Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1832-07-23

charge oil duty, ~hieu WIZ s""oS ~
any emergency. - ron-
oress from this State, deepened the hue oil VI
s,ge hv nature. peculiarly swarthy, in encounter
inc the varieties of weather incident to our
.h.,,.efoi climate. as a WAGNER boy. In the
wear 1878. he was the hallooing, restless, wh'P'
Cracking driver of baggage wagon in the North
Westero army. At about the age OF twenty. he
reru fortunately crippled himself for life. by hit
inv st his wagon wheel on hillside, where his
team had stalled in the mud His knee was DIS
located; and TO vile away the hours OF te-
dious confinement, he resorted to BOOKS TOT
amusement and instruction. Having rec"Vrrea'
az was thought, he resumed the labors OF MS
vocation; but as his better star would nave u:
new dislocation drove him to the profession Oh
law for subsistence. :
After first acquiring competent kn"~ie"se u
the Latin language and mathematics, he en'st[u
the Office of Judge Collett, and was admitted 10
the bar in 1917. He :. feshed his maiden
sword'' in forensic conflict, IN the same d'ngy'
unsiehty hall. with Judge Mclean. lie, too IS
as.sound man, an able lawyer" aud as an orator,
has not his superior in Ohio. What may on'"
NOT expect from such sons in times OF difficulty
and dangerl AN ohioAN'
Interesting .Anecdofe.-It is frequently re-
marked that the most audable deeds are achlev-
ed IN the shades of retirement; and to its truth
history testifes in every page. An act OF her"
ism, or philanthropy, performed in solitude, whe;e
no undue feelings can affect the mind, or bias
the character. is worth to the eye OF an impair
tial observer. whole volumes of exploits display
ed before the gaze of stupid and admlring mul.
titude. 1t is not long since gentleman was
travelling in one Of the counties OF Virginia, and
about the close Of the day stopped at public
house to obtain refreshment and spend the night
He had been there but short time before an old
man aighted from his gig, with the apparent IN.
tention Of becoming fellow guest with him at
the same house. As the old man drove up he
observed that both shafts OF his gag were broken,
and that they were held together by withs FORM
ed from the bark of hickory sapling. Our ira
weller observed further, that he was plainly clad,
that his knee buckles we're loosened and that
some thing like negligence pervaded his dress.-
Conceiving him to be one of the honest yeoman'
~ of our land, the courteses OF strangers pass
ed between.them, and they entered the tavern.
II was about the same time an addition Of three
or four Young gentlemen was made to their num-
her. most not all Of them of the legal profession.
Az soon as they became conveniently accom-.
the latter upon an eloquent harrangue which
had that day been displayed at the bar. 1t was
replied by another, that he had witnessed the
same day degree Of elsqucncc, no doubt equal,
but that il was from the pulpit. Something like
a sarcastic reminder was made to the eloquence
of the pulpit; and warm and able alteration
ensued, in which the merits OF the Christian rell-
zion became the subject of discussion. From six
O'clock until eleven, the young champions WELD
ed tn. sword of argument, adducing with ingenui-
ty and ability every thing that could be said pro
and con. During this prUtracted period the old
gentleman listened with all the meekness and
modesty of child, as if h. was adding new infor-
nation to the stores Of his mind; or perhaps he
was observing with philosophic eye the facul-
Ties OF the Youthful mind, and how new energies
are developed by repeated action; or perhaps.
with patr lotto emotion, he was rejecting upon
the future destlpies Of his country. and ON the
rising generation, upon whom those destines must
deyolye; or most probably, with a sentiment OF
moral and religious feeling. be was collecting
an argument which characteristic of himself no
art would be able to elude, and 10 force resist
Our traveller renamed spectator and took NJ
part in what was said.
At last. one of the young men, remarking that
it was impossible to combat with long and esta-
blished preJudices, wheeled around and with
some familiarity exclaimed, "wel my old gen
tleman. what think you of these things" II.
said the traveller, streak Of vivid lightning had
at that moment crossed the room, their amaze,
ment could not have been greater than it was
with what followed. The most eloquent and nm.
answerable appeal was made Tor nearly an hour
by the old gentleman, that he had ever heard or
read. So perfect was his recollection, that every
argument urged against the christian religion was
met in the order IN which it was advanced
Hume's sophstry on the subject of miracles, was
if possible, more perfectly answered than it had
already been done by Campbell. And in the
whole lecture there was SO much simplicity and
energy. pathos and sublimi'y. that not another
,oord was uttered. An attempt to describe it,
said the traveller, would be an attempt to paint
the sunbeans. 1t was Immediately matter Of
curiosity and inquiry who the old gentleman was
The traveller concluded him to be the preacher
from whom the pulpit eloquence had been heard.
But no. it was JOHN MARSHALL, the Chief Jus
fice ofihe United States.
The following is the copy Of letter, which
Elijah Haywood, the Commissioner Of the Gene
raj land Office, wrote few days ago to a citizen