The Rhode-Island Republican. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1809-1841, 1832-11-06
AN AFFECTING NARRATIVE.

AN AFFECTING NARRATIVE. !
In this section Of our country where
the red man now is seldom seen, where
peace is the inmate of every dwelling,
aud security Iulls the weary to repose,
il is difficult TO conceive of the heart
rendlng cruelties, which we're often COM
mitted by the ruthless savages on the
white inhabitants Of the frontiers, cruel
ties which have recently been repeated
in the western part Of Illinois.
The following affecting incident re-
lates to the cruel treatment oftwo young
ladies by the Indians half a century ago
and canno, be read with Indifference -
Frederick Mannheim was an industri-
Gus German, who with his family con-
sisting Of himself, his wife, daughter
eighteen years of age, and Maria and
Christina, his youngest children, and
twins, about sixteen years Old, resided
near the river Mohawk, eight miles
west of Johnson.--It was on the 10Th
day of October, I779, the father being
at work mt some distance from his cot
tage, the mother and eldest daughter on
a visit at neighbor's when two hostile
Canandaigua indians rushed into the
house and captured the twin sisters.
The party, to which these savages be-
longed, consisted Of so warriors, who af-
ter securing % of the inhabitants and
firing their houses, retired for four days
with the utmost precipitancy, till they
were quite safe from pursuit. The place
where they halted, the evening of that
day, was a thick pine swamp, which
rendered the darkness Of an uncommon
gloomy night still more DIRE adful. They
kindled fire, which they had not done
before, and directed their prisoners,
whom they had kept together to refresh
themselves with some provisions and
the Indians eat themselves. Instead of
retiring to rest after supping, as usual,
the appalled, captives saw their enemies
busted in operations which boded nothing
good. Two saplings were pruned clear
of branches up to the very top, and all
the brush cleared away for several rods
around them. While this was doing,
others were splitting pitch pine billets
into small splinters about i've inches in
length, and as small as ones little finger,
sharpening ono end, and dipping the
other in melted turpcntine.
At length, with countenanaces distor-
ted by instant fury, and with hideous
yeIs, the two savages who had captured
ths unfortunate Maria and Christina
Ieaped in the midst of their circle, and
dragged those iIl-fated maidens, shriek-
ing, from the embraces Of their compan-
ions, among whom were their parents
and sister. These warriors had disa-
greed about whose property the girls
should be, as they join,Iy had ssized
them and to terminate the dispute, n
greeable to the abominable usage of the
savages, it was determined, by the chiefs
ofthe party, that the prisoners who gave
rise to The contention should he destroy
cd; and that their captors should be the
principal agents in tho execrable busl-
ness. The furies, assisted Ivy their COM
rades, stripped the forlorn girls, already
convulsed with apprehension, and tied
each to u saplng, with their hands as
high extended above their heads as poss-
ibic and then pitched them from their
knees TO their shoulders, with upwards
Of six hundred of the sharpened splinters
above described, which at every puncture
was attended with scream of distress
which echoed, and reechoed through the
wilderness. And then, 10 complete the
Internal tragedy, the splinters, all stand
ing erect on the bleeding victims, were
every one set on fire, and exhibited a
scene Of monstrous misery, beyond
the power Of speech to describe. or
even the imagination to conceive. 1t
WINS not until near three hours had e.
lapsed, from the commencing of their
torments, and that they had lost almos:
every resemblance of the human form,
these helpless virgins sunk down in the
arms of their deliverer death.
IRRITABLE GENIus.-The Journal Of
Health, in extracting the following re-
marks upon "the irritnbllity Of genius"
observes" that neither friend nor phys
ician can take any thing like a just Wow