat on
board to demand our destination and cargo,
and whatever intelligence we could give
them. These Greeks behaved very civilly:
their best ships were merchant-vessels
turned into those of war, and carried twen
ty guns : they were from the isle of Hydra,
the natives of which are the best and bold
est sailors in their navy. The wind failed
us; and we were put to our resources to
pass the time agreeably; but in French
vessels a passenger is always less at a loss
in calms and baffling winds than in any oth
er, as the men seldom lose their gaiety
and good spirits. The mate, who seemed
to have the chief command, was a fine and
animated young Frenchman, who had a
small collection of interesting books; the
nominal captain, Monsieur Gras by name,
was a little fat man, with a serious and mel
ancholy aspect. Every morning and even
ing, before breakfast and supper, the crew
were summoned to the poop, and he recit
ed prayers in a sad and distinct tone, to
which they all responded. On board was
a most motley assemblage of passengers: a
fat young German, who was on his way to
Grand Cairo, to set up for a doctor, and
cure the Turks and Arabs without knowing
a word of their language ; and he was ac
companied by a sprightly young Italian wo
man, who had left her dear land to live
with this phlegmatick fellow on the banks
of the Nile: his pipe scarcely ever quitted
his mouth, and be told marvellous tales,
sitting on deck with a naked neck and bo
som a Vorienlal. There was also a tailor
from Italy, of a pale countenance aDd spare
figure, destined for Alexandria to exercise
his calling; and he put one in mind of the
button-maker from Sheffield, who came on
speculation to Constantinople with a cargo
of his material, and found the Turks never
wore buttons. A third was a dog merchant,
also an Italian, wilh his wife: he had a
number of dogs of a very fine breed, to dis
pose of in Egypt, if he could find purchas
ers among the /ranks or the faithful.
These three worthies and their two chere
amies (the tailor having no tender compan
ion with him) travelled in great harmony
together, and while the baffling lasted, af
forded no small amusement. But at last
we drew near the low and sandy shores
amund Alexandria. How sweet after a
voyage the first sight of land is, every trav
eller has felt; and Pompey’s Pillar on the
etnint-nce above the town, the canal fiom
the Nile just beyond, and a thousand re
collections attached to the residence of
Cleopatra, gave an intense interest to that
now before ns.
From a work entitled “ All Religious Ceremo
nies.”
MAHOMET’S JOURNEY TO HEAVEN.
In the twelfth year of his mission is pla
ced the mesra, that is, his famous night
journey from Mecca to Jerusalem, and
thence to heaven ; of which he tells us, in
the seventeenth chapter of the Koran: for
the people calling on him for miracles to
prove his mission, and finding himself una
ble, or being unwilling, to feign nny,tosolve
the matter, he invented this story of his
journey to heaven. The story, as related
in the Koran, and believed by the Mahom
elans, is this: At night as he lay in his bed
with his best beloved wife Ayesita, he heard
a knocking at his door; upon which, arising,
he lound there the angel Gabriel, withsev
,enty pair of wings, expanded from his sides,
whiter than snow, and clearer than crystal.
& the beast Alborak standing by him ; which,
they say,is the beast on which the prophets
used to ride, when they were carried from
one place to another, upon the execution
of any divine command.
As soon as Mahomet appeared at the
door, the angel Gabriel kindly embraced
him, saluted him in the name of God, and
told him, that he was sent to bring him un
to God into Heaven ; where he should see
straDge mysteries, which were not lawful
to be seen by any other man. Hi prayed
him then to get upon Alborak; but tbi
beast baying lain idle and unemployed frrtm
the time of Christ to Mahomet, wa? grown
so mettlesome and skittish, that he would
not stand still for Mahomet to mount him,
till at length he was forced to bribe him to
it, by promising him a place in Paradise
When he was firmly seated on him, the an
gel Gabriel led the way wilh the bridle of
the beast in his hand,and carried the proph
et from Mecca to Jerusalem in the twink
ling of an eye. On his coming thither, all
the departed prophets and saints appeared
at the gate of the temple to salute him;
and, thence attending him in the chief ora
tory,desired him to pray for them, nnd then
withdrew. After this, Mahomet went oui
of the temple wilh the angel Gabriel, and
found a ladder of light ready fixed for them
which they immediately ascended, leaving
Alborak tied to a rock till their return.
On their arrival at the first heaven, the
angel knocked at the gate ; and informing
the porter who he was, and that he had
brought Mahomet, the friend of God, be
was immediately admitted. This first heav
en, he tells ns, was all of pure silver; from
whence he saw the stars banging from it
by chains of gold, each as big as mount No
bo, near Mecca, in Arabia. On his entrance
he met a decrepit old man, who it seems
was our first father Adam; and, as he ad
vanced, be saw a multitude of angels in all
manner of shapes; in the shape of birds,
beasts, and men. We must not forget to
observe, that Adam bad the piety imrnedi
ately to embrace the prophet, giving God
thanks for so great a son; and then recom
mended himself In his prayers. From this
first heaven, he tells us that he ascended
into the second, which was at the distance
of five hundred years’ journey above it;
and this he makes to be the distance of eve
ry one of (be seven heavens, each above
the other. Here the gates being opened
to him as before, at his entrance hp met
Noah, who, rejoicing much at the sight of
him, recommended himself to his prayers.
This heaven was all of pure gold, and there
were twice as many angels in it as in the
former ; for he tells us that the number of
angels in every heaven increased as he ad
vaoced. From this second heaven he as
cended into the third, which was made of
precious stones, where he met Abraham,
who also recommended himself to his pray
era ; Joseph, the son of Jacob, did the same
in the fourth heaven, which was all of eme
rald; Moses in the fifth, which was all of
adamant; and John the Baptist in the sixth,
whith was alt of carbuncle: whence he
ascended into the seventh, which was all
of divine light and here he found Jesus
Christ. However it is observed, that herp
he alters his style ; for be does not say that
Jesus Christ recommended himself to his
prayers, but that he recommended himself
to the prayers of Jesns Christ.
The angel Gabriel, haviDg brought him
thus far, told him that he was not permitted
[Price S3 50 per am.
lo attend him any further; and therefore
directed huh to ascend the rest of the way
to the tbroDe of.God by himself. This he
performed with great difficulty, passing
through rough and dangerous places, till
he came where he heard a voice, saying
unto him, “O Mahomet, salute thy Crea
tor whence ascending higher, he came
into a place where he saw a vast expansion
of light, so exceedingly bright, that his
eyes could not bear it. This it seems, was
the habitation of the Almighty, where his
throne was placed; on the right side of
which, he says, God’s Dame and his own
were written in these Arabick words; “ La
ellah ellallah Mahomet refill ollah;” that
is, “ There is no God but God , and Mahomet
is his prophet ,” which is at this day the
creed ot the Mahometans. Being ap
proached to the divine presence, be tells
us, that God entered into a familiar con
verse with him, revealed to him many hid
den mysteries, made him understand the
whole of his law, gave him many things in
charge concerning his instructing men in
the knowledge of it; and, in conclusion,
bestowed on him several privileges above
the rest ot mankind. He then returned,
and found the angel Gabriel waiting for
him in the place where he left him. The
angel led him back along the seven hea
vens, through which he had brought him!
and set him again upon the beast Alborak,
which stood tied to the rock near Jerusa
lem. Then he conducted him back to Mec
ca, in the same manner as he brought him
’hence; and all this within the space of
he tenth part of one night.
Anecdote of George 111 — His late Majesty
it is well known possessed a devotional spir
it, and was always happy when be coold
converse with poor and pious people on
subjects of experimental religion. The
following Anecdote, though traditional, is
so much in harmony with that fact,and with
some other anecdotes we formerly related,
that we are persuaded it will be read with
much pleasure.
The king had heard of a ponr man at
Windsor who had occasionally a prayer
meeting at his house. He one day disguis
ed himself, and weut to ihe door to inquire
ir tothe nature of the meeting, and to ask
permission to attend. The Poor man not
knowing his illustrious visiter, supposed
him to be a person under a concern about
his immortal interests, and asked him in;
he then conversed with him on the great
subject of religion, with which the King
was much pleased, and a“ked if he might
come again ; this being agreed to, His Ma
jesty repeated his visit, until one day while
:he King was there, one of his attendants
came to the door with a loud rap, and ask
ed if his Majesty was there? to which the
man innocently replied, “No;” on going
in, he informed hin visiter of the singular
inquiry, and His Majesty explained Ihe
whole affair; thanked the good manforhia
kind attention and advice, and told him that
as he was now found out, he could no more
enjoy his company, but must bid him fare
well. [Lon. Evan. Magazine.
RELIGIOUS.
REVIVAL OF RELIGION.
Frankfort, (Ken.) April 28.
Dear Brother,
I avail myself of a leisure moment to ap
prize you of some hopeful prospects of a
revival, in and about the metropolis, in
places, never before visited by any remark
able manifestaliou of (be Divine Preserver.
The settlement near the mouth of Elkborn,
at this moment, presents an illustrious proof
of the redeeming efficacy of divine grace—
a place, hitherto renowned only for sins, of
crimson hue, where the ordinances of God’s
house were not only neglected, hut open
ly and contemptuously insulted and derided.
Last winter, I determined to preach stated
ly among them, and being apprized of an
organized opposition, who bad resolved to
have a Bacchanalian frolick, as offpn as we
had meetings, and boasted of making the
most converts, I took occasion when some
of them were present, to animadvert on the
atrocity of their crime. I told them “ that
they were strong , following a bold leader
whose ranks were unhappily crowded .” Af
ter commenting on tne character of their
leader and his subjects, “ numerous and
strong as they were , (I assured them,) that
Heaven's King was much stronger , and very
quickly they should become either victims of
his power , or trophies of his grace.” The
expostulation was thought by some to be
toospvere; neveribeless, it was received
with fixed an solemn attention. From that
day the meetings have beea crowded, and
deeply affected. On Sunday before last, 1
had the pleasure to conduct ten of them into
the water, and to see many others weeping
on the shore. Since that, 1 have heard
several soul refreshing experiences in the
same neighbourhood.
On Sunday last, at 4 o’clock, P M. (by
request,) I visited the Stale Prison, where
I had the opportunity of preaching to a
mixed multitude of convicts, slaves, and cit
izens.) —In each rank before me 1 witness,
ed the most solemn attention, and among
some of the convicts particularly, I saw
marks of the deepest contrition. feel
confident, that the Lord has begun a good