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carefully remembered end recorded ; bis last agonies are beheiu.with affliction and despair: and alter sulilt; ring tbe ignominious sentence of the law, the body of tbe culprit, whose death was infamy, and whose Iite was crime, is attended respectfully and mournfully to the grave, by a train that would not have disgraced the obsequies ol a patriot or a hero. This sketch, though highly colored, is drawn irom life, the inhabitants of one ot the most refined and wealthy ot our state capitals, sat for the picture : and although •uch exalted feelings are not always eXci ted, or are prudently repressed, yet they are found in nature, and m whatever degree they exist, it cannot be doubted, that' n the same proportion, they counteract eveiy good effect, that punishment is intended to produce.”This inconsiderate, this weak humanity, ought to he checked I r.» feeling female, the pious priest, do not caUu ate the mis-r.bieis they do, when they thus take offIrom tbe effect o the laws in doing ikeir most sacred office—the saving ol the lives of its members Humanity defeats its own object; and becomes, in the long run, a heedless cruelty towards tbe survivors.[Richmond Compiler.himself, farmed upon tbe spot; and in confirmation of this opinion, he cites another instance of similar impressions, discoveredin 1819, in the town,ot Herculaneum, Jot'fersoh county, Missouri—though by no means as distinct and well defined- Mr. Benton however, considers them as the result ol art, and gives as the ground oi his belief* the hardness, ol tiie rock—the want i, tracks*eading to arid from the impression?—and the difficulty of supposing a change so instantaneous and apropos as must have taken place in the formation o! the rock if impressed wh^o soft enough to receive such deep an 1 distinct tracks — On the other haBd lie submits as an objection to his opinion, the exquisileness ot die workmanship, and the difficulty o! working such hard materials, wiibout steel or won—tor he considers them as productions of the same period with the celebrated mounds above the town or St. Louis.— Whatever may have been riieir origin, they are certainly objects ot very great curiosity.• !fFrom thp Arew Haven Herald.CU1UOSI1 Y.The last numbpr m the American Journal oi Science and arts, conducted by professor Silliraan, contains a letter from Mr. Schoolcraft, accompanied by ano'berlrom Thomas H- Benton, Lsq member of congress from Missouri, describing two prints ot the human foot discovered in a limestone rock at St. Louis, on the west bank of the Mississippi river. '1 he communication was accompanied by an accurate drawing winch has been engraved for (lie Journal. The following is ari extract from Mr. Schoolcralt’s letter.“These prints appear to have been noticed by the !• rench soon alter they penetrated into that country Irom the ( anada6, and during tbe progress ot settlement at St. Louis, were frequently resorted to as a phenomenon in the works of nature.— But no person appears o have enteitained the idea of raising them from the quarry with a view of preservation, until Air.Rappe visited that place five or six years ago- He immediately determined to remove the stone containing them to his village ol Harmony, then recently transferred from Bufler county, in Pennsylvania, to the banks of the Wabash; but this determination was no sooner known, than popular sentiment began to arraign his his motives, and people were ready to attribute lo religious fanaticism or arch deception, what was, more probably, a mere fact lt;t momentary caprice, or settled taste-His followers, it was said, were to regard these prints a- the sacred impress ot the feet ol our Savior Few persons thought ol interposing a charitable remark in lavor ot religious tenets, ot which we canjudge only by the peaceful, industrious and devotional lives: the neat and cleanly appearance: ami the inoffensive manners of thosa who profess them. Still less could be conceded in favor ot a personal taste for objects of natural history or curiosity,01 which the act is, at ieast a proot. Be this as it may, Mr. Rappe contracted with a stone mason to cut out the block with the impressions, paying him at tbe same time a liberal price for his labor, and ordered it to be transported by water to his residence in Posy county, Indiana. V isit-ing this place during the l2St summer, in the suite of Gov. Cass, Mr. Rappe conducted us to see this curiosity, which lias been placed upon mason work in a paved area between his dwelling house and garden, in.the manner represented in figure2 ol tbe drawing. The slab of stone 'bus preserved, forms a parallellograrn ol eight feet in length, by lib in breadth, and has a thickness ol S inches, which appears to betbe natural thickness of the stratum ot I: roe Stone lock, ot which it is a part- 1 his lime-stone possesses a firm and compactstiuctureot the peculiar greyish blue (in:,common to calcareous rocks ot th* Mississippi valley, and contains fossil eflcrmites, and some analagou- remain* very plentifully imbedded- It is quarried at St. Louis, both for the building stone and for quick lime. It becomes beautifully while on parting with its carbonic acid and water, and ihi.se who bare used it, observe, that it makes a good cement, with the usual proportion of sand-The prints are those of a man standing erect, with his heels drawn in, and his to* s turned outward, which is the most natural position. The distance between the Imels, by accurate measurement, is'6i inches, and between the toes 13$ inches ; but it will be perceived, that these are not the impressions of feet accustomed to a close slice, the toes being very much spread, and tbe loot flattened in a manner that happens to those who have been habituated lo go a great length ot time without shoes Notwithstanding this circumstance, the prints are strikingly natural, exhibiting every muscular impression, and swell of the heels and toes with a precision and faithfulness to nature, which 1 have not been able to copy, with perfect exactness, in tbe piesent drawing. The length of each foot, as indicated by the prints, is 10$ inches, and the width across the spread ot the toes, 4 inches, which diminishes 2$ inches, at the swell ot the heels, indicating as it is thought a stature ol the common size.The rock presents a plain and smooth surface, having acquired a polish Irom the sand and water to winch its original position periodically subjected it- Upon this smooth surtace, commencing in Iront of the tracks, there is a kind ot a scroll which is two feet and a halt in length The shape ot this is very irregular, and not e-qually plain and perfect in all parts, and would convey to the observer ihe idea of a man idly marking v ith his fingers, or with a smooth stick, fancdul figures upon a soft surface Some pretend to obseive in this scroll, the figure of an Indian bow, but this inference did not appear to any of our party to he justified.”Mr. S. remarks, that “every appear ance will warrant the conclusion that these impressions were made at a time when the rock was soft enough to receive them by pressure, and that the marks of the feet are natural and genuine Such, he says.was tbe opinion ot governor Cars acdI
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Alexandria Gazette and Advertiser
Alexandria, Virginia, US
Sat, Nov 09, 1822
Page 2
Full Page
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USA 30 Jan 2022
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