seems by no means certain, that any law in force in Virginia authorized the imprisonment of any person for preaching. The law for the preservation of the peace was so interpreted as to answer this purpose; and accordingly, whenever the preachers were apprehended it was done by a peace-warrant. About thirty preachers were honored with a dungeon, and a few others beside."* Among the first, if not the first Baptist preacher in this county, was John Waller, born in Spottsylvania in 1741, and a descendant of the honorable family of that name in England. In his youth he let himself loose to every species of wickedness, and acquired for himself the infamous appellation of Swearing Jack Waller, and was sometimes called the Devil's Adjutant. He was furious against the Baptists. He was a member of a grand jury who presented one of their ministers for preaching. The jury being dismissed, the clergyman thanked them for the honor they had done him, and added: "While I was wicked and injurious you took no notice of me; but since I have altered my course of life, and endeavored to reform my neighbors, you concern yourselves much about me. I shall take the spoiling of my goods joyfully." The meekness of spirit manifested by this man towards his persecutors, so touched the heart of Waller that it finally resulted in his conversion. In 1770 he was ordained pastor of a church established in his neighborhood. Accompanied by a companion he travelled into this county, preaching wherever he went. "His name sounded far and wide. By the ungodly he was considered as a bold, inexorable fanatic, that would do much mischief unless restrained. The Baptists and their adherents looked upon him as sent for the defence of their cause, and with much confidence rallied around him as their leader. His persecutions in several counties were of the most painful character." He was confined in the jail of Urbanna, in this county, forty-six days. Mr. Waller continued laboring with great success in the cause. In 1773 he removed to South Carolina, where he died in 1802, at the age of 62. He had been "a minister of God's word for about 35 years, and in that time had been in four different jails 113 days, besides receiving reproachings, buffetings, stripes, &c. Nor was his labor in vain in the Lord. While in Virginia, he baptized more than 2,000 persons, assisted in the ordination of 27 ministers, and in the constitution of 18 churches."+ "The usual consequences followed; persecution made friends for its victims; and the men who were not permitted to speak in public, found willing auditors in the sympathizing crowds who gathered around the prisons to hear them preach from the grated windows. It is not improbable that this very opposition imparted strength in another mode, inasmuch as it at least furnished the Baptists with a common ground on which to make resistance; and such common ground was in a great degree wanting in their creed; for, not to speak of their great division into Regulars and Separates, some 'held to predestination, others to universal provision; some adhered to a confession of faith, others would have none but the Bible; some practised laying on of hands, others did not; and in fact the only particular in which there seems to have been unanimity, was in the favorite exclusive opinion of the sect, that none but adult believers are fit subjects of baptism, and that immersion is the only effectual or authorized mode of administering that sacrament." At the commencement of the American revolution, the Baptists had gained consider. able influence and power among the people. The dissenters, both the Baptists and Presbyterians, were generally republicans. The Baptists addressed the convention of the state," and informed that body," says Hawks, "that their religious tenets presented no obstacle to their taking up arms and fighting for the country; and they tendered the services of their pastors in promoting the enlistment of the youth of their religious persuasion." It was owing partly to the efforts of the Baptists that the established church was abolished in Virginia. In 1785, just previous to the passage of "the Act for establishing Religious Freedom," Mr. Madison's able remonstrance was presented to the General Assembly "against the general assessment," pointing out the dangers to religious liberty and to religion that lurked in the scheme. It was not until this time that the dissenting clergymen were allowed by law to perform marriage or funeral rites; although many, presuming on a future sanction of government, had, by the advice of Patrick Henry, done so, as being the best means of obtaining a law to that end. Many petitions had been and were presented to the legislature, in many different forms. Among the rest, the following lines accompanied the petition sent by the Baptists. It was addressed "To the Honorable General Assembly," as *Benedict's "History of the Baptists." Hawks' "History of the Prot. Ep. Ch. in Va." Taylor's "Lives of Virginia Baptist Ministers.' "THE HUMBLE PETITION OF A COUNTRY POET." Now liberty is all the plan, The chief pursuit of every man, Hark! for awhile your business stop; "Tis all one voice-they all agree, "God made us, and we must be free." Freedom we crave with every breath, The heavenly blessing freely give, Make vice and folly feel your rod, And he who minds the civil law, About three miles from Urbanna is one of those decayed churches so common in lower Virginia. It is called "the Middle Church." A finely written description of this old church, including monumental inscriptions from the church-yard, is in the Southern Literary Messenger for May, 1842. We annex a single paragraph: More than a century, yea, near two centuries have passed since the ringing of the mason's trowel broke the stillness of the surrounding forest, when the walls of this temple of the living God rose like a flower in the wilderness of Middlesex, and invited the way farer to its sacred precincts. More than half a century has gone by since last the solemn organ pealed forth its sublime symphonies, and the anthems of the choir told upon the feelings of rapt worshippers,-now the church is a desolate ruin; and the choir, and the worshippers-where are they? There is scarcely a vestige of the interior left; the pulpit, the tablets, the altar, the chancel, the , all gone! The house is roofless, windowless. The walls alone are standing. The walls surrounding the spot constituting the church-yard, are in ruins too, portions only remaining to mark their boundaries. The tombs are nearly all in a dilapidated condition; but of many, there is enough left to mark them as having been monuments of the most exquisite sculpture. MONONGALIA. MONONGALIA was formed in 1776, from the district of West Augusta. It is 50 miles long, with a mean width of 11 miles. The county is watered by the Monongahela and its branches. Laurel Hill, the last western regular ridge of the Alleghany, lies in the eastern part; the remainder of the county is generally hilly. Much of the soil is fertile. The principal exports are stock, iron, lumber, and some flour. In 1842, its limits were reduced by the formation of Marion. Population in 1840-whites 16,962, slaves 260, free colored 146, total, 17,368. Morgantown, the county-seat, is 295 miles NW. of Richmond, 35 NNE. of Clarksburg, and about 60 s. of Pittsburg. Penn. It was established in 1785, on the lands of Zaquell Morgan, when, by the act, Samuel Hanway, John Evans, David Scot, Michael Kearnes, and James Daugherty, gentlemen, were appointed trustees. This flourishing and wealthy village is handsomely situated on the Monongahela-navigable to this place in steamers-in a fertile country, and rich in mineral wealth, iron, coal, &c. It contains various mills, several mercantile stores, 1 or 2 newspaper printingoffices, a female academy, 1 Methodist and 1 Presbyterian church, and about 150 dwellings. Jamestown, Granville, Blacksville, and Smithfield, are villages in the county, none of which contain over 35 dwellings. Jackson's iron-works, on Cheat River, are among the most valuable in the state. On the road leading from Clarksburg and Beverly, 5 miles from Morgantown, on the plantation of Henry Hamilton, there is a large flat rock about 150 feet long and 50 wide, with numerous engravings of animals, well executedsuch as panthers of full size, buffalo-tracks, horse-tracks, deertracks, turkey-tracks, eels, fish, women as large as life, human tracks, otters, beavers, snakes, crows, eagles, wild-cats, foxes, wolves, raccoons, opossums, bears, elks, &c. An attempt was made at a settlement in the present limits of this county, as early as the French war, an account of which is here given from Withers: Dr. Thomas Eckarly and his two brothers came from Pennsylvania, and camped at the mouth of a creek emptying into the Monongahela eight or ten miles below Morgantown; they were Dunkards, and from that circumstance the watercourse on which they fixed themselves for awhile, has been called Dunkard's creek. While their camp continued at this place, these men were engaged in exploring the country; and ultimately settled on Cheat River, at the Dunkard bottom. Here they erected a cabin for their dwelling, and made such improvements as enabled them to raise the first year, a crop of corn sufficient for their use, and some culinary vegetables: their guns supplied them with an abundance of meat, of a flavor as delicious as the refined palate of a modern epicure could well wish. Their clothes were made chiefly of the skins of animals, and were easily procured; and although calculated to give a grotesque appearance to a fine gentleman in a city drawing-room, yet were they particularly suited to their situation, and afforded them comfort. Here they spent some years entirely unmolested by the Indians, although a destructive war was then waging, and prosecuted with cruelty, along the whole extent of our frontier. At length, to obtain an additional supply of ammunition, salt, and shirting, Dr. Eckarly left Cheat with a pack of furs and skins, to visit a trading-post on the Shenandoah. On his return he stopped at Fort Pleasant, on the South Branch, and having communicated to its inhabitants the place of his residence, and the length of time he had been living there, he was charged with being in confederacy with the Indians, and probably at that instant a spy, examining the condition of the fort. In vain the Doctor protested his innocence, and the fact that he had not even seen an Indian in the country; the suffering condition of the border settlements rendered his account, in their opinion, improbable, and he was put in confinement. The society of which Dr. Eckarly was a member, was rather obnoxious to a majority of the frontier inhabitants. Their intimacy with the Indians, although cultivated with the most laudable motives, and for noble purposes, yet made them objects at least of distrust to many. Laboring under these disadvantages, it was with difficulty that Dr. Eckarly prevailed on the officer of the fort to release him; and when this was done, he was only permitted to go home under certain conditions-he was to be escorted by a guard of armed men, who were to carry him back if any discovery were made preju dicial to him. Upon their arrival at Cheat, the truth of his statement was awfully confirmed. The first spectacle which presented itself to their view, when the party came in sight of where the cabin had been, was a heap of ashes. On approaching the ruins, the half-decayed and mutilated bodies of the poor Dunkards were seen in the yard; the hoops on which their scalps had been dried were there, and the ruthless hand of desola. tion had waved over their little fields. Dr. Eckarly aided in burying the remains of his unfortunate brothers, and returned to the fort on the South Branch. In the fall of 1758, Thomas Decker and some others commenced a settlement on the Monongahela River, at the mouth of what is now Decker's creek. In the ensuing spring it was entirely broken up by a party of Delawares and Mingoes, and the greater part of its inhabitants murdered. There was at this time, at Brownsville, a fort then known as Redstone Fort, under the command of Captain Paul. One of Decker's party escaped from the Indians who destroyed the settlement, and making his way to Fort Redstone, gave to its commander the melancholy intelligence. The garrison being too weak to admit of sending a detachment in pursuit, Captain Paul dispatched a runner with the information to Captain John Gibson, then stationed at Fort Pitt. Leaving the fort under the command of Lieut. Williamson, Captain Gibson set out with thirty men to intercept the Indians on their return to their towns. In consequence of the distance which the pursuers had to go, and the haste with which the Indians had retreated, the expedition failed in its object; they however accidentally came on a party of six or seven Mingoes, on the head of Cross creek, in Ohio, near Steubenville. These had been prowling about the river, below Fort Pitt, seeking an opportunity of committing depredations. As Captain Gibson passed the point of a small knoll, just after daybreak, he came unexpectedly upon them. Some of them were lying down; the others were sitting round a fire, making thongs of green hides. Kiskepila, or Little Eagle, a Mingo chief, headed the party. So soon as he discovered Captain Gibson, he raised the war-whoop and fired his rifle; the ball passed through Gibson's hunting-shirt, and wounded a soldier just behind him. Gibson sprang forward, and swinging his sword with herculean force, severed the head of Little Eagle from his body. Two other Indians were shot down, and the remainder escaped to their towns on the Muskingum. When the captives who were restored under the treaty of 1763 came in, those who were at the Mingo towns when the remnant of Kiskepila's party returned, stated that the Indians represented Gibson as having cut off Little Eagle's head with a long knife Several of the white persons were then sacrificed to appease the manes of Kiskepila and a war-dance ensued, accompanied with terrific shouts, and bitter denunciations of revenge on the big-knife warrior." This name was soon after applied to the Virginia militia generally; and to this day they are known among the northwestern Indians as the "Long Knives," or "Big Knife nation." MONROE. MONROE was formed in 1799, from Greenbrier, and named from President Monroe; its mean length is 31 miles, mean breadth 18 miles. New River forms its southwestern boundary, and receives in its course the Greenbrier River, Indian Creek, and some minor streams. Much of the county is mountainous; but as a whole, it is a thriving agricultural section, having a large proportion of fertile soil, well adapted to grazing. Pop., whites 7,457, slaves 868, free colored 97; total, 8,422. Union, the county-seat, lies 229 miles west of Richmond. It is a beautiful little village, situated in a picturesque and fertile valley, 14 miles west of the Alleghany mountains, and contains 3 mercantile stores, 1 Methodist, and 1 Presbyterian church, and a population of about 400. Peterstown, named from its first settler, Christian Peters, lies in the south angle of the county, on Rich's Creek, near the point where New River breaks through the Alleghany, and about 20 miles southerly from Union, in a wild, romantic country. Its site is well adapted for machinery, and it contains about 25 dwellings. Gap Mills, 8 miles N. of the C. H., contains 1 fulling, 1 flour, 1 saw, and 1 oil mill, 1 woollen factory, 1 distillery, 1 tannery, and a few dwellings. This county is favored with several noted and popular mineral springs. They are the Salt Sulphur, the Sweet, and the Red Sulphur Springs; the improvements at all of which are extensive. The descriptions below are from published sources: The RED SULPHUR SPRINGS are situated on Indian creek, about 40 miles sw. of the White Sulphur, and 16 from the Salt Sulphur. The spring is near one side of a little triangular plain, almost buried in mountains. The water is clear and cool-its temperature being 54° Fahrenheit-is very strongly charged with sulphureted hydrogen gas, and contains portions of several neutral salts. The water is believed to be directly sedative, indirectly tonic, alterative, diuretic, and diaphoretic. The water has been found efficacious in all forms of consumption, scrofula, jaundice, and other bilious affections, chronic dysentery and diarrhœa, dyspepsia, diseases of the uterus, chronic rheumatism and gout, dropsy, gravel, neuralgia, tremor, syphilis, scurvy, erysipelas, tetter, ringworm, and itch; and it has long been celebrated as a vermifuge. The SALT SULPHUR SPRINGS are 25 miles from the White Sulphur, and 3 miles from the village of Union, on Indian Valley creek. There are at this place three springsthe Sweet, the Salt Sulphur, and the New Spring. The last contains a large portion of iodine, and is highly beneficial for scrofula, and those affections for which iodine is generally given. The two first are somewhat alike in their properties. The analysis of the Salt Sulphur is thus given by Prof. Rogers: SOLID INGREDIENTS.-Sulphate of lime, sulphate of magnesia, sulphate of soda, carbonate of lime, carbonate of magnesia, chloride of sodium, chloride of magnesium, chloride of calcium, iodine, probably combined with sodium-sulpho-hydrate of sodium and magnesium, sulphur, mingled with a peculiar organic matter-peroxide of iron derived from proto-sulphate. GASEOUS INGREDIENTS.-Sulphureted hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, carbonic acid. The bubbles of gas that are seen adhering to the sides of the spring, are composed almost entirely of nitrogen. The temperature of this is 50° Fahrenheit. The Salt Sulphur, like almost all the sulphurous waters, being a stimulant, should consequently not be employed in acute or highly inflammatory affections. Nor in those in which there exists much active determination of blood to the head, or at least not until this determination has been guarded against by previous diet, purgation, and, if necessary, blood-letting. But in all chronic affections of the brain, nervous system, some diseases of the lungs, stomach, bowels, liver, spleen, kidneys, and bladder, it is one of the most valuable of our remedial agents. In diseases of the joints (gout and rheumatism) and skin; in mercurial sequela; in hæmorrhoidal affections; and in chronic diseases of the womb, it is also a remedy of immense importance. The SWEET SPRINGS are situated in a wide and beautiful valley, 18 miles from the White Sulphur, and 29 from Fincastle. The following description of the medicinal pro perties of the Sweet Spring waters, is taken from Dr. Bell, on baths and mineral waters: The water of the spring rises into a large cylindrical reservoir, from opposite sides of which it flows out by small pipes: one conveying water to the bath for the men, the other to that for the ladies. The men's bath is of a quadrangular form, surrounded by a wall, and open at the top; it is of tolerable extent, and clear, the bottom being of gravel, and the water constantly flowing in, and as constantly passing out, after it reaches a certain height. The temperature of the spring is 73° Fahr., the same as that which in England, by a strange blunder, is called Bristol hot wells. There is a considerable resemblance between the two in other respects, as well in the abundant evolution of the carbonic acid gas, as in the earthy and saline matters held in solution. In the Virginia spring, however, iron has been detected, whereas the Bristol hot wells has none in its composition. If we can rely on the rather crude analysis of Bouelle, one quart of the water of the Sweet Spring contains— Saline substances in general, 12 to 15 grains; earthy substances, 18 to 24 do. ; iron, to 1 do. The saline substances are sulphate of magnesia, muriate of soda, and muriate of lime, with a little sulphate of lime. The earthy substances consist of sulphate of lime, a small portion of carbonate of magnesia and lime, with a small portion of silicious earth. The name is calculated to convey erroneous impressions of their taste, which is like a solution of a small quantity of a calcareous or magnesian carbonate. The excess of |