Newspaper Page Text
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COLUMBUS, GA.
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 1846.
• Tiinrc Office” oa Randolph Street, in the
©jrMfewpeßnildin?,inrearefthe Post Office.
TO THE PATRONS OP THE “TIMES.”
The connexion of the undersigned with the
Columbus Times*’ terminates with the present
number, and the partnership of Forsyth & John
ston is dissolved. I have disposed of my entire
interest in the printing materials, books, and ac
counts of the “Times Office” to Capt. J. T.
A lies. In retiring, the undersigned would take
this occasion to return his sincere acknowledge
ments to his brethren of the press, of both politi
cal parties, who have shown him that liberality
and courtesy, which, he himself, during his brief
vareer as editor, has been so anxious to extend
to others.
To his friends who have so kindly extended to
him their patronage, the undersigned especially
returns his most grateful thanks, ahd respectful
ly requests a continuance of the same to his suc
cessor, and to the new firm of Forsyth <fe Niles.
M. JOHNSTON.
OREGON.
Wc are still unable to inform our readers that
lire Oregon question has come to a vote in the
-Senate. Our great men arc certainly taking their
time—a dilatoriness at which we should not be
*o uneasy, if the interval were employed as our
rival has done in preparing the country for possi
ble contingencies. It strikes us there is singular
infatuation in those who have assumed and act
upon the hypothesis that war is impossible. Wc
have ourselves never thought it probable, not be
cause the elements of strife do not exist in abun
dance in the blood of the two nations as well as in
the real difficulty of the dispute, but because we
believed that all these tendencies to a collision
Would be overcome by the vast interests of peace
to the two people. But war has been from the
beginning of the controversy; a possible eontingc n*
cy. And what is remarkable is, that the Forty-
Niner , or peace men, are quite as much in peril of
being committed to a war as the fifty four forties.
The former have argued and acted precisely as it
il were certain that Great Britain was ready to
compromise at 49, and that this Government had
only to consent to that boundary to heal all sores
bet ween the countries. And yet, upon what evi
dence does this assumption rest 1 Upon nothing
more substantial than the inference drawn from
the remark of Sir Robert Peel, that it would have
been better had Mr. Pakcnham communicated
with his Government before rejecting Mr. Polk’s
-offer of 49. Upon this slender reed is hung the
hopes of the 49 men that England will divide by
that parallel, and this, after England has several
t iincs absolutely refused that line. Now, suppose
it should turn out that Sir Robert Peel was mis
understood and that he will not divide t by 49, it
follows that the peace men, are committed it) a
fight. For they have iterated and reiterated that
our title was good to 49, and could not be yielded.
It is far from lieing certain that Great Britain
Will take the 49th parallel as her Southern boun
dary and yield the jurisdiction of the Columbia
River. If she docs not, it is certain, that one or
both countries must agree to back put from the
dispute, or settle it by the issue of battle. In the
latter event wc are clear for marching up to 51.
40. If we are to fight, wc may as well play the
game for a large stake as a small One.
There is nothing in the state of the question
to show that it is any nearer a peaceful and satis
factory adjustment, than it was six months ago.
If it should result in hostility how much precious
lime has been lost I how many exposed points
could have been guarded! how many Weak ones
strengthened against attack]
Wc seem to be exemplifying the truth of all
history in regard to Republics—that they are
alow and inefficient in action, and lack that vigor
and promptitude and concentration of will and
means so necessary to success in defensive or of
fensive military operations. In all but this im
portant quality growing out of the nature of the
two Governments, we are fully a match for Eng
land. If we have not the ships, we can build
them—if we have not the armies we can make
them. We have all the Anglo-Saxon spirit, the
indomitable courage, the hardy muscle and bone
•f that peerless cross of the Norman and Saxon
saces.
It would be our doom in the event of strife, to
be whipped into discipline and to be taught by
the rough uses of adversity, how to fight and to
conquer.
Would it not be wise and prudent to take
a lew lessons on the subject before-hand I to
hang out our lights and burnish our arms as il
the conflict were really to come 1 We think so.
CtKINECTICYT ELECTION.
“Result Doubtful. —Returns have been
received from the whole State, except 7 towns.
So far as heard from, the vote for Governor is as
follows : Bisscll, Whig, 25,835 ; Toucey, Dem
ocrat. 25,133; Scattering 1,798, —Bissell’s ma
jority 702.
The Legislative stands thus: In the Senate,
Whigs 9, Democrats 10—and two, the sixteenth
and seventeenth Districts, to hear from: the vote
in which, the New York Journal of Commerce
says, “is close and doubtful.” In the House of
Representatives, Whigs 76* Democrats 96; no
•choice 40. The same towns last year elected
112 Whigs, and 77 Democrats—no choice in
29.
RHODE ISLAND ELECTION.
The following returns copied from the Provi
dence Journal and Transcript of Thursday, are
nearly complete, one town only (Jamestown,
which gave Jackson a majority of 8 last year,)
remaining to he heard from.
GOVERNOR. LT. GOVERNOR.
fcj 5? : W g k
5 2 o p
3 ST r B. S jt
f o . ®
3 3 ; :* *
TitTVidcncc Cos. 3867 4790 109 3870 4797
Newport, 1311 664 3 1316 6.50 0
Washington.-’ 832 1050 41 798 1038 39
Kent. ~ 939 672 3 943 670 3
Bristol, 521 209 2 521 211 3’
7470 7685 16S 7448 7360 127
There i* no election of State officers by the
people, hat the Law ami Order, or Algerine
party have a strong majority in the Legislature,
and will probably elect their candidate in grand
committee.
Ol'R FIRST PAGE.
A number of iideresting literary articles,, tlie
[wdirhon of—our scissors—will be found on
the first page.
GOOD.
The Cumberland Road Rill has been killed in
Urn Howe of Representatives by the strong Dein
• oorrtie majority of 36 votes. Here they havead
bered H> their principles and to the Constitution.’
“THE TIMES.”
Mr. Marcus Johxstox has disponed of bis
interest in this Office to Capt. J. T. Nilks, and
the paper will be hereafter published by John
Forsyth &J. T. Niles. Mr; Forsyth having
charge of the Editorial, and‘Mr. Niles of the
Fiscal department of tlfo cs’tdb&shment.
WHEAT CROP.
The Federal Unfon says:
“We are informed, that the Wheat croft
throughout Georgia, never looked more promising
than at this time; and should the harvest prove
as abundant as is now anticipated, it will greatly
relieve the wants of the people from the present
scarcity of grain.
ffj 3 We make our kind acknowledgements to
Messrs. Cobb, and Lumpkin, members from Ga.
for various public documents.
EdSTOIASTERS.
We would again remind Post-MasterS in the
country, that the Post-Office regulations allow
them to endorse as “ Post-Office Business” and
to frank, letters to publishers of newspapers, no
tifying them of the refusal of a subscrilier to take
a paper out of their offices, or ofthedeath, removal
or G. T. T. of a subscriber. Post-Masters who
will take the trouble so to frank their letters will
save us the postage—a saving to which the Law
entitles Us.
THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE & SEN
TINEL.
This paper has done us the honor to write a
criticism upon our last weeks article on Oregon.
Wc have but a moment to reply to it, and must
lie brief. The point of the critique (if it have a
point—-for we have seldom read a more discur
sive composition) is, that we have been beating
the bush and have committed ourselves to incon
sistencies by endeavoring to reconcile measures
of peace with Mr. Polk’s position—also, that we
have become bewildered in tiying to reconcile the
54°. 40’ with the 49° men, and Mr. Polk, with
both. We have looked over our article and can
find no peg upon which to hang the Chronicle’s
crotchet, The Editor has improvised largely.
Our position is simple enough, to one who is
b illing to understand it. We believe the Ameri
can claim to the whole of Oregon to be better
than that of England ; but for the sake of peace,
and in respect to the pretensions which England
has set up and may be sincere in believing just,
we arc willing to divide the country by some
equitable is, a line which will give us
what We arc clearly entitled to—sufficient harbors
on the Pacific coast, and jurisdiction of the Co
lumbia River. The parallel of 49°, if it would
give us these desiderata, wc would take, provided
England would offer it. We would not offer H
to her, after it has been fbur times rejected. But
while we would be willing to make this bargain
for the sake of the great interests of peace, we
believe and have believed that Mr. Polk’s poliey
has been the best to attain that bargain. His claim
on the part of the U. States to whole of Oregon
—his offer in obedience to the sanctions of pre
cedent, and to the dictates of peace to divide by
49°—his prompt withdrawal of the offer and asser
tion of the American right to the “ whole” after
Mr. Pakenham tossed back the offer in his face,
and his recommendation of the notice ;—all these
were steps of masterly wisdom, moderation, firm
ness and prudence. It was just what (and no
more) he was required to do, negotiation, being
at an end, for the time being; and yet it did not
shut the doOr td Renewed negotiation when Eng
land chose to resume it, after Having disdainfully
broken it off. From the date of Mr. Pakcnham’s
last despatch to this moment, England might
with perfect honor and propriety, have came for
ward with anew offer of negotiation. But she
has not done it —and why I Plainly’ because she
has been waiting to feel the American pulse—
because she has seen evidence irt such speeches
as those of Mr. Toombs and in such editorials as
those the National Intelligencer and Augusta
Chronicle have been writing for months past, that
there were hopes of a better bargain to her, to
grow out of an American partyism—blind to na
tionality and dead to patriotism, because we
have not exhibited a unanimity on this question
—and because she hoped, and had reason td hope,
that those American public meti—Statesmen and
Editors—who could see nothing in the aspect of
this National question, but lines of bristling bayo
nets and could think of nothing but how the
Democratic party and Mr. Folk could he injured,
would force the U. S. Government, to make bet
ter terms with her, than she dared hope, did eve
ry American spirit breathe the feelings and senti
ments of the messages of their chief magistrate.
Europeans hold our government in contempt—
they believe it lacks power to do and to maintain
rights—that it is the sport of the popular whims,
and that the popular mind which rules it, is emi
nently unpatriotic, feelblc, and passionate. It is
for the working of these elements, England has
been waiting. If the British Ministry have seen
Chronicle & Sentinel for the last three months, the
they have found in if the bubbling cauldron
which they have sat down ta watch. Believing
this, we urged from the start, a firm and decided
tone on the part of this Government—Wc have
counselled unanimity as of the last importance
and we have rightfully characterized those das
tard spirits that have been throwing cold water
upon the noble efforts of the Administration to
place the country in this position, and who have
been writiug up the British side, and writing
down the American side of the question, as
“cringing peace men.”
These hasty remarks will explain out position
,to the Chron. & Sentinel. While we w’ill take
49, with the collateral advantages referred to, if
England offers it—our policy is, until she does
offer it, to stand up to 54. 40—to march right up
to the Russian line, just as if England never in
tended to offer it—and just as if in that march
we were certain to encounter a war. In the
present state of tlie question, this path of war is
the only path that may lead to peace—as we
said two months ago, “audacity is prudence.”—
Timidity will disgrace us, and yet not save us
from a war. We have counselled nothing else,
wc have wished for nothing more, than that
the American Republic should bear itself in this
controversy like a full grown man, and not like a
whining school boy with the master’s rod sus
pended over his back. If we act like men, we
shall secure the rights of men—if like chiklren,
we shall be whipped into submission and obedi
ence by the minions of British power.
The Chronicle & Sentinel says, our random
shots hit friends as well as enemies. Be it so, if
any of our friends are in the line of fire. But
(he Editor flatters himself, and does no credit to
the intelligent discrimination of its readers when
it places itself upon *the platform of Messrs. Cal
houn and Colquitt. Tliese gentlemen are in favor
of the “notice,” hut the Editor has favored noth
ing that Mr. Polk has said, done, or
ed on this subject—and this defines the position
of the Chronicle & Sentinel—opposition—oppo
sition,; opposition.
MAIL ARRANGEMENTS.
W are gratified in being able to state that the
daily communication between this city and Ma
con, is to be resumed to-day by means of Mr.
Griffin’s fine line of stages. The following
schedule £>f running will prove it to be the short
est and most agreeable route of travel to Charles,
ton.
Leave Columbus daily 7 at 6 A. M.
Arrive at Macon daily at 4 A. M.
•Leave Macon at 8 P. M.
Arrive At Columbus at 5 P. M.
Two hours after reaching Macon the Cars for
Savannah start and reach that place at 6 in the
evening—Thence the Charleston and Savannah
Boats run daily in connection with the Rail Road,
and put passengers into Charleston at 8 o’clock
next morning.
MOBILE HERALD & TRIBUNE.
It will be seen by reference to our advertising
columns, that one half interest in the above valu
able paper is offered for sale.
LATE PROM MEXICO*.
We transfer to our columns an article from the
New Orleans Delta, by which it will be seen that
the American Minister, Mr. Slidell, has returned
to this country, the Mexican Government having
refused to receive him in his official character.
We are also put in possession of important in
formation from the Army of occupation, and of
General Taylor’s movements, by an Extra of the
Galveston News. The warlike position which
the Mexican Army has assumed, together with
the non-reception of Mr. Slidell, would seem to
render a collision inevitable.
The removal by General Taylor of his Camp
four miles below Matamoras, looks like a strange
manoeuvre, but distant from the spot, and not
conversant with the circumstances attending it, il
is difficult to speculate upon the movement.
Possibly it may be but a ruse of the General, to
draw the enemy across the Rio Grande, when the
positive instructions from this Government, which
now bind him to a marked line of policy and ac
tion will cease, and the gasconading and bragado
cio of the Mexican be turned to something less
agreeable.
The United ’•dates Government have acted to
wards Mexico, with a spirit of forbearance, the
like of which no nation but ours would have dis
played. But forbearance at times ceases to be a
virtue, and verily the Mexican Government
“ have passed the Rubicon.” The next arrival
may be looked for with great interest, as an
encounter, at least may be expected, if not a bat
tle.
MESMERISM.
At the present writing (Saturday,) Mr. Spen
cer continues to “ have the town.” He has his
finger on the bump of marvellousness of the en
tire community, with now and then a philosophic
skeptic, like our brother of the Enquirer. As
we don’nt like to leap before we look, wc de
termined to be a little non-committal last week,
and to “ wait a week” to see how this “ mesmer
ic cat would jump.-” We are still in the fog—
that the cat docs jump with prodigious leaps is
unquestionable—that wonders are piled upon
marvels.—and Ossa upon Pelion—that the ex
citement is furious, and the mystery grows apace,
deeper and more unfathomable—these are the
facts exhibited; But the explanation ! “ there’s
the rub !” Those who swear its a humbug can
not prove it so—those who insist upon its verity
are no better off—and the question may well be
asked, is the whole town fooled and gammoned I
There are not wanting those who warmly assert
it.- But then who is fooled, the believer or the
skeptic] and echo answers “who]” We’H
take another week—“ we’ll sleep on it.”
In the meantime we hope Mr. Spencer will
soon empty his bud get of wonders, go off and let
people attend to their business.
The western continent.
We refer to an advertisement setting forth the
terms of this paper, published- in Baltimore By
Park Benjamin and W. T. Thompson. We
copy the advertisement gratis and without an or
der, and this sufficiently testifies to our sense of
the value of the paper, as a literary, family, and
Southern Journal. It is more than worth the
price of subscription;
REVERTED LANDS.
The Georgian says: There remain of Georgia’s
Lands, about eight thousand Lots to grant.—
Since the first of February there have been grant
fed over three thousand Lots, and by the first of
May, another thousand may be granted, if ap
plications are as numerous as they have been for
the last two weeks. After the first of May, the
grant fee will be only $5 per Lot, when It is ex
pected that the whole of Cherokee, Carroll, and
in fact all the lands lotteried off in 1827, and
1832, will be taken up by our citizens, as the law
permits only such to grant reverted Lots.
From the N. O. Delta.
LATEST FROM MEXICO.
Arrival of Mr. Sliiiell. —John Slidell,
Esq., U. S. Minister to Mexico, arrived in this
city in the “Alabama,” from the Balize, where
he was landed from the U. S. steamship Missis
sippi, on Monday morning last, from Vera Cruz,
Whence she sailed on the 30th ult. The Missis
sippi left, immediately after landing Mr. S., for
Pensacola—having been 3 days oft” the Balize
unable to communicate on account of the weath
er.
W. S. Parrott, Esq., Secretary of Legation,
and Robert Stuart, U. S. N. arrived by the same
conveyance.
The arrival of Mr. Slidell created no excite
ment in tlie city: the public mind, from previous
advices, was prepared for it. As had been often
before stated, the Mexican government would on
ly receive Mr. Slidell in the capacity of a special
government agent, with whom it was prepared to
treat on the Texas question, and’ on that only.
Mr. Slidell of course, having persisted in refusing
to hold official communication with the govern
ment of that country in any capacity other than
that of U. S. Minister Plenipotentiary, as which
he was accredited, finally had to carry out his
previously expressed determination and withdraw
—hence his retvjrn to the United States.
In Mexico there is nothing _ new—nothing
which shows public feeling or public events in a
phase different from that in which for some time
we have been accustomed to look at them. It is,
as heretofore, plotting and scheming among the
aspirants to power —ignorance of public affairs,
and indecision among the people;
It would appear, that with all the degradation
—all the social and political destitution to which
the Mexican people have been reduced—there is
slill one state of vassalage to which they are not
prepared to submit. They are not prepared—
and they give unmistakeable indication of their
feeling—to part with the attractive title of Repub
lican—a shadow to them though it has been—
and to bow in passive acquiescence before the
sceptre of imported royalty. The Mexicans, in
other words, with all their ignorance of political
science—with all their crude and undigested no
tions of republican rule, prefer even an ill-dclincd
democratic government to that of a stern and
inflexible party. This feeling became so mani
fest that even Paredes Was forced to ’ conic out
and “ pronounce” against the scheme, with alj
the patriotic expletives Which a Mexican genera
knows so well how to apply. There is*now, cir
cumstances which go to show, in Mexico, no mon
archical party—they are not, it wouW seem,
sunk low'enough for that yet.
General Almonte has been appointed minister
to England sand although he has got, as we
say of the members of our State Legislature,
his “ mileage”— yet it is said that he feels jeal
ous of Paredes, and will not go, or rather that
Paredes feels jealous of him—and that the mo
tive of the latter in making the appointment,
was to remove Almonte a convenient distance
from the intrigues at the capital or elsewhere in
the nation. There are the usual number and
variety of reports, of troops marching to and
concentrating near the Rio Grande—we have
heard them too often to be affrighted by them.
This, that we have now given, is the pith—the
substance—of the latest news from Mexico.
FrOm the N. O. Delta, of April 10.
THE MEXICAN AVAR.
We have at last reached a point in our inter
course with the neighboring Republic of Mexico,
at which we cannot remain with safety, and from
which we cannot recede with honor. We must
advance until we compel the misguided rulers of
that country to conclude a permanent and hon
orable peace.
The correspondence between our late Minister,
Mr. Slidell, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs
in Mexico, has left the Government of this coun
try the alternative of the universal contempt of
mankind or the prosecution of an immediate and
vigorous war. The correspondence published in
the Jeffersonian of yesterday shows, that on the
first of March, Mr. Slidell addressed a communi
cation to the Mexican Government, requiring a
definitive answer as to its intention to recognize
him as Minister or not, in which he says:
On the 16th Dec., the undersigned was inform
ed by Mr. Pegna y Pegna, that difficulties existed
in relation to the tenor of his credentials, which
made it necessary to consult the Council of Gov
ernment thereon, and on the 20th of the same
month he was advised by Mr. Pegna y Pegna,
that the Mexican Government had decided not
to recognize him in his capacity of Envoy Extra
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
To this communication of the Minister of
Foreign Relations, the undersigned replied under
dates of 20th and ,24th Dec., refusing the rea
soning by which the refusal to recognize him
was attempted to be sustained, vindicating the
course pursued by his Government, and declar
ing his intention to proceed to Jaiapa, there to
await instructions, ada]ited to an emergency so
entirely unlooked for; _
He has now received these instructions. The
President of the United States entirely approves
the course pursued by the undersigned, and the
communications by him addressed to the Mexi
can Government.
Had the then existing Government contin
ued in power, as no alternative would have re
mained, the undersigned would have been direc
ted to demand liis passports.
The President of the United States would
have submitted the whole case to Congress, and
called upon the nation to assert its just rights,
and avenge his injured honor.
The destinies oi the Mexican Republic, how
ever, having since been committed to other hands,
the President is unwilling to take a course which
ivould inevitably result in war, without making
another effort to avert so great a calamity.
He wishes, by exhausting every honorable
means of conciliation, to demonstrate to the
civilized world, that if its peace shall be distur
bed, the responsibility must fall upon Mexico
alone.
He is sincerely desirous to preserve that peace,
but the state of quasi hostility which now exists
on the part of Mexico, is one which is incom
patible with the dignity and interests of the
United States and it is for the Mexican Govern
ment to decide, whether it shall give place to
friendly negotiation or lead to an open rupture.
To this request he received an answer, dated at
Mexieo on the 12th of March, peremptorily re
fusing to receive him, and declaring, among other
things, that “the Supreme Government had de
clared before-hand that they would look upon
annexation as a casus belli ; conformable to this
declaration, the negotiations were of necessity to
be ended, and war was the only recourse of the
Mexican Government.” The letter (which is
too long for repubiication in our columns) then
proceeds to reiterate, in a most offensive tone, ail
those charges of perfidy, spoliations and aggress
ion on the part of the United States, with which
we have become so familiar, when proceeding
from the dignitaries of Mexico for several years
past.
To this communication Mr. Slidell replied on
the 17th March. Fie demands his passports —
replies in an able and conclusive manner to the
twenty times refuted calumnies of the Mexican
Minister and concludes:
The undersigned has already exceeded the
limits which he had prescribed to himself lor re
ply ; the question has now reached a point where
words must give place to acts.
While he deeply regrets a result so little con
templated when he commenced the duties of his
mission of peace, he is consoled by the reflection
that no honorable effort to avert the calamities of
war have been spared by his Government, and
that these efforts cannot fail to be properly ap
preciated not only by the people of the United
States, but by the world.
The passports were despatched on the 21st,
and the Minister retired.
If this be not war, then we do not understand
the meaning of words—and if it be not followed
up by active measures on our part, then has the
time arrived when every dog, from the English
mastiff to the Mexican cur, may snap at and bite
us with impunity.
Wc suppose, however, when the result of the
mission is communicated to Congress, there will
be found several garrulous and timid old ladies
in that exalted body, who having been frightened
by England into a partial abandonment of right,
will plead their course as a precedent for submit
ting with fortitude and forbearance to an igno
minious kicking from Mexico. But there is yet,
we believe, some patriotism left in the country,
and we will trust that the course of Mexico, dic
tated as it evidently is by French and English
policy, will awaken it to an active vitality: and
that if the Oregon battle is to be fought in Mexi
co, which now seems probable, the energy dis
played and the means employed will be adequate
to the momentous consequences of the war.—
No half measure will do. The campaingn must
be short and decisive—convincing our enemies
that though wo may tamely endure insult and
wrong for a time, yet that the spirit of our fathers
is still abroad in the land; and that when tho
sword is drawn, we know how to assert and
maintain our lights and honor.
THE WIDOW OP RONA;
It is related that in one of the channels among
the Herbrides, is a harbour of such peculiarity,
that it is more easily entered by night than by
day; and perilous though it be, government has
erected there no beacon to guide the storm-tossed
mariner. The generosity of a lone woman, how
ever, supplies the defect of legal bounty. Every
dark night, a poor widow of Rona sets a little
cresent in her window, and by the aid of its light
a strange vessel may enter in safety. Truly,
thus “shines a good deep in a naughty world.”
Nor does the w r id ow alone send her lamp-flame
across the tossing waves; she opens her cottage
door to the benumbed and shivering sailor; her
glowing fire restores to him vital warmth, and
her humble board offers to him its plain repast.
This woman has saved more lives than Davy’s
safety-lamp, and thousands of pounds to the un
derwriters, yet seldom has she been prevailed
upon to receive any reward. In her youngdavs
she beheld a beloved husband swallowed up by
whelming waves,
“In sight of homey and friends who thronged to
save.”
To avert su'd! calamity front others, she chose
the rocky promotory for her solitary dwelling
place, and there spends all her days in doing
good.
This beautiful lesson is most encouraging to
benevolence. It is not the wealthy alone that en
joy the the luxury of doing good; the poor help
the poor: sympathy and service are the privilege
of us all; and even those who stand in need of
both do good, for they arcthe occasion of virtue and
of enjoyment to their benefactors.
An Irish doctor advertises that “the deaf may
hear of him at a house in Lilly street, where also
his blind patients may see him from ten till
three.”
The first step towards being wise, is to know
that thoi art ignorant.
From the Galveston. News Extra of the 4th.
army intelligence..
We have been furnished through the polite
ness of Capt. Foster of the U. States Revenue
Cutter, Woodburry, which arrived this morning
from the Brassos St* lago, with the following
items of news from the Army of Occupation un
der command of Gen. Taylor.
The Woodburry arrived off the bar last even
ing, but on account of a heavy gale from the
East, which compelled the Captain to slip his
cable and lower his top-mast, he did not come
into port till this morning.
Capt. Foster, Ictl Brassos St. lago on the 30lh
ult, and has experienced heavy weather and
head winds ever since, and is now compelled to
put in for wood and water. She will leave tor
New Orleans as soon as the weather permits.
The army of occupation, numbering in all
3,500, arrived and encamped on the 28th ult. op
posite Matamoras. Gen. Taylor with a compa
ny of Dragoons under the command Ot Col.
Twiggs, having left the main army; arrived at
Point Isabel simultaneously with the fleet of
Transports from Aransas, on the 24th ult. there
not being half an hours difference in the arrivals
by land and water.
On the appearance of the fleet the Capt. ot
the Port (Rodcriguez,) set fire to the Custom
House and several other buildings at Point Isa
bel, and made his retreat good to the river, al
though pursued some distance- by order ot Gen.
Taylor. The buildings destroyed were of little
value)- being constructed of logs, thatched with
straw*.
The thousands and ten? of thousands of the
enemy who have been reported as in readiness
to dispute the march of Gen. Taylor’s army,
seem to have entirely disappeared upon his ap
proach. The only opposition experienced by
the Army of occupation, was first at the Little
Coloradowherc a Mexican officer with about 150
mounted men threatened to fire upon Gen. T.
if he attempted to cross that stream, stating that
such were his positive orders, and that Mexicans
knew no fear. The Artillery was immediately
ordered up, where the troops formed and com
menced fording in perfect order, the w ater being
nearly to their arm pits, whereupon the gallant
Mexican prudently retreated without executing
his positive orders. The only other shew of op
position had been previously made by a party of
50 or 60, who having met the army in the Prai
rie, informed Gen. Taylor that he must proceed
no further in that direction. By order of Gen.
T. the army opened and this party were per
mitted to march through to the rear, and then
depart.
When hear Point Isabel with the Dragoons,
(jin. T. received a deputation of 30 or 40 men
bearing a proclamation and message from Gen.
Mejia filled with threats in the usual style of
Mexican gasconade. At this moment the con
flagration made at Point Isabel by Rodcriguez
was discovered, and Gen. T. dismissed the depu
tation directing them to inform Gen. Mejia that
he would reply to his message opposite Matamo
ras on Saturday the 28th ot March.
Extraordinary success attended getting the
vessels over a difficult bar,'without pilots. Gap
tain F. reports that the schooner Belle del Mar
was however driven on the South Side, after
beating heavily on the bar and now lies in 2
feet waterc It is thought that she cannot be sa
ved. The Louisiana; Capt. Eddy had her rud
der unshipped but she received no other damage.
The U. S. Brig Lawrence Com’t Mercer, re
mained at anchor off the Bar. The brig Por
poise Com’t Huut, sailed for Pensocola on the
26th ultr
Capt. F. informs us that forty waggons with
supplies for the army, left Point Isabel on the
morning of the 26th in fine condition, and having’
an excellent road 28 miles to the army opposite
Matamoras; and on the morning after Gen.
Taylor followed, leaving a company of Artillery
at Point Isabel in command of Maj. Monroe.—’
We understand that Gen. Taylors orders are to
cross the Rio Grande and attack Matamoras,
should he be fired on from the town.
Lieut. Fobil, U. S. N. who whs bearer of
despatches to Gen. Taylor, arrived in this city
this morning on the Cutter Woodbury, on his
way to New Orleans.
The despatches brought to Pensacola by Lieut;
Porter, and from thence taken to Vera Cruz by
the Steam Frigate Mississippi on the 25th ult, as
mentioned in our last, are now said to contain or
ders to Mr. Slidell requiring him to return home
immediately if he is not received as Minister in
24 hours after notice is given.
Capt. Foster states that the average depth of
water on the bar at Brasos St. lago is eight and
a half feet, and that from thence to Point Isabel;
a distance of about three miles due west, the uni
form depth is about live leet. Pt. Isabel is a
perpendicular biutf of 60 feet above the water,
and the surrounding country is hilly or undula
ting. The country was in a highly favorable
condition for the march of the army—more rain
would have made the traveling bad, less would
have accasioned a scarcity of water.
Col. McCrea was disappointed in his attempt
to take the barges across the Laguha la Madre,
for the want of sufficient water. They will, in
consequence, have to be taken by land.
The steamers Monmouth and Cincinnati are
constantly employed in transporting from Brasos
St. lago to Point Isabel.
TWO DATS LAT£B, BY THE L. 31. HITCHCOCK.
Since writing the above, we have received two
days later intelligence by the pilot boat L. M.
Hitchcock, Capt. Wright, which arrived here a
bout four P. M. having left Brasos St. lago on
Wednesday, the Ist inst. On the arrival of the
Army of Occupation, in front of Matainoras, the
Mexican forces were drawn out on tiie opposite
bank of the river, making a great display of mar
tial music, with trumpets, bugles, etc., which
mode of salutation was duly reciprocated in kind
by a similar sounding of trumpets and drums iri
the American lines. Thus ended the first day’s
recounter between the two armies on the oppo
site banks of the Rio Grande, and within two or
three hundred yards of each other. On the next
morning, (29tii) the American troops discovered
the Mexican artillery of 18 pounders, lining the
opposite bank, and pointing directly into their
camp, whereupon the American army moved
their encampment 4 miles below. This step was
doubtless taken by Gen. Taylor in order to avoid
every appearance of any disposition to commit
aggressions upon the west bank of the river, and
to maintain strictly the defensive character of his
operations, the most reliable statements represent
the regular army inMatamoras to consist of 2000
soldiers and 500 ranchcros. ’The Mexican citi
zens of the Rio Grande arc said to be quite disaf
fected toward their own government, and secretly
friendly to the American cause.
AJfOTHER STAR.
Make way for Yucatan !—ln 1843, we
promised <fbr constituents that by the close of
1845, Texas would be added to the Union. We
missed our prediction by sixteen days then—for
Congress did not pass the final vote before the
middle of the first month in ‘46—and now we
mean to allow ourselves abundant time; we take,
therefore, to 1850, for the annexation of another
star. Yucatan, the bravest, most generous,
and most liberal of the Mexican States, lias
withdrawn from the turmoil and insecurity of that
confederacy, and wishes to come into the Union!
— H'he will bring with her the short rrjuie to the
Pacific and Oregon , which we need so much;
and in 1850, her Senators will be at home in
Washington. Wc mean to be accurate this
times and beg it may be remembered that we
do not positively promise the annexation of Yu
catan before 1850!— N. Y, Sun.
Naturalization. —A Canadian Frenchman,
who had sought a home in the Western part of
this State, oilWcd his vote at the polls, but was
rejected as not naturalized. “Not naturalized,”
said he; “this country is a great deal naturaller
to me than ever Canada was:—l got there but
two and sixpence a day, and here I get five
shillings.” A great many poor people from
abroad beside the Frfficliman have found this a
very natural country. May they never find it
less so !— N. Y. Paper.
Dignity —Many years ago we heard a cham
bermaid in the Bay State, or to use the verna
cular of New England, a help, say to a young
fellow who happened to be a son of a governor
of Rhode Island, “wc don't look on a governor of
Rhode Hand as any higher than a deputy sheriff.”
[Phila. hedger.
Correspondence of tUe Courier.
Washington, April 1.
There was quite, a scene in the Senate to-day.
Mr. Ashley had the floor on the Oregon ques
tion ; but he yielded to Mr. Benton, who, as Mr.
Speight informed the Senate, wished to make an
explanation.
Mr. Benton rose,'and went into a full reply
to that part of Mr. Cass’s argument in which Mr.
Cass attempted to prove that the line of 49 was
fixed by the treaty of Utrecht between the pos
sessions of Great Britain and France, on the
North-West coast. Mr. Benton did not wish, he
said, to make any application of the argument
which he was to offer, but it wasliis purpose to
vindicate the truth of history and the intelligence
of the Senate.
Mr. 8., w ho is profoundly versed in the histo
ry of this subject, went into a statement that oc
cupied an hour, to prove that the line was deter
mined) established, and fixed, and it that had been
so acknowledged by the Government of the Uni
ted States and that of Great Britain.
Having closed this statement, which comman
ded the fixed attention of the Senators, in a de
gree rarely ever witnessed before, Mr. Benton
indulged in some sarcasms upon Gen. Cass—
upon the Agamemnon, the Ajax, and the Ulysses
of the “fifty-four forty party”—upon their absurd
position—upon their authority, which was Mr.
Greehhow’s book, &c., and having made a priso
ner of their leader, he would, lie said, let him
go, upon his parole not to step over the line of
49 again.
Gen. Cass was not present, but Mr. Ilanne
gan rose to reply to what he considered an un
kind allusion to himself and his small band, in
which he said, he was not an Ajax, but a private
soldier. He had taken the Senator as his guide
on this and other questions, and had but followed
out his own arguments in favor of our claim as
delivered here four years ago.
He congratulated Mr. Calhoun that, at last, the
antipodes had met; and that he made the Senator
from Missouri a convert to his opinions on this
subject. But he thanked God that no man was
so high in this country as to be able to suppress
public sentiment.
He reminded the Senator from Missouri that
at the siege of Troy, there were other heroes be
sides Agamemnon, Ajax and Ulysses. Achilles
was there; and here, said he, pointing to Mr.
Cass’s scat, is our Achilles. Let the Senator
beware lest Hector shall grace the triumph of
Achilles.
This sally, being unexpected, produced much
merriment and applause in the crowded galleries,
and Mr. Webster, expressing much indignation at
the indecorum, said he would, upon its recur
rence, insist upon the galleries being cleared.
The Senate went into Executive session.
Washington, April 2.
The Sub-Treasury Bill has passed the House
by an overwhelming majority, 128 to 27.
The act has two principal features; one is to
separate the Government from all connexion
with banks, and the other is to require the pay
ment of public dues in coin.
It is intended that the effect of the act will be
to retain the issues of the local banks wit hin their
means, as it will create a continual, though small
demand lipen them for actual payment. It is
argued that Sir Robert Peel has made the Bank
of England a kind of Sub-Treasury. He has re
stricted it to the issue of dollar lor dollar—of so
many pounds in paper, for so many pounds in
coin. llc*re the proportion is generally three to
one, and the requisitions of this act are said to be
the only check upon local banks, for experience
has shown thht they are above the reach of Courts
of Justice, or State Legislatures, or public opin
ion, and can suspend payments whenever they
please. .
The Bill will pass the Seriate,
The episode of the Oregon debate still occu
pies the time of the Senate.
Mr. Cass appeared to-day in his seat, and made
a vigorous reply to Mr. Benton. Mr. Cass re
turned his thanks to Mr. Hannegan, for his elo
quent and successful defence in his absence.
Mr. Benton rejoined with much farce, and
Mr. Webster made some suggestions on the sub
ject.
Mr. Cass made, and enforced the following
points, say-—’
1. It is not shown that any line was established
on the parallel 0f49 to the Pacific ocean.
2. The country on the North-Western Coast
then unknown, and I believe then unclaimed; or
at any rate, no circumstances had arisen to call in
question anyclaiiri to it.
3. The British negociatiors in 1826, and their
minister here in 1844, fixed upon the voyage oi
Captain Cook in 1778 as the commencement of
the British title in what is now called Oregon.
4. The treaty Utrecht provides for the estab
lishment of a line between the French and British
Colonies, including the Hudson Bay Company.—
The British held nothing west of the Company’s
possessions, which, by the charter, included only
the lands, countries and territories on the waters
running into Hudson’s Bay.
5. If England establish this line to the Pacific
ocean, she can have no claim south of it; and this
kind of argument, ad homineni, because conclu
sive. And Jet me add that they owe this argument
to my friend from Missouri, [Mr. Atchison,] to
whose remarks upon the Oregon the Senate lis
tened with pleasure, and with profit, some days
since.
6. How could France and Spain claim the coun
try to the Pacific so as to divide it between them
in 1714; when as late as 1790, the British Gov
ernment, by the Nootka Convention, expressly
recognized the Spanish title to that country, and
claimed only the use of it for its own subjects, in
common with those of Spain ?
I am now, sir, said Mr. C., brought to the an
nunciation which I made, and which the honor
able Senator has so straijgoly misunderstood.—
What I said was this, sir—l will repeat it in the
very words I used upon the former occasion: “I
now ask, sir, what right has any American states
man, or what right has any British statesman, to
contend that our claim, whatever it may be, is
not just as good north of this line as it is south
of it? When this question is answered to iny
satisfaction, I lor one will consent to stop there.
But until then, lam among those who mean to
march, if Wc can, to the Russian boundary.”
The favorable news from Mexico attracts much
attention here.
Washington, April 3.
In the Senate to-day, Mr. Ashley of Arkan
sas, spoke on the Oregon question and advocated
the exclusive American title. And also under
took to show that the horrors and dangers of war
had been greatly exaggerated, and that a war
would, in fact, do us no material injury. He prov
ed from a table which he bad prepared, that the
United States could furnish 146,000 troops every
year, without diminishing their force. The ra
tio of increase of population showed this to be
so.
Mr. McDuffie took the floor for to-morrow.
A message was received from the President,
transmitting in reply to a resolution of Mr. Web
ster, the correspondence connected with the Ash
burton negotiation,
Mr. Webster gave notice, that as the Ash
buton treaty, with which he was connected had
been made the subject of attack here, in connec
tion with the Oregon question, he would take
an early opportunity to vindicate that treaty.—
For this purpose he called for the correspond
ence.
It is understood that the preliminary questions
on the notice will be taken at the end of next
week.
In the House, to-day, a resolution was adopt
ed calling upon the Secretary of the Navy for
some information respecting the numbers, pay.
See., of officers and men in the marine corps.
Mr. Burt, a member of the Committee on
Military Affairs, made an explanation in reply
to an article in the “Union,” which article seem
ed to throw doubt upon the statement of the
Committee, that the communications fretm the
War Department, relative to an increase of the
military force, fortifications, See., were made con
fidentially. Mr. B. stated that they were confi
dential, and for the reason that the Department
did not wish some paid of the information to come
to the knowledge of a power which might soon
be an enemy,
The Sub-Treasury Bill was referred in the
Senate, to the Committee on Finance. It will
not pass that body without a discussion; but it
will undoubtedly pass.
Preparation are making here for building a
very spacious temporary edifice for the accom
modation of the Grand National Fair of* Ameri
can Manufactures.
CorrcapondCiice of the Union.
New Yoiik, April 2, 1846.
Whatever else Americans and Englishmen
may think of each other, they have no cause to
dispute each other’s courage. To discredit the
bravery of the English would be casting reproach
on our progenitors, and for them to deny heroism
to the Americans, would be to slander their de
scendants.
The late great battle fought in India proves
that the Anglo-Saxon spirit exists—that it still
leads on to conquest.
Sir Henry Hardinge . is one of the Duke of
Wellington’s old Peninsular officers. He at one
time acted as deputy quartermaster to the Portu
guese army. He participated in all the principal
events of the Peninsular war, including the bat
tles of Buseco, Albcra, Badajoz, Salamanca,
Vittoriii, the Pyrenees, Orthos, &c. He was al
so at the battle of Waterloo, where lie lost an
arm, for which he was allowed a pension of J. 300
per annum. Sir Henry was born in 1785, and
is now, consequently, is his 61st year. In 1826,
he represented the city ot Durham in Parliament,
and subsequently sat for the boroughs of St.
Germain’s Newport, and Launceston. He be
longed to the torr side of the House, and was,
under its rule, appointed twice chief secretary for
Ireland. His mother was the daughter of the
Hon. Sir John Pratt, chief justice of the court of
king’s bench. He had a brother who distinguish
ed himself in the navy, and who fell in action
commanding her majesty’s ship the Tiorenzo,
after capturing the Piedmontese frigate. He lias
another brother, who is a clergyman, Sir Charles
Hardinge, Bart., of Belleis'e, in the county of
Farmamfigh, find brother-in-law to the Marquis
of Londonderry. The father of Sir Henry was
Nicholas Hardinge, esq., who was joint secretary
of the treasury in 1752. . These data I compiled
from a small work entitled “The Assembled
Commons,” printed in London in 1838. The
gallantry of Sir Henry was recently alluded to
by Sir Robert Peel, when he had moved a vote
of thanks in Parliament to the oillccrs and men
under their command who lead carried the bloody
day ofFcrozepore. Sir Robert said, “ that with
my affectionate regard for that gallant man,
(Sir Henry Hardinge,) I feel proud to exhibit
him during such a night as that ot the 21st.”
To understand what the night of the 21st was, it
is necessary to let Sir Henry Hardinge speak for
himself. He succeeded Lord Ellenborough as
governor-general of India, who himself had suc
ceed Lord Auckland. The military reputation
of a whole life, won in Spain ahd on the field of
Waterloo, hung upon the events of the 21st.
Although only second in command (Sir Hugh
Gough being senior officer) in the field, Sir Hen
ry felt the entire force of his critical and respon
sible situation. This fact is made more manifest
by a private letter written to some member of his
family after the battle, find which Sir Robert
Peel read in presence of the assembled members
of Parliament. The brief yet interesting details
giving in the extract, I beg lea ve tf> give entire,
with the comments of Sir RoberfPecl.
“ The night of the 21st was the most extraor
dinary of my life. I bivouacked with the men*
without food or cohering; arid n'ftr nights arc
bitter cold. A burning camp in our front, our
brave fellows lying down under a heavy cannon
ade, which continued during the night,
mixed with the wild cries of the Stiffs, our En
glish of the groans of
the dying. Tntlus wiffi a handful of men,
who had carried the bsftfcj|Che night before, I
remained til! morning, intervals
of rest by lying downjpfh various ftgifljcuts in
succession, to temper, andnKyivc
their spirits.” cheering.] (That i^to
say, Sir spent the night in go
ing from regiment to regiment, lying down with
them, animating their spirits ; thus insuring, as
far as human elfort could insure it, the conquest
of the coming day.) [Cheers.] “I found my
self again with my old friends of the 29th, 31st,
50th, and 9th, and all in good heart. My an
swer to all and every man was, that we must
fight it out, attack the enemy vigorously fit day
break, beat him, of die honorably ori the field.—
The gallant old general—kind hearted find heroi
cally brave—-entirely coincided with me. Dur
ing the night I occasionally called upon our brave
English soldiers to punish the Sikhs when they
came too close, find wore impudent; and when
the morning broke wc went at it in true English
style. Gough was on the right. I placed my
self and dear little Arthur by my side, in the cen
tre, about thirty yards in the front of the men, to
prevent their firing, and wc drove the enemy,
without a halt, from one extremity to the other,
capturing thirty or forty guns as we went along,
which fired at twenty paces from us, and were
served obstinately. The brave men drew up in
an excellent line, and cheered Gough and my
self as we rode up the line, the regimental colors
lowering to me as on parade. The mournful
part is the heavy loss I have sustained in my
officers. I have had ten aids-de-camp hors (hi
camp —five killed and five wounded. The fire
of grape was very heavy from one hundred pieces
of cannon. The Sikh army are drilled by French
officers, and the men the most warlike in India,
It was certainly a brave action which induced
a father to take his son by his side and inarch
forth forty paces in front of his men, to prevent
their firing a gun, in order that the bayonet alone
might be used in carrying the works of the enemy.
The details of the battle of Ferozepore arc in
teresting in a military point of view. They
show what kind of enemy they would prove?
against us, and what they would have a right to
expect from us in return, who have descended
from a common origin. “ When Greek meets
Greek, then comes the tug of war.” It is much
belter that an honorable peace should prevail be
tween us. It would be wiser to employ their
mutual surplus physical power in subduing and
civilizing the barbarous races of mankind ; and,
better still, if they could do this work without
the sword, by peaceable and moral influences.
IMPORTANCE OP INSECTS TO COM-
MERCE.
The importrnce of insects to commerce is
scarcely ever treated of, at the present rate,
Great Britain does not pay less than a million
of dollars annually for the dried carcasses of a
tiny insect—the Cochineal, Gum Shellac, an
other insect produced from India, is of less pe
cuniary value. A million and a half of human
beings deiive their sole support from the culture
and manufacture of silk, and the silk worm alone
creates an annual circulating medium of be
tween one hundred and fifty and two hundred
millions of dollars. Half a million of dollars is
annually spent in England alone for foreign
honey; 10,000 hundred weight of wax is im
ported into that country each year. Then there
are the gall nuts of commerce, used for dyeing,
and in the manufacture of ink, &c. The Can
tharidcs, or Spanish fly, is an important insect !•>
the medical practitioner. Laying aside the
purposes insects perform in the schemes of na
ture, they are economically not the insignificant
and unimportant creatures which the uninform
ed mind is but too apt to regard them.
TRI E COIUACE.
Have the courage to discharge a debt while
you have got the money in your pocket. Have
the courage to speak your mind when it is neces
sary you should do so, and to hold your tongue
when it is better you should be silent. Have the
courage to face a difficulty, lest it kick you harder
than vou bargain for. Difficulties, like thieves,
often disappear at a glance. Have the courage
to place a poor man at your table, although a
rich one be present, and to show equal courtesy
to both; and to deny your house to those whoso
characters you condemn, whatever be their
qualities and Station. Have the courage to avoid
accomodation bills, however badly you want mo
ney, and to decline pecuniary assistance from
vour dearest friend. Have the courage to cat
the most agreeable acquaintance you possess,
when he convinces you that fcc lacks principle. —
“A friend should bear with a friend’s infirmities”
—not his vices.
From Haiti.— lntelligence from Aux Caves
to the 12t'n of March lias been brought to this
city by the brig Wasson, Captain Norton. The
President, Pierrot, had resigned, in consequence
of the general defection, and his successor had
been proclaimed by the army—though not with
the good will of the officers, who preferred Pier
rot. By this arrival wc get anew form of the
new President’s name —Rackcre. He figures
among us. therefore, as Riche, Richard, LU C V-
Richere and Kackare. The march against v-t
Dominicans was no more talked 01.
-f A". Y. Corn. A:li., Is.’ inti