Rising Sun Times, Volume 3, Number 145, Rising Sun, Ohio County, 20 August 1836 — Page 2

Original.

Written for fie Rising Sun Times. CACOETHES SC'RIBEXUI NO. II. FIRST SOCIETY. Who has ever read the Letters of Lord Chesteifieid to his son. and did not admire their most excellent precepts and maxims? Who lias read Mrs. Opic "0,i Lying," and not found somelhingapplicahle to himself ; T!u se two hooks oniht in my opinion, to he found in the Book Case, or if there he no such Case, on the shelf or mantle I piece, of every family. Norshould they! he permitted to lay there unopened,! or become as some old and time-worn j and moth-eaten author on the clashes. They should be studied well, and well ! understood by every member of the j family, both old and young, male and female. If this were done, and the attention given to them which they so well deserve, my opinion is, that society, at this day, would be far different from what it really is. These hooks are capable of working a far greater reformation in the customs of Society, and the morals of community, than could be accomplished bv mv pen. were I to live a thousand years. Permit j me, then, to recommend to all classes, I to procure these works, if they have j them not already, and particularly I Lord Chesterfield, and read them over and over again till they are satisfied h:lt tllPV hair rnw,iriirrl wil'n t!l in. ! structions they contain. By this time the reader may be ready to ask what I have to say about ''First Society.''' I might say much more than I intend to but my object is simple; and I much admire the advice of a great favorite, which is ";e short."1 There is, in all the communities in which it has fallen to my lot to be a member, a certain class of people who arrogate to themselves all the decency, respectability, talent, wealth, and all the finer accomplishments necessary to constitute them superior beings, and apply to themselves the title of "First Society." The minute observer of the ways of mankind, can never have any difficulty in pointing out a member of this society, for there are few, indeed, who have the honor to belong to it, but take great pains to let it be knewn, and to boast that such are, and such cannot be members thereof. For myself, I have never made application to become a member, nor do i think while 1 keep my senses, 1 ever shall. And much as I regret that in a country whose highei-t boast it is that all stand upon an equality that all men are born free and ciptal that no distinctions cai be made there should exist a class who arrogate to themselves a superiority over their fellow citizens 1 say, much as I regret all this, yet I rejoice to see this class, denominating themselves the"7s Soeiety,''' composed of just such characters as they are. To me there is a secret pleasure in it, because, (although it is not Christian-like to take pleasure in the unhappy situation of a fellow mortal.) from the very nature of the Socio-! ty they are the most uneasy, unhappy, and discontented beings that exist. To some this assertion may seem a little singular; nevertheless, it is strictly true. Picture to yourself, for instance, a man or woman, who make it their especial business to run from house to house, to gather up news and retail it out; and consider what wo-be-gonc countenances they wear, should there be a dearth of news, or if it should happen that a story has been heard before they had the pleasure of telling it. They meet with many misfortunes and mishaps, yet they cling to their first love with a zeal and a pertinacity worthy of a far better cause. In my Introductory remarks I made a slight allusion to the mock modesty which was prevalent in certain classes of Society. In the first society of the present day there is none of this. But take its members all in all, there is a greater portion of ignorance and impudence, than of cither gentility, education, or good breeding, These latter ingredients, are the essential requisites for a good society; and 1 think it needs no argument to sustain this point. It may be asked what measures this society take !o augment their number? In answer, I must say that I am not aware whether an' witchcraft, similar to that which we are told exists in Freemascmy, is made use of or not; my own opinion is that the greatest recommendation is a good exterior, with a fine coat; an expert manner of conversation, no matter whether it is sense or nonsense; to look upon work as a disgrace, and view mechanics as a species of slaves; a boast of good parentage and rich relations; a very large portion of impudence; and perhaps, sometimes v,cnlth may be necessary. These, taken together, or in part, constitute what is called the l first society, by, the members themselves; and he who possesses

any of them, can easily gain admittance thereto. I am perfectly willing that "birds of a feather should flock together;" and all that vexes me is to see a certain portion of our fellow citizens in continual fear of this class of persons. Some there are, who by their dread of coming under the lash of the "first society,"' almost acknowledge their exclusive claim to supcriorty. There is many a hard working, intelligent and worthy man, who docs not w ish to become the sport of a few gentry, and thus keeps himself in the back ground he knows that if he ventures across the line established by the first society, he immediately becomes an object for them to hunt down. It is thus that they show their fear and it is thus that many an individual drives himself into obscurity, while at the same time he gives his inferiors an opportunity to exult at his fate. I should like to sec these things done away I cannot see any good reason why modest, intelligent, and unassuming men should be governed by rules adopted by the impudent, and the ignorant. The truth is though, this is too much the case. A lazy, good-for-nothing, trifling fellow, if he can wear a ruilled-shirt, broad cloth clothes, carry a cane, and wear a large breast pin, no matter whether he is dishonest, or whether he can write his own name he may be bankrupt in character and fortune -if he can use his tongue, he can go into the first society, and sit in judgement on the charter and conduct of all mankind! Now, where is the honest and upright man who should dread of fear such a character as this? Surely a man must be w eak indeed, if, instead of fearing, he did not look upon such a being with mingled feelings of pity and contempt. 1 have seen just characters as these : I have heard them tooi when their creditors (some honest and hard working people) began to think it was time to get pay, turn in and abuse them, and boast that they had seen better davs! and talk about rich relations, Sec. Sec. I have also seen such characters fall out with one another but this seldom happens, as it is one cf their great objects to be numerous, so that they may have power. So much (or "first society.' I may, and no doubt will be made a target for the members of this society at which

to aim thcirarrows of envy, malice, and hatred, for thus speaking out boldly of their real character. But ! care not for this it may excite a smile, and may call forth some pily but it will do nothing more. I wish that every body looked upon them as 1 do and would view them as a set of harmless bipctl, w ho are too ignorant to know anv belter. If this were the case, 1 think the society w ould soon cease to eXISt. IiU HARD THE SCRIBE. FOR THE TIMES. LOUISVILLE CANAL. Never w as there a time before when so many flat boats were being put in active preparation at this landing for the Mississippi trade; and I have reason lo believe that manv of the owners are not fully informed of the situation of the Louisville canal. Two or three weeks since the canal company advertised that the canal would soon be closed for rcpaits, &,c; and that on its being opened the tolls would be sixty cents per ton on steam boats, and three cents per foot (surface measure) on Hat boats, being an increase of charge of 50 per cent. It is not my object to discuss the right or exjicdicncy of this contemplated extortions charge, but it ondd lo be done by some mote able writer. Our first impulse of legal resistance to this insult is that the U. S. Government ought much rather build a new canal from JelTersonville, than to purchase the present one at the great advance asked; and thai, let the company use their own canal, and tax themselves as high as they please. But I am informed that the company feel assured against such a course; for recently I heard a highly respectable Louisvilleian say that " the company had no fears that the U. States would ever build another canal, as they owned so much in the present one."1 The nczo canal toll on ll.it boats will be, viz Ou a boat CO feet by 1 G feet, $23 GO " 70 " 17 " 35 70 " SO " 18 43 20 and on all other sizes in like proportion. The canal is now closed; and when it is to be again opened appears to be uncertain. All the information I have upon the subject is quite vague. The Commercial . Register of Louisville, date 13th August, hist, has this laconic paragraph on the subject: "The canal is now closed. It will remain so for some weeks for the purpose of removing obstructions." My sole object in penning tins is to

bring the canal business more fully before our citizens who are engaged in the river ti ade, that they may, if they think proper, take measures to ascertain what they are to encounter or expect at the falls, and prepare therefor, rather than put off as formerly and be put to inconvenience there. II.

(tj- We find the following letter in the last number of the Weekly Messenger, with some very severe notes appended to it, which we omit. We presume the author had no idea of ever seeing it in print, or he would have been more rareful and not have written cpiite so many falsehoods as the fact is, it is a real "mrs.s of fri(r," and eontains little or no truth at all. Cur reasons for publishing it are, to let People at a distance know that its assertions are false; and to let pocple at home see what kind of neighbors they have. From the Delaware Delhi, N. Y. Gazette. We publish by request the following extracts from a letter from a gentleman formerly resident in Meredith, in this county, to a friend in that place, dated at Allenville, Switzerland county, Indiana, May, 15, 183G. Dear Sir, 1 will endeavor to give you a description of this region of country and the inhabitants as far as my ob servation and information extends. In doiti which I "shall neither extenuate nor set down aught in malice,"' as said Otheh), but speak of it as it is. You would not be much interested with the particulars of our journey, even if I could give a faithful narrative, how 70 of us were crammed into a little canal boat and how 500 of us were sea sick on Lake Lrie for two days together. Suffice it to say, we arrived safe at a little village called the Rising Sun, on the north bank of the Ohi o river, and about 30 miles below Cincinnati, on the 17th day after we left Meredith. Here we remained aboula week when we moved about nine miles in the county of Switzerland, Indiana, and took up our residence in a comfortable log house "surrounded by a very fine country, all settled by thriving farmers' so vve are told. Our first enquiry was for something to eat, net doubting we should find, if not milk and honey, a plenty of good wheat and something in the likeness of meat. We called on the nearest farmer, a man Who has a large farm, a very friendly man and one that I should think as well oil as any of his neighbors. Can you let us have some Flour? we asked. No. Can you let us have some pork? No. Can you let us have some corn? No. And thus went through with the whole list of eatables and drinkables, and the answer was uniformly no, I have not enough for my own family. He finally concluded to spare us a peck or half bushel potatoes and three pints milk. It so happened we brought with us a cheese, part of a ham and two or three loaves of bread, and with these and the half bushel potatoes we got along for two or three days, in the mean time we found another "large farmer" who let us have two chickens, and an old rooster, and anothwho had killed a cow let us have a few pounds of beef. This is not fiction but tacts. For four miles around among the inhabitants who had resided here from ten to eighteen years, and almost every section inhabited by farmers, we found it impossible to get the necessaries of life. They had corn growing, hut not ripe. They had pork growing, but not lit to kill, and their crop of wheat almost entirely cut off. Our interested friends and cousins here were very anxious to explain to us the cause of the scarcity of provisions; and when they recommended the country very highly for wheat 1 just barely asked them where they threshed their wheat? You may look for miles together and not find even an apology for a bain and our good friends would make us believe there was no great necessity of a barn in this country. And the delusion was not dispelled until about the 20lh of November, when our winter set in and with as much severity as you ever have a eonimeiicctnent in Meredith. But I may as well say something in regard to the weather. From the time we arrived in this slate till about the 20th November, it was quite warm and pleasant and some part of the time extremely hot, with an occasional rainy day, when our winter commenced in real earnest and continued for about a month, when the weather moderated down, the snow all went off and the frost came out of the Rround. From about the middle of January till the close of winter, the weather was more variable but not as sudden changes a3 you experience at the east. The cold has held on later this season than usual here so say the inhabitants. It was near the middle of April before we could plough, but at the date of this the farmers have thei r spring crops in and grass looks very wcli. You must kuow we are blessed with

all the advantages of a stiff clay soil; and if you ever lived on clay soil you know by experience how comfortable it is travelling in clay mud if not H is out of my power to describe the horrors of it. As far as I can learn the land produces 20 to 25 bushels of corn to the acre; same of oats, and 5 to 15 wheat. Apples flourish well here, and without exception the best apples I ever eat. The same kind of apples here are altogether richer than at the east. Pears will flourish well if cultivated and also cherries. But alas for peach

es, I find peach trees very plenty here but few peaches. They do not have peaches oftener, than once in five or six years. The prospect is we shall have some this year if the frost does not kill them. The region of country around where we are located is very poorly water ed: no permanent streams of water and very few springs. This I find to be a serious difficulty in all this part of the state. I have on my premises a livin spring and I have been told there was not another as good within five miles of me. All our permanent mills arc pro pelled by steam. The principal timocr is oak ol all kinds and ruckorv.and in addition we have some black walnut, whitewood, whitensh, maple, beach, lo cust, button-ball, fcc. .c v:c. The inhabitants appear to be very friendly (if you will pay them for it.) and as much refined as could be expected. i,.r I r , I ueiuie purcnasing l iook a tour on towards the interior of the state and across into Ohio, and not finding much dillerencc in the quality of the soil ex cept in the vicinity of rivers, where you Unci a very rich alluvial soil, we purchased here. As for myself I consider it only temporarily. What we have purchased we purchased at a bargain, and I think vve shall be able to sell it for as much or more than we gave. As regards temperance I would say they are considerably in the back grounds, yet I have assisted in forming two temperance societies, in two different towns since I have been here, and 1 see nothing in the wav of tcmoerance flourishing as soon as they get a little more enlightened on the subject. The inhabitants are not yet ashamed to send a notorious drunkard to legislate for them in their State Senate. The prevailing religion is methodist and they not very numerous. Education, as in many other sections is rather neglected. The legislature has heretofore done more to build up colleges and schools of a higher order than they have common schools. The people are talking largely about canals and rail t oads, but probably talking will be all. If they would do something for the bettering of common roads 1 should be very glad. To conclude, I must say, that with all the advantages of this region of country and all the labored recommendations of our good friends, 1 should not advise any one to locate as far down as we are, but somewhere from the mid dle of the state north for fifty miles, and running thence across the slate and continuing into Illinois widening out to one hundred miles a very desirable location might be obtained. My family have all enjoyed good health since wc have been here, and far as they arc concerned no one has been homesick in the least. With all the disadvantages here I believe this to be as healthy as Meredith, except it be cholera, to which the inhabitants have been considerably subject in all this part of the state. Lynching a Judge! The glorious work of reforming and simplifying our administration of justice, by the substitution of the Code Lynch for the Common Law, progresses swimmingly. Recently, one William Boyd was tried in Nicholas Co. Kentucky, for a homicide, found guilty of manslaughter by the jury, and by them sentenced to three years and two months imprisonment. A motion was made for a new trial, which was granted by Judge Brown, and the prisoner admitted lo bail. Hereupon the sovereigns took the case in hand, and charging a lire engine with filthy water, proceeded to drench therewith the Judge, and then lo hang and burn him in clligy. The District Attorney shared in the shower of popular favor bestowed upon the Judge, which he took kindly, and attributed it to his being caught in bad company. A public meeting of the citizens of Bardstown recently resolved to erect a monument to the memory of those volunteers who went from that place to Texas, and were slaughtered in the Goliad massacre. They also adopted a resolution, recommending retaliation on the part of the Texians, for the inhuman cruelties committed by Santa Anna.

AMERICAN OIL WELL. About ten years since, while boring

for salt water, near Bakersville, Ky., after penetrating through solid rock, upwards of 2G0 feet, a fountain of pure oil was struck, which was thrown up in a continued stream more than 12 feet above the surface of the earth. Mihough in quantity somewhat abated, after the discharge of the first few min utes during which it was supposed lo emit 75 gallons a minute; it still con tinued to flow for several days successively. The well being on the margin and near the mouth of a small creek, emptying into the Cumberland river, the oil soon found its way thither, and for a long time covered its surface. Some gentlemen below, curious to ascertain whether the oil would take fire, applied a torch; quick as a Hash was exhibited the astonishing spectacle of the surface of the river in a blaze, which soon climbed the most elevated cliffs and scorched the summit of the loftiest trees, to the no small discomfiture of some of the neighbors. It ignites freely, and produces a ilamc as brilliant as gas. Its qualities were then unknown, but a quantity was barrelled, most of which soon leaked out. It is so penetrating as to be difficult to confine in wooden vessels, and has so much gas as frequently to burst bottles when filled and tightly corked. It is extremely volatile, has a strong, pungent and indescribable smell, and tastes much like the heart of ;t pitch pine. For a short time after the discovery, a small quantity of the oil would flow whilst pumping the salt water, which led to the impression that it could always be drawn by pumping. But all subsequent attempts to obtain it, except by a spontaneous (low, have entirely failed. There have been two spontaneous flows within the two last six years. The last commenced on the 4th July, 1 "35, and continued about six weeks, during which 20 barrels of oil were obtained. The oil and the salt water which is invariably combined during these flows, are forced up into the pump, supposed by the gas, nbove 200 feet, and thence through the spout into a covered trough, where the. water soon becomes disengaged and settles at the bottom, whilst the oil i.'. readily skimmed from" the surface. A fumbling noise, resembling distant thunder, uniformly attends the flowing of the oil, whilst the gas which is then visible every day at the top of the pump, leads the passing stranger to enquire whether the well is on tire. The Baltimore AthenuMtm mentions a curious case for the lawyers, as having recently occurred in that city. A laboring man engaged himself lodiga cellar in Old Town a few weeks ago, and was to have, according to agreement, the dirt which should be taken out in the excavation. While at work he found a jar containing a considerable quantity of gold and silver, and very naturally concluded that it of course belonged to himself; but the owner of the properly, hearing of his luck, put in a claim for the money on the ground that only the dirt was to belong to the laborer; this the laborer resisted, upon the plea that the understanding was that he was to have all that he took out of the cellar. The case is now undergoing legal investigation. Metropolitan. Cioi.n Minks. The gold mines at the South appear to be yielding liberally the precious metal. Hughes' mine in Fluvanna county, Va. with tett hands employed, and one small mill, affords an average of more than $100 per day. A mine on Col. Bowles1 land, in the same vicinity, is said to be slill richer. A letter from Fluvanna, published in the Richmond Inquirer, says, "The day is just dawning on gold mining in this region of the country, and it must contribute largely to' the sound currency which is endeavored to be established." The Conw'k.st ok Mexico. The people of the valley of the Mississippi are persuaded thai the Texian contest will terminate in the conquest of Mexico. The Grand Gulf (Miss.) Advertiser says: "As it is pretty well understood that the uprise of Texas is based upon the downfall of Mexico, there will be no lack of volunteers, particularly in the autumn, when there will be an open road to the ancient city of Montezuma." .V. Y. Star.

Hon. Jon.v ti'iM v Adams has been invited by the City Councils of Boston to deliver a Eulogy before the Bostonians on the character of the dececsed Madison. The ceremonies in honor of the Sage of Montpelier are expected lo take place late in August. The mills in Dearborn county in this Slate are now offering 87 1-2 cents per bushel for wheat. This is the highest price we have noticed in any ofourexchange papers, Indtanian, Chirlcstou'i.