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1. Sketch of Jeremiah T. Chase of Maryland, the emi-
nent patriot and judge. By a Marylander
Daniel Sheffey, of Staunton, the artificer of his own
fortunes, having risen from the last. By the same.. 346
3. Roger Brooke Taney, Chief Justice of the U. States:
By the same...

4. Nicholas Biddle. (Selected.)

14 The Busy-Body. No. 1. Idlers, &c....

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348

349 352

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15. The Vicissitudes of Life, as portrayed in a sketch of
two lovely females, Ida V.... and Nina Genovesi,
whose bright dawn is succeeded by the dark clouds of
adversity; the shipwreck of affection, fortune and
friends in the one, and deep domestic affliction in 'the
other; the powerful sustaining influence of true reli-
gion in adversity. Scene partly in Italy and partly
in America. By a Virginia Lady............

No. II. Labor-Saving Machines, &c. 354 16. Byron and Plagiarism. By S. F. G. of Washington
Her arrival at Malta; Sir T.

Frigate Constitution.
Briggs; Anecdote of Sir T. Fellowes; Celebration of
22 February; Admiral Sir R. Stopford; Brigade Re-
view; Departure of the Constitution. Forwarded to
the Messenger from Malta .....

7. Scientia Miscellanea. By A. D. G.

No. L. Happy Accidents.....

...... 357

.... 358

No. II. Exceptions to General Laws 359 8. Washington College, Lexington, Va. History of this Institution, from its commencement as a Grammar School, with a Memoir of Wm. Graham, its early and efficient Preceptor, subsequent distinction of its early students; present condition and advantages of this College. By an aged Citizen of Rockbridge.... 361 Notice of a Lecture on Chemistry, by G. D. Armstrong, A. M. of Washington College... 1. The Bachelor's Death-Bed. A Tale of a Misogynist and Monomaniac. By a Citizen of South Carolina.. 370 IL Blographical Sketches of Living American Poets and Novelists. No. II. James Fenimore Cooper, and his Writings

367

373

14. Notes and Anecdotes, political and miscellaneous, from
1798 to 1830. Drawn from the portfolio of an officer of
the Empire, and translated from the French for the
Messenger. The Conspiracy of August, 1820....... 379
The Copy-Book. No. III. Population of the West;
Village in the West. By C. C. of Petersburg, Va... 383
14. Journal of a Trip to the Mountains, Caves and Springs

of Virginia. By a New-Englander. Chap. VI. Salt
Sulphur Springs; Orange Cave; Red Sulphur
Springs; Gray Sulphur Springs; Season Growing
Old; Gambling at the Springs; Indifference to the
Sick; Sunday at the Springs; Mr. Burnap; New
Comers; Farewell to the White Sulphur.....

394

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23. Lines to a Beautiful Child, who became blind by acci-
dent. By Henry Thompson, Esq. of Tallapoosa, Ala. 367
24. The Flower and Star...

369

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25. Song. By a Citizen of Richmond.

26. Night. By Professor C. C. Felton. (Selected).
27. A Reverie. By a South-Carolinian..
28. To My Cigar. (Selected)

29. Fragment. By a Virginian....................
30. Lines. By L. of Columbia, S. C........................................
31. Affection's Triumphs. Part III. By a Virginian..... 401

CONTENTS OF COVER-8 pages.

Title and Contents, p. 1. List of Payments, 2 and 3. New Terms, 3. Agents, 5. Advertisements: Marshall House, 4. Hampden Sidney College, 4. Jas. Hoban's Law Notice, 4. Old Mail Line to Charlottesville, 5. Bell Tavern, 6. William F. Ritchie's Law Notice, 6. Rail Road Line to Charlottesville, 7. J. W. Stevenson's Law Notice, 7. New Printing Office, 8 Henry M. Morfit's Law Notice, 8.

This work is published in monthly numbers of 64 pages each, at $5 the vol. in advance: the postage on each No. for 100 miles or less, is 6 cts.-over 100 miles, 10 cts.

RICHMOND, Va.

T. W. WHITE, PRINTER, OPPOSITE THE BELL TAVERN.

PAYMENTS TO

SOUTHERN LITERARY MESSENGER From the 28th of April, to the 28th of May, 1838.

All persons who have made payments early enough to be entered, and whose names do not appear in this published receipt list, or in that of the next number, are requested to give notice of the omission immediately after receiving that number, in order that the correction may be forthwith made.

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Francisco, Charles L..
Ferrell, Blount C..

Gregory, Miss Lucy F.
Golightly, David..

.JL B..

Maine Cunningham, Dr. John A.
.Petersburg Claiborne, Charles F.
Caperton, Hugh.

Christian, Major Edmund..
Davis, William T...

Arkansas Denby, Mrs. Sarah Jane.
Caroline Davis, Robert I....
.Louisiana Dialectic Society.
.Mississippi Dabney, Mrs. Sally..
New York Elliott, Gilbert...

Buckingham Ewing, Thomas.
Richmond England, James R.
French, James..

. North Carolina

...Illinois Ferrell, Blount C.
Francisco, Charles L.
Fry, George H...

King & Queen
Warm Springs

....Georgia Fishback, Frederick. Mecklenburg Ford, Samuel... TLJ, pn....Georgia Grant & Daniel..

Haralson, Mrs. Caroline M...T LJ, pn....
Jones, James V.....

Latimer, Miss Rebecca M

Lewis, James L...

Loving, William H.

Miami University..

Mosby, Dr. J..

New York Athenæum..

Paine, Dr. Charles J....

Randolph, William M...

Rice, Lewis......

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...Monroe ...Richmond Mathews .Richmond

..Nelson

.Chapel Hill

...H & D........Albemarle

.North Carolina

Ohio Richmond

H & D.... .Fauquier JLB........Georgia Warm Springs ...Warm Springs .H & D........Culpeper .H & D..... .Buckingham .G&D, pn... ......Boston ...TLJ, p n......Georgia TLJ, pn......Georgia

....

...Georgia Golightly, David..
..Georgia Graham, Dr. William P....
TLJ, pn....Georgia Guthrie, J. S......... NAS, p n.... North Carolina
.TLJ,pn....Georgia Gregory, Miss Lucy F.

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PAYMENTS TO VOL. IV.

Allen, William C.....
Armstrong, Josiah N...

Appleton, William..

.G & D, pn.

Bond, William Key (M. C.)..

......

....Nashville King, Miss Maria Louisa.
....Boston Love, Miss Mary J.......
Loving, William H.

Washington City

Bridges, Richard M....H & D, p n. .....Richmond

Bronaugh, Edward W.

Belcher, William W.

..Louisiana
.South Carolina

Lewis, Dixon H. (M. C.)..
Latimer, Miss Rebecca M.
Malone, Dr. Thomas S..

Betton, S. D....... .TLJ, pn.......Georgia Mcklin, Dr. B. W...

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.Kentucky ...Brunswick

Tennessee

Washington City ....Georgia

.TLJ, pn....

Alabama

Alabama

....Ohio

..Richmond

Tennessee

.Richmond

..Richmond

.North Carolina

.Albemarle Mathews, Mrs. Ann M....H & D......Buckingham
..Surry M'Bride, William G.....A HP, pn.......Georgia

VOL. IV.

T. W. WHITE, Editor and Proprietor.

RICHMOND, JUNE, 1838.

JEREMIAH T. CHASE.*

Maryland boasts of no purer patriot than JEREMIAH TOWNLEY CHASE, who was born at Baltimore, May 23, 1748.

No. VI.

FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM.

conflict of liberty with tyranny: innocent blood has been shed: our cities are conflagrated and our temples profaned: helpless families are flying at midnight from their homes: misery and wretchedness now clothe our land with sackcloth and ashes. Behold, the haughty foe now holds in his grasp the cities of New York and Philadelphia, while disease, exposure and famine daily

and exposed to snow-storms, while the heart of their chief is dissolved in sorrow! That illustrious man now looks to us for aid; let it not be in vain. Cast your eye to the prison shop. Hear ye not the groans of our starving brethren, held in cruel captivity since November 76. The genius of America cries to us for their relief. Now is the time to strike for our country. Tell me not of the portentous cloud hanging over us: look

Schools were then rare, and conducted on a very limited scale, and his education, like that of Washing-waste our little army at Valley Forge! See them, naked ton, was by no means liberal. His mind, however, being naturally strong, overcame the difficulties and impediments arising from the want of early culture. Certain it is, that no bosom ever glowed more intensely with the fire of patriotism; for in the dawn of our revolution, young Chase is found among the foremost of those gallant spirits who resisted the tyranny of Great Britain, and swore that they would be free. He was a member of the first committee of observation for Balti-beyond it. The time will arrive when our fears shall more, whose duty it was to watch the movements of the enemies of liberty, and with vestal vigilance, guard the rights of their oppressed country.

vanish; when war shall end, and peace spread her balmy wing over this once fair, but now desolated land. Forget not that in August, '76, we proclaimed to the asWhen the tidings of the battle of Lexington reached tonished world, that we would lay down our lives in Baltimore in the spring of '75, Mr. Chase enrolled him- defence of our dearest rights: that we would 'do or self as a private in the first company of militia raised in die." Shall we now shrink from the contest and leave the state, and thus contributed to call into action that Washington to perish? The eyes of unnumbered milindomitable spirit of the Maryland line, which after-lions are upon us : let us do justice to our posterity: the wards won for itself imperishable laurels at Cowpens, Guilford and Eutaw.

gratitude of future ages shall constitute our rich reward. It is true that our resources are scanty: our soldiers In the summer of '76, the convention met at Annapolis, are undisciplined: munitions of war are hardly to be to establish a form of government, and continued its obtained: yet will aid come from unexpected sources. session until August 14th, when the bill of rights and He who rules human destiny, will awaken the sympapresent constitution were adopted; founded on the thy of European nations, who will supply our necessi principles of Magna Charta, the Petition of Right, and ties and assist us in this mighty conflict." This appeal other bulwarks of English freedom, and beyond all, on was irresistible-under the energetic administration of the inalienable right of self-government. They de- Thomas Johnson, first governor of the state, supplies clared that the people alone were the true fountain of of cattle and flour were sent to the army troops were all power, and could alter or abolish their form of go-recruited and disciplined: the energies of war called vernment at their sovereign will. This was a new and untried experiment. History furnished no parallel: it shed but feeble light on their path. Yet did this assembly, amid the din of battle, proclaim to the universe, that they would maintain their rights, or die in the struggle. They undertook the enterprize under a perfect conviction that they must expiate their offence on a gibbet, if victory did not settle on their banner. I find, on examining the journal, that Mr. Chase was in constant attendance on all the deliberations of the convention.

From this period until 1779, when he removed to Annapolis, he represented Baltimore in the House of Delegates. During these three gloomy and appalling years, when the stoutest hearts were almost ready to despair, Mr. Chase cheered and animated the House with his powerful and eloquent speeches. "Our cause," he would say, "is just: Heaven is on our side: it is the

* We are indebted to a gentleman of Maryland for the Sketches of Jeremiah T. Chase, Daniel Sheffey, and Roger B. Taney. We are also promised for our July No., from the same pen, Memoirs of Judge White and of Samuel Cooper, of the revolutionary army, both of whom are now living in Georgetown, D. C.

into action: and the unsubdued spirit of Maryland felt in the cabinet and the field, until the banner of America floated on the heights of York Town. Mr. Chase was universally esteemed one of the most conspicuous actors in the war of independence, which terminated with the treaty of peace in '83. He was a member of Congress at Annapolis, when on the 23d of December of this year, the father of his country surrendered into the hands of that august assembly, his commission as commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States, which he had received in June, '75. He was now in his fifty-first year, in the full possession of all his powers; enjoying unbounded fame: the army, which he had just left at Newburgh, ready to clothe him with the imperial purple. Disdaining the proudest trophies of ambition, he comes before Congress, and begs them to receive the insignia of his authority. He is dressed in his military costume, surrounded by his aids de camp Walker and Humphreys; and in the presence of Howard, Smallwood, Williams, and the now venerable Mayor of Baltimore, who had fought by his side, and well knew the toils and perils he had encountered, he asks to become a private citizen of that country for VOL. IV.-44

whose independence he had oft perilled his life. Carroll, astrous end which so soon awaited him on the mounof Carrollton, Madison and Monroe beheld the scene- tains of Gilboah, he could not have exhibited an apthe admiring nations of the earth echoed his praise, as pearance more awfully enchanting, than did the judge he retired from public admiration to the enchanting in his address to the grand jury on this occasion. The lawns of Mount Vernon. Charles the 5th resigned his silence of death reigned through the house, as he comcrown to Philip, only when he was incapable of wear-menced his charge. The subject was duelling. His ing it Cincinnatus surrendered his second dictatorship mind had been led to its contemplation from the recent of Rome, after holding his power only fourteen days: death of a son of Robert Bowie, Esq. then governor of but Washington for more than eight years reigned in the state, and a friend of Mr. Chase. The youth was the hearts of his countrymen with unexampled sway, an officer in the army of the United States, of noble during which period it might be supposed that lust of form, chivalric spirit and amiable bearing, who fell in power had obtained such an ascendancy as would have the morning of life on the banks of the Mississippi, tempted him to enlarge and perpetuate the influence at the shrine of this cruel and gothic custom. His which he now possessed. By this single act alone, he melancholy end filled Prince George county, where he at once descends from the pinnacle of glory to his own had been reared, with undissembled sorrow. As the peaceful fireside. judge progressed, you saw before your eyes the bleeding corpse of the unfortunate man consigned to the lonely grave in a distant land; the forms of his mourning parents were visible: instantly the jury and audience were dissolved into tears. Presently he spoke of the Divine law, and how the shedding of blood was denounced at the death of the first martyr: that the Saviour of the world had inculcated peace and good will among men, and the forgiveness of injuries; and that he had died on the cross praying for his enemies. The laws of our country, too, said he, solemnly forbid this savage practice, which desolates our firesides, and drives the happiness of society far from the haunts of man. I invoke you, then, in the name of all these high and holy considerations, to rally round those laws which you have sworn to sustain, and assist the court in extirpating this wide-wasting iniquity. The charge continued for an hour: its effect was thrilling and pathetic.

Having served with much honor in Congress the term for which he was elected, Mr. Chase engaged extensively in the practice of law, and occupied a very distinguished rank in his profession. The reports of Harris and Mr. Henry show that his cases were argued with much ability, evincing great labor in the examination of authorities: his profound learning, combined with distinguished clearness of reasoning, adorned with a manner plain and persuasive, always delighted and instructed the court and jury.

The constitution of the United States had been adopted by the convention at Philadelphia in September, 1787. Washington, who presided over that illustrious body of statesmen, with all the weight and simplicity of his character, recommended it to the ratification of Congress, with an affection and earnestness which equalled the great law-giver of the Jews. Like him he had led his countrymen from bondage to liberty, and like him now gave them the law of their future action. When this constitution was submitted to the people of Maryland, in convention assembled, Mr. Chase was its ardent, untiring, and able advocate. He coincided with Hamilton, Madison and Jay, in the fundamental doctrines contained in their joint work, and was eminently useful in removing the doubts and quieting the fears of his fellow-citizens as to many portions of that extraordinary charter of their political rights. From 1794 to 1805, Mr. Chase acted as chief judge of the general court of Maryland. During this period, no state in our Union beheld a more brilliant constellation of professional talent, than was now exhibited at the bar of this court; yet the decisions of judge Chase were not only admired by all, but very seldom reversed by the appellate tribunal. On the abolition of the General Court, he was appointed chief judge of the third judicial district, comprehending the counties of Anne Arundel, Calvert and Montgomery, and presiding judge of the Court of Appeals, which station he filled with consummate ability until 1824, when he resigned his commission.

On the 23d May, 1828, this pious judge was no more. In his lofty and useful career, he had pronounced the law affecting his fellow creatures, with the abiding conviction that he was himself soon to be passed upon by the Great Judge of both quick and dead: "Thou, God, seest me," was written on all his decisions. In his last hour, Addison called to his bedside an infidel young man, and requested him to witness how a christian could die. Judge Chase might not only have imitated the example, but have appealed to the whole world to point to any act of his well-spent life which fell short of the most perfect purity of intention, or which did not aim to promote the welfare of his fellow-men.

DANIEL SHEFFEY.

DANIEL SHEFFEY was born in Frederick, Maryland, in 1770. His education was inconsiderable. At an early age, his father taught him the trade of a shoemaker. He continued to work with him until he attained manIt was in the fall of 1809 I first saw this venerable hood. The house yet stands, where he spent, in this man at Rockville, where he was holding court. His occupation, many long and wearisome years of his life. locks were white as snow, floating on his shoulders; his While engaged on his bench, he was frequently observcountenance that of an angel: his brilliant eye com-ed, during leisure moments, to be intensely occupied in bined the fire of genius with the meekness of the dove: the perusal of some author for his instruction or amusehis form bent under the weight of years: his voice feeble ment. By moonlight he was to be found in his father's and tremulous: he seemed the representative of both garden, making observations of the heavenly bodies, worlds. When the prophet arose on the night previous with telescopes, which he had borrowed: and then again to the battle, to admonish the ill-fated Saul of the dis- he was buried in profound meditation, while detecting

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