3
appointed by the General Assembly at their pres-
ent session, and their respective Dpeputies, shall
have power and author ity, and the same is hereby
given them, to execute all latvfnl writs and pre-
cepts which may be in their hands-, at the expira-
tion of their respective olil-ices, during the term
of sixt'y days next aftcr'the first day of June A.
D.~rl~8l9.-‘<--And during said time shall possess the
samc potver, and authority in relation to such
writs and precepts, which is bylaw vested in the
Slleriffs, and Deputy Sheriffs in this state.
(..'m:e.*'al ./18.9-cnzbly, Jlrlatr Scssiovz, ./I. 1). 1819.
DAVID PLA-.\l".‘, .5‘/tea/‘car
Of the Hozuae of Re/zreserzrati-ocs.
JOI"sTATllAN INGERSOLL,
.I’resz'dcnt of the Senate.
.—‘:pprovc(l l\‘ltty 29th, l8l‘). .
()l.lVI'.'.l—l VVOLCOTT.
_....._
An Act in addition to and alteration of an act eu-
titicd,‘ An Act for appointing Shorifl‘:s. and for
empowering and regulating them in the exe-
cution of their office.’
§l. 131'.‘ it .'.-naczcd by the Senate and 1‘ cause qfR.~'/1-
7‘esen!u1izrrs in General ./l..9.9e11zb'!y convrm=u', That
a Sheriffshall be appointed in" each county of the
state by the General Assembly, at the present
session thereof, and also hereafter when occasion
may require, who shall hold his office for three
3."ears from the (late of his commission, remove-
able by the General Ass<:ml:»ly..
12’: it _/‘uz'.t.’2er mzaczed, That each sheriff,
appointed as alci'e.suid or who may be appointed
by the Governor to fill any vacancy occasioned
by death, or resignation shall before he enters up-
on the duties of his oflice execute a bond with
two sullicient sureties to the acceptance ofthe
per.-ion administering the office of Governor, pay-
able to the Treasurer of this state for the time
being and his surccssors in ' office in the sum of
ten thousand dollars C')n(llilf)l:L'(i for the faithful
til?'sCll‘tit‘f_§‘.: of the duties of his office, and to answer
all dttmi2i:.:es which any person, or persons may
sustain by any unfaithfulucss, or neglect in’ the
same, and shall also take the oath required of
Sherills by the Constitution of this state, and ev-
ery person appointed and qualified as aforesaid
shall thereupon receive it Commission from the
person administering the oliice of Governor‘, de-
claring him quztlitiecl as aforesaid, and authori-
zing and etmpotvering him to execute said office.
and every person so appointed, qualified and em-
poavetjed shall be accounted lawful sheriffof the
cctmty for which he is appointed, and shall be
under the same duties and obligations and ha‘-'e
the same powers, rights and privileges as sheriffs
now have and exercise in this state.
(5 S. .’17z(lbc 7.!/illff/IE1‘ enacted, That the bonds
given by sheriffs as aforesaid, shall be lodged
with the secretary, and recorded in the records of
tbis state and a copy of said bond duly ’ certified
by the secretary, shall be admissible evidence in
any court of this state, and be sufficient proof of
the execution of said bond.
. f2'(:7I:'ral /13.967215];/, ./Uay Sc'ssion, .4. 1). 1819.
' D.-&,Vll) PLANT, «‘2'/zctakcr
' of 2’/.=e 1101.29: Qf }€C]l7‘(‘-.§(‘;l‘£’Qt|:77C’8.
.l{)NATHAN INGEHSOLL,
f"2'csz'(le.~2t of the Senate. 4
Approved June 4, 1819.
OLIVER VVOLCOTT.
.e"’ronz .'/ze [Va-.9.'c/18.:-!er Y) Iferalcl, June 8. _
ll'e.s-zc.’zr.s-fer Oyer and 1"crmz'ncr.--Tlte Circuit
court and court of Oycr and Tcrmiz~cr for this
county, held by his honor Judge Van Ness, ad-
journed on "t'hursday last. The following crim-
inals were convicted and sentenced by the court:
Lott Merritt, for an attempt to poison, senten-
ced to the state prison for It years.
Anscl_Tuttlc, for an assault with intent to com-
mi‘, a rape, state prison 3 years and aday.
Four black boys, for petit larceny, confined in
the county jail. .
The case of Merritt excited a very great in-
terest, owing to his having been an inhabitant of
the county, and a farmer of some standing. The
circumstances relative to the poisoning were sim-
ply these: some two or three years since, Mer-
ttt was brought before. Nchetnial1'l.'u‘0v.vt1, esq.
then one of the justices of the town of llarrison,
on a criminal charge, and by him committed to
prison ;' at short time alter Merritt got his dis-
charge, and on his way home.he swore most bit-
terly that he would have satisfaction of those who
imprisoned him, should be live long enough for
the purpose. From that time until the commis-
sion of the act, he treated Mr. Brown, who was
one of lns nearest neighbors, with the utmost
coldness and disrespect. At length he made the
attempt to carry his nefarious and horrid threat
into execution, byimixing a quantity of arsenic
in a bag of flour belonging to Mr. Brown, while
at the mill. The flour was taken home, made
into bread, eaten of by the family, and within an
hour after eating it, the whole family, consisting
of eight persons, were taken dangerously ill——
The heart rending scene which was now exhibi-
ted, and the terror and alarm which their situa-
tion excited, can be more easily imagined than
(lesct'ibcd. In every part of the house some one
was sick and calling for assistance, but no one
was found able to afforcl them any relief : the cry
of ‘what shall we do i’ was heard from every
quarter. Several days elapsed before the fttmily
were restored to health. It was at first suspect-
ed that‘ the water had been poisoned ; but at
length it was discovered to be in the bread, some
of whitth was given‘ to the hogs over night, and
the next morning four of them were found dead.
Suspicious being thus partially confirmed, enqui-
ry was made, Merritt was arrested, and has no
doubt met the punishment he so richly merited.
It appeared on the trial, that Merritt opened.
the bag of Mr. 13. while at the mill, and was seen
to put something in it. Although the whole of
the testimony was circumstantial, yet so strong
were those cigcumstances, and so well were they
connected, that notwi-thstantling the prisoner had
retained one of the most eminent counsellors in
the state, (Mr. E. VVilli‘ams,‘of I-l'ud‘son,) who in
a speech of.two hours, exhausted every argu-
. ‘meat which his powerful ingenui.t_v could invent,
in defence of his client, and cohcludetl by an elo-
quent ap'pealto the.feelings of the Jury, they, af-
ter an absence of a feu{'i*n_inut‘es, returned with a
verdicl ofgtiilty. Messx'"s",§,_'lVlunro and Price from
New-York,were ass,ot,‘.ia._t§;;l with the District at-
torney as counsel fotf7t'l.i;e7:1§:t'osecution. I y _.
The prisoner was then ‘called tip to hear the
sentence of the court, which was pronounced by
his honor Judge V-an Ncss, in one of the most
able and feeling addresses ever delivetied in this
county on a similar occasion--scarcely a dry eye
maimed wholly unmoved, without itsappart-ntly
making any impression on his heart of stcel..
Her:-id S://zei-.vtition.——'l‘he last number of the
letters from an American in Calcutta. rt-preseot-
ing some new views of the I-Iindoo character.-—
VVe extract the following as a specimen : Hu-
manity shudders at the thought that superstition
can hold such absolute power over the mind.-—'-
Tlrese deluded wrctches not only endure their
self inflicted tortures with firmness, but even with
a degree of levity which seems almost incredi-
ble. Ll'an.('et.'.
“ Before day-light on the morning -of the 5th,
I was awakened by a great noise of natives hal-
looiug in the streets. The holiday season, I be-
live C«’)t)‘ll})t:n'C(’.(l on that morning ; and I was-in-
formed that all the Gentoo population went du-
ring the night to bathe; or, as they term it, to
,-was/2 body in the Houghly. Very early in the
morning the shore was lined with thousands of
them ; and this was said to be the case for a great
extent up the river. The water near the shore.
was covered with flowers, strung in garlands, or
strowed separately upon-its surface ;-—-these be-
ing a species of tribute, ‘or oblation offered to
the sacred stream. The Gentoos believe, or
profess to believe, that the Gun ges river comes
from heaven direct. They will not admit that
the object of their devotion has a terrestrial ori-
gin. This opinion may have originated in con-
sequence of the very remote and almost unknown
measure alegorical; inasmuch, as a large portion
of its waters in one season of the year, does
come dilectly from the clouds. For several days
after this general ablution, and offering of flow-
ers. I observed small parties paraciug the streets
accompanied by the music of the tzuntmn, or
small drum , and some one of each group signal-
izing himself by voluntarily inflicting some vio-
lent and disgusting species of torture on his own
body. The favorite, or most frequent operation,
tvas that of thrusting along iron rod through a
perforation which had previously been made in
th_e tongue, by which means it was stretched out
of his mouth ; andin this plight, with the blood
trickling down his chin he would dance, and per-
form a variety of grotesque gesticulations, to the
music of the tumtum. \VVhen one of the party
hadthus displayed his fortitude, another would
take the rod and undergo the same operation.—-
Some, also, hadbamboo hoops rtm through sim-
ilar loops in their" sides, all of which they slip-
ped backwards and fortvards, in order to increase
the torture. . The object of these sanguinary
proceedings, is said to be an atonement to God
for their sins; but it seems they have also an eye
to some trm/zaral benefits, in exhibiting these to-
kens of penance; for they take care to display
themselves as much as possible before strangers,
and make no scruple in soliciting-a present or
bu,1:.-/zis/2, as they call it, as a reward for the exiti-
bition. Thesc disgusting spectacles were, how-
ever, but trifles compared to a process which I
yesterday witnessed ; and which it seems was in-
tended to close the scene, as it certainly did cap
the climax of these abominations. In the after-
noon I went vi ith some gentlemen to the house of
Ram Duloll Day, zcprincipal and well known ban-
yan, in this city ; where arrangements had been
made for the ceremony of swinging, a sort of
penance performed by the bearer cast, and some
other low casts. This exhibition is generally
made in front of the house of some wealthy anti
influential uativ~e,by way of compliment ; and a
sorry one it would be, had not that ‘ tyrant, cus-
tom,’ reconciled it to llltlf‘ feelings. A posta-
bout 29 feet high was planted before Duloli’s
doo' ; a bundle of bamboos, of about the same
length, were lashed together, and fixed by the
middle, across the top of the post, on a kind of
swivel or pivot, which admitted the bamboo lever
to turn round in a horizontal direction. To the
end of this lever was attached a rope, which reach-
ed nearly to the ground, and by which it was to
be turned. To the other end, there was also a-
bout six feet of rope, to .which the aruiazgec,‘-‘if I
may be allowed the term, was tpbc fastened. Af-
ter I had been there some time, a crowd of na-
tives approached, making a‘ great noise with their
tumtums, some of them s_meared with mud, and
sprinkled with a reddish dust; making altogether
a most motly assemblage. One of the company
soon approached the swing, and mounted a scaf-
folding, in order to be attached to the short, rope
at the end of the lever. A couple of iron books,
not unlike the books of a common steelyard,
were passed through two loops made in the skin
of his back, just below the shoulder blades, and a
bandage was passed round his body‘, and over the
books, to secure him in case these should tear
out. The books were then made fast to the line
abovementioned, and the man was suspended in
this way, about twelve or fifteen feet from the
ground. Two or three natives took hold of the
rope at the other end of the lever, and began to
run round with it. gradually quickening their pace
until they whirled him about .w_ith amazing velo-
city. The swiftness with which the patient was
most horizontally ; and my blood ran cold under
the apprehension of seeing him break loose, and
fly oil‘ in a‘ tangent from the circle which he was
describing. Such accidents, lam informed di)
occasionally happen», but they do not deter thest
people from persevering in the p 'actice. After
the first one had been swung a few mi'nu»tes,~ he
was let down : and another came with four hook?
in his back. ‘He had no bandage round" his body‘,
we paid to his perfornrance.
was to be found except in the prisoner, who re-,,
./inalrctzic 1l’1ugazin.c, contains a series of original’
sources of the river, or it may have been in some
carried round. caused him to extend the line al-.
hut trusted entirely to the toughness of his hide.
A considerable number were swung in this way ;
and each,_one seemed ambitiousto have his turn
first, and to excel his pretlecessors in‘these' shock-
ing feats. The fellow who sweeps our factory
\\ as up twice in the course of the afternoon, and
was-apparently much gratified at the attention"
The first time, he
swung fourteen minutes by the watch. One man
srnokctl his /zzlblrlrbu/2bz'e, ate fruit, szc. while he
was swinging. to crince his fortitude and uncon-
cern. In one instance, the person swinging had
a"small.basket in his hand, and a few young half
fledged doves ;' all ofwhich be distributed among
the crowd, as he passed round above their heads,
and they eagettly caught at them. under an im-
pression,as I understood, that it was agood omen
for those individuals who were so fortunate as to
get hold of them before they reached thegrotmd.
Another was suspended, with the iron rod thro’
his tongue, in the manner already described ; and
he amused himself by slipping it ljackward and
forward, from one end to the other, during his
ctrcumgyrauons. The desire to outdo the rest,
at length prompted one man to swing with only
two hooks in his back, and without any bandage
to save him in case of accident. Although there
was not more than an inch of skin in each loop,
ed about with a velocity equal to any of tlreoth-
crs. To crown all, a native woman stepped forth,
towards evening, and convinced them that her
skin was as 1ough,'and her courage as great as
that of the men. She was suspended in the same
manner, and revolved in her orbit with as much
firmness as the most daring of her predeces-
sors.”
'—"<Z"«l:"3-—-
I i New-Yoitx, June 8.
From C'a.diz.-—By the schooner Native, arrived
at Boston on Friday evening, 44 days from Cadiz,
we learn that the U. S. sloop of war Hornet, G.
Read, Esq. commander, with the Hon. Mr.
l"ottst-‘TH, Minister to the Court of Madrid, arri-
ved at Cadiz 14th April, 18 (lays from Boston,
and was immediately admitted to pratique. On
the l5th the yards were manned, and a salute of
‘ll? guns fired on Mr. Forsyth’s leaving the ship.
On the"l6th the Hornet saluted the town with 21
guns, which was returned. Gen. O'Donnell, the
Governor of Cadiz, had waited on Mr. Forsyth,
and every attention and civility had 'been...shown
him. llrfr. F. was to leave Cadiz the -20th for
Madrid. ’ _
The Spanish expedition to South America pro-
gressed very slowly, for want of cash.
Capt. Gooden has despatches for government.
June IO.--A letter from an ollicer of the Hor-
net at Cadiz, says :-~ _ .
.‘ Mr. Forsyth’s baggage was detained at the‘
gates of the city on its landing, at which he was
much displeased; an oflicera short; time after
came t_o know if there was any trunk in particu-
lar which he wanted; to which Mr. F. replied,
he would have all or none, and refused giving up
-any ofhis keys.
The next day be (Mr. F.) wrote
to the Governor, demanding all his baggage ;
adding that if he refused him, he would immedi-
ately return to the United States; observing at
the same time, thathis majesty’s minister Don
Onis, was not only permitted to land thebaggage
without its being searche'd, but allowed to import
his wines free of duty ; and in this case thought
it an ungenerous act. The Governor made eve-
ry apology, and gave up the trunks.’
FOREIGN AP.TICLES.=»
Distrcsses in Englandgcontinues to an alarm-
ing degree, and the spirit of emigration increas-
cs.
According to the Financial Report, England
owes about gig/it /zundrcd millzbn sterling. ‘ To
liquidate which,'(says a London popcr,) we have
l,683,78-1.1. ; that is to say, we have an annuity
which may redeem our debt in the course of six
/zumlred years or morc——-always supposing that,
we,are to enjoy "an undisturbed Peace for that
period, "and our Revenue always to remain at its
present ratc.’ Cheering prospects I
On the 2d of April, at fire broke out in the
town of I-Ielsltemul, in Hungary, which destroyed
six /zundrcd /zou.ve.s,‘am0ng' which were 2 church‘.
cs. , » '
A lad in England, only sixteen years of age,
has received the sentence of death for passing 1!.
counterfeit notes.
Seventeen ofiicers, comprised in the,conspira-
cy of Gen. Lacey, have been condemned to death
in Spain; and it is thought Ferdinand will not
change the fatal sentence in favor of these-unfor-
tunate men, covered with wounds in defence of
his cause.
PARIS, April 22.
The C'.:'.s/mzcre Goats have arrived at Marseilles,
and are now landing. Out of the 568 destined
to that port, lG0 have died on the passage ; but
the loss is in part compensated by young ones
dropped in the same period. The 8 males cm-
'oarked are reduced to 5. M. Ternanx, member
‘ from Paris, is the person to whom we owe this
boon to our [manufacturing industry. flaring
learned from different travellers, that the Schahs
of Persia trattisportcd with success these animals
from Thibet, ._their native region, to the eastern
provinces of ersia, he conceived the idea of im-
porting some ofthem into‘France, to furnish the
matet'ials for anufacturing shawls, and thus as-
sure to our in ustry a tribute to European luxu-
try. M. Jaub rt, ou_r distinguished Orientalist
and traveller, ;undertook the execution of this
-project. Afte having obtained his flock, the4dif-
ficulty was to farry them home. lie lost 200 of
them in the Stlzppes of Oural, and was obliged to
carry in‘ 17 waggons those that became. sickly
and diseased friom hunger, fatigue and cold. The
.hard'ships endltred from the last cause in traver-
sing a region,.w'here thé thermometer stood at
from 18 to 22'd.egt‘ees, and the danger of being
devouiedby \ lves, were not the only difficulties
with which tliis project had‘ to- contend. The
ous, and 0CC(lSl-On,t"(l' the loss above men.ti‘oued'.
l
, _ l
yet these two proved staflicient ;, and he was whirl- '
, _ _. - S.\I.t«.:u. I\l-ass. June 8.
THE SEJ9 SER1’.E.N’T.
(-'<*Pl- VVll€_ele_t"of the sloop Concord of Fair-
'fi6l<l3 Colmcctlctlt, which arrived hcrg from New-
York on Monday evening last, informs us,*that on
Monday morning at 5 o’clucl:, ‘lace Point, S. E.
15 m1les,he discovered in the water, about-20
rods from his vessel;(lirectly ahead, an extraordi-
nary ‘sea animal, moving pretty quick through the
water, with his head erected about four feet from
the surface : the length of the creature, distinct-« I
ly seen above the,v’vat,er, was at_f—lcas‘t 50 feet ; he
appeared to be in "joints, with-a number of pro’-
tu_bi<’-‘l"i‘1‘-Cfisa ‘and app}-atcd“some'what similar to a I
string of barrels afloat. ' The sea was perfectly’
smooth, and he was’ so near that Capt. XV. had
the best opportunity, of viewing him‘. He was
vibible about five minutes, when he stink beneath
the water, and tlisappeared for about eight or ten
minutes, when he again rose on the t.-‘t--..m’e.~ quar-
ter about the same distance as before. Capt. VV.
now called up several of his men to view him.--
In a few minutes he sunk again, and was not seen
for two hours, when he again appeared on the
weather bow, distance about 14 rods, moving in
the same direction with the vessel and veryslow.
He continued on top of the ‘water at this time
about seven minutes, when he again sunk slowly
beneath the surface, and was no more seen._
Five persons on board the sloop, had a fair view"
of the animal, and they all agree that he had the"
appearance of an enormous serpent moving with
an undulatory motion through the water, with
his head erected from four to seven feet, but his
taul not visible. I-lis liead appeared to be about
three feet in length, the eyes were discernible on
his last appearance,and weilé as large as a horse’s,
"1 C0101‘: he appeared perfectly black. Capt. VV.
had before been an unbeliever in the existence of
a Sea Seapent, but he is now perfectly convinced.
He and his men are ready to attest on oath to the
statement here given. -—Salcm Register.
Capt. \‘r'heeler has forwarded the followinglcr-
ter to his friends at Fairfield, with a request that
it may be published.--fl'Icrc. Adv. I i‘
‘ Salem, 11/lass. June 8,
‘ I have some news about the Sea Serpent,. or -
something that made its appearance yesterday
morning at 5 o’clocl<, about 15 miles N. WU from
Race Point, in the Bay. 1- was at'the helm‘ and
discovered something directly a head but a short
distance. It appeared at first view like a string
of kegs afloat, its headresemblcd a s*nake’s,‘and
was apparently as large as at two gallon ke-g.—-
He appeared to be aboutas long as ‘our sloop,
with his heads above the surface of the vva'.er.--
He passed atbwart. our bow, leaving a large wake
behind. It being almost calm, I had a fair view
of him, for about five minutes; he then sunk un-
der the water. He appeared the second time,-
soon after over our weather quarter about,‘2O rods
distant. There was no one‘. . -.3.-.-!:. but myself
when I first saw him; on hi-. 5 -. ~.u.§ ' ».-...-g.‘~.-v-.’e
I called all hands, but bcforr.-. ~ — ‘ _, : ~ .~‘x
he disappeared again. _.);H1 r. t ' *
v.. .
t 4.21.-
southward and eastward. " At Sc}- - ,
was seen by the man that worked his pa:ié’.','J'
then by Mr. Bennettand one of the passenger's. A
I believe it a fact that the animal is what has
been called the Sea Serpent. though I never have
believed in him before.’--Yours Sec. ‘
I-Iowm-ix \Vnm»:LE1ty
Sea Sn‘/zemt relurncti.-—-()n lit-iday and Sa
day last, an extraordinary fish was seen near
hasset Rocks, resembling the Sea Serpe
which so much has already been said. , On of
our informants, who saw it, and \\ ho repress ms
himself as a skeptic in the Gloucester stori of-’
this strange animal, now declares his convict n,
that the living object henoticcd, resembled the
figure, movements and action, of the one s an
in Gloucester harbor; that it appt:;tt'c(l to hi to
measure about 80 or too feet in length ; its h ad
and bunches resembling, most strikingly, tljase
already described in the former appearanc of--
this water animal. VVe shall hope to hear some’-
thing more on this subject; for the gratification
of our own citizens; but more /ztzrticularly for
that ofour southern friends.—-[Boston /za. Jun: 7.
_......_
SACO, May 25, 1819.
Im/za'ste7~/mnis/zcd.—.-‘ The county of York,par--
ticularly this town, Kennebunk. Baxton, Scc. has
longbcen infested by a religious lmposter, na-
med Jacob Cac/mm; who pretended to have a
mission to spread a new religion. His process
was to gull a few men,‘then to seduce women,
married and single, to attend his ministrations,
swear them to secrecy, and then induce them to
- commit the most lascivious and criminal practi-
ces. This conduct had become notorious; and
the Grand Jury of the county, at the late term of
the Supreme court, found no less than five bills
of indictment against him. On one of these,
for lascivious behavior, he was clzttred, the Jury.
after being up all night, not agreeing, one of
their number, a disciple. refusing his a_ssent‘.—--'
He was then tried on an indictment for‘-ad't1llei'y.,
and convicted ; but having been tttln1i'I.t'c{i to bail.
and not having been surrendered into Court, he
/to/2/zed the trvig, and has not since been heard of,-,
leaving his sureties to pay 1800 dollars. He lias
thus probably escaped a three years visit to the
State Prison. Jacob Cochran is about 35 years
old, common size, well built-, li‘;-_:ht complexion,
rather sandy hair, dresses Wt‘li and has the man-
ners of a half gentlen1ati....-.Baetu2t (‘e7:.’.i'~7zc‘l.
The Legislature of Nlassaclittsetts have posts
poned a session of the St.-premeCourt v. hich was
to have been held for the counties of llancc-ck,
\»Vas_l-tington and Penobscot, to a day in Septem-
ber next, in consequence of the appearance of
the Small‘ Pox to an alarmi-tw; extent. _ V
A check of 53640 on one of the Banks, was late-
ly dropped in the street in Boston; the owner,
soon missing the check, proceeded to the -bank-,
and ascertained that it had been presented ‘and.
paid- The person who had found the check and
passage by sea to- France was sti‘ll‘more ‘-hazard'- rccci‘ved- the money, was discovered and impris-
oned to await his trial.
Jr-‘
Norwalk Chronicler