The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1808-03-24 00:00:00, page 2

T.est it the stamp of precedent acquite.
Stand to your darling rights! be wisely
brave !
•Ihe wretch who shrinks-—deservestobe
a slave ! Sylvanus.
Anecdote.
A gentleman took into service a
young scion 44 from the land of para
toes."" He sent him one day, to get
change for a guinea. Paddy had ne
ver seen a monkey. On entering a
fchop, one oJ these animals was the only
living creature present. Supposing him
to be master of the shop, Paddy re
quested him in very polite language, to
give him change for a guinea. His
monkey-ship took the money, and dropt
it in the drawer, without returning the
change. Patrick entreated, and even
threatened, in vain. At length he re
turned to his master, and related the
circumstance. i he gentleman imme
<1 iately went to the place, accompanied
h\ nis servant. Bv ibis time the voung
man who attended the shop, had arrived,
and the monkey had disappeared. An
explanation concerning the guinea was
demanded ; the young man protested
lie knew nothing about it. Paddy was
called and asked 11' that was the gentle
man to w hom lie gave the guinea.—
He replied, 44 Ob no,sir, it was not him ;
it was a wee bit of an owidish kind of
jontleman. lie appears to be the father
of this young jontleman.”
Tor the Wheeling Repository.
Tiie Court-house.
IN general, it is improper to crowd
tiie columns of a newspaper w ith the
Joc.al concerns of the place where it is
printed : but when a local subject is of
vita] interest to the majority of the pa
t. ,;ns of a new spaper,I conceive its pages
n; sy w ith propriety he devoted to a fair
discussion of that subject. The project
now in agitation, to remove the seat ol
justice in this county, is of very great
importance to the tow n of Wheeling ;
and as I believe that at least half the
subscribers to the Hepositorv tire deep
ly interested in this removal, I-offer a
few reflections upon that subject, for
publication*
When, in 180-1, INIr. Doddridge was
elected to the Senate (A Virginia, he
pledged himself to oppose a removal of
the s at of justice from Wheeling. No
application was made' until last session,
wlun, to the astonishment of the citi
zens of the county, a hill for that pur
pose passed the H®use of Delegates.
This bill was opposed in the Senate by
Air. Doddridge, and defeated ; but to
every unprejudiced mind, the principles
upon which he opposed the removal,
must appear more hostile to the interest
ol Wheeling, than the removal itself.
J he opposition made bv Mr. Dod
dridge to tlie bill for removing the seat
of justice to Grave creek,was bottomed
upon the hypothesis, that a removal was
necessary; but that a removal to Grave
creek was not far enough down the ri
ver. He maintained that the seat of jus
tice for Ohio countv ought to he re
moved to Fishing creek or Ezekiel
town ; the Brooke countv line extended
to include W heeling in Brooke county,
so as to prevent any future application
to erect a new county out of part of O
hio, Harrison, and \\ ood. Not content
with advancing these arguments in the
Senate, lie maintained the same opinions
out ol doors ; and when in this place,
since his return, he openly avowed that
such arrangement must soon take place;
that no rational calculation could be
made upon defeating it.
M hen we hear Mr. Doddridge con
tinually promulgating these opinions, I
think we ought to consider the bearing
they must necessarily have upon our
interest. We ought also to examine
whether these opinions, and his argu
ments in tiie Senate, fairly comport
with his promise to oppose a removal of
the scat of justice ; or whether thev are
not a kind of juggle, by which lie keeps
his promise to the ear, and breaks it to
the sense.
Is it a fact, that for the convenience
nnd accommodation of the citizens of
Ohio county, in a general view,tlu seat of
justice should be removed from Wheel
ing P Let this enquiry he answen d bv
an examination of the geographical si
tuation and population of the county,—
It is nine miles from Wheeling to the
upper boundary. It is, sav sixty, to the
lower boundary. Draw a line due east
from the rivt r, nine miles below Wheel
ing, and I believe the countrv above
will he found to contain near two thirds
of the population of the county. Of
these two thirds, a considerable major
ity will he found in the town of Wheel
ing and abort it. Of the remaining one
third, in lli lower part of the countv,
nearly hah reside within twenty miles
| ot Wheeling : un<J unless the seat pf jus
tice is established at Grave creek, no
removal will bring it nearer to them.
Below Grave creek,.the country, back,
from the river is broken, barren, and
generally uninhabited, except on the wa
ter courses ; and those who are acquaint
ed with it, assert that *it is -not capable
of cultivation. . It, then, the seat of jus
tice is taken to Fishing creek or l*ze
kiel-tovvn, who will it accommodate?
About fifty or sixty families upon Mid
dle-Island, and a few families along the
river and other water courses, not ex
ceeding one filth of the present popula
non or tne county; whilst the inhabitants
of Grave creek and its waters, would
have to travel much further than they
now do.. If the seat of justice is re
moved to Grave creek, who will it ac
commodate. ? A few families just in the
neighbourhood will be benefitted. The
people from below, will have court 12 •
miles nearer to them, hut would have
to travel to Wheeling to transact all
their other concerns ; for no man can
suppose that Elizabeth-town can be
come a place of business. On the other
hand, the great mass of the population
of the county, would have to attend
court at a place where they could have
no other business.
This I consider a proper view of the
subject; and it is in this view, I conceive,
Mr. Doddridge should have considered
it in the benate. llad lie done this,
whatever might have been the result,w<?
would have had no cause to complain
ol him. But it is said that nothing but
the plan adopted, and the arguments ad
vanced by Doddridge, c ould have ar
rested the progress oi the bill in the
Senate. Be it so. Let it be conceded
that this was a mere stroke of policy, to
defeat the measure at that time, that we
might meet it on better ground hereaf
ter: where e xists the necessity for him
still to persevere in th • same course,
and maintain the same opinions ? He
now declares openly, that a removal
must take place sooner or later. He
spares no labour to discourage us. He
tells us that Madison’s map exhibits the
extreme length and smallness of the
county. H e tclU us of the impressions
made at Richmond upon the subject,
from a view of the county upon this
map ; and although he laboured to con
vince the road Commissioners, that the
country below Wheeling was nothing' ,
but rocks and mountains, lie now asserts
that th (ountiy below Grave cr -ek is
I capable oi beating a handsome populji