Indiana Palladium, Volume 1, Number 37, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, 16 September 1825 — Page 1

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Equality of rights is nature's plan Axd following nature is the march of man. Barfozv. Volume I. LAWRENCEBURGII, INDIANA ; FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 1825. Number 37.

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jtf BREAKFAST IX NEWGATE. concluded. Few steps suiliced to conduct us to the .small room, or entrance hall, into which the debtor's door opens, and from this we saw the ladder which the criminals were to ascend, and the scaffold on which they were to die. 1 was on the alert to detect any sudden emotion which this spectacle might cause, but could not perceive that it had the slightest effect. The minds of the sufferers

had jeen so prepared, that a partial view of

lie machine to which tney were being conducted, seemed to give no additional s.iock. No further pause was deemed necessary. The clock was striking eight, and the ordinary and the youth iist brought to the pressroom, immediately passed up the ladder. To the two culprits that remained, the gentleman whom I have already mentioned offered his services, and tilled up with a prayer the little interval which elapsed, before the second was conducted to the platform. 1 heard from without the murmur of awe, of expectation, and pity, which ran through the crowd in front of the prison, and stepping on a small erection to the left of the door, g ained a momentary glimpse of a portion of the immense multitude, who, uncovered, and in breathless silence, gazed on the operations of the executioners. 1 retreated just as the third halter had been adjusted. The finisher of the law va in the act of descending when the ur.dcr sheriii 'addressed him "Is every thing quite ready?"' "Yes, Sir." "Then take care and draw the bolt out smartly. Now, don't bungle it." "No, Sir you may depend upon it," was the answer. And the obsequious anxiety of the hangman to seem polite and obliging, his apparent zeal to give satisfaction, though very natural, seemed to me not a little curious. Prayers, which had been interrupted for a moment, while the last awful ceremony was in progress, were resumed. As he read them, I saw the clergyman fix his eye on the executioner with a peculiar expression. He drew his handkerchief from his pocket, and passed it slightly over his upper lip. This was the fatal signal. A lumbering

noise, occasioned by the falling of part oil

the apparatus, announced that it had been cbeved In that moment, a rush from the scaffold forced me from the door. The she rill's, the under sheriff, the ordinary, the gentlemen who had -assisted him in preparing the sufferers for eternity, and several other persons quitted the platform as expeditiously as possible, that they might not behold the final agonies of the unhappy men. Sir Thomas took me by the arm as he passed, and signified that he wished me to accompany him. did so. Again I marched through the passages which I had recently traversed. Two minutes brought me to the door of the room to which I had first been conducted. Here inv friend accosted me with his natural firmnes of tone, which before had been considerably subdued by humane emotions, and said "You must breakfast with us." I started at the unsentimental idea of eating the moment after quitting so awful a s-pectacle, as that which I have attempted to describe. But I had not sufficient ener,rv to resist the good will which rather unceremoniously handed me in. Here I found the other sheriff, the ordinaiy, the under sheriff, the city marshal, and one or two of the individuals I had previously met. already seated. " Well, it is all over," said Sir Thomas, as he took his seat at the table. "Yes, it is," said the ordinary, in the same tone which I had heard a few moments before, and admired as apropriately solemn. "It is all over, and " putting his cup and saucer to the under sheriff, who prepared to .pour out the tea "I am glad of it." "I hope you do not mean the breakfast is all over," remarked the sheriff, whose wit I had previously admired, "for I have had none yet." The moment had not arrived at which hu

mour like this could be duly appreciated, and I did not observe that any of the com

pany gave even that sort of note efface for a laugh which we had all u--cd half an hour before.

Our conversation turned naturally on the manner in which the sufferers had conducted themselves; on the wishes they had expressed, and the confession they had made. But while I looked on the hospitably spread table, I could not help connecting operations rather different in their character, which must have been going on at the same moment. "In my mind's eye," I saw the attendants carrying the fowl and eggs to the breakfast table, while the sheriffs and their guests were conducting the suilerers to the scaffold. From what I have already said, it must be inferred that the first speeches which accomplished the circuit of the table, were of a very serious character. But, mingled with them, some common breakfact-table requests and civilities caught my attention, as singular from their association. The performance of duties the most important cannot relieve man from the necessity of claiming his "daily bread," and I do not know that it is any reproach to a clergyman, that he is not distinguished by versatility of manner. The abrupt transition from the gravity of the pulpit to the flippancy of the bar I should not admire; but the consistency of the reverend gentleman here attracted my notice. I had been just listening to him while he repeated, with devotional elongation, the solemn words of the burial service; and when I heard him with the same elongation of sound, address himself to me "Shall I trouble you to cut up the fowl can I help you to some tongue, sir?" I confess that I felt tempted not to laugh, but to comment on the oddly contrasted feelings which the same voice, thus variously exerted, inspired. Horror struck, as I had been, at the first mention of the unfeeling word "breakfast," my excuse for staying was to see if others could eat. That should take food was quite out of the question. But the wing of a fowl having been put on my plate, I tho't it would be rudeness to reject it. I began to eat, inwardly reflecting' that rny abstinence would nothing benefit those whose sufferings I had still in my memory; and improving on this reconciling thought, I presently detected myself holding my plate for a second supply. "O sentiment!" 1 mentally exclaimed, "what art thou when opposed to a breakfast?" By the time we had disposed of our first cup of tea, we had got through the pious reflections which each of us had to offer on the particular occasion which had brought us together, and conversation started in a livelier vain. The gentlemen who had assisted the ordinary, by praying with the culprits, gaily remarked to him, with a benevolent chuckle on his face, that they (meaning himself and the reverend gentieman) had succeeded in refuting the unitarian principles which A (one of the suilerers) had for some time avowed. The look which answered this speech, reminded me, I know not why, of the organist s comment on the organ b forcers assertion, that thiy had played famously well. "Ay," said the minister, "I knew it would be so. I told him so immediately after sentencc. But, after all, what can we say for a recantation dictated by the dread of early death?" "Very true!" was my exclamation, as the reverend gentleman looked as if he expected me to sav something. "At any rate," whispered a gentleman well known in the city, with whom I had formerly done a little business in the funds, "it gives a man something of an option.-' The technical application of a favorite stock-exchange word produced a general smile round the table, and I could not help contributing to lengthen it by replying "You mean, perhaps, that it gives him a call." But the lively sheriff, of whose witticisms I have already made honorable mention, cut me out of my share of applause altogether, as clean as a whistle, by instantly rejoining, "The put you mean, for, in this case, the party wan going for the fall." Of course there was no standing this, and we all joined in the laugh. "We were however brought back to gravity through the alarm expressed by the minister, at the idea of his having taken cold through officiating that morning without his wig. This introduced, I cannot tell how, some remarks on the head, which led to a di-q.ui-

ition on craniology. On this subject thclpcndcnce of his country, he was forced to . . t iY ..... I " ? I 1 r i i . i i a

witty sheriff was very amusing. 1 said some

tolerably lively things; but the ordinary j beat us all hollow, when it was contended that the disposition and the mind might be known from the exterior of the skull, by remarking that he had now an additional reason to regret having come there without his wig. With this epigrammatic touch he took his leave, I and the rest of the company laughing heartily, and having eaten as heartily as we then laughed. The facetious sheriff now had it all hi own way, and said several things, nearly, or perhaps, quite as good as those which 1 have already placed on record. We were thus pleasantly engaged, when the aide-de-camp of the gallant ofiicer in the blue and gold, one of the city marshal's men, entered to announce that it was past 9 o'clock, and to ask if any of the company chose to sec the bodies taken down. "The bodies!" I repeated to myself, and the application of that word to those whom I had previously heard mentioned but by their names, recalled ray thoughts which had somehow strayed from the business of the morning into unlooked-for cheerfulness, and presented, in that simple expression, an epitome of all that had moved my wonder, curinsitv. and commiseration.

Again we passed through those parts of

the prison wmcn l nau iwicc ueiore traversed. We advanced with a quicker step than when following those whom we now expect

ed to see brought to us. But with all the

expedition we could use, on reaching the room from the scaffold could be seen, we found the "bodies" already there. Nor was this, in my opinion, the least striking scene

which the morning brought, unuer my observation. The dead men were extended side by side, on the stone floor. The few persons present gazed on them in silence, duly impressed with the melancholy spectacle. But in this part of the building a copper is established, in which a portion of the provisions for its inmates is prepared. There was a savoury smell of soup, which we could not help inhaling while we gazed on death. The cooks too were in attendance, and tho they, as became them, did all in their power to look decorously dismal, well as they managed their faces, they could not so divest themselves of their professional peculiarities, as not to awaken thoughts which involuntarily turned to ludicrous or festive scenes. Their very costume was at variance with the general gloom, and no sympathy could at once repress the jolly rotundity of their persons. I turned my eyes from them, wishing to give myself wholly up to religious meditation during the moments of my stay. Just then the executioner approached. Sir Thomas dosired him to remove the cap from the face of one of the sufferers. He prepared to comply but his first act was to place liis hand on the more prominent features and press them together. This, on inquiry being made, I learned was done that the bystanders might not be shocked bv witnessing any distortion of countenance Sir Thomas smiled at the anxiety of the man to make it appear that his work had been well performed. The cap was then withdrawn. There was nothing terrific in the aspect of the deceased. 1 recognised the features of the young man who had been so wildly, so violently agitated, when about to suller. Now pain was at an end, apprehension was no more, he seemed in the enjoyment of sweet repose. His countenance was tranquil as that of a sleeping infantilis rest was not in danger of being disturbed. While reflecting on the change which a single hour had suiliced to produce, I could hardly help regarding as idle the sorrow, the pity, and the self-reproach for momentary forgetfulness of these, which I had felt and breathed within that period. I almost accused the sufferers of weakness, for showing themselves depressed as they had been,' while I felt disposed, seeing their griefs were, to ail appearance, terminated for ever, to demand with the poet, "And what is death we so unwisely fear?13 and to answer as he replies so himself, "An end of all our busy tumults here." Knight's Quarterly Mag. PUE1SKL This gallant soldier was a native of Poland, whose disastrous history is well known. Vainly struggling to restore the lost inde-

seek personal safety by its abandonment.

rulasKi, with a lew men. in the year 17 u

carried off king Stanislaus from the middle

of his capital, though surrounded by a nu

merous bodv of guards, and a Russian armv.

The king soon escaped and declared Pulaski an outlaw. Hearing of the glorious strug-

gle in which we were engaged, he hastened to the wilds of America, and associated him

self with our perils and our fortunes. Con

gress honored him with the commission oi brigadier general, with a view, as was rumored, of placing him at the head of the American cavalry, a line of service in which he had been bred. But his ignorance of our language, and the distatc of our officers to foreign superiority, stilled his project. He was then authorized to raise a legionary corps, appointing his own officersIndefatigable and persevering, the count collected about two hundred infantry and two hundred horse, made up of all sorts, chiefly of German deserters. His officers were generally foreign, with some Americans. With this assemblage, the count took the field ; and after serving some time in the northern army, he was sent to the south, and fell at the battle of Savannah. There slumbers the gallant, the immortal Pulaski, who threw himself into the arms of America, and professed himself the champion of her rights; and in the unfortunate affair at Savannah, scaled with his blood, the risipg liberties of his adopted country. He was sober, diligent and intrepid, gentlemanly in his manners, and amiable in heart. He was very reserved, and, when alone, betrayed strong evidence of deep mel

ancholy. Those who knew him intimately, spoke highly of the sublimity of his virtue, and the constancy of his friendship. Commanding this heterogeneous corps badly

equipped and worse mounted, the nrave Pulaski tuuountcred difficulties and sought danger. iNor is there a doubt if he had been conversant in our language, and better acquainted with our customs and country, he would have become one of our most conspicuous and useful officer?. General Lee gives the following account in his memoirs, of the attack on Savannah, where it will be found the intrepid Pulaski made a gallant effort to retrieve the fortune of the day. "On the 9th of October, 1779, the allied troop under the count d'Estaing and general Lincoln, moved to the assault. The serious stroke having been committed to two columns, one was led by d'Estaingand Lincoln united, the other by count Dillon; the third column moved upon the enemy's centre and left, first to attract attention, and lastly to press any advantage which might be derived from the assault by our left. "The troops acted well their parts and the issue hung for some time suspended. Dillon's column, mistaking its route in the darkness of the morning, failed in co-operation, and very much red uced the force of the attack; while d'Estaing and Lincoln, concealed by the same darkness, drew with advantage near the enemy's lines undiscovered. Notwithstanding this loss of concert in assault by the two columns destined to carry the enemy, noble and determined was the advance. The front of the first was greatly thinned by the foe, sheltered in his strong and safe defences, and aided by batteries operating not only in front but in flank. "Regardless of the fatal fire from their covered enemy, this unappalled column, led by Lincoln and d'Estaing, forced theabbatis and planted their standards on the parapet. All was gone, could this lodgment have been sustained. Maitiand's comprehensive eye was the menacing blow; and his vigorous mind seized the means of warding It off. He drew from the disposable force, the grenadiers and marines, nearest to the point gained. This united corps under lieutenant colonel Glazier assumed with joy the ararduous task to recover the lost ground.. W ith unimpaired strength it fell upon the worried head of the victorious column; who, though piercing the enemy in one point, had not spread along the parapet; and the besieged bringing up superior force, victory was suppressed in its birth. The triumphant standards were torn down; and the gallant soldiers, who had gone so far towards the goal of conquest, were tumbled into the ditch and driven through the abbatis. About the time that Maitland was preparing this critical movement, count Pulaski, at the