Wl fflP JSSIB 'msm 'mm-c
HALIFAX, Jr. C. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1824. 7'0Z .
rar. "FRke press,"
B - George Howard,
published every Friday, at
XflUKK DOLLARS per year,
r ou-."-nEJ f 52 numbers, and in the
,'ar.ic proportion for a shorter pe
iot1.. Subscribers at liberty to dis
continue at any time, on paying ar-
Advertisements inserted at fifty
cents per square, or less, for the
first insertion, and twenty-five cents
each continuance.
Letters addressed to the Editor
must be post jiaid.
Stray Vuppies.
QTRAYED or stolen from the;
$ Subscriber, two HOUND
PUPPIES, about six months
0U one a yellow and white
spotted, the other a black and
white spotted. Any informa
tion respecting them will be
thankfully received, and if de
livered to the subscriber a rea
sonable reward will be given.
J. II. SIMMONS.
Enfield, Nov. 29. J7-3t
One Hundred Dollars
REWARD.
UXAWAi , or was stolen trom
-t the Subscriber, on the night of
: he 8th instant, a bright mulatto
voman (slave) and her child, a girl
t.f about four years old. . This wo
man ran away from the Subscriber,
executor of John Hunt, deceased,
in the summer ot Ibus, ana passed!
the first ofJune last, when she was!
apprehended as a runaway. On i
the sixth of the same month I ob-
tfiied possession ot her mine town
i-nd' her child ELIZA have, in
compliance with an order of the
c ounty court of Franklin, been sold,
when the Subscriber became the
purchaser. She spent the greater!
part or the time sue was runaway
(say about sixteen years) in thc
neighborhood of, and in thc town of
Halifax, one or two summers at
Rocklanding, where I am informed
she cooked for the hands employed
to work on thc canal; she also
spent some of her time in Ply
mouth, her occupation while there
not known. At the above named
places she has many acquaintances
and friends. She is a tall, spare
woman, thin face and lips, long
sharp nose, her fore teeth in a state
of decay. She is an excellent seam
tress, can make gentlemen's and
..dies' dresses, is a good cook and
v. caver, and I am informed is a
rood cake baker and brewer, &c.
by which occupations she princi
pally gained her living. Some time
during last summer she married a
free man of color, named Achrael
Johnson, who had been living in
and about Plvmouth, and followed
hoatir.s? on thc Roanoke, bmce his
.marriage he leased a farm of Mr.
James Cotton, of Scotland Neck,
(Halifax county) where he was liv
ing, together with this woman,
when she was taken up as a runa-
way slave in June last. I have but
little doubt that Jwhnson has con
trived to seduce or steal her and
child out of my possession, and will
attempt to get them out of thc state
and pass as free persons. Should
this be the case, I will give SLrty
rive Dollars for his detection and
conviction before the proper tribu
nal in any part of this state. I will
Sivc for the apprehension of the
vcman and child, on their delivery
to me, or so secured in jail or other
vise that I get them, Thirty Five
Dollars. Or, I will give Twenty
Five Dollars for the woman alone,
and Ten Dollars for the child alone.
The proper name of the woman is
Piety, hut she will no doubt change
it as' she did before. I forewarn
ill owners of boats, captains and
owners of vessels from taking on
board or, carrying away this wo
aun and her child Eilza, under thc
penalty of the law.
N2T. HUNT.
August 1 IS?!. ' 23-tf
DOMESTIC.
(CIRCULAR.)
To the Freemen of the Comi
ties of Northampton, Ber
tie, Martin and Halifax:
Fellow-citizens:
; A vacancy having occurred
in the representation of our Dis
trict in the Congress of the U
nited States, by "the election of
Col. Burton to the olfice of Go
vernor, I beg leave to present
my name to your consideration
among those from whom vou
will choose another representa
tive. To those whom I now ad
dress, the friends anions whom
T 1
I have spent my life, in whose
service I have grown grey,
whose wishes and interests have
directed my course of conduct,
as well in the National -as in the
State Legislature, it would be
idle to detail my principles.
It will be sUiTicicnt, I hope,
to say, that on every occasion I
have supported the pure demo
cratic republican principles
which are possessed by my fellow-citizens
of the district.
On the btc choice of electors
of President and Vice-President
I am aware that I have dillored
from some whom I esteem, and
with whom it has been mv
;flo to act; prcfcrrcti tjie
fully thc greatest bailies of our
second war of independence, the
pure patriot, the linn and un-
spectcd republican, Andrew
Jackso: that same Andrew
Jackson of whom our beloved
Jefferson spoke, when he invi
ted "honor and gratitude to
e
man who has filled the
measure of his country's glo
ry.
In the contest growing out of
the election, I have interfered
with no man's right of election;
I have felt no abatement of
friendship for those who di fibr
ed with me in their choice, I
did only what freedom admits
and the safetv of the Republic
requires, and that which all my
friends have done, I voted ac
cording to thc dictates of my
own judgment.
In my course of public ser
vice I have neither sought nor
obtained office or emolument for
myself.
Believing it the first
duty of a
citizen to serve his
mv highest ambition
country,
lias been to advance our com
mon interest and honor; the
greatest reward I could hope
for lias been received, in your
approbation generously bestoyv
cd on my conduct.
Having had long experience
in public service, having ever
cherished a sacred regard for
tiie republican principles of our
constitution, and faithfully ad
hered to the doctrines and to
the cause of the great democrati
cal republican party of the Uni
ted States, not more firmly in
their time of triumph than in
"the reign of terror," I presume
to hope that the confidence
which has not been forfeited
will not be withdrawn.
Measures and not men is the
good old republican doctrine
I swear allegiance, therefore, to
my country only not to man,
neither to Jackson nor to Craw
ford; whichever or whoever is
President shall receive my sup
port while he maintains the in-
terest and honor of our country,-
and he shall be sure of my op
position when he abandons
these objects, whether his
schemes be marked by magnifi
cence or by meanness.
I am, fellow-citizens, your
friend and faithful servant,
. WILLIS ALSTON.
Raleigh, Dec. 5, 1S24.
Fur the Free Press.
NO. III.
That a partial schism has ta
ken place in the Roanoke Navi
nation Company, is matter of
certainty and of extreme regret.
The Virginia interest, alarmed
at the defalcation of so numer
ous and so highly respectable ajfv. that, the Comnnnv should u
number of the
North-Carolina
stockholders in the payment of
their instalments, think, and
with considerable show of jus
tice on their side, that as the
X. Carolinians are backward in
furnishing the necessary funds
they by law and good faith are
bound to do, to enable the Di
rectors to progress as con
templated, and that ihey evi
dence a frisrid indifference, if
not avt'iJiion to the undertakitg,
particularly as North-Carolina
will be so pre-eminently bene
fitted by it, that it is their duty
to take care of and secure the
interest of the Virginia stock
holders, because with them the
interest of Virginia is identified.
But on the other hand the North
Carolina stockholders, seeing
thc pertinacity with which the
Virginia stockholders and Di
rectors, (for the majority of the;
active, substantial, interest in
any company will have the ma
jority of Directors because they
have the majority of shares, and
of course the majority of votes
to make them,) adhere to the
system of commencing at the
source, and working downwards
progressively, without evincing
any very a;reat anxiety to get
the North-Carolina section of
the intended work into active
operation immediately, as thc
true interest of thc Compar
and the healing of schism seems
r-ot only to require, but to de
mand. They believe that the
interest of North-Carolina, as
well as the substantial interest
of the Company is about to be
postponed if not wholly sacrifice!
to an anxiety to promote the in
terest of Virginia, and that the
interest of North-Carolina will
not only be made subservient to
but even sacrificed to it, inas
much as by clearing the river
downwards, even if it should he
carried through to meet the na
tural navigation, the Virginia
interest have a ready channel of
transport for their produce,
merchandize, &c. to and from
some points favorable to a com
munication with thc Richmond,
Petersburg, and other Virginia
markets by waggon, and North
Carolina, by this course of pro
ceeding, is compelled to become
a looker-on, and be subservient
to Virginia policy, and Virginia
views to her own detriment.
These are the grounds and prin
ciples of action, as far as thejT
can be at present collected, that
influence the affairs of that Com
pany and thc individuals that
compose it; grounds and prin
ciples that if they really do ex
ist, are unworthy of those a
monsr whom it is said Ihcv have
an existence; because they are
public-spirited, honorable, and
high-minded men, and if such
base-born and selfish sentiments
have crept in, and obtained a
place in the mind of any mem
ber of that body, it is to be hop
ed as it is earnestly desired that
he will without delay expel the
unholy and unpropitious guest,
so that they may unite all as one,
Virginian & North-Carolinian,
in promoting and insuring suc
cess to an enternrize, the future
i csults of which will call down
blessings on those concerned in
the consummation, from my
riad 3 and myriads yet unborn.
To effect this desirable end
the adoption of one measure on
ly is aH that is necessary; name
nHp in InnUinn- into tlin. rivpr fit
some suitable point below the
basin at Weldon. The doing
this at once would and will
unite the Virginia and Carolina
interests completely & effectual
ly; because it will restore & con
firm that confidence and har
mony between them, that is so
necessary to insure success to a
work of such great importance
to the citizens of both states, and
to the individuals embarked in
it: for while it would convince
thc Carolinians that the Virgin
ians were not only disposed but
determined to promote their m
terest, and make it go hand and
iand as it should do with their
own. 1 11c iree passage ot boats
r hi ( 1
with their freight, a freight too,
direct possibly from some At
lantic or transatlantic city or
seaport, up the river as far as
Milton, and as much farther as
the improved navigation will atjto which they might, in the ex-
any time permit, would yield
to the Virginians such im
mense profits and advantages in
many ways, as would richly re
pay them for the adoption of the
measure of locking into the ri
ver at Weldon, the only one re
quired. The writer in the "Danville
Sentinel" sas with feeling and
with truth, that in consequence
of makine: Weldon the head of
navigation, the voyage to Nor
folk, &c. is generally from
"three to four weeks from
thence, and that one third of that
time is most commonly consum
ed in getting from the neigh
borhood of the basin at Weldon
to the town of Halifax." This
is a stubborn fact, snd is easily
accounted for, as I shall shew:
Thc boats that ply between
Halifax and the shores of the
Atlantic, no matter to what point
or by which route, are general
ly about 50 and 55 tons burthen,
and commonly draw four and
from that to five feet water when
laden; for boats of this descrip
tion there is sufficient water at
all seasons of the year to the
bluffs at the old borough of Hal
ifax but no further, unless in
times of considerable freshes,
and of course in the time of diffi
cult and troublesome navigation
from Halifax to the foot of the
basin at Weldon; consequently
though such boats, when quite
light" because empty and of
course drawing but little water,
are propelled up to Weldon with
great labour and loss of time, as
well as at a great additional ex-
pense, when they receive their
cargoes on board at v eldon, and
are sunk in the water to their
usual depth, when having their
full cargoes on board, they are
compelled to remain in that
neighborhood, unable to pass
the shoals between that and
Halifax with such a depth of
water, unless Providence in
its kindness shall interpose a .
fresh to release and waft them,
down. This is a fact that every
days' experience proves.
To remedy this evil, and
give a safe and unobstructed
passage all the year round from
any point on the shores of the
Atlantic, to the highest point to
which the navigation is earned
and improvements made on the
river, all that is wanting is to
lock into the river judiciously
at some convenient point below
Weldon; this will effect the
purpose, and at once cure all the
evils so loudly complained a
gainst. By locking into the
river the boats from the upper
country will pass through the
locks and so pursue their voy
age to Halifax at all seasons of
the year in perfect security, as
their light draft of water (scarce
'ever exceeding two feet when
most deeply laden,) will enable
them to lloat over every shoal
in the channel between Weldon
and Halifax, and return in the
same safe and uninterrupted
way. Thus then while Halifax:
would and must, from its local
situation, become the place of
transit for thc up-country and
Atlantic boats, the upper coun
try would be in the full posses
sion of a great and valuable trade,
by a safe, a certain and uninter
rupted channel of communica
tion not with Halifax, Norfolk,
or Ocracock alone, but with e
ery part of the habitable world
uberance of their speculation,
choose to adventure. And then
the old borough of Halifax
would become the resort and the
haunt of busy an4 business-doing
men; capitalists would es
tablish themselves there with
such extensive and active funds,
as would be commensurate with
giving them a preponderating
interest, if not a monopoly of
this valuable trade; , a struggle
for which will excite to a rivalry
between such capitalists as must
be at once beneficial as well to
the whole country and to the
Company interest, as to the
town of Halifax. The comforts,
elegancies and luxuries of life
will then be supplied there on
reasonable? terms and in abun
dance at the first hand; the
circumjacent country will be
benefitted by the constant mar
ket afforded for butter, eggs,
poultry, small stock and pro
visions of every description;
real estate in the town will in
crease two or three-fold in val
ue; and the riparious proprietor,
whose lots are now a burthen to
him from the annual accruing
taxes, will see warehouses,
wharves, and cranes for hoisting
ponderous packages to a level
with the summit'of the banks,
rising as if by enchantment,
where only misery, desertion,
and desolation seem at present
to have taken up their abode.
Then will Halifax arise reno
vated like the phenix from its
ashes, and become the seat of
j comfort, commerce, plenty,
prosperity,weallh, fashion, taste,
i happiness, and all that tends
5 to give lile, energy, opulence
and dignity to
a commercial
ROANOKF.
mart.