Jenks's Portland gazette (Portland [Me.]), 1799-08-26 00:00:00

JENKS' PORTLAND GAZETTE.
PUBLISHED ON MONDAYS, BY ELEZER ALLEY JENKS, PRINTER OF THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE.
[NUMBER 70.] MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1799. [VOLUME II.]
District of Maine.
BY order of the Hon. DAVID SEWALL, Esq. Judge of the District Court for the District of Maine—Notice is hereby given to all persons concerned, that a Libel is filed in said Court, by NATHANIEL F. FOSDICK, Esq. Collector of the District of Portland and Falmouth, against the Schooner RAINBOW, a foreign built vessel of about Twenty six Tons burthen—her tackle, apparel and furniture, whereof one JONATHAN CROWDER is master, together with her cargo, consisting of about four hundred and fifty quintals of dried Cod Fish, seized by said Collector on the 5th day of July last, for a breach of the revenue laws of the United States—And that trial will be had on the aforesaid libel at the District Court to be held at Pownalborough, within said District, on the first Tuesday of September next.
ISAAC PARKER, Marshal. Dated at Portland, Aug. 1, 1799.
District of Maine.
BY order of the Honorable DAVID SEWALL Esq. Judge of the District Court of the United States for the said District of Maine—Notice is hereby given, that a Libel is filed in the Clerk's Office of said Court against the ship MAC, of Boston, now lying at Bath, within said District of Maine, her tackle, apparel, and furniture; of which ship one PAUL BROWNER was late master—said ship being seized for a violation of a law of the United States, made in prohibition of the transportation of slaves from Africa to any foreign port or place—And that a hearing will be had on said Libel before the said Court, at Pownalborough, within the District of Maine, on the first Tuesday of September next; at which time and place all persons interested may appear and show cause why the said ship, &c. should not be declared forfeited.
Also,—That another Libel is filed in said Office, by JEREMIAH HILL, Esq. Collector of the District of Bedeford and Pepperellborough, against the Schooner POLLY, of Kennebunk, her tackle, apparel and furniture, seized by said HILL for a breach of the revenue laws of the United States—And that trial will be had on said Libel, at Pownalborough, aforesaid, on the day above-mentioned; at which time and place all persons interested may appear and show cause (if any they have) why said Schooner, &c. should not be declared forfeited.
ISAAC PARKER, Marshal. Portland, 16th August, 1799.
Bowdoin College.
THE OVERSEERS of Bowdoin College, are hereby notified, That their Semi-annual meeting will be held at the House of Mr. JOHN DUNN, in Brunswick, on the last Wednesday of September next—at which a general attendance of the Members is requested.
MARK L. HILL, Sec'y. Georgetown, 14th Aug. 1799.
Notice is hereby given,
TO Retailers of Wines and foreign distilled Spirits, and owners of Wheel Carriages, in the County of Cumberland. That the subscriber will attend at his Office in Fifth-Street Portland, from Monday the 23d to Friday the 27th of September next, from 9 to 12 o'clock, A. M. and from 3 to 6 o'clock, P. M. on each day, to issue Licences to Retailers, and to receive entries and duties on Wheel Carriages.
EBENEZER MAYO, Collector of the Revenue. N. B. All Retailers of Liquors will be subject to Penalty of Fifty Dollars for selling without Licence;—and all owners of Wheel Carriages to a Penalty of Twenty Five per cent. if entry is not made and the duty paid within thirty days previous to the last day of September next.
OFFICE of INSPECTION—YORK.
RETAILERS of Wines, and Foreign distilled SPIRITS, and the keepers of CARRIAGES, in the County of York, are notified that attendance will be given at this Office every day in September next (except Sundays) to issue LICENCES to Retail, and to receive entries and Duties for Carriages.
All concerned are cautioned against Penalties, which will be demanded if forfeited.
JOSEPH TUCKER, Collector of the Revenue. YORK, Aug. 6th, 1799.
MEDICAL.
AT the Theatre in Dartmouth College, the MEDICAL LECTURES commence the first of October.
On Anatomy and Surgery. Chemistry and Materia Medica. And the theory and Practice of PHYSIC.
BARTER.
WANTED, in exchange for Land, at Waterford, forty six miles from this town, materials for a House, &c.—and labour to finish the same—The bricks to be delivered in Portland the ensuing fall—frame, boards, shingles &c. in the course of the winter months, and the joinery, and masonry, completed in all July next—in said land, there is a choice of lots; some suitable for making farms, others abounding with timber, mill privileges &c. &c.
Inquire at the Store of NATHANIEL CHAMBERLAIN, Middle-Street. Portland, 5th Aug. 1799.
Late News from Europe.
[Received by Capt. Wildridge, arrived at Boston, on Tuesday last, from Hamburg. Accounts Seventeen days later than before received.]
Another Revolution in France!
PARIS, JUNE 18. IN the Councils of 500 and Ancients, Briot and Savery expressed their astonishment at the neglect of the Directory to reply to the Message of the Legislative assemblies of the 5th on the interior and exterior state of the Republic. A new request was made, with the addition, that the Councils would remain permanent until an answer should be received. Three hours after, the Directory promised an answer next day. The Council of 500 nevertheless continued permanent.
After a violent discussion the Council suspended the dictatorial power of the Directory over the Journals and Pamphlets, and provisionally decreed six articles on the liberty of the Press.
The Council was informed that the Directory had declared itself permanent.
The Councils decreed, at 11 o'clock at night, the election of Treilhard to be unconstitutional.—Treilhard immediately ceased his functions, as Director.
Yesterday the ex-minister Gohier was elected, and proclaimed the new Director.
The Revolution of the Executive Power is nearly complete, and of all the Directors from whom Sieyes so lately received the fraternal embrace, on his installation, there is none now remaining but Barras.
Boulay de la Meurthe, in pursuance of his plan to annihilate the Dictatorial power of the Directory, proposed in the sitting of the 30th of Prairial, to refer the answer of the Directory to a special commission. He expressed himself very strong on this occasion on the Dictatorship which a triumvirate wished to assume. I revealed to you, he said, three days ago, the secret of the circumstances in which we are now involved. Since the 13th of Fructidor, the Executive Power has assumed the dictatorship, and neglected nothing to vilify the national representation.—You have remained silent; you thought they would use this immense power for the salvation of the Republic, but they have only employed it to bring on its ruin. They have rendered us the objects of the detestation of all nations.—We will resume our place in Europe, and we shall be beloved and respected. I accuse, above all, Merlin and La Reveillere as the authors of these evils. These men can never remain in the Executive Power.
Arena informed the Council of several facts, tending to inculcate the Directors and Minister of the police, in whose office he said they had been continually employed during four and twenty hours, in burning papers; these papers, he added, would without doubt have discovered the arbitrary and illegal measures of the Directory and have thrown a new light on the conspiracy.
Francois, of Nantes, caused a decree to be passed in the name of the commission of eleven members, to whom the message of the Directors had been referred importing that every authority or individual who should make any attempt against the liberty and security of the Legislative Assembly, either in giving orders or in executing them, should be outlawed.—This decree was sanctioned on the same day by the Council of Elders. At five in the afternoon, the Council of Five Hundred received a letter from each of the Directors La Reveillere and Merlin, by which they gave in their resignation in order to avoid all dissention.
A list of ten candidates was immediately drawn up, out of which the Council of Elders elected Roger Ducos and General Moulin, Directors.
The Council then suspended the sitting till eight.
Very heavy accusations are brought forward against Ramel, Minister of the Finances, and Francois Neufchateau. General Joubert is appointed to the command of the military force of the capital, in the place of Gillot.—The three cashiered Directors had attempted to cause 70 members of the Council of Five Hundred, to be arrested, which Barras opposed.—They afterwards ordered General Femeres, the commandant of Paris, to arrest 20 Deputies, but he refused to obey the orders. Merlin, who has been called in the Council of Five Hundred, a second Duke of Alba, is said to have committed the greatest enormities.—The numerous arbitrary arrests are now to cease, in consequence of a decree of the Council of Five Hundred—Paris has remained perfectly quiet amidst all these events. The play-houses, coffee-houses, public gardens and walks are crowded with company.
The new Director Gohier has accepted, and has already been installed.
Hamburg Summaries.
LOWER ELBE, JUNE 22. The Vienna Court Gazettes of the 11th and 12th of June, received on the 20th, confirm the chief events detailed of late.
General Melas, under the 3d of June, advices no material occurrence in the army at and around Turin.—Field-Marshal Frolich pushed on beyond Pignerol, Banculirre and Carignano, occupied Fossano, with a division, took post near Savigniano, and his patrols invested already the environs of Cuneo, a strong city on the conflux of the Shire and Gesso.
Gen. Vukassovich's advanced guard had entered Carmagnola, Alba, and Cheracco; in the latter he found several metal and heavy iron guns, with various ammunition.
The siege of the strong citadel of Turin, is continued most vigorously with the guns of the city.
General Lusignan was sent against the French division at Fenestrelle, on the river Cluson; and General Alciani has begun to bombard the citadel of Tortona. The fortification of Ceva, taken by the armed peasants, almost surrounded with French troops, was victualled for thirty days, when the French collecting their force closer, began to bombard it, and re-occupied Mondovi; but the advanced guard of Vukassovich forced them to quit both places a second time.
Field-Marshal Kray, at Castelluccio, on the 4th, writes of having reinforced Gen. Ott, who had taken such positions near Fernova, (famous for the severe battle between Charles VIII. of France, and the Duke of Milan, with his allies) as completely to cover Parma and Piacenza. The siege of Mantua is continued with the most vigorous perseverance.
General Count Bellegarde, after taking, with unexampled bravery, the famous St. Gotthard's Mount, embarked, with his own division, on the Lago di Comi, to proceed by Milan and Pavia, against Tortona, to join the Italian army—leaving behind him General Hadick to maintain the communication between Field-Marshal Suwarrow, and the Archduke Charles, which is now facilitated by St. Gotthard and Turin.
The Archduke's troops passed in haste through Zurich, to pursue the
French, and leave them no time to take post again. Hence the whole eastern parts of Switzerland are evacuated.
Private letters from Vienna state, that Cardinal Ruffo had re-entered Naples, and was pursuing Macdonald very closely; others say he was approaching Rome.
From Venice, on the 6th of June they write, that the Imperialists had entered Cesena, on the river Savio, & Rimini, on the river Marrecchia, where they took 5 cannon, 60 prisoners, and the French Consul of Sinagaglia.
JUNE 29. By the Vienna Court Gazette Extraordinary, of 16th June, the junction of Generals Moreau and Macdonald's armies is officially announced.—From the above official as well as private accounts, it appears that General Macdonald's march was effected thro' the mountain-defiles in Upper Italy, & along the sea-coast, which enabled him to join General Moreau on his retreat to the valley on the river Tonaro, and near Savona, on the Genoese coast.—Here they expected also to be joined by Generals Montrichard and Gaultier from Tuscany and Bologna.
To oppose the combined forces of the French, without hindrance to the close siege of the citadels of Turin, Tortona, and Alessandria, the corps under F. M. Lt. Generals Bellegarde and Ott; the divisions of Generals Frolich and Hohenzollern, the brigades of Generals Seckendorff and Alcajini, have all been united into a strong army of observation, ready to act every instant in support of the grand army of F. M. Suwarrow. Hence the news of a general and bloody engagement may soon be expected; and which, no doubt, will decide the fate of the French in Italy.
The official accounts from Switzerland only come down to the 9th; under which date the Archduke Charles wrote to Vienna, that the French left 94 pieces of cannon in Zurich, and that the progressive movements to mount St. Gothard and the Devil's Bridge, had been stopped by Col. Prince Rohan, Generals Hebert and Haddick.
Direct letters from Switzerland say, that General Massena disputes every inch of ground, and had obtained some trifling advantages in the engagements since the 9th, which, however, were soon returned by the Imperialists, whose headquarters, on the 15th, were still at Klatten, where General Hotz, and other chiefs, hold conferences every day.
HAMBURGH, JUNE 25.
The British force now in the Mediterranean, consists, of Fifty-Eight sail of the line.—The Turks, Russians and Neapolitans make the combined forces 73—The French and Spaniards have Sixty-Three sail of the line.
The English East-India Company has voted Lord Nelson 10,000 sterling.
Hamburg, June 29. The English have closely blockaded all the ports of the North seas.
The court of Prussia is said to have refused the French Republic a passage for 10,000 horses through the line of demarcation.
MILAN, JUNE 3.
In a magazine in this city, the Austrians have found in a vault, the following effects, which the French were not able to carry away with them:—A great many chests with valuable paintings from Rome—the great field repository of medicines, of considerable value—fifty chests with church plate—a great many bales of cloth valued at 2,000,000—a small coffer with gold bars; forty carriages, one finer than the other, which belonged to the French commissaries.

Portland,
MONDAY, AUGUST 26, 1799.
For continuation of the Laws of the United States, see half sheet accompanying this day's Gazette.
The Laws of the last session of Congress, will occupy but a few more numbers of the Gazette. As soon as they are concluded, a series of original political essays; and various other matters will enrich its pages.
The reader is this day furnished with fresh intelligence from Europe.—The revolution in the French Councils is highly important. The permanent Directory is thereby deprived of its supremacy.—The allied armies continue to fight with success, and "admirable perseverance," against the "disturbers of the world."
ELEGANT AMUSEMENT.
A grand CONCERT of Vocal and Instrumental MUSIC, at which a number of Gentlemen of Portland will assist as amateurs, is to be given at the Old Assembly-Room in King Street, on Thursday evening next, under the direction, and for the benefit of Mr. Pick.—From the select, and judicious arrangement, the high reputation of this gentleman in the musical world, and the respectability of the promoters and patrons; the attendance of a numerous, and brilliant audience is a natural conclusion. The amusements of the evening are to conclude with a BALL, to be managed by two respectable characters of the town.
THEATRICAL.
The rich entertainment advertised for This Evening , will doubtless insure a full house to so deserving a character as Mr. Jones; whose superior theatrical abilities are in high estimation with the lovers of the drama.—The parts assigned for Mrs. Jones will afford her an opportunity of displaying that elegance of action, and interesting modulation of speech, which have justly endeared her to a Portland audience.
The musical powers of Mrs. Pick, will add much to the entertainment of the evening.
A new Post Office is established at Lewiston, on Androscoggin river. Mr. DAN REED, is appointed post-master.
The Philadelphia papers inform that Mr. DAVIS, late Governor of North Carolina, has been appointed by the President, to succeed Patrick Henry, Esq. deceased, as Envoy to the French republic.
An expedition is actively preparing for at Portsmouth, Eng. Holland is said to be the object.
A Russian squadron of 4 ships of the line, Ad. Tate, has joined Ld. Duncan's fleet in the North Sea.
A fleet of Swedish vessels taken on the coast of France, and supposed bound in, with warlike stores on board, have been condemned in England. Valued at 600,000.
Extract of a letter from Commodore Truxton, to a respectable merchant in New York.—United States ship Constellation , August 15.
"I send you up by express, Mr. Carr, my clerk, and must request you will give him your aid in purchasing for my private account all the articles per list annexed, and that they be sent on board the Constellation in the shortest time possible.
"You no doubt know that I have resigned my commission in the navy, and the cause of my having done so. The secretary has however, returned it to me, with a request that I will proceed after the French 44 gun frigate seen by the Norfolk, in the event of captain Barron's not arriving before the ship is ready for sea; and this I have consented to do—for no personal injury which I feel shall ever make me less zealous in punishing the insults and wrongs done to my country, whenever an opportunity of this sort presents itself. I had landed all my baggage, &c. and not expecting to go out in the ship, provided no new stores.—The few I have ordered will be sufficient for the short cruise contemplated; indeed I may meet Barron between this and Sandy-Hook, if he should not arrive before—at all events I quit the ship on my return (for it is impossible that I can serve under the present arrangement of rank) but what a glorious event it would be, if in the mean time I should meet another of the Monsieur frigates, and how gratifying at this moment it would be to my mind.
Your's sincerely, &c.
We recently detailed to the public the particulars of the re-capture of the ship Harmony , Capt. Snell, from London to this port, by Mr. Nelson, the mate, the cook, steward, and passengers, in which Mrs. Collet and her sister bore a part conspicuous for firmness and humanity. We now learn, that on a trial for salvage, before Judge Peters, which terminated last week, the court decreed to each of the ladies 2000 dollars, to the cook 3000, to the steward 3500, to one of the men passengers 6500, and to the brave Nelson 8000.—We learn, however, that an appeal has been made to an higher court for a reduction of the salvage.
Gaz, U. S.
The frigate Congress , of 36 guns, was handsomely launched at Portsmouth, on the 10 inst. Gov. GILMAN, and a vast concourse, of both sexes, were present on the occasion.
A son of Secretary PICKERING, and a son of Judge DANA, are appointed Midshipmen, on board the frigate Congress .
The apprehensions of an Indian War appear to have been without foundation. All misunderstandings have subsided, and those fickle tenants of the shade again express their cordial approbation of the conduct of the President, and citizens of the United States.
A report is in circulation from Charleston, S. C. that a number of persons, to the amount of 200 or more, had lost their lives in that city, a short time since, by drinking of gin, into which a quantity of white lead, or some other poisonous mineral had been put, to change it from a yellow to a white color. (Baltimore paper.)
A Mr. Henry Jackson, of Dublin, an eminent iron monger, worth 50,000. sterling, has obtained permission of the English government to migrate to the United States.
Neckar, the celebrated Financier, still lives in Switzerland, respected even in the pell-mell confusion of war.
Carnot, the French Ex Director, is said to be with the army of the Archduke incog. exercising his great military talents, in giving success to the Austrian arms, in reversing the power of his tyrannical persecutors.
"The French Directory are now in possession of the brains of VOLTAIRE, from the contemplation of which they have not been able to add to their native store of infidelity, mischief & cunning!"
ADMIRAL NELSON.—Since it has been known that admiral NELSON calls and makes the Bible his Cabin Companion , we are told there has been more enquiry at the booksellers for the scripture, than even at the Cornhill shops for Nelson bonnets , or Nelson buttons . [Centinel]
The French journalists say, that the recruits of the allied armies have been taken from the tail of the plough ; a wit remarks, that it is more probable they have been taken from the barn , from the threshing they have given the French.
Suwarrows and the Archduke.
That valor is not entailed to corporeal dimensions, is pretty well proved the present campaign.—Suwarrows, who commands the allied army, in Italy, is 6 feet 4 inches high, and proportionably stout and boney. Whereas Prince Charles, who commands the Austrian army penetrating through Switzerland, is barely five feet one inch; with a correspondent frame of the most delicate texture.
Suwarrows in laconics is well up with Julius Cæsar—whose veni, vidi, vici , has been highly complimented. When Suwarrows took Ismael from the Turks, his dispatch to the Empress, contained only these words:—"The proud Ismael is at your feet—Suwarrows is there."
[We have an instance of similar brevity in our revolutionary war—When General Wayne took Stony-point, he informed Gen. Washington thereof in these words—"Dear General—The fort's our own: 'Your's, A. W.'"] [Centinel]
DIED—At Wiscasset. Dr. WILLIAM BARKER—an eminent physician of that place. His funeral was attended with masonic honors, by Lincoln Lodge, of which he was secretary.
Marine Articles.
Port of Portland.
Friday last arrived sloop Farmers , captain Asa Greeley, 17 days from Aquila. In lat. 27, was boarded by a privateer, and robbed of several articles.
Ship Franklin , Tucker, of this port, was spoke August 11, lat. 39 20, long. 72 30, from Liverpool for Charleston.
The Almira , Waite, of this port, arrived at Boston, Monday last, from Surinam—Sailed in company with the ship Rose , Capt. Chase, of Newburyport, and informs, that on the 31st July, in lat. 16, 15, the ship was taken by a French privateer, who attempted also to capture the brig, but not sailing so fast, and anxious to keep near the ship, did not continue the pursuit; the ship was valued at 10,000 dollars.
New York, August 19.—On Saturday morning, the United States frigate Constellation , sailed on a short cruise, in pursuit of the French frigate which lately dispersed the American fleet from St. Thomas, under convoy of the Norfolk, and Sch. Retaliation .
Baltimore, Aug. 25.—A pilot boat says there is a French privateer off the coast, which has taken two brigs.
A BOLD ACTION.
Newbedford, Aug. 16. Jethro Mosher came passenger in the Schooner Swan from St. Thomas', and says he was mate of a ship out of Boston, which was taken by a French letter of marque, and sent into Guadalupe; that he with 5 of the crew was taken on board the French vessel which ran under cover of the fort, and anchored; that while the captain of the French vessel was on shore, Mosher proposed to join and rise on the crew, 16 in number; that two of the 5 agreed; that Mosher and those two armed themselves with handspikes, and drove to of the Frenchmen overboard, killed and disabled the rest; that they then cut her cables and got under way, the fort firing on them the whole time; and that they carried her into Antigua, where she sold for 2350l.
anti ma Ca car Th 86 the a
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7
day of September next, which happens on Sunday, and the sale thereof on that account, cannot be legally made, THEREFORE,
By Virtue of an Order of the Supreme Judicial Court for the Sale of the Estate of the late THOMAS FLUCKER, Esq. deceased, Will be sold at the House of Mr. THOMAS MOTLEY Innkeeper at Portland, On the first day of October next, at 11 o'clock, A. M. to the highest bidder,
PART of the following Tracts of LAND, lying in the township of Falmouth, and County of Cumberland, and which are in common and undivided with certain heirs of the late Brigadier Gen. SAMUEL WALDO, and which was part of the Estate of the said THOMAS FLUCKER, Esq. confiscated to the use of the Commonwealth after the just debts and legal charges thereon should be paid—to wit:
One third part of two hundred and fifty-six acres granted by the Proprietor's Committee of Falmouth, to Brig. SAMUEL WALDO, and laid out near the Duck Ponds.
One third part of five hundred and eleven acres, and eighty-two rods, being the remainder of the eight hundred acres, laid out to Brig. SAMUEL WALDO, by the Proprietor's Committee at Stroudwater.
One half part of six hundred and ninety acres, allowed and granted by the Proprietor's Committee of Falmouth, to the heirs of Brig. Gen. WALDO, out of their pitch of nine hundred and sixty-two acres, lying near the Duck Ponds.
Conditions of Sale to be made known at the above time and place. H. KNOX, Agent and Administrator. August 20th, 1799.
Just received for sale at Jenks' Bookstore, A few copies of
Self-Immolation; Or, THE SACRIFICE OF LOVE. A much admired DRAMA, From the German of the celebrated Kotzebue. Aug. 26.
Lost or Stolen,
FROM the subscriber, a Note of Hand. signed by me, to a Mr. JOSEPH HUCKINS, of Parsonsfield, for the sum of Ninety-nine Dollars and ninety-five cents, payable at the first of August, A. D. 1799.—Dated in May 1799.—Whoever will return said Note, shall be handsomely rewarded; and all persons are forbidden to purchase said note, as it has been once paid. It being a confessed note before a Justice of the Peace. BENJAMIN BUKFORD, JUN. Parsonsfield, August 12th. 1799.
A Pocket-Book Lost,
LOST, on Wednesday the 14th inst. between Portland and Presumpscot Bridge, a Red Morocco Pocket Book, containing several papers, of consequence to the owner.—Whoever may have found said Pocket Book and will leave it at the Gazette Office, Portland, shall be rewarded. JOHN BLAKE, August 20, '99.
Wanted Immediately,
As apprentices to the WATCH MAKING and JEWELRY BUSINESS, two LADS, from 13 to 15 years of age.—Apply at the sign of the GOLDEN WATCH, Fishstreet, Portland. AUG. 12.
New Post-Rider.
Jacob Howe,
INFORMS the public that he has undertaken to carry the Newspapers from Portland through Windham, Raymond, Bridgton, Waterford, and Oxford, to Bethel. He will leave Portland every Monday evening, and arrive at Bethel on Thursday evening; and returning through Newpennycook and Norway, and to arrive at Paris on Friday evening, and thence to proceed through Hobb's and so on to Portland.
The postage to Saccarappa & Windham will be 50 cents a year—to Raymondtown, Bridgton, Waterford, Oxford and Bethel, three cents for each paper—and to the towns on the return, one dollar a year.
The advantages of a post riding through the above towns are so obvious, that it is hoped a liberal encouragement will be offered to support the undertaking.
The subscribers to Newspapers, and others, who may please to favour him with their commands, may depend on the strictest fidelity, punctuality and dispatch.
Flintston, July 15.

THE MAN OF HONOR.
A curious Neapolitan Anecdote.
AT Naples there was a very particular man of honor, whose name was Bandoli; he was the most desperate bravo of his time and it was said that he had with his own hand dispatched upwards of eighty persons by assassination, for that was the profession he got his bread by.—He made use occasionally of pistol, sword, poignard, and stiletto, but he scorned to poison any one he was hired to make way with, alledging that there was something unmanly in it. That it was not an action any person should be guilty of, and that it was as much beneath a bravo to turn poisoner, as it would be for a regular bred physician to commence quack doctor.
Two Neapolitan gentlemen quarrelled one evening at an assembly, and according to the honorable custom of the times, each sent separately for Bandoli, and gave him fifty pistoles a piece to make quick work with each other.—The last man he dispatched as soon as he had paid him, and then returned to the first person, who on hearing Bandoli relate how he had slaughtered his adversary, commended the bravo greatly for his dexterity in his business.—“Yes, Sir, replied Bandoli, every one who employs me shall always find me punctual, for I am a man of honor, Sir, and to convince you that I would not forfeit it, the gentleman whom I have just sent home, by your own order, gave me fifty pistoles to make an end of you; now I, although he is dead, and cannot call me to an account for not doing what he employed me in, yet I am so much a man of honor, that I scorn to be guilty of a breach of promise to any gentleman;”—he then thrust his stiletto deep into the other's breast.
CHRONOLOGY.
Agreeably to an act of British parliament passed 24th Geo. II. 1751, the year 1800 will not be reckoned a Bissextile, or Leap Year, but will be computed a common year consisting of three hundred and sixty-five days only: February next will, in consequence, consist of twenty eight days only, making thereby a difference of twelve days between the old and new styles. This difference of the two styles will continue throughout the whole of the 19th century, in order that the Vernal or Spring Equinox may be fixed on or near the 21st of March yearly as it happened at the time of the General Council of Nice, anno 325.
In Hamilton Moore's Navigation, there are two distinct tables of the sun's declination for the year 1800; one of which is calculated for a Leap Year, and the other for a common Year.—From which it appears he felt it an uncertainty whether the year 1800, would be accounted a Leap Year or not; as far as respected other countries.—In the United States the question is not determined: As a uniformity in the computation of time, is of importance, it is supposed Congress will take up the subject in their next session.
DISCOVERY.
Extract of a letter from Germany.
“A curious discovery has been made in the Prussian territory. Mr. Richard, the present director of the Prussian academy of arts and sciences, a celebrated chymist, has discovered, or rather verified a discovery of Margraves, who is also a great chymist at Berlin, that Sugar may be made, very good, and in great quantity, from that sort of Beet, commonly called Scarcity Root, Mangold in German, which foreigners took for Mangel Scarcity. It is Beta altissima Beckmanni, not in Linnæus. They have cultivated the root above a century in great abundance for the cattle. The experiment is made in upper Saxony and in Brunswic with success. It is easy, safe and cheap, & in the present scarcity of Muscovado sugar, they think they could easily supply the Prussian country.”
The following paragraph is taken from a late Irish paper. “Travellers should be careful to deliver their language to proper persons, as a Gentleman a few days since, on alighting from a Stage Coach, entrusted his Wife with a stranger, and he has not heard of her since.”
THERE is but one solid pleasure in life, and that is, our duty. How miserable then, how unwise, how unpardonable are they, who make that a pain.
Medical.
From the Newyork Gazette.
Communication on the Cow-Pox.
WE have already given an account of Drs. Jenner and Pearson's publication on the Cow-Pox, which tended to establish the important fact, that those who have had that disease, which never proves fatal, and which may always be so managed as never to disfigure the patient, are not capable of afterwards taking the small-pox infection—a fact, which, if properly followed up, promises fair to extirpate the latter disease, to which more have fallen victims than to the pestilence itself. Drs. Pearson, Jenner, and Woodville, with a zeal that does them great honor, have since bestowed much attention and labour in ascertaining by proper trials, how far it is prudent to persevere in substituting a disease that has hitherto appeared no ways dangerous, for one that so often proves mortal; and, we are happy to add, with a success equal to the most sanguine expectations that could have been formed: In consequence of which the following circular letter has been addressed to the gentlemen of the faculty:
Leicester-Square, March 12, 1799.
SIR,
I HOPE you will pardon me for taking the liberty to inform you, by way of additional evidence to the testimonies I have published on the subject of the Cow-Pox, that upwards of one hundred and sixty patients, from two weeks to forty years of age, principally infants, have been inoculated, since the twentieth of January last, by Dr. Woodville, and myself separately. I shall, at present, only communicate the following observations:—
1. Not one mortal case occurred.—2. Not one of the patients was considered to be dangerously ill.—3. Altho the extreme cases of the severe kind, which ordinarily occur in the same number of cases in the inoculated small-pox, did not occur in the above practice; and altho many of the patients were even more slightly disordered constitutionally, yet the whole amount of the constitutional illness seemed to be as great as in the same number of patients in the inoculated small-pox.—4. None of the patients (namely, about sixty) hitherto inoculated for the small-pox, subsequently to the vaccine disease, took the infection.—5. One of the most important facts is, that the local affection in the inoculated part, on the whole, was less considerable, and of shorter duration than in the inoculated small-pox.—6. In many of the cases eruptions on the body appeared, some of which could not be distinguished from the small-pox.
I have sent the matter of the cow-pox puzzle on the thread enclosed, in order if you approve of the inquiry, to inoculate with it; and I intreat you to favour me with the result of your trials: But I must trouble you to apply the test of inoculating with various matter subsequently to the vaccine disorder.
I have the honor to be, &c. &c.
G. PEARSON.
From the (Newyork) Spectator.
True Idea of the Poison of Yellow Fever.
IF excrementitious and perishable things corrupt in the cellars of a house or store in either of the wards of the city of Newyork, it is allowed on all hands, that the exciting cause of malignant fever may be produced. This has happened a thousand times in Newyork, and in every city in America. Now, is not the hold of a ship, HER CELLAR, in which such things as are usually put into cellars on shore, are stored—why should not the cellars of ships become foul and pestilential like other cellars? If people go down into poisonous cellars, whether on ship-board or on shore, it is very much like descending into wells, vats and cisterns, filled with venomous and deadly air. Human beings are frequently killed by going into these holds of abomination and nastiness. But the distemper produced is not communicable from man to man in any of these cases. A person may inhale pestilence or get a blast of infection from any of those sources of mischief and poison; but the distemper stops there and is not communicable to another person by morbid secretion of contagion matter, but merely thro the agency common corruption or putrefaction. Purify your ships, then, which are among the manufactories of pestilence, and you will have less alarm about Imported Yellow Fever. But do not think that they are clean by being merely pumped out and smoked out—No such thing. Ships must be cleaned as houses are cleaned; every woman knows how that is done.
Every man should mind his own business, for, he, who torments himself with other people's good or ill fortune, will never be at rest.
IN the northern parts of Scotland the people still believe the doctrine of wizards, spectres and magic spells. An English gentleman of fortune, had purchased and removed to a large estate in those parts: He took with him an old and industrious tenant, who by prudence & economy, was able to live beyond the reach of real want: The gentleman had an only daughter, and his tenant a son of the same age: They were in love with each other, and vowed eternal constancy: The father of the lady discovered their intimacy, dismissed his tenant, and confined his daughter; he went farther; he insisted on her marrying the son of a neighboring lord, and fixed the wedding day: a few days previous to which, clothes of the tenants son were found by the side of a large river, with a letter in one of his pockets, indicating that as his life had become a burden, he had concluded to resign it by throwing himself in that river. When the wedding day arrived, the guests assembled, and just before the marriage was to be blest by the priest, a single chaise drove up to the door with a black covering, on which was painted the most terrifying and hideous figures, the horse being of the same complexion, and out hopped a black and horrible spectre, with a long tail, large hocking horns and cloven foot, and rushing into the apartment with dismal yells: seizing the intended bride, exclaiming in an awful voice, “by the death of the tenants son, thou art mine: and hurrying her to the chaise, drove off with great speed. In vain were the shrieks and struggles of the lady; in vain did the afflicted father call on his guests and servants to prevent the spectre's forcing her away: the superstition of the people operated violently, they all took to their heels, and left the disconsolate gentleman inconsolable. Six months elapsed when he received the following letter by mail.
SIR,
“Your daughter shall be restored to you in three weeks, provided you will permit her to marry the man of her choice: if not, you will never hear of her more—Send your answer immediately to the post office, directed to the Burning Spirit.
Yours, &c.
DEVIL.”
The gentleman returned this answer:
My daughter shall marry the man she chooses, provided she is returned in three weeks.
G——l.”
To the BURNING SPIRIT.
The last day of the three weeks arrived, but no tidings of his daughter; his hopes were sinking into despair when behold at evening, his daughter and the tenant's son suddenly appearing kneeling before him.
They acknowledged they had concerted the plan which was transacted at the intended wedding; the spectre was the tenant's son, and the lady assisted in the deception.
The joy of the family was excessive; they were forgiven, the old tenant was sent for and restored; the young couple were married and happiness crowned the proceeding prospects.