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NEWBERN, N. C. SATURDAY, ( CTOBER 30, 1819. NIJMREK 84 : : ;;; TF.IJAIS HE CAROLINA CENT1NEL IS PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY ' ' JOHN I. PASTEUR, At Three Collars per annum, one fYrd payable in advance. o paper will be. discontinued until all " arrearages are paid up, except at'the op tion of the publisher. : Vdvertisemens inserted at 50 cents I. per square the first week, and 25 cents a squire for eacn succeeding insertion. Y POLITICAL. PROM THE KENTUCKY REPORTER. The politician and philanthropist will periiw with interest the following extract of a letter from a gentleman in England, descriptive of the condition" of that stu pendous fabric of splendor, misery, and corruption. Who that has contemplated this bulwark of royalty and shvery" will not feel his heart pained at this, picture of wretched nes and folly? We. can add,, th-t it is s'-etched by a distinguished wh'viy w ho has devoted himself for some time past to the amelioration of the un happy condition of his countrymen-one who acts a conspicuous part in the work of ileform, nor gpiug on. ' it is very uniieiy i sua;i ever nave the pleasure of seeing you, unless you come to England. For although every measure of our government tends to the subjugation of the people, yet it is impossi ble that such a people, should relapse into , r.tter slavery while there is a public press ; end I feel it to be my duty, to remain on the soil which gave rae .birth ; even if I sivv.iM be the last of its freemen the first of its slaves I will not be. "I cannot turn my thoughts towards America without reflecting -on her pohti- cal institutions, ana . anticipating nei lu ture greatness. She must become the inost powerful nation on the earth, and she will deserve to remain so if she se rine her liberty on private virtue, and it :.i ' ' . rights. Our corporations, and charters, and patent privileges, hang upon us and prevent our attaining to the height which the spirit of the age would place us at ; thcs are the curses of our social" state ; thev repress improvement and render un availing the wisest efforts of the enlight ened. You hnve, however, admitted into sompof your states a canker which" will eat its xv&y (at last to the vitals of your svstem, if you do not instantly root it out. 1 mean a compulsory assessment for the relief of the poor. The most obvious effect of it here, is a subdual of inde pendence in the workman and laborer which palsies his efforts for life. 'The man who accepts parish charity feels him self degraded by the-boon; he is no lou pe.- a free citizen, but a "pauper ; a bur den, as often as he chooses to be lazy, upon his fellow citizens ; and a mere shve. The great land owners and manu facturers here, take advantage of our poor laws to cultivate the soil and work their factories with these poor creatures. They I are permitted to marry and get children, "and thus a breed of white slaves is kept mo i:i r.ngland, -wlio are n.01 so wen ieu a ., 1..Vr..o t Wit tia ivaw Kln'k. x- slavery is a foul blot in your legislation-.) T!iinnr!.ii!nrv svsfem withal does not - .jt. - s v . 1 a 1 s - - w , - prevent distress ; m ricn are rciiucicu fCaliousand selflsh by a continued succes sion of miserable objects ; they know not how to distinguish the helpless from the idle ; the misery is too great to relieve in -detail ; it is left to the parisofficers, and many of the destitute die hr the open street, or crawl from the public gaze, and perish in holes and corners. 'he curse of the poof laws is in full Operation here. Ten aiillions of pounds sterling is raised by law every year upon the inhabitants of England to support or felieve the poor, and one out of every eight individuals in the nation annually receives parish charity, in some shape or ether. Recollect, too, that this is.where there is an immense stream of privates boantv continually flowing : that there tire societies in almost every parish which j fioitribute largely to the wants of ' the" poor, not supplied by parish rates ; and ' that there are,' at least, one Hundred na ti"iiRl institutions supported b public sub- r'laritahlft .feheheVO- T - m IL1VIU K-U IVVI'J - ' 1 lent nnrnosps t ftever forget that all tuis. . r. 1 " 7 i 0 , ansiug from a small beginning, ends at 1 lat in this policy of the land owners and j capitalists : " !We can get our work done j c'leeper by perpetuating the breed of pau-! pers than by allowing uien to oITer os thi ir labour as their stok in tnide and ' taking it of them at a fair nii K.et price." t jon this policy they act at this time y end, owing to its growth and extent, we re no more in condition' to escape from it oijera'tion, and tun 10 e ilirely sound p cij:, than we ai jt.) ihs:i updn a fa-U ctVprices aui reduced jreiito 5 DOta which have been unnaturally encreased by an, enlarged circulating medium, un der' the present system of paper money Again, I say, beware of the po jr laws. In the infancy of your country ;rou can have ho real irround for thinking of , any measure of compulsory relief. Indivi dual feeling, left to itself, may not per haps, in more advanced stages ofj society , be equal to emergencies ; but then,'44 suf ficient for the day is the evil thereof;" expedients may and will, in sucli cases' be resorted to, by the community ; but not a thought of legislating penianent ly or prospectively should be entertain ed, for a moment, to any period. Guard, too, against orer-legi:;lating. Leave (jvery thing tor itself as .miich as possible : especiuliy in trade and com nierce You haye the best security i gainst luxury in the economy of y aur go vernment, and the public spirit of the people.. 1 1 ere we have leg islated fo every thing, I believe the law is yet un repealed under which 1 have seen; a man taken info custody for wearing a butto-. mould covered with cloth by his wile, in stead of a covering regularly manufactur ed. The accursed game law and tyihe laws, perpetuated and increased by end less modifications, are a fruitful source of demoralization'- and crime. Thev make men criminal, and then punish them for being so. I presume that, as your resistance to an excise tax was the the germ of American liberty, you will never suffer one to 01 i ginate in your legislature. An English niarrs liouse is no more his castle under the operation of our excise laws than his person is free under the laws' of debtor arid creditor. ., Avoid these, and a property tax, and the law of )rimgeniture, and the estab lishment of one religious sect above the rest, and aristocratical ..distinctions ; con-r fer rewards for merit in your public men, but not privileges ; above all perpetuate notting. - Keep your engagements rigidh', to the very letter ; let no inducement warp your leoislature in this respect ; no ad vantage, however great, should, tempt you to swerve for a moment. The cre dit of state depends on its honesty and good faith : these constitute its charac ter. The individuals of a state without character, feel themselves degraded-and quickly become' corrupt, and as base as their government Honesty is the best .policy ' foi nations as well as subjects. Perhaps I ous;ht to have confined my self to a simple acknowledgement of your civility; yeNl could not reiVaiti from ex pressing my desires and hopes for the wel fare of the U. S. bv the few hints which the readingof your handsome letterof con gratulation to me suggested to my mind. If jt is natural and fitting in a man who loves liberty to wish that all those wiio have it may preserve it, my ear nest pray er isithat America may preserve hers. If the government here was as ; free as' our pre5$ I think it likely that I should make an cubrt to vissit America, for the pur pose of "seeing her people and her .insti tutions. . Hut J cannot do this with satis faction to. nivself, whilst mv native land is m its present state. I think.-: with the late Mrl Horne .Tooke, that, if we cari 'do no better for our country, our Carcases should at least manure the soil that fed us," and that " our ancestors, who, in the I7"th century, fled from slavery, loved liberty well; they who" staid, and by their suffeiings and' exertions vindicated and established it, loved liberty-well ; but they who staid, and byy their sufferings and excursions vindicated and established it, loed liberty better, and deserved bet ter of posterity' . MISCELLANEOUS. ON IMPRISON A1ENT FOR DEST. ' ,' From the Boston Ccntinel., Mr! Editor.-Vhe interesting Jsubject of Imprisonment for debt lias often arrest ed the customary attention of the Legis lature, qf this commonwealth ; but, as yet, all attempis to abolish it,have been defeat ed, and principally by the arts, or the undue influence of men interested in the business, which the existing 'abuses af fords, against the clearest convictions of justice, and the policy of a free and chris tian country. It is a well known fact, that in no com mercial couutry of Europe, 'except Old England, is the wanton exercise of the power of imprisonment for debt permit ted to exist ; and even in r England the poor debtor is now admitted to Jiis oath in a fortnight after commitment ; where as in New-England he is not until thirty days In S and, too the right of the creditor is limited to'the property of the debtor with a power, an impartial jadire, to inflict' punishment in cases of fraud, in lloUand, the aaost naturally commercial community ?n the world Im prisonment for debt is I unknown ; and credit is net there found to be affected by the omission. . On this subject the pens of the wisest and best of men, have been employed ; and in many countries, with the happiest effect. Why then is it ilhat in Massa chusetts where so large a majorily of the Legislature's compose of enlightened landholders, liberal merchants, ingenious' mechanics', and friends of humanity, they . have made so little impression ! And how long are a narrow self-interest and purse-.: proud tyranny to hold a Slavish dominion over numbers, reason, humanity, and sound policy : As this subject will no doubt be re newed at the ensuing session of the Le giiature, permit me, sir : thus early, to call the attention of the J members to it 5 and to the arguments ofjsome of the wis est ard best of men who. have employed t heir I talents in its investigation. T he limits of a news-paper are too narrow to i acimn many quotauons pa me suDject; but as a sample, let me beg the publica cation of the following. 1 . rl he great philanthropist and sturdy moralist, Dr. Samuel jJoiiN son, says, speaking of imprisonmeht lor'debt : ifc The end of all civil regulations is to secure private happinejss from private malignity, to keep . individuals .'rom the power of one another ; !but this end is apparently neglected, when a m m irrita ted with loss is 1 lowed jo be the judge of his own cause, and td assign the pun ishment of his own pain:; when the dis tinction betueen quiet and happiness, be tween casualty and design, is entrusted to eyes blind with interest, to iinderstanU ings depraved by resentiment' And the celebrated . Edmund Burke, in his address to the Eieetors of Bristol, savs : . j - " The inflicting of this punishment is not on t' e opinion of an equal and public judge, but it is referred to the arbitrary discretion ot a private,; nay, interested and irritated individual. He who for mally is, and substantially ought to be, thejudge, is in realit no more than ministerial, a mere executive instrument of a private man, . whojis at once judge and party. Every idea-of a judical or der is subverted by thi procedure. If insolvency be no- crime.' why , is it pun ished with arbitrary imprisonment ? If it be a crime, why is it delivered into private hands to pardon; without discre tion, or to punish without mercy, and without measure ; i Other writers could lie quoted, but let the above suffice. - L -' All the reasons which have, been given for the allowed incarceration of debtors have been the following:. ' . 1st. Tlat ir.:prisoument is the pro per mode to compel ihe debtor to sur-. render his property for 'the? payment of his debts." ; . f 2d.; " That imprisonment is a pro pel punishment for the fraudulent con duct of a debtor." - - And 3d. u That imprisonment is a proper punishment for the protection of. public credit. . - It is admitted that the relinquishment of all the property of the debtor, except ing enough to afford the necessaries - of life to himself and family, ought to be en forced ; but, after the relinquishment made, the person of the; debtor, ought to be free. .;' ; ' .. As to the second reason, i.f a right dis tinction is observed betwecen a breach of trust and fraud, "scarcely any doubt can beentertainc d ; every debtor, who through fraudulent representations obtains posses sion of property, ought to be punished for his ft aiid. 1 On theiiead of the third reason, the great moralist, and the. , profound states man I have quoted, says1: " The motive of credt is the hope of advantage! Qommercej can never be at ! a stop while one man wants what another can supply ; and credit will never be de- nied, whilst it is likely to be repaid with profit, tie that trusts one who he designs to sue, is criminal by the act of trust ; the cessasion of such insidious traffic is to be delivered." -Johnson. V ; X redit has little or po concern in this ! cruelty ; credit is given because capital j must be employed : men cajculate the chances' of insolvency ; i and they either withhold the Credit, or make! the debtor pay the' risk in the price. The counting house has no alliance with the jail. Hol land understands trade as well as we. I There was not when Mr- Howard visited 1 Holland, more than one prisoner for debt in the great city of Rotterdam." Burke. I hese are gei.eral sentiments of en lightened disinterested men on this sub ject. Let "me now descend to a des cription of the prirtical efect here, - 011 the exercise of the right to imprison . the bodies oi pewbni fot deb; , A few days since, I .was led by the contemplatipn of the subject, to enquire into the state of the Boston jail. I found in the month of June last, no less than one hundred and thirty-five persons'were committed to it for debt ; in July, one hun dred and eighty seven ; and in the month ot August, no less than two hundred and seven ; mate and female, making a total of fjve hundred And twenty-nine com mitments for debt, in a loathsome prison, in one'of the hottest summers ever expe rienced in this country. ' Of the number of those committed in August, 114 were for sums under 20 dollars; "19 of whom were females'; & 22 from 20 to 30 dollars ! Do not these facts call aloud for -legislative attention; and for a revision at leastj of the laws oh this subject ? And is there no Burke or a Sir Samuel Rom ily, in the General Court of Massachu setts, who will become the " foster parent of measures to remedy such flagrant and growing evils? I trust there is, and that his voice will be heard with effect. - ' MEIICY. INTELLIGENCE. During the conversazione on Saturday evening at Dr. Mitchell's, several original letters of the late eloquent and reverend Georoe Whitfield were produced arid read to the company -They had been .written to a kinsman of his in (Georgia, between the years 17-55 and 172. iJiety and aflection appear in every paragraph. Prudence and honesty are strongly incul cated. Four manuscript books of the famous Asiatic traveller James S. Buckingham, Esqr. of Bombay, were laid upon the ta ble. The author is an English gentleman of for tune and enterprize, who has perfect ly acquired the Arabian language and manners ; and who, when dressed in the Oriental costume, passes for a -Mahometan. He meditates a publication of his travels, and there is reason to believe they will be highly instructive and entertain ing. It is expected Mr. B. will print them in London there would therefore be an impropriety in forestalling his intentions. .Nevertheless, fair dealing and a friendly disposition allow a few remarks -The first volume or number contains the Jour nal of his journey from Bagdad to Baby lon The second, his encampment at Ilil Ia, and his excursions over and among the ruins of that famous and ancient city The third, the History of the Wahube.e religion ; and of the I'irates and Pearl-fishers of the Persian Gulf The fourth de scribes the war between the Pirates and the East India Company ; and the una vailing proceedings at Ilea-EI. Ilhynia relative to a peace. " They are as late as IS 16: The part that relates to the stu pendous antiquities and rules, 'fully con firms the historical and prophetic text of holy scriptures, and the descriptions of Herodotus. Pieces -of the Earthenware of the North American natives, were produced for ex amination.' I hese fragments of aborigin al pottery were found seven, hundred miles up the river Orleansaus, several feet below the soil, in a forest of heavy tim ber The composition seemed very much to resemble that of the pbst and vases occasionally found in old Indian settle ments east of the Alleghany .Mountains. A modern Greek discoursed w ith great intelligence on the opinions prevalent at Smyrna concerning the plague ;-on the place where the home of Homer is said to be ; and on the pronunicatiori of the Greek tongue. .' , A correct and elegant figure of the new Fish, discovered by Capt. II. Coffin, in the North Atlantic. Ocean, -lat. 42, long 30, was produced. There being no ge nius to which 'this extiaordiary animal could bejreferred, he has been placed in a new one, under the name of Sacco Pharynk, from the dilatability of his jaws, and the bag-like size of his throat J Two recent publications from Stock holm through the Swedish Consul were observed by the company in the Swedish tongue, one was the fifth volume by the .Medical Society of thatkindom, in an oc tavo of nearly 500 pages. It contains, among many othec important papers, a very particular and respectful notice (p. 323344) of the New- York Philoso phical Transactions. The several me moirs ! arid their authors are duly an nounced to the learned in the .North of Europe. The other was a book printed late inT818, by Gadelius, for the learnedj friendly and excellent Mr. Carlander, Secretary of the, &c. &C whose liberal and enlarged mind-merits the highest commendation. ' IV. F. Mer. I The notion is idle, that a man will live easier on a small income, or grow sooner rich if he remain unmarried. ' Every tiling desirable j3 fjarthered byja g($od wife, ' . . V. 1'-Mess. From the Neuh York Columbian. .V PHENOMENON. ; V . The extraordinary appearance of the . Aurora Borealis, as : seen last Tuesday. . evening, and in particular the white belt or bow, strechlng from east to west, and -moving rapidly to the south, has .excited -no doubt the attention of otir readers. 'We avail ourselves of the following correct description of the phenomenon, from a correspsodenti . AURORA BOREALIS. -Last evening after sunset, we wftnessed -in New-ork the appearance of an .Aiw I rora Borealis, or northern, light, the vivid fulgency of which, and the extent on the horizon, we have never witnessed in this or the other hemisphere, during 45 ; years recollection. j The phenomenon, at half past 7, j-e-flected its light more toward the west; on 1 clouds which were magnificent! v illnmi. I riated by it, while those of the nouh re-' inainea aark ana inter?perced seemingly ' over a rising sun. At half past 3, splen did rays were projected divergingly from the focus of light, nd nearly reached our zenith : a field of pale red colour on ; the horizon, from west to east was tiis-. . tinctly fcrmed at the extremity of lliese white rays. At 10 o clock, he rays had much vanished, and their projection could scarcely be perceived. Hut they wei e' at their extremity replaced by a belt encir cling the whole section of Heaven that " was lightened by the Aurora Borealis ; it sur passed the beauty of the Galaxy , & was better projected from west to east ; it was really like a night white rainbow. rI his appearance was not intersected by clouds, but did noj Jast longer than half an hour. At 1 1 o'clock the northejrn light continued very storng without rays or colors ; m on : o'clock the shades of the night were dis pelled even .from the recesses of dark. . rooms. 1 saw it once mure at 2 o'clock in the morning soon after the rise of. the moon, it seemed,- perhaps, Vsomewhat ; stronger than before. The reflect!, n of' , the solar rays on the polar regons of ice are, by the learned j suppose! to produce the Aurora Borealis. Others prognostic cate from it a severe winter, in the re gions of the earth which it reaches. phenomenon -Aurora's bow. . :'"...r Philadelphia, Oct. '13. ; At" half past 'eight o'clock yesterday evening, was observed in this city, one. of ' the most sublime and beautiful appearan ces evei witnessed in Philadelphia; A sil ,Ver bow stretching from west-north-west to east-south-east, jSlling.tli whole arch of ' the heavens, with its base resting on the) eastern and w estern horizon. ' ' Tin's beautiful arch is w hat some w ould ' call a lunar bow, but we presume it wujf produced by the northern light,, or Au- rora Borealis shining upon a dark ciouck ' to the north, and which, at the time, iust" have discharged some rain. T litis by the reflection flight ihe bow was produceoT to an observeVkthe plpce. It was visi- ble eight or ten miViutesT . f . DcdlyAdv. . V The emperor of China, it appears by ' our public papers has been veiy nn'tr alarmed by the appearance of a hurri cane. In his royd gazette, he has thought proper. to censure the astrologers belong ing to his court, for not having foretold this event in their (almanacs. His astrol ogers in reply to some queries propound ed by his majesty, declared, th&t tai hur ricane was occasioned by' the dismissal of his favorite minister. This explanation was rejected by his. majesty, as an inter ference with Iris royal prerogative, and they received his majesty's commands, to try their hands at another interpietaiion of this phenomenon. The maihen.aticcl board presented their solutions, and Mat ed, that if the w hirlwind was accompani ed with dust it shewed that there tvadis sention between the sovereign and his ministers. This explanation wasintend eu we presume, to make a whirlwind of - majesty, and 4ust. of his ministrrs.' This is the nation whose example lia been so often cited by visionary theories as urn ishing a proper model for An.erii can adoption. - Bait. Morn. Citron iNSANiry. ' ?The late English - newspapers give an account ot a singular case oi insanity An unhappy woman by the name i f Ejizabril, Liinham. wht by -adversity was dtpi vf d 01 her senses, stole every key with w ,ch he came in: contactthree thousand were iound in her possessibn. bfae Mole the keys ol the Court of Chanceryr and when desired hvtl. 1 mA iAi plaits her ol)ject,f he ai f.wed that she ' wished to lUep iiiitite uncrer Jock and ;key. .1 , " Itnci.
Newbern Sentinel (New Bern, N.C.)
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Oct. 30, 1819, edition 1
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