Indiana American, Volume 4, Number 46, Brookville, Franklin County, 11 November 1836 — Page 1

MDEAMA AMIIBIEnCDAM

OUR COUNTRY OUR COUNTRY'S INTEREST AND OUR COUNTRY'S FRIENDS. "5Y C. F. CliAUKSO.lT. BROOKYILLE, FRANKLIN COUNTY, INDIANA, FRIDAY, NOV. 1 1 1830. VOL,. IV. No. 46.

TERMS OF THE AMERICAN. t in advance $2,50 in six months; or $ 3.00 at ex,,iration of the year. The Editor will dis- " ... inscription at his option. V!V.Twelfi linger le,willte Cited once or three times, for one dollar. and.2o '"n'9 will be charged for each additional insertion.

Aim s OF TIIE3WEEK. - TZZZihe Union- Couvty Star and Banner. CONWELL'S LAND-BILL. Jesrs. Editors: If you can spare room in ro-ir columns amidst the press of matter in the nreseut electioneering can- . 1 would beg leave, in anticipation of the approaching assemblage of our State Lectors, to call the attention of your wbscribcrs to a subjectMeeplyJnleresting to . .,i-;t :nl nhilanthronist, and which Hie " r . , . rt hpiindrrstood bv Ineir con oniv icmhik-1 v j . the attention ol nr law makers and carried triumphant! through their Halls by IheJJmparative and controlling influence of public sentiment. Vt a late period of the last Session, a Bill was originated by Mr. James Conwell, the Senator from Franklin; the features of which I propose briefly detailing to yu: This Bill provided that the Filnd Commissioners be authorized to obtain a Loan of One Million of Dollars in addition to the amount to be ordered for the current year by the Board of Internal Improvement and in anticipation of so miuhoflhe amount thereafter to be borrowed for Internal Improvement. The said Commissioners were reuuestcdupon obtaining said loan to make arrangements 'with the Secretary of the Treasury at Washington or with the Slate Bank or Banks at the East, so that said Loan tho'ilJ be at any time available for the objects contemplated by the Bill, and in the mean time, draw an interest upon the best i... .Uot nU hp made. It was then made the duty of the County Clerks when satisfactorily assured ot tne iaci iu ... plicants a certificate that said person was a wiu'ent of said County, and that he Was not possessed of any land, upon presentation of such surlificate by the individual holdins the same, to the Receiver of any of the Land Offices in the State, the Bill made it their sufficient authority to permit the bearer to enter of his own selection, Eighty Acres of the public Land, and required said officer to issue to said holders ot eruncaurs final receipt for the same. A credit ol eWt vears was allowed by the Slate to those who entered land, under the provisions of this Bill, upon the . following conditins: They were required to present their Land Office Receipts to the Secretary of State, whose duty it was made -to file them, and from whom they were to receive a certihcatc of such deposit?,, stating particularly the locMion of the Land.This Cert.bcate they were then required to present to the Auditor of the State, who was required to certify to the Treasurer of Slate the amount that the State was indebted for said entry, whose order on the B ink made sufficient authority for the payment of the amount. Upon the Treasurer, it was made the duty r i.,if. ffir.r in ci rm unit deliver to the lilllVI UUll.'- Jt . l in ihn tin me ot the Slate conditioned,'jhat upon the payment of the original cost of the land and the annual payment in. advance, of seven per cent, interest, the aforesaid Treasurer or lus luccossor should make a good and sufficient Tide to said land. The Officers upon whom the above recited duties were imposed, were required to report annually to the Legislature, and the Secretary of the Treasury semi annually to the Board of Internal Improvement to whom it was made his duty to pay over all monies that came into his hands under the provisions of the Bill. This Bill, so creditable to the, head and heart of its originator, though introduced at n late period of the Session passed the Senate; hut owing to the press of business in the Lower Housed failed to become a Law. It may emphatically be called the Poor mans Bill. Had it passed and become the Law of this land ten thousand poor families zrould in the course of three or four months have been put into p.jsession of a comfortable homestead rvho noxhave no heme and are s hiled ubout from year to year to obtain a precarious subsistence. And this consummation so devoutly to be wished, would have been accomplished without any risk to the State, but absolutely would tiave been a source of considerable revenue arising from the tax, and also from the difference between the interest paid and received; and i. hardly requires to be stated that the rapidly augmenting value of. the land, would always have afforded ample security to the State. A floating and unsettled population is always less desirable and advantageous to any community than one . that has a ttake in the soil, whether considered in a moral or political point of view. This consideration alone clearly shows that the passage of this Bill would have been in accordance with the true policy of the State, and would have been a great public benefit. Benevolence and interest here go hand in hand. But sir, it was a new and rather startling measure. Large bodies are not easily induced to look carefully and deliberately at such things, especially" if they think that their constituents know nothing about it. The chief object I have in view in addressing those few hasty re-i marks is to awake the attention of the wise and good throughout the State, and also to apprise the deserving Poor man of the boone

within his reach even yet, and thus perhaps get at our Representees through their popularity, too many of whom it is to be feared are accessible at no other point. There is still much good land in the State, which the Poor man by such a Bill may obtain. I (rust it may be called up early in the Session and (hat not another will pass before it becomes a Lw. The insatiable avidity of speculation is fast closing upon every avenue of this great measure of true policy and enlightened benevolence. May every Editor throughout the State promptly respond to our call, and may the. People cause that call with nouncertain sound to reso ind throughout our Legislative Halls. PUBLIUS. Economy. A Gentleman in Holland who uses tabacco, makes the most of it. He chews it until the juice is entirely exhausted, when he puts it into his pipe and smokes it. He then usea the ashes for snuff. .

Wester Land Speculation. The western land speculation continues unabated. Every town or village in New England 6eems to be affected with the mania; in most of the cities throughout the United States, companies are formed and forming, to invest large amounts of money in western lands. In Boston we understand that a company has lately been established, with a capital of a million of dol. lars, to be invested in this way .Hamp. Gaz. Vanity.--A vain and conceited fellow in a neighboring State, being appointed Corporal in a military company, felt very proud of his station. He w ent home, overflowing with a sense of his newly acquired dignity, ard calling his wife out of a room where she was With some company, told her that he, was elected Corporal, -but she could keep the same company she a'ways had.' Fourteen thousand. children were born in the city of Paris, in the year lfc5, . who had no fathers! This is undoubtedly the most remarkable dispensation of Providence ever known. It would have been still more remarkable if they bad been born without mothers.' . The owner of the race horse Rudolph, which took the purse near Louisville, Ky. has been offered 15,(HH) for him, which he refused. He originally cost but $150. - PENNSYLVANIA U- S. BANK. ' The last number of the Bicknell's Reporter contains the following paragraph.We understand, from good authority, that the Directors of the Bank of the United Slaies have it iir contemplation to propose to our State Legislature, at their next session, to abandon their charter, providing the bonus which has been paid to the State be returned to the Bank.' Upon this paragraph, the Pittsburgh Gazette remarks: .Ve were truly Tejoiced to see this paragraph. Such a determination would be alike creditable to the good sense and principles of those interested in that institution. Although we firmly believe that no power can rightfully lake the charter which has been granted for a valuable consideration: yet we are rejoiced that the Institution has promptly come to the conclusion to yield up, voluntarily, whatcould not be taken from it without its own conset. . " 'It is manifest, that the Institution could not be conducted advantageously, in the face of opposition which the unprincipled demagogues will find it to their interest to raise against it. It is useless to inquire, whether -there is an actual majority of our citizens opposed to the . charter of the Bank, as a state Institution. 4The vote, at the last election, was too small to settle that question, but it is very certain that thcie is a very large portion of our population who view the Bank with hostile feelings. It ia equally certain, tbat unprincipled demagogues will always find it convenient to urge & war upon it. The experiment of making war upon the Bank has been once tried, and found to be profitable, and no doubt exists that this experiment will be continually repeated, as often as it suits the interests or designs of base men. Thus, excitement, discord and difficulty, would be continually re newed.during the continuance of the charter. For this reason, then we rejoice, that the Directors, or Stockholders, have determined to propose to surrender their charter, upon being reimbursed their advances. It is my conviction, that the Legislatuic of Pennsylvanie, now elected, will not accept a surreuder of the charter, and restore the bonus. The demagogues who have raised the clamor, dare not risk such a conclusion. Cinnino. A short time since High Constable Hays went to search a house where a man had been robbed of a $100 bill. After a strict search he was about to leave the premises without success, when he suddenly turned to the old woman in attendance, and giving her his hand, ued.h a good bye. In so doing the crafty officer drew a tailor's thimble from her finger, m which was hidden the identical note! This worthy functionary has obUined such a knowledge of human nature in consequence of his long practice, that he is almost omaicient. Female Sailor The Philadelphia Chroni . . i n,.m;hsil a prv remarkable story o ?lLs Maria . a young lady of qu.te pretty and interesting personal appearand, " r It niwnti reside at W likes "arre Penn. it appear, that she dreW h er sell "in boy's clothes, and journeying w """" " r hnV nl.ed for a situation in some vessel, as sa.lor boy. birth was accordingly procured for her on board a whale ship at new b,qi,-... were paid without any suspicion as to her sex. werepi m(,nth. (.he returned to After an aoseuce wi vuv - , ., Philadelphia, and told the persoa who had paid be - .(. lhe.li?-f " nlpasant as she magined it wouia oe, reflection abandoned th. idea altogether of ffoing f'and intended to see, emP oyment in the oinr Haviwr asceiianieu u . d severed, Maria immediately changed her r.si..id has not been heard of since. She has SXW returned to her parents, who were appriscd of heringularadventure. A REMAaKTMvRDKB.-Some little time

for beating them, when the boat had reached the middle of the river, threw them one after another into the river, and alter they had drowned them, they came ashore very unconcerned. The matter

immediaiely came to light .they were seized, tried, condemned, and ordered to be put underground up to their necks, there to remain till they died; two of them lived ten, and ihe other 11 days; they spoke the first three days, complaining of great pain, but not after that; they had certainly got some sustenance in the night time, or they could not have existed so long. The oldest of the three was not twenty years of age. Letter from Russia. From the JVw Yorker Oct. 29A. THE MONEY MARKET. We need not apprise any one who unfortunately requires the aid of money in the transaction of his business that the pecuniary pressure which has so long been felt in all our principal cities has now reached a height hardly exceeded at the worst of the greal Panic of 1834. Money is now worth 2 per cent, a month, or 2-4 per annum in Wallstreet, on unexceptionable paper, and not half can be obtained that would be taken even at that rate. Failures of respectable and widely connected houses are no longer of unfrequent occurrence; and Rumor, with her thousand evil tongues, is busily exciting suspicion where no reason for apprehension exists. During the past week, we have heard reports unfavorable to the solvency of the great house of the Josephs, and a partial run has been made on the Commercial Bank, originating, we believe, in misapprehension rather than malevolence. Several less extensive houses have been constrained to make a public contradiction of reports of their insolvency. A general gloom overspreads the face of the market; stocks have fallen, it must be, far below their real and very far below their average value; land speculators look ominously thoughtful; aud a general impression prevails that the most extraordinary prices provisions and fuel especially, and almost beyond example; and so various and contradictory are the opinions regarding the cause of the pressure, that we can hardly hope for a union upon any feasible and efficient remedy.' - We hear that the United States Ba ik of Pennsylvania, in anticipation of extraordinary means being resorted toby the new Legislature or the Convention of that State to effect a revocation of its charter, or else indifferently satisfied with the terms on which itwas granted them, propose a. voluntary offer of its surrender, at the meeting of the Legislature, on condition that the bonus already paid be returned; to them. The reader will judge for himself whether this step if actually contemplated, of which we have great doubt will tend to the removal of the evils now experienced by the whole community. Among all the rumors and forebodings of evil which reach us we hear very little ot a contrarv character few prognostications of speedy relief. or anticipated plenty. A few venture to hope that the distribution of a portion of the Surplus Revenue will woik a change for the better, but it is believed that the prospective operation of the measure is unfavorable rather than otherwise, since tne Government and the Dcposite Banks are con strained to adopt unusual measures to meet the crisis which will then be presented. A recent correspondence between the Secre tary of the Treasury and certain gentlemen connected with- the Deposile Banks of this city apprises us that the Treasury Depart ment is now intently encaged in making pre parations for the distribution. The Secretary assures his correspondents that every ef fort has been made to carry out the policydictated by the action of Congress with the least possible prejudice to existing interests. We have a new report that the Government has rescinded the important Treasury OrdeY requiring that payments for Public Lands be made in Specie, so far a to permit the reception of certificates of Deposite from the Deposite Banks. " We have every reason to believe, however, that this report is equally destitute of foundation with its predecessors, and that the policy indicated in the Treasury Circular will be strictly adhered to. Wc believe one effect of this has been to suspend altogether the discounts ot a great portion of the Western Banks, as well as to cripple those on the sea-coast. That it has also reduced by a large amount the purchases of Government Lands, we do not doubt; hiit nine-tenths of the land speculation extant, including a great portion ot that in absolutely wild lands, consists of purchases from individuals or companies, and is no more affected by the Order than is any other business requiring money. We apprehend the Order will- never answer the end of crushing the spirit of speculation, unless by first crushing the prosperity of the country. a ricncATK Situation. A little female thief in London, was taken up forofferii.g for sale a pair of silk stockings. A crowd was attracted around her and. amongst tbe number a young lady of sixteen, who from curiosity was led to see wbat crime so young a child (the prisoner not being more than 13) could bavecominittted. Pressed by interrogatories to tell where she got the stockings, she pointed to the young lady and said she gave them to her and pomiaodhera sixpence for selling thero. The young lady was immediataly taken intocustowhite Tha little vixen proceeded in her story, and all the declarations ot innocence on the part of the young Miss were without avail, n auerwards appealed that she was of a respectable family, and of exemplary character, and the little wretch confessed that she made the charge without any truth. Tl3 Penny less traveler, says, Juvenal, will ting bo fore tbe robber.

MISCELLANEOUS.

TUB SILVER SIXPENCE. OR THE ROAD TO RUIN. Quaedum parva quidem, sed non toleranda maritis. Juv. Some faults tho' email, intolerably grow. Drtden. (concluded from last week.) Jt was the day Madame Vildac regularly went to her confessor to obtain absolution of her sins, and Vildac not finding her below, immediately set out with a view of secreting hirr.solf in the church, where he might hear all. She having called upon a friend, he at rived before her, and having hidden himself, listened to every word, save at times the hum and hubbub of passing carriages prevented. Towards the last of her confession she said she loved one man and had perhaps wronged her husband in her conduct towards that man. His name was "Oh Heavens," Vildac gasped, 'thc noise of the infernal carts prevented me from hearing that name." Waiting till his wife retired he left his concealment, and returning home, charged her with the crime without disclosing his contemptible means of information. Her high soul shrunk at first, but disdained to deny or acknowledge, though he afterwards spoke of the paper he found in her pocket. Tho' Vildac could not but love so beautiful and sensible a woman in his moments of reason and sobriety, yet her lectures stung him to the soul, and he determined n vengeance; yes vengeance on the most charming of women. A short time afterwards he entered the room fronting the street, where his wife was sitting at the window, and advanced to embrace her, but being intoxicated and otherwise disgusting she repulsed him. .At the same moment a gentleman passed the window. and Vildac saw a mutual bow. and smile of recognition pass between the gentleman and his wife. ''That's one of your, paramours, I suppose madam," said Vildac with a bitter smile. 'As you please my Vildac,'' replied his wife, "as you are determined to have it so." Vildac, enraged, observed, "I will put an end to it," and immediately left the room. He returned not until the afternoon, and on going to the chamber for another scarchyhe found his wife dressed in a loose white robe, lying asleep on the bed. She was a sleeping beauty truly. Her dark hair was scattered over . the pillow in a thousand ringlets, and shaded her half revealed bosom that was whiter than wax, she lay like another Venus, as a smile played upon her heavenly countenance, and the rich crimson blush glowed upon her fair cheek. Vildac stood and gazed. He had never seen her so beautiful; but the blush he called the evidence of her guilt, and the smile the recognition of her lover. Drop ping his shoes, he advanced softly to the bed, and taking a small phial from his pocket con taming the deadly Prussic acid, he cautious ly dropped one drop in the corner of her beautilul eye. In a very short lime she had ceased to breathe, and like Mark Antony, all his affection for Cleopatera returned, when he saw hr pale and still beautiful in death. He now feu upon the inanimate lorm ot his wife and kissed those pale lips which had so often advised him. The ragged boy and the sixpence shot across his mind. - uThe third year of my marriage," he cried "and 1 have murdered her." He stepped to the fireplace considering what to do to avoid detection, when be thought of the stratagem of placing a ptuai oi lauoumon the bed and giving tne alarm. At this moment he st oped and picked up the piece of paper he had thrown into the corner some time before, and beheld there was characters written on it. It had been written with sympathetic ink, and the heat had called 'forth the appearance. To his astonishment he read and found that it and the note were both from an orphan she had long before bound to a cruel master, and who was afraid his master would discover his correspondence. . Vildac now felt like a fiend, and was conscious that all his suspicions were as groundless as this which he had unravelled. He determined at once not to wait for an investigation into the cause of his wife's death, but to fly immediately. Taking her key from her yet warm bosom, daring not to look upon her, he unlocked her.bureau, and taking a considerable amount in gold fled. Some months after this event Vildac was in Baltimore, seated at a gaming table where he lost every penny of that which he had taken from his wife's bureau. Destitute and a stranger, without a friend he found himself cast upon the world. He wondered why he had saw no advertisement in the papers concerning his murdered wife, though he thought it would be fruitless, as he had disguised his appearance and altered his name to James Bernard. He regretted the loss of his money, as he might with the aid. of it have married some h.dy who had a fortune, being a very handsome man with a polished address. With this motive, he now determined to play the gentleman for a while at least, and as he could get no employment in Baltimore, he proceeded to Philadelphia, where foi some cause unknown, he took the name of Edward Livingston. When he entered the steamboat, however, it is certain he had but little more money than would pay his passage, and w hen he landed in Philadelphia he had between four and five thousand dollars. This will account in part for the many lottery tickets bought while a clerk in a store tu mention-

ed in the story of "The First Step."

in rniiaoeiphia he was a clerk, as has just been said, and besides great losses by lotlerj dealings and many species of gambling, he was one of the causes which led the moral young man Richard Brindsley to ruin. Vildac, or as we shall now call him, Edward was a young man of little education but fine address, a fellow that could skim over the surface of things and put a gloss on his words. His passions had been let loose in youth by the licentiousness and folly of his parents, and he might be said to 1 accomplished in villainy. Hecertainly wasnot devoted to talent, though misdirected, for he could be every thing in a day. The moral might take him for a model of 'morality and a villain for a pink of villainy. Thus after the landing in Philadelphia he was on the very eve of marrying a lady of the first res pectability, so ingeniously did he lay his plan. in ins passage Horn INew Orleans he had madi;a particular friend of one Bob MMdleton, whom he left in Baltimore, with the in. junction and agreement, that if any person snouia write on lor the character of any of three names he mentioned, the said Bob must return an answer full of the highest enconiums. Miss Maria Whitfield, a lady of eighteen and considerable fortune wck-. u dy whom he addressed. His very appearautcdiiu miuicfssouii prepossed her In hi9 faver, though aware of the stranger. It was on an evening he attended her nn th uu. of the Schuylkill, in company with Richard Unnasiey ana tne lair ii,iien Langdon, that he made known to Maria his wishes and his prospects. He had already won her heart out tne consent oi tne lather was to gain, though Maria's fortune was indenpnftnt r him. The father demanded some reference, that he might learn his character. The shrewd Edward referred him immediately to the villian in Baltimore, as a man of the highest respectability. The viJlian returned an answer nigr.iy complimentary, stating that he was worth dry loads of dollars, which he sifrnificantlv observed would alwnve - character of the highest order. Then foil ed the items ot one row ot buildings, one ship, so many shares in a popular concern, and so fourth. The father of Miss Whitfield was rejoiced at the good fortune that awaited his daughter; the day for the Celebration of th. nup tials was appointed, and Edward chuckled at the success of his scheme, while he was slily losing what money he had at the billiard table. T wo weeks of the interval rolled away, and the last week of probation or procrastination arrived. But how was he astonished two mornings before the intended celebration when Mr. Whitfield entered and called him and M aria wilh an agitated air into the parlour. Though versed in villany, our hero was thunderstruck when Mr. Whitfield drew from his pocket a letter which he had just taken from the Post-office. "Do you know sir," enquired the quivering father, "the author and handwriting of this letter!'' & "I do notsir," returned Edward, still having command over his conscience and countenance. . "Well sir," continued the other, "this letter has saved an innocent girl from the arms of a gambler, and a credulous father from the impositions of an accomplished villain." ' "WJiy why why, sir what do jou mean?" "I mean sir, a villainous Imposition which you have attempted to practice on my " "Nothing can be said against the character of Eugene de Vildac " "The very name, sir," warmly replied the enraged father; "you have committed yourself, and now sir, listen to this letter and then depart immediately. The respect I have for my daughter and her honor, shall at this time screen your villiany from the knowledge of the world, but see that you never rouse mj vengeance or cross my path." Then with a distinct voice he read he letter: "Respected Sir: Thoueh a sfrar.r ir you, I am no stranger to the man who has sot J . 1 !. . . ucitea ana gainca an alliance with your family. He is a man abandoned to every vice in the catalogue of crime; and further, sir, it is rumored, and to my knowledge is true, that he freed himself from an affectionate wife in Orleans, by pouring Prussic Acid in her eye when asleep. Beware of Eugene Vildac. for he is under a mask and bears a name that is not his own. Your's A Friend." Maria fainted and fell from her chair to the floor, and while the father was attending to her, the guilty lover, no longer' ab'e to keep his countenance, snatched up his hat and departed wondering who could know that which was buried in eternal secrecy, as he vainly imagined. It is follv to sunnosi. that any great crime can long be concealed; it will as certainly reveal itself as the sun will arise and dispel the gloom of night. The next weeK,io tne great joy ot our hero, Mr. Whitfield, took his daughter back to Connecticut, from whence she came with a f obliterating from her memorv th remem brance of a villian whom she had innocently, loved and could not easily hate. Such is the devoted nature of her sex, such the love of woman when her heart is entirely giveu up. - u The next move of Edward was as a clerk, which he obtained the situation of by a similar recommendation from Bob Middletbns (W8 IAT AbE.)