The messenger. (Fort Hawkins, Ga.) 1823-1823, August 18, 1823, Image 2

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THE Mmm'&wwmu Description of some ancient Coins found in ‘l'ennesety and remarks upon them. . Two peices of brass coin were lately found two miles and a half from Murfrcesborough, in an east vardlv direction from thence. — Each of them had a hole in the edge. Their size was about that of a seven-penny silver peice of the present time. The rim projec ted further than it ought, as if it had been intended to be clipped.— On the obverse was a representation in relief of a female, full faced, steady countenance, rather stern than otherwise, with a cap or hem let on the head, upon the top of which was a crescent extending from the forehead backwards. In the legend was the word Minerva ; on the reverse was a slim female figure with a ribbon in her left hand which was tied to the neck or of a slim neatly, made dog that goes before her, and in the other a bow. ‘The legend, for want of a magnifying glass, is not ascertain ed. Among the rest, it is believed, there are the letters S. C. After the ground had been for some years cleared and ploughed it was enclos ed in a garden on the summit of a small hill and in digging there these coins were found, eighteen inches under the smface. Upon these facts, the following remarks are made in a manuscript writing now in the press ; in the preceding parts of which, other Homan coins found in Tennessee and Kentucky are described one , of which is a coin with three heads j on it. There are no Assyrian or Baby- j lonian coins, nor any Phenician till: 400 before Christ. Svdon and Tyre, j used weights ; coinage was un- j known in Egvpt in earlv times.— j The I,vdian coins tire the oldest.— j T he Persian coins began 570 before j Christ. The Darics were issued 1 by Darius Hystaspes 518 or 521 be fore Christ. Roman coins have been found.in the Orkneys and in the remotest parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of the small brass coins of the Romans ha\e three heads upon one side, as in that of Valerian and histwo sons Gallienus and Valerian. On the Roman coins are figures of deities and personifications which are commonly attended with their names ; Minerva, for instance, with her hcmlet and name inscribed ini the legend; sometimes a spe&r in her right hand and a shield with Medusa’s head in the other, and an owl standing by her, and sometimes a cock and sometimes the olive. Diana is manifest by her cres cent, by her bow and quiver on one side and often by her hounds. The Roman brass coins have S. C. for Senatus Consultum , till the time of Gallienus. The small brass coins ceased to be issued lor a time in the reign of Pertinax, A. 1). 192, and from thence to the time of Val erian, A. 1). 254. Small brass coins continued from the latter period till A. D. 670. Some coins are found with holes pierced through them, and some times with small strings fastened.— Such were worn as ornaments of the head, neck and wrist, cither hv the ancients themselves bearing images of iavorite deities, or in modern when the Greek girls thus decorated their persons. ¥ torn these criteria it may be de termined, that these metals are not counters but real coins. Os all the Roman coins which have been found in Tennessee and Kentucky, the earliest bears date in the time of Antonius, the next in ihe time of Commodus, the next before the time ot Pertinax, and the last in the time of Valerian.— C*ins prior or subsequent to the space embraced in these periods are not found ; and from hence the conclusion stems to be furnished, that they were bro’t into America within one or two centuries at fur thest after the latter period, and by a people who had not afterwards any intercourse with the countries in whiph the Roman coin circula ted. See Rees’s Encyclopedia verbo medals. Knoxville Keg. LAW INTELLIGENCE. Hank of. the United Staten rn. Sill. ‘1 iiis case caine up by a writ of error to the Supreme Court of Connecticut, at the July term, A. 1). 1323, to reverse a judgment iu the Court below, iu an action of law, in favor of Sill, against the hank. The facts were found by a special verdict, ami were briefly these : —Tiie plaintiff below, in December, A. 1). 1819, was the ow mr of a bank bill of the U. S. Bank, in the hands t his agent in Ohio. For the purpose of transmitting it safely bv mail, from Ohio to the plaintiff, in Connecticut, it was divided into halves, and one part forwarded by mail to the plaintiff which was duly received ; and after wards the remaining hall was put into the mail but never reached the plain tiff. ‘I his was done subsequent to the publication of the notice by the Direc tors, that the Bank would not pay notes voluntarily cut, unless upon the production of all the parts. The plain tiff applied to the Bank for payment, which was refused, upon any other terms than those specified in the no tice. Judgment was rendered in the Court below for the plaintiff, for the amount of the bill and interest from the time o r the demand and refusal of payment. To reverse that judgment the present writ of error was brought. The cause was argued by Dagget anti Law for the plaintiffs, and (iod dard and Waite for the defendant in error. It was urged on the part of the plain tiffs in error, that the holder of a half bill could not recover in a court of law unless he produced both parts, or pro ved t!ie actual destrueti m of the part not produced—that if the holder of a note voluntarily cut it into parts, and lost one of them, it amounted to a vol untary destruction of the note, and discharged the maker; and that at all events, the Bank could not be render ed liable for acts done subsequent to the publication of the notice. But the Court decided, that as the plaintiff below proved himself the ow ner of the whole bill, and the possess or of one half, he was entitled to reco ver, on the ground that neither the finder nor any subsequent holder of the lost half could sustain an action against the Bank, because he could not prove himself the owner of tne whole bill: that, as the bill in this case was not cut for the purpose of dischar ging the Bank or destroying the bill, but for its security, by lessening the chances of a loss by mail, the Bank was not thereby discharged. That the pub lication of the notice could not change the law, nor vary the legal obligation of the contract —Judgment affirmed. New London Gitz. LO NDON MEETING. The most interesting article in the London papers received by the last arrival, is the account of the great public meeting held in Lon don on the 13th June, “ to consider of the best means of affording as sistance to the Spaniards.” It was attended by great numbers of the principal noblemen and gentlemen of the Whig party, chiefly 7 mem bers of Parliament. Lord Erskine first took the chair, —the intended Chairman, Lord William Bentinck, not having arrived —and delivered an energetic speech, in which he observed that “ the Constitutional government of Spain had spirit enough to defend it->elf, and too much courage to yield a single point to its unprincipled assailants.” Lord William Bentinck soon ap peared and relieved Lord Erskine in the chair. He pronounced a warm discourse in favor of the Spa niards, of which the following is an extract:— “ He should confine himself to the military part of the question, as that was more peculiarly his pro vince, and as he was exceedingly anxious to do away certain impres sions which many of the friends of Spain felt, and which her enemies were most desirous to encourage and to propagate still further— namely, that the cause of Spain was entirely hopeless.—(Hear, hear.) lie was iar, very far,from that opin ion. (Greers.) If they would give him leave to mention a cir cumstance which in some degree was personal to himself, he would inform them of the reasons on which he rested his own opinion. It was necessary for him first of all to state that he was at Madrid in the year 1808, when the E.mperor Napoleon was about to invade Spain in per son. He had lieen sent there by the commander of the British for ces in the Peninsula ol Spain and Portugal to offer their co-cpcration to the government of Spain, and to arrange in what manner that co-op eration could be given most effec tually. —“ I wish to God,” exclaim ed Lord W. Bentinck, I could be employed again now upon the very same mission. (Loud and repeat ed cheers.) It was almost impos sible for the mind of man to coa ceive two cases more similar than the tvo invasions of Spain. In 1808 the same abominable* and un justifiable aggro;- ion ns now was made upon the independence of Spain. (Hear.) On the side of France there was then, as now, a great superiority of military force led on by a great captain —he did 1 not mention the latter circumstance as a parallel which existed at pre sent (a laugh)—directed by an effi cient Government, and backed by the Continental Powers of Europe, at least by* the German Confedera tion, many of whose troops were then employed in the unholy pur pose of France.—(Hear) —On the side of Spain there was then, as he was afraid there was now, an inef ficient Government; her atmies were then, as they are now, without mfjch discipline, and in a state of disorganization ; and yet, notwith standing the difficulties which then threatened it, he predicted, as he did now, that the cause of Spain would come out of the conflict vie-! torious and triumphant. [Cheers.] j He had stated that to be his opinion in 1808 ; and in a letter addressed to Lord Castlereagh, dated Mad rid, Nov. 14,1808, and subsequent ly laid on the table of the House of Commons, he had explained the grounds upon which it was tound ed. At that time lie had written as follows:— u I must not disguise from your Lordship, that I think very unfavourably of the affairs of Spain. I presume nobody doubts that Bonaparte will make a great push ; that he will act with his ac customed vigor, in the hope of be ing able, by a series of victories, to subdue the Spanish spirit. It can not be doubted that he has come with a very large army. I should think it would he a low calculation to estimate his force at 100,000, of which at least 12,000 are cavalry. Blake’s army is, for the present, hers de combat. ” These, continued Lord W. Bentinck, were very un favourable circumstances in the view which the state of Spain pre sented to me. But even with that knowledge I never considered, as I do not now consider, the fate of Spain hopeless. That opinion 1 placed on record in the concluding part of my despatch. My words were these :—“ Notwithstanding I think ill of the present moment, and that the Spaniards have not the means at present to repel the danger that threatens, still I have confidence in the unconquerable spirit of the nation. [Cheering.] They want time, which, unfortu nately 7, the activity of Bonaparte’s movements will not allow them.— But great as the success of the French may be, the Spaniards will be again able to assemble at the south of Madrid in every province, [cheers,] and in their mountains, [hear, hear;] they will be able to carry on the same destructive war fare which has once cleared Spain much more unprovided with the means of annoyance than she is at present.” That opinion had been subsequently completely 7 verified by events —and he thought it would be again verified in the present in stance.” (Cheers.] After various other speeches, about 5000/. were subscribed for the Spaniards, and a committee, with Mr. Alexander Baring as Chairman, was appointed to receive further subscriptions. It is to be noted that,notwithstandingtbe una nimous expression of sympathy for the Spaniards, in the Parliament, no ministerial names are found in the list of the politicians who at tended the meeting. The most re markable and important occurrence on the occasion was this.—T he ed itor of the Sun, after stating “ that French money had not only been employed in Spain, but also in En gland to pervert public opinion against the Constitutional govern ment of the former country,” read the following letter, being the first of a series which had been address ed to him. Parib, May 18. “My dear sir—l send yon the first of a series of articles which I conceive well adapted for The Sun , which has always stood firm against anarchy. What 1 hint as doubtful only, will be verified. I am be hind the scene for news. lam of fered 500 francs per article for wri ting articles ; and as 1 know the property of The 3tin does not pay too well —[‘Here the writer is gross ly mistaken,said the Editor,jpermit me to offer you one half of it to buy .itiufrfor you: seif, i his of cot., -e is a profound secret between you and myself, and must go no further. I have stipulated that you shall have all the news from the French Em-| bassy. Insert the enclosed without delay. I will again write to you | on Monday.” After the reading was concluded, a loud cry was raised for the name of the author; but the editor of the Sun trusted he would not be called on to publish the name of the wri ter.—'The letter, however he said would be left in the committee-room for inspection of any man who wish ed to see it. It appeared that this was not the only communication of the same import, which had been transmitted to die office of the Sun, as the Editor went on to state, that lie had received three letters, each containing an enclosure of money, for the purpose of inducing him to publish in his paper, such state ments as would be transmitted to him from Paris respecting Spanish affairs; an attempt which, he had no doubt, had succeeded with the ed itors of some cf the Lnodon papers where articles of French manufac ture daily appeared, calculated to poison the minds of the public. ‘These disclosures illustrate the profligacy with which the French cabinet conduct their atrocious de signs, and the degree of confidence to which the statements and reas onings of the Paris and London ministerial prints are entitled.— Arg'uelles and Galiano , the two lea ders of the Cortes at Seville, men tion in speeches delivered near the close of May, that the French com manders in Spain, cause bodies of Spanish royalists to precede them in their approaches, who, commit ting gross excesses may 7 give to the French, when they arrive, the char acter of the deliverers, in the eyes of the suffer ing people. From the Savannah Georgian. By an arrival at Charleston, from Havana, papers of that place to the 25th ult. containing Bordeaux and Cadiz dates to the 9th of June are received By these it would ap pear that very considerable advan tages had been obtained by Mina— and that the war had become “ na tional.” The following extracts appear in the Courier. The ship Ann in 37 davs from Bordeaux, arrived on the 15th inst. By this vessel news was received of the defeat of the French General Donnadieu, in Catalonia, by Mina* who is stated to have taken a con voy of 200 Mules, laden with 1,500 000 francs, the escort of which con sisting of 4000 men, was entirely beaten and dispersed. I he Schr. Maria-Antonia, also arrived on the 16th inst. at Havana, from Cadiz, bringing accounts thence to the 9th of June, and the sth from Seville. It appears that Morillo is in a strong positoin be tween Astorgo and Leon—that Lo pez Banos has taken the command of the 3d army (Abisbal’s) with whom Gen Lallemand is to act ini conjunction, with a body of French liberals. Gen. Ballasteros has en tirely cleared the Province of Va lencia of the factionists. The following is under the Ca diz head of the 9th June, “ An ex press has arrived from Catalonia. We learn that Mina has given bat tle to the French and factionists, in which the latter lost 444 men, and 300 prisoners, besides several box es of ammunition, three cannon and many stores. Our loss has also been very great. —The battle con tinued a whole day without ceasing to keep up the fire on either side, and towards night General Mina was nearly surrounded by the supe rior forces of the enemy. But the division of Col. Manco, and Zorra quin, coming up at that time to his assistance, and in conjunction with the regiments of the line, the Cana ries, Asturias and Numancia, at tacked the French in the rear guard and completely routed them.—'l lie cavalry blunted the edges of their sabres against the perfidious ene mies of their country. An agreement has been formed between Sir Robert Wilson and the Spanish government, authori sed by the Cortes, the object of which is to raise a body of foreign troops for the service of Spain. — This agreement or convention is divided into twenty articles, and dated at Seville the 31st ol May.— ‘Hie number of this force is fixed at 10,000 men,and Sir Robert Wil son Js to be considered as holding the rank of a Spanish Lieutenant General.—The service of this eon continues through the duration c f the war, at the termination of whit the nation is to remunerate their valor, by grants of good Ends in the provinces of Valencia, Cata lonia, Estremadura, and Castile. On the 2‘id May, a sally vvas made from Pampeluna, which is stated to have been very 7 success ful. The war against the invaders has become national, and the ex cesses and atrocities committed upon all parties by the defenders of the faith and of legitimacy , have ex, cited the indignation and venge ance of men of the greatest apathy The advantages obtained by tli o unconquerable Mina in Catalonia are considerable.—This chief, b e . sides the forces which are under his ow'ii command, has organised numerous guerilla parties, which operate in unison with the several divisions of his own foices, and contribute to sustain his opera tions. By the arrival at New York cf the Mentor, London papt rs of the 12th, and Liverpool of the 14th June, are received. Were w 7 e to place entire confi dence in the accounts which the French censors of the press permit to see the light, we should consider the cause of Spain as gloomy in deed. Yet it is surprising that al though they represent the people, generally, as anxious to throw off the constitution and to welcome the “ deliverers,” it is considered ne cessary to raise a second army of reserve, and to march more men to Spain from different parts of France —measures which point to the ex pectation of a protracted resist ance. The depression of the fundi in Paris on the 7th and 9th of June, and in London on the 11th, in con sequence of the receipt of news cf an unfavorable nature from Spain, which was not permitted bv the ministry to appear, is another cir cumstance by which to test the French official accounts. As to the reported vivas of the population which a few hanclsfull of gold, scat tered among the needy and debased will always produce, we consider them of about as much consequence as the defection of Abisbal, from which such immense consequences were to flow. On this subject the London Courier savs, “ it would seem as if great expectations had been entertained concerning the ef fect of AbisbaPs defection, and that they were all disappointed. It is said that his famous correspond ence with Montijo was sent to the commandants of St. Sebastians and Pampeluna, toexcite them to revolt, but without effect, although Colo nel O’Donnel, a brother to Abis bal, is in command at the former place. Indeed the example seems to have been almost entirely without effect; and Abisbal has received the reward of a solitary and useless deserter—a measure of indifference not easily to be distinguished from contempt.” The Courier was one of those pa pers which considered the defec tion of Abisbal as decisive of the Spanish cause. Mina continued to harass the French troops. The French oi course claim the victory in the en gagement with Mina. The Span ish account of the battle will he found above. A few more such victories on the part of the French army will destroy it. The Paris papers on the Liberal side com plain very much of the few and la conic official letters received frojn their troops in Spain. The infor mation they obtain from them is so unsatisfactory that it is often diffi cult, and sometimes impossible to form any idea of the actual state of things among them. The contradictions in which the l’rench official accounts are involv ed are sometimes amusing. Mina (says Donnadieu) “pursu ed night and day sword in hand ef fected his escape, particularly ;lt Baja, only by a miracle. He threw himself into a frightful precipice the access to which was impost Lie.” If acress to the said precipice wa* impossible how did Mina get there —ls not, why did not Donnadieu follow him. Mina is defeated and a fugitive * and Moncey requires eight thousand men to prosecute his designs agaiftS 1