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Carey, Mathew (1760-1839) The American Museum: or repository of ancient and modern fugitive pieces, &c. prose and poetical. [Vol. 5 (January 1789-June 1789)].

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC06566 Author/Creator: Carey, Mathew (1760-1839) Place Written: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Type: Magazine Date: January 1789-June 1789 Pagination: 628 p. : bound periodical : 21.3 x 12.6 cm. Order a Copy

Includes six monthly issues. Contains a congratulatory note from Pennsylvania's Executive Council to President George Washington (with Washington's reply following, page 329). Includes a description of Washington's 21 April 1789 arrival to the United States Governmental seat (page 417). Contains congratulatory addresses from the citizens of Baltimore, the Pennsylvania State Society of the Cincinnati, and the Philadelphia Mayor, along with several of Washington's replies (433-436). Includes Washington's 30 April 1789 Inaugural Address to Congress (436-438). Contains various articles and essays covering a broad range of topics.

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Philadelphia, Jan. 5, 1789.
At a meeting of the Philadelphia society for promoting the abolition of slavery, and the relief of free negroes, unlawfully held in bondage - ordered, that the following certificates, communicated by dr. Rush, be published.*

THERE is now in this city, a black man, of the name of James Derham, a practitioner of physic, belonging to the Spanish settlement of New Orleans, on the Mississippi. This man was born in a family in this city, in which he was taught to read and write, and instructed in the principle of christianity. When a boy, he was transferred by his master to the late dr. John Kearsly, jun. of this city, who employed him occasionally to compound medicines, and to perform some of the more humble acts of attention to his patients.

Upon the death of dr. Kearsly, he became (after passing through several hands) the property of dr. George West, surgeon to the sixteenth British regiment, under whom, during the late war in America, he performed many of the menial duties of our profession. At the close of the war, he was sold by dr. West to dr. Robert Dove, of New Orleans, who employed him as an assistant in his business: in which capacity he gained so much of his confidence and friendship, that he consented to liberate him, after two or three years, upon easy terms. From dr. Derham's numerous opportunities of improving in medicine, he became so well acquainted with the healing art, as to commence practitioner at New Orleans, under the patronage of his last master. He is now about twenty-six years of age, has 2 wife, but no children, and does business to the amount of three thousand dollars a year.

I have converted with him upon most of the acute and epidemic diseases of the country where he lives, and was pleased to find him perfectly acquainted with the modern simple mode of practice in those diseases. I expected to have suggested some new medicines to him; but he suggested many more to me. He is very modest and engaging in his manners. He speaks French fluently, and some knowledge of the Spanish language. By some accident, although born in a religious family, belonging to the church of England, he was not baptised in his infancy; in consequence of which he applied, a few days ago, to bishop White, to be received by that ordinance into the episcopal church. The bishop found him qualified, both by knowledge and moral conduct, to be admitted to baptism, and this day performed the ceremony, in one of the churches in this city.

Philadelphia, November 14, 1788.

NOTE.
*The abolition society in London, having requested the society for the abolition of slavery in Philadelphia, to transmit to them such accounts of mental improvement, in any of the blacks, as might fall under their notice, in order the better to enable them to contradict those who assert, that the intellectual faculties of the negroes are not capable of improvement equal to the rest of mankind, these certificates were accordingly forwarded to London, with the society's last letters, in addition to others heretofore sent.

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THERE is now living, about four miles from Alexandria, in the state of Virginia, a negro slave of seventy years old, of the name Thomas Fuller, the property of mrs. Elizabeth Coxe. This man possesses a talent for arithmetical calculation; the history of which, I conceive, merits a place in the records of the human mind. He is a native of Africa, and can neither read nor write. Two gentlemen, native of Pennsylvania, viz. William Hartshorne and Samuel Coates, men of probity and respectable characters, having heard, in travelling through the neighborhood, in which this slave lived, of his extraordinary powers in arithmetic, sent for him, and had their curiosity sufficiently gratified by the answers which he gave to the following questions.

First. Upon being asked, how many seconds there are in a year and a half, he answered in about two minutes, 47,304,000.

Second. On being asked, how many seconds a man has lived, who is seventy years, seventeen days and twelve hours old, he answered, in a minute and a half. 2,210,500,800.

One of the gentlemen, who employed himself with his pen in making these calculation, told him he was wrong, and that the sum was not so great as he had said - upon which the old man hastily replied, " 'top, massa, you forget de leap year." On adding the seconds of the leap years to the others, the amount of the whole in both their sums agreed exactly.

Third. The following question was then proposed to him: suppose a farmer has six sows, and each sow has six female pigs, the first year, and they all increate in the same proportion, to the end of eight years, how many sows will the farmer then have? In ten minutes, he answered, 34,588,806. The difference of time between his answering this, and the two former questions, was occasioned by a trifling mistake he made from a misapprehension of the question.
In the presence of Thomas Wistar and Benjamin W. Morris, two respectable citizens of Philadelphia, he gave the amount of nine figures, multiplied by nine.

He informed the first-mentioned gentlemen that he began his application to figures by counting ten, and that when he was able to count an hundred, he thought himself (to use his own words) "a very clever fellow."

His first attempt after this was to count the number of hairs in a cow's tail, which he found to be 2872.

He next amused himself with counting, grain by grain, a bushel of wheat and a bushel of flax-seed.

From this he was led to calculate with the most perfect accuracy, how many shingles a house of certain demensions would require to cover it, and how many posts and rails were necessary to inclose, and how many grains of corn were necessary to sow a certain quantity of ground. From this application of his talents, his mistress has often derived considerable benefit.

At the time he gave this account of himself, he said his memory began to fail him - he was grey-headed, and exhibited several other marks of the weakness of old age - he had worked hard upon a farm during the whole of his, but had never been intemperate in the use of spirituous liquors. He spoke with great respect of his mistress, and mentioned in a particular manner his obligations to her for refusing to sell him, which she had been tempted to do by offers of large sums of money, from several curious persons.

One of the gentlemen (mr. Coates) having remarked in his presence, that it was a pity he had not had an education equal to his genius; he said, "no massa - it is best I got no learning; for many learned men be great fools."

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THE father and mother of this boy were brought down above three hundred miles from an inland country to the Gold Coast in Africa, and were brought, among great numbers of others, and put on board a ship bound to Virginia; where they arrived in the year 1775.

They became the property of Colonel Benjamin Chambers, of the Falling springs, in Cumberland County, in Pennsylvania; and are now employed upon an estate in Virginia, which the colonel possesses in right of his lady, whom he married in that province, although he lives with his family in Pennsylvania, where he sold the boy to his present master; in proof of which fact I saw the bill of sale that passed between the colonel and him.

The father and mother of this child are perfectly black, and were both very young when landed; the woman not being above fifteen years old, and her husband not more than six years older; and when they landed, being asked how far she was gone with child? Answered, so as to be understood to mean, that she was with-child something more than six moons, and that this was her first pregnancy. They also declared, that they never saw a white person before they came to the shore where Europeans were employed in buying black slaves.

The present owner of this boy is Mr. James-Hill-Clark, who says that while he was in England lately, he received a letter from his lady, in which was some of the wool of a white negro child's head, by way of curiosity; and when I mentioned it to Mr. Clark, he assured me that this very boy was shewed in Pennsylvania as a great rarity; and that, to his knowledge, the wool sent in the letter was taken from this child's head. He was born about six or seven weeks after his parents landed in Virginia, in the year 1755; and was purchased by Mr. Hill-Clark of colonel Chambers in 1764, so that he appears not to be quite ten years old; and his mother has had two children since, who are both as black as the parents.

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The negro Caesar's cure for poison, for discovering which the assembly of South Carolina purchased his freedom, and gave him an annuity of one hundred pounds.

TAKE the roots of plantane and the wild boarhound, fresh or dried, three ounces, boil them together in two quarts of water to one quart, and strain it; of this decoction let the patient take one third part three mornings fasting successively, from which, if he finds any relief, it must be continued until he is perfectly recovered: on the contrary, if he finds no alteration after the third dose, it is a sign that the patient has not been poisoned at all or that it has been with such poison that Caesar's antidote will not remedy, so may leave off the decoction.

During the cure, the patient must live on spare diet, and abstain from eating mutton, pork, butter, or any other fat or oily food.

N.B. The plantane or boarhound, will either of them cure alone, but they are most efficacious together.

In summer you may take one handful of the roots and branches of each, in place of three ounces of the roots of each.

For drink, during the curem let them take the following:

Take of the roots of goldenrod, six ounces, or in summer, two large handfuls of the roots and branches together, and boil them in two quarts of water to one quart, to which also may be added, a little boarhound and sassafras; to this decoction, after it is strained, add a glass of rum or brandy, and sweeten it with sugar for ordinary drink.

Sometimes an inward fever attends such as are poisoned, for which he ordered the following:

Take one pint of wood ashes and three pints of water, stir and mix them well together, let them stand all night and strain or decant the lye off in the morning, of which ten ounces may be taken six mornings following, warmed or cold according to the weather.

These medicines have no sensible operation, though sometimes they work in the bowels, and give a gentle stool.

The symptoms attending such as are poisoned, as are follow:

A pain of the breast, difficulty of breathing, a load at the pit of the stomach, an irregular pulse, burning and violent pains of the viscera above and below the navel, very restless at night, sometimes wandering pains over the whole body, a reaching inclination to vomit, profuse sweats, (which prove always serviceable) slimy stools, both when costive and loose, sometimes a pain and inflammation of the throat the appetite is generally weak, and some cannot eat any; those who have been long poisoned, are generally very feeble and weak in their limbs, sometimes spit a great deal, the whole skin peels, and likewise the hair falls off.

Caesar's cure for the bite of a rattlesnake.

TAKE of the roots of plantane or hoarhound, (in summer roots and branches together) a sufficient quantity; bruise them in a mortar, and squeeze out the juice, of which give as soon as possible, one large spoonful: if the patient is swelled, you must force it down his throat; this generally will cure; but if he finds no relief in an hour after, you may give another spoonful, which never hath failed.

If the roots are dried, they must be moistened with a little water.

To the wound, may be applied a leaf of good tobacco, moistened with rum.

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Cure for the bite of a rattlesnake, as discovered by SAMPSON, a negro: for which discovery the assembly of South Carolina purchased his freedom, and allowed him an annuity.
TAKE heart snakeroot, both root and leaves, two handfuls, polypody leaves, one handful, bruise them in a mortar, press out a spoonful of the juice, and give it as soon as possible after the bite; then searify the wound, and take the root of the herb avens, bruise it, pour a little rum over it, and apply it to the part, over which is to be put the heart snakeroot and polypody which remain after the juice is squeezed out. These medicines and applications must be repeated according to the violence of the symptoms, so as in some dangerous safes, it must be given to the quantity of eight spoonfuls in an hour, and the wound dressed two or three times in a day.
The above herbs may also be bruised and beat up into a paste with clay, and, when necessary, may be scraped down to the quantity of half a common spoonful, and given amongst a little rum and water, and repeated as the doses of the juice abovementioned. A little of this palle may be wet with rum, and rubbed over the wound.
N. B. He always used this method when he could not find the green herbs.
Sometimes the cure is entirely performed by the patient's chewing the heart snakeroot, and swallowing the juice, and applying some of the same herb bruised, to the wound.
When the part is greatly inflamed and swelled, all the herbs in the following list are taken to the quantity of some handfuls of each, and boiled into a strong decoction, with which it is to be fomented several times a day.
1. Asarum cyclimini folio, heart snakeroot of the province. --2. Polipodium vulgare, or common polipody. --3. Caryophyllata Virginiana radice inodora, or, Virginia avens, called here five fingers.--4. Lonchitis aspera, or, rough spleenwort.--5. Hypnum, julaccum, or, small erect clubmoss.--6. Gnaphalium humile, or, creeping gold locks.
Sampson frequently went about with rattlesnakes in calabashes, and would handle them, put them into his pockets or bosom, and sometimes their heads into his mouth, without being bitten. In proof of the efficacy of his medicines, he several times suffered himself to be bitten by the most venomous snakes, and once let his wounds come so near a mortification, that it was doubted whether he could recover, yet he cured himself with them; he disarmed any snake of its venom with some one of the herbs. - It is said chewing the heart snakeroot, and spitting the juice upon a snake, will instantly kill it.

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A Negro servant being asked what colour he believed the devil was? Why, replied the African, the white men paint him black. we say he is white; but from his great age, and being called Old Nick, I should suppose him grey.

Carey, Mathew, 1760-1839
Washington, George, 1732-1799

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