Indiana Palladium, Volume 5, Number 34, Lawrenceburg, Dearborn County, 29 August 1829 — Page 1

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nra EQUALITY OF RIGHTS IS NATURE'S PLAN AND FOLLOWING NATURE IS THE MARCH OF MAN. Barlow. Volume V.J LAWRENcEBURGH, INDIANA ; SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1829. Number 34.

THE HARPES. This almost incredible story, is taken from Letters from the West by the Hon. Judge II.ill, recently published in Eng

land. It is quoted in the periodicals ofj Htc day, and is said to be literally true. Til tiry years aro, two men, named Harpe, appeared in Kentucky, spread ing death and terror wherever they went. Little else was -known of them but that they -passed for brother?, and came from the borders of Virginia. They had three woman with them, who were treated as their wive?, and several children, with whom they traversed the mountains aid thinly settled parts of Virginia into Kentucky, marking their e:ourse wiih blood. Their history is wonderful, as well from the number and variety, as the incredible atrocity of their adventures; and as it has never yet appeared in print, I shall compress within this letter a few of its prominent facts. fn the autumn of 1790, a young gentleman named Langford, of a respectable family in Virginia, set out from this state for Kentucky, with the intention of passing through Ahe Wilderness, as it was then called, by the route generally known as Boon's Trace. On reaching the vicinity of the wilderness, a mountainous and uninhabited tract which at that time separated the settled parts of Kentucky from those of Virginia, he topped to breakfast at a public house near Big Rock-Castle river. Travellers of this description any other indeed than hardy wordsmen were unwilling to pas3 through this dreary region: and they generally waited on its confines for others, and travelled through in parties. iVlr. L.anglord, either not dreading dan ger, or not choosing to delay, determin ed to proceed alone. While breakfast was preparing, the Harpes and their wives came up. Their appearance de moted poverty, with but .little regard to cleanliness; two very indifferent horses, with some bags swung across them, and a rifle gun or two, composed nearly their whole equipage. Squalid and miserable, they seemed objects of pity, rather than of fear, and their ferocious glances were attributed more to hunger than to guilty passion. JLhey were entire strangers in that neighborhood, and like Mr. Langford, were about to cross the wilderness. When breakfast was served up, the landlord, as was custom ary, in those limes, invited all persons who were assembled in the comtnoo, perhaps the only room of his little inn, to sit down; but the Harpes declined, al leging their want of money as the rea sou. Langford who was of a lively, generous disposition, on hearing this, invi ted them to partake of a meal at his ex pense; they accepted of the invitation, and ate voraciously. When they had thus refreshed themselves and were about to renew their journey, Mr. Lang ford called for the bill, and in the act of discharging it, imprudently displayed a handful of silver. They then set out together. "A few days after, some men who were conducting a drove of cattle to Virginia, by the same road which had been travelled by Mr. Langford and the Harpes, had arrived within a few miles of the Big Rock-castle river, when their cattle took fright, and quitting the road rushed down a hill into the woods. In collecting them, the drovers discovered the dead body of a man concealed benind a log, and covered with brush and leaves. It wa3 now evident that the cattle were alarmed by the smell of - f blood in the road, and as the body exhibited marks of violence, it was at once suspected that a murder had been perpetrated but recently. The corpse was then taken to the same house where the Harpes had breakfasted, and recognised to be that of Mr. Langford, whose name was marked upon several parts of his dress. Suspicion fell upon the Harpes, who were pursued and appre hended near Crab Orchard. They were taken to Stanford the seat of justice for Lincoln. eo. where they vere examined and committed by an inquiring court, sent .to Dauviiie for safe keeping, and probably for trial, as the system of district coMtts was then in operation in Kentucky. Previous to the time of trial, they made their escape, and proceeded to Ifeaderson co. which at that time was iust beginning to be settled. Here they soon acquired a dreadful celebrity, Neither avarice, nor any of the. usual inducements to tne commis si on pf crime, seemed to govern their conduct, A savage thirst for blood a deep rooted malignity against human native, could alone be discovered in their anions. Thejr murdered every defence

less being who fell in their way, without ' i . r i . i

uisunciion or age, sex, or colour, in me night they stole secretly to a cabin, slaughtered its inhabitants, and burned their dwelling while the farmer who left his house by day, returned to witness the dying agonies of his wife and children, and the conflagration of his possessions. Plunder was not their object: travellers they robbed and murdered, but from the inhabitants they took only what would have been freely given them, and no more than was immediately necessary to supply the wants of nature; they destroyed without having suffered injury, and without the prospect of gain. A negro boy, riding to mill with a bag of corn, was seized by them, and his brains dashed out against a tree; but the horse which he rode and the grain were left unmolested. Females, children, and servants, no longer dared to stir abroad; unarmed men feared to encounter a Harpe ;and the solitary hunter as he trod the forest, looked around him with an watchful eye, and when he saw a stranger, picked his flint and stood on defence. It seems incredible that such atrocities could have been often repeated in a country famed for the hardihood and gallantry of its people; in Kentucky the cradle of courage, the nurse of warriors. But that part of Kentucky which was the scene of these barbarities was then almost a wilderness, and the vigilance of the Harpes for a time ensured impunity. The spoils of their dreadful warfare furnished them with the means of violence and of escape. Mounted on fine horses they plunged into the forest, eluded pursuit by frequently Changing their course, & appeared unexpectedly to perpetrate new enormities, at points distant from where they were supposed to lurk. On these occasions they often left their wives and children behind them; and it is a fact honorable to the community, that vengeance for these bloody deeds was not wreaked on the helpless, but in some degree guilty, companions of the perpetrators. Justice, however, was not long delayed. "A frontier is often the retreat of loose individuals, who, if not familiar with crime, have very blunt perceptions of 'Pi. . . i . ... it. vuiut;. iiiu genuine wooasman, uie real pioneers, are independent, brave, and upright; but as the jackail pursues the lion to devour hi3 leavings, the footsteps of the sturdy hunter are closely pursued by the miscreants destitute of his noble qualities. These are the poorest and the idlest of the human race averse to labor, and impatient of the restraints of the law, and the courtesies of civilized society. Without the ardor, the activity, the leve of sport, and patience of fatigue, which distinguish the bold backwoodsman, these are doomed to the forest by 6heer laziness, and hunt for a bare subsistence; they are the 'cankers of a calm world and a long peace,' the helpless nobodies, who in a country where none starve and few beg, sleep till hunger pinches, then stroll in the woods for a meal, and return to their slumber. They are sometimes mere wax in the hands of the designing, & be come the accessaries of that which they have not the courage or the industry to perpetrate. With such men the Harpes are supposed to have lurked. None are known to have participated in their deeds of blood, nor suspected of sharing their counsels; but they sometimes crept to the miserable cabin of those who feared or were not inclined to betray them. Two travellers came one night to the house of a man .named Stegal, and, for want of belter lodgings, claimed under his little roof that hospitality which in a ne w countrv is found at every habitation Shortly after the Harpes arrived. It was not, it seems, their first visit; for Mrs. Stegal had received instructions from them which she dared not disobey, never to address them by theii real names in the presence of third persons. On this occasion they contrived to inform ler that they intended to personate melodist preachers, and ordered her to ar range matters so that one of them should sleep with each of the strangers, whom they intended to murder, btegai was absent, and the woman was obliged to obey. Thestranger3 were completely deceived as to the character of the new ly arrived guests; and when it was an nounced that the house contained uui two beds, they cheerfully assented to the proposed arrangements; one crept into a bed on the lower floor with one ruffian, while the other retired to the loft with another. Both the strangers became their victims; but these bloody

(rujiians, who seemed rieitler to feel

shame, nor dread punishment, determined to leave behind them no evidence of their crime, and consummated the foul tragedy by murdering their hostess and setting fire to the dwelling. From this scene of arson, robbery and murder, the perpetrators fled precipitately, favored by a heavy fall of rain which, as they believed effaced their

footsteps. They did not cease thenflight until late the ensuing day when they halted at a spot which they supposed to be far from any human habitation. Here they kindled a fire, and were dry ing their clothes, when an emigrant who had pitched his tent hard by, strolled to wards the camp. He was in search of his horses, which had strayed, and civally asked it they had seen them. This unexpected woodsman they slew, and continued their retreat. "In the meanwhile the outrages of these murderers had not escaped notice, nor were they tamely submitted to. The governor of Kentucky had offered a reward for their heads, and parties of volunteers had pursued them; they had been so fortunate as to escape punishment by their cunning, but had not the prudence to delist, or fly the country. "A man, named Leiper, in revenge for the murder of Mr?. Stegal, raised a party, aud pursued and discovered the assassins, on tbe day succeeding that atrocious deed. They came so suddenly upon the Harpes that they had only time to fly in different directions. Accident aided the pursuers; one of the Harpes was a large, and the other a small man: the first rode a strong, powerful horse, the other a fleet, but much smaller animal; and in the hurry of flight they had exchanged horses. The chase was long and hot, the smaller Harpe escaped unnoticed; but the other, who was kept in view, spurred on the noble animal which he rode, and which already jaded, began to fail at the end of five or six miles. Still the miscreant pressed forward; for, although none of his pursuers were near but Leiper, who had outridden his companions, he was not willing to risk a combat with a man as strong, and perhaps bolder than himself, who was animated with a noble spirit of indignation against a shocking and unmanly outrage. Leiper was mounted on a horse of celebrated powers, which he had borrowed from a neighbor for this occasion. At the beginning of the chase he had pressed his charger to the heighth of his speed, care fully keeping on the track of Harpe, of whom he sometimes caught a glimpse as he ascended the hills, and again lost sight in the valleys and the brush. But as he gained on, and became sure of his victim, he slackened pace, cocked his rifle and deliberately pursued, sometimes calling upon the outlaw to surrender. At length in leaping a ravine, Harpe's horse strained a limb, and Leiper over took him. Both were armed with rifles: Leiper fired and wounded Harpe thro' the body, the latter, turning in his seat, levelled his piece, which missed fire, and he dashed it to the ground, swearing that it was the first lime it had deceived him. He then dresv a tomahawk, and waited the approach of Leiperwho nothing daunted, unsheathed his long hun ting knife and rushed upon his desperate foe, grappled with him and hurled him to the ground, and wrested the only re-! roaining weapon from his grasp. The! prostrate wretch exhau3ted with the, Ios3 of blood, conquered, but unsubdued inspirit now lay passive at the feet of his adversary. Expecting every moment the arrival of the rest of his pursuers, he inquired if Stegal was of the party, and being answered in the aflirmative, he exclaimed, 'Then I am a dead man. "Thatvould make no difference,'1 replied Leiper calmly ; you mu6t die at any rale; I do not wish to kill you myself, but if nobody else will do it I must. Lei per was a humane man, easy, slow spoken, and not quickly excited, but a tho rough soldier when roused. Without insulting the expiring criminal, he questioned bim as to the motives of his late atrocities. The murderer attempted not to palliate, or deny them, and con fessed that he bad been actuated by no inducement but a settled hatred of his species, whom he had sworn to destroy without distinction, in retaliation for some fancied injury. He expressed no regret lor any oi his bloody deeds, except that which he confessed he had perpetrated upon one of his children. 'It cried,' said he, "and I killed it. 1 had always told the woman,! would have no crying about me." He acknowledged that be had amassed large sums of mo uey,an& described the places ef conceal

ment; but as none was ever discovered! 1 had taken a bitch (cjom Vienna to Parit is presumed he did net declare the! is : in a very short time she cempre

truth. Leiper had fi.cd t verul tin ts at Harpe durirg the ciase, and wouudc-ii him, and when the lattt r was askec wh) when he found Leiper pursuing him alone he did not dismount ai,d take to u tree from behind which he could inevitably have shot him as he approached; he replied that he had supputed there was not a horse in the country equal to th e one which he rode, and that he wae confident of making his escape. He thought, also that the pursuit would be less eager, so long as he abstained front shedding the blood of any of his puisuers. Oa the arrival of ihe rest of the party the wretch was despatched, and he died as he had lived in remorseless gurtt. The other Harpe made his way to the neighborhood of Natche.. where he join ed a gang of robbers, headed by a man ramed Meason, whose villanies were so notorious that a reward was offered for his head. At that period, vast regions along the shores of the Ohio and Mississippi were unsettled, through m:ioh boats navigating those rivers mut m.tessarily pas? ; and the traders who, after selling their cargoes at New Orleans, attempted to return by land, had to cross an immense wilderness, totally destitute of inhabitants. Meason, who was a mar rather above the ordinary stamp, infested these deserts, seldom committing murder, but robbing all who fell in his way. Sometimes he plundered the descending boats; but more frequently he allowed these to pas, preferring to rob the owners of their money as they returned, pleasantly observing, that "those people were taking produce to market for him. Harpe took an opportunity when the rest were absent to slay Meason, and putting his head in a bag, car ried it to Natchez, and claimed the re ward. The .claim was admitted; the head of Meason was recognized, but so also was the face of Harpe, who was ar rested, condemned and executed. SAGACITY OF DOGS. Many of the inferior animals leave n distinct knowledge of time. The sun appeals to regulate the motions of those which leave their homes in the morn ing, to return at particular hours in the evening. ' The Kamschatka dogs are probably influenced in their autumnal return to their homes by a change of temperature. But in those animals possessing the readiest conceptions, as in the case of dogs in a highly civilized country, the exercise of thia faculty it strikingly remarkable. Mr. Southey,in his Ornniana. relates two instances of dogs who had acquired such a knowl edge of time as would enable them to f ..i k n . t i T count me days oi me week', lie says "My grandfather had one which trudg ed two miles every Saturday, to cater for himself in the shambles. 1 knew another more extraordinary and well authenticated example. A dog which hail belonged to an Irishman, and wa3 sold by him in England, would nver touch a morsel of food utfor. Friday." The same faculty of recollecting intervals of time exists, though in a more limited extent, in the horse. We know a horee(and have witnessed the circumstance) which, being accustomed to be employed once a week cn a journey with the newsman of a provincial paper, always stopped at the houses ol the several customers, al though they were aixty or seventy in number. Bit further were two persons on the route whotook one paper between them, and each claimed the privilege of having it first the alternate Sunday! The horse soon became accustomed to this regulation; and although the parties lived two miles distant, he stopped once a fortnight at the door of the halfcustomer at Thorpe, and once a fort night at that of the other half-customer atCbertsey, and never did he forget this arrangement, which lasted several years, or stop unnecessarily when he once thoroughly understood the rule. Dr. Gall says that dogs "learn to un derstand not merely separate words or articulate eounds, but whole sentences expressing many ideas. Dr. Llliotson, the learned translator of blumenbach s Philosophy, quotes the following pas sage from Gall's Treaties sur les Fotictions du Cerxcau without expressing m - -

any doubt of the circumstance: "I havelfrom human passion.' Zenaide, the el-

often spoken intentionally of objecls which might interest my dog, taking care not to mention his name, or make any Intention or gestures which might awaken his attention. He, however, showed no less pleasure or sorrow, as it might be; and, indeed, manifested by his behaviour, that he had understood the conversation vrhkh concerned him.

bended French as well as German, of which 1 satisfied m) self by repeating be

fore her whole sentences in both lan guages." We have heard an instance of t his quickness in the comprehension of languages which is very remarkable, A mongrel, between the shepherd's dog and terrier, a great favorite in a farmhouse, was standing by, while b.U mis press was washing some of her children. Upon asking a bey whem had just dressed, to bring his sisiei'm clothes from tne next room, he printed ai d hesitated. "Oh, then," said 'be mother, "Mungo will fetch thi m. bhe said ihi by way of rwproach to the boy, for Mui go had not been accustomed to fetrh aird carry. But Mungo unintelligent and obedient; aud without further command he brought the child 's frock to his astonished misIrefes This was an ffort of imagination in Mungo, which dogs certainly possess in a very considerable degree. He had often observed, doubtless, the business of dressing the children; and the instant he was appealed U$ he imagined what his anitres wanted. Every one knows the anxiety which dogs fed to go out with their masters, if thy have been accustomed so to do. A dog will often anticipate the journey of his owner; and, guessing the road he means to take, steal away to a considerable distance on that road to avoid be' ing detained at home. We have repeatedly seen this circumstance. It is distinctly an effort of the imagination, if H be not an inference of reasoning, Linnaeus has made ft a characterestic of dog3 that "they bark at beggars but beggars are ragged, and sometimes have the look of wildness which equalid poverty produces; and then the imagination of the dog sees, in the poor mendicant, a robber of his master's house, ot one who will be cruel to himself and he expresses his own fears by a bark. A dog is thus valuable for watching property in proportion to the ease with which he is alarmed. One of the greatest terrors of a domesticated dog is a naked man, because this is an unaeustcmed object, The sense of fear is said to be so great in this situation, that 1 1 o fiercest dog will not even bark. A tanyard at Kilmarnock in Ayrshire was a few years ago extensively robbed by a thief, who took this method to overcome the courago of a powerful Newfound land dog, who had long protected a considerable property. The terror which the di g telt at the naked thief was altogether imaginary, for the naked man was leas capable of resisting the attack of the dog than if he had been clothed. But then the dog had no support in his experience, His memory of the past did not come to the aid of that faculty which saw an unknown danger in the future. The faculties of quadru peds, like those of men, are of course mixed in their operation. The dog, who watches by his fnaster&'s grave, and is not temp..ed away by the caresses of the living, employs both his memory tnd his imagination in this act of affection In the year 1827 there was a dog con stantly to be seen in St, Bridge's churchyaro, r leei-street, wmcnior two years had refused to leave the place where his master was buried. He did not appear miserable; he evidently recollected their old companionship, and he imagine ed that their friendship would again be renewed. The inhabitants of the hou ses round the church daily fed the pooi creature, and the sexton built him a little kennel. But he would never quit the spot; and there he died. Prestnt State of the Bonaparte family. It is curious to learn wkat has become of the different members of this once ajj powerful family. The comte de Surviliers (Joseph) is a farmer of the United States; in a letter dated the 26th of December, 1 826, to a lady in Europe, he says: 'I think it would be scarcely rational to think of quitting a country where I find all that the old world wants. The separation from my friend is the 6ole consideration to be set against its advantages 1 knovr not that I shall ever see them again; fhe rulers of Europe must first know me for what I am, and this is ton much to hope dest daughter of Joseph, has married the prince of Mu?ignano, son of th prince of Canino (Lucien;)tbe youngest daughter is married to tbe eldest 6on of the comte de St. L?u (Louis.) These young people live at Florence, near tbe wife of Joseph, the countesse SurviJliers, a person who bears wi extremely amiable character

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