Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1823-09-13
FOR THE SPECTATOR.
Dialogue between t7vo Devils, namely
DiaboHs and Beiiai.

Df6OOIto una fDCttut.
DiaboHs. Cousin Belial, how do you
do am glad to see you; it has been
long since l have had sight of you
pray where have you been, and what have
you been doing
Belial. Why indeed, uncle, have
bad as busy time as ever had in my
life. Did you not know that our great
sovereign, Belzebub, ordered myself,
and troop OF lesser devils, to superin-
tend the legislature at Vandalia last lin
ter
ID. o true enough, l remember the
appointment now !; blu, as you said, l
myself have had such throng OF bust
ness on hand, | had almost forgotten
every thing else.
b. Dear uncle, if might, l would
| wish 10 know something about your al
airs, as you know we have all one COM
mon interest. remember that yourself
and those under your command, were
appointed to attend 10 the affairs of some
81 the EuroPean councils.
ID. Yes, cousin, have had matters OF
great consequence 10 attend. Our king
dom in that quarter, appears 10 be on
The 'oter. | am foil of anxiety abou,
our interest there There is such fuss
about the circulation Of the Scriptures,
and acre are SO many running to and
iro, and knowledge is so last increasing,
both IN religion and politics, tina, really
'remole for tie consequence. However,
| have enlisted SO many Of the great ones
on our side, asd have got matters in such
train, thar have hopes our reign may
be prolonged. At any rate, there must
be mis- hty struggle before our Kingdom
can iaii. | must hasten back to my post,
and should mol have been here now, only
that my business there, required | should
make hasiy yisii TO America. Howe
Ger must stay 10 hear your suceosa a,
Vandalia Please to give me a short
account o! 1t.
B. | shall be glad to crafty you, and
can Tell you Some good news respecting
our affair, here. You know the people
Of this state, al first, had the precaution
20 prohibit slavery, which YOU are aware,
is one OF our might, strong pillars in
America; and in consequence of the
states OF Ohio and Indiana Doing so be-
tore, together with the example al some
81 the other states, IN inanumltt.DR the IT
slaves, there were great fears that the
tniHg could grow into disuse throughout
The ufinn. Bur, as you may remember,
It the last great council, j, was detcrnin-
ed that one more great effor, should be
made, in order to res,oie things to cur
liking; and having received particular
orders co the subject, from our great
chief, FASTENED to Vanda!ia and having
arrived there in good time, | found the
mem bers OF The legislature 10 be very
much 10 my mind, with lew exceptions.
lndeed,lheir zeal was SO grcat,l had some
| diihchlty 10 keep them in prudent
| bounds, and III some instances 1 failed
OF that. | was aware, from former ex-
| perIeuce, that we migEl oversbooI me
mark However, except in one instance,
have not much fear of that; nor in
hat either, because the people tina,
would entrust such men with their prln.
| ,pal political interests, will not be bard
to manage. Ii will be very easy to make
hem believe, that such men arc the
principal supporters of their liberties and
independence and the very sound OF
these words are enough to gam The con.
tdence of such as have described.
ID. But tell ne what was that OF which
you ere afraid.
B. The case was this i: A Mr.. Shaw
and Mr.. Hansen had dispute about
which OF them was elected TO the ieeis
isnie. They brought their affair before
that body at its first sitting; and they,
alter mature dciberation, dec Jared Hau-
sen duly elected, and gave him q
seat accordingly. b., behsId, after he
had SAT with ihem about ten week, Oh
discovering thar he would not vote wiz
Them, on'a very important question, they
nrned Nun out, and gave his seat to
Shaw, whom they knew would vote to
| please .hem.
y. What was the question you speak
Of? lc
B. Why, their present constitution
Gas | 'old you betore) prohibits slavery
or any involuntary se:vitude, and their
great concern was according to my d.
rections) to obtain new convention, in
order to new model their constitution, so
as to admit slavery; and in order to ef-
feet their purpose, they acted as have
related.
d. Indeed, have some fears too, that
this was carrying the matter too far. Il
is true, one would think that the people
would be easily hoodwinked; but still
they are people very Jealous of their