Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation.
About Daily chronicle & sentinel. (Augusta, Ga.) 1837-1876 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 12, 1852)
_ DAILY \CBBOWCLET^ffiT i,Y WILLIAM S. JONES, DAILY, TEI-WEERLf AMD WEEELY. TEEMS; DAILY PAPHfI, to City Subscriber*, per annum, ta n*ir R, mail ed to the country 7 00 thuWEKKLY PAPER, mailed to the country.. . 400 WEEKLY.(> mammoth sheet! “ ... 200 CASH 8 YBTKMIn no case wilt an order for the paper be attended to, unless accompanied with the monkt, and in every instance when the time for which the subscription may be paid, expires before the receipt of funds to reaew the same, the paper will be discon tinued. * DANIEL WEBST ER.~ A DISCOURSE, Pronounced in the First Presbyterian Churchy in Augusta. Sunday Evening , Nov. 28 th, 1852, Op Eev. E. P. Rogers. [Published by request.] 2d. Samuel 3: 8S. —“ Know ye not that there Is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel ?” I shall make no apology for a discourse commem orative of that distinguished man, whose recent death has wrung a nation’s heart with bitter sor row. The sad message, which lately borne upon the wailing eastern blast, swept over our country, proclaiming to city anchhamlet, to the dweller on the broad prairie and in the far off wilderness, that the last ot the three stars in America’s brilliant constellation had sunk in unclouded radiance be neath the horizon, has fallen with saddening, crushing power on every ear, and has caused a swelling tide of sorrow to pour itself through the great heart of the whole American people. When the tidings first came, that all that was mortal of Daniel Webster was no more, the nation reeled and staggered under the mighty blow—a stunning i sense of a fearful and overwhelming catastrophe paralyzed our hearts, and hushed us in mule, nut poignant sorrow, before the hand of God. Never, since the death of him, who was “ firslin war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his country men,” has such a feeling of irreparable disaster ! impressed itself upon the whole people; never, : from the North to the South, from the East to the j West, has there gone up, mingling with the mel- ! ancholy music of autumnal winds, such a deep- j toned wailing from the stricken bosom of a great ! people. Language cannot express the nature of 1 that profound impression which the announce- I ment of his death made upon the nation. Ever I since the fatal moment, when first America learned that her prince and great man had fallen, she has covered herself with sack-cloth and refused to be comforted. A nation of mourners have celebrated bis funeral rites ; a broken hearted people have stood around his bier. Not at Marshfield, in the home he loved so well, beneath the lofty tree which his own hand had planted, within the sound of the moaning of that ocean, which was so fitting a tvpe of the vastness and breadth of his intellect | and the sublimity of his character; not there alone in that ancient burial place, where rest the mortal remains of those who wore dearest to his heart, have his funeral rites been celebrated. That sim ploggranite tomb, which his own hands prepared, is not his only sepulchre—he is buried in the heart of the nation. The whole people have attended his obsequies ; the whole people have paid dis tinguished honors to his remains ; and, while there is a heart left in the American people, he will have in this world an immortality, second only to that to which Death has introduced him in the world beyond the grave. When the first shock of that blow, which has laid low in death, America’s distinguished son, had begun to yield, and the prostrated energies of a stricken people, were permitted to rally, it was striking to witness the simultaneous pouring forth of the best tribute which could be paid to his il lustrious memory. The forum, the legislative hall, the court, the popular assembly, the chamber of commerce, and the halls of learning, re-echoed to the eloquent strains of those who, amid their grief for his loss, delighted to do honor to his transcen dent abilities, his learning, his eloquence, his statesmanship, and above all, his devotion to his country. Contending parties have forgotten th® animosities of party strife, and united in honoring I his memory. Strains of eloquence, such as their | lofty theme only could inspire, have come from I orators of every political creed, presenting all that j was massive, grand and sublime in his character. I The poet has tuned his harp to loftier measures to , sing of his greatness ; while the pens of many ready writers have been swift to transcribe the minutest i events of his life, and give every thing connected with his history to his eager and craving country men. Nor has the pulpit been silent. The clergy of the nation, for whose sacred office our departed statesman ever manifested the profouudest reve rence ; to whose ministrations he ever listened with respectful attention, and in whose behalf one of his most splendid forensic elforts was made, the clergy have not been wanting in respect to his memory, and in their effort to meet the occasion of his decease in an appropriate manner. Upon the Sabbath succeeding his funeral, many an eloquent discourse, suggested by that event, was delivered from the pulpits of all Christian denominations, and many crowded audiences testified in their ■oleum and rapt attention to their absorbing inter est in the theme. I rejoice to know, that in one of the pulpits in this city, a.iust and beautiful tribute has been paid to his memory. That this pulpit has been so long silent, is to bo attributed only to the fact, that its regular occupant was far distant ! from the scone of his stated ministrations, when the great event occurred, which furnishes the theme for the present occasion. And we have em braced this opportunity to gather up the lesson® of his life, his character, and his death, with no expectation of doing honor to him; but in simpl® justice to ourselves. The feelings, which for the days that have elapsed since the death of Webstcr, have been swelling within our hearts, demand an utterance. We must speak them out, we must sympathize with our country, and with the world, in this mighty bereavement; wo must pay our humble tribute to one whom we revered and ad mired , and we must endeavor to gain some in struction, admonition, and eonsoiatxon from that great event, which has made us one of a nation of mourners. 1 do not appear this evening as the eulogist of our departed statesman. To undertake that office, | would be as presumptuous as it is needless. Yet I it is fitting that 1 should attempt, at least, a brief sketch of that extraordinary character, which has made his death a national calamity of the first magnitude. And not only a national calamity, but one in which the world "participates; for it has well been said by one who know him well,* that ** not from one land, not in one tongue alone will his death be mourned. From the four corners of the globe, tributes and testimonies will be gather ed up. The shepherd who tends hi® flock beneath the clear skies of Greece—the cavalier that spurs over the plains of South America—the Hungarian pining in exile or languishing in prison, will all. when they hear ot his death feel a common grief at a common loss. Liberty will mourn a cham pion—humanity a friend.” “ Great men are among the best gifts which God bestows upon a people.” In this respect, how highly favored has been our country, “Ho hath not dealt so with any other nation.” Washington, Hamilton, Adams, Madison, Jay, Marshall, of the elder day—Clay, Calhoun, Webster, of the later.— What a galaxy is here ! And now all are gone. Os the last great three one, the noble, pure Cal houn rests in the soil hallowed by the memory of those exiles, who found there an asylum from big otry and persecution in the lovely valleys and mag nificent cities ot the old world. Another, the be loved statesman of the West, sleeps in his own beautiful Ashland, and the generous sons and fair daughters of brave Kentucky will ever guard his resting place with affectionate and reverent csre. And now the last sleeps with the Pilgrim Fathers in his own New England. They are “at rest, with kings and counsellors of the earthand the places that knew them will know them no more forever 1 When such men die, the world is anxious to col lect every memorial of their history and character, to trace back the mighty river of their greatness, to its source, to learn under what influences their powers were first developed, and their destiny shaped; and he who gathers up even the frag ments of their history, performs a grateful task for multitudes of curious and interested survivors. A brief inquiry into the parentage and early his tory of our great departed statesman is appropriate to ibis occasion. He was the a#n of a worthy sire. Ebenezer Webster was a fair specimen of those true noblemen of nature, the early settlers of this country. Born and reared upon the confines of civil ization, and favored with but scanty early advan tages ; he, by his native taleut and torco of charac ter became possessed of no mean distinction in the portion of our country where his lot was cast. In the early French wars, he served with honor, with such men as Stark and Putnam, whose names are link ed with the glorious history of the American Rev olution. In that memorable struggle he bore a dis tinguished part, at the battle of Bennington, and the defeat of Burgoyne. W hen the war was end ed, he served his country no less faithfully in her councils. In the Assembly and the Senate, and on the Judicial bench in his native State he ever maintained a deserved reputation for. wisdom, in tegrity and pure patriotism. It is an interesting fact, that he was a thorough student, of the principles of the American Constitution, and his opinions generally, commanded the ro ll sped of his fellow-citizens'. Such was the worthy father of the illustrious son. That son was born amid the unrivalled scenery of New Hampshire, ■whose lofty mountains weroaSfittiug emblem of the solidity and massive of his mind and character. His mother was the instructress of hjs early years, and prophesied while he was yet a child, that he would attain to extraordinary di«- tiaction. The prophecy proved something more than the fond vision of ajpartial mother’s fancy.— She lived to sea him an honored member of the Congress of the United (States. * Hon. G®o. S. Hilliard, of Boetop. His first scholastic training was in one of those rude log school houses, where many men have been trained for future greatness, in “ the land which grmvs schoolmasters." There, by an obscure vil lage teacher, a Mr. William Hoyt, was the first im pulse given to that giant mind, which ceased not to impel it round the entire circle of knowledge until that soaring intellect entered on the loftier studies of the spiritual and eternal world. Thus, amid rude and obscure scenes, with none of the advantages of wealth or rank to help him, was America’s great modern statesman prepared for his lif® work. “ Emerging to the light of day, on the outer rim of civilization, engirt by a north ern wilderness, with primal nature all around him, on a sterile and reluctant soil, and fur removed fr»m the appliances of an advanced society, he had little else to rely on than the inflexible principles of a New England farmer, and the great resources which God had planted in his soul. But on the rugged hills and under the arms of that original forest which sheltered his birth, with patriot blood coursing his veins, thought and grew this child of Genius. Trampling the snows, and conquering the surly blasts, ho made his way to the country school, while yet a boy, a matchless Olympian— thence rising by the intensity of his energy, the firmness of his character, and the stupendous qualities of his intellect, step by step, from school to college, from college to the courts—to the halls of State legislation, to the councils of the Union— to the helm of State—to the undying affections of America, and to the admiration of the world. — Self-reliant, and self-cultured, he hewed, with sinewy strokes, his own eternal niche in the Tem ple of Fame.” It was amid the scenes of his childhood, and by assisting his father in the laborious yet honorable pursuits of husbandry, that Mr. Webster acquired that fondness for country life, and that knowledge and skill in agriculture which never ceased to be one of his most prominent characteristics. In one of his greatest speeches,—that “On the Agricul cure of England,” delivered in Boston in Jan., 1840—he stated that “he had always regarded Ag riculture as the leading interest of society,” and that “he had been familiar with its operations in his youth, and had always looked upon the sub i ject with deep and lively interest.” Os his early home, rude and simple as it was, he always entertained the fondest remembrance. He never was ashamed of the comparatively humble circumstances of his birth and his childhood, and 1 know of none of the many exalted sentiments i which fell from his lips which contains more that ; is truly noble than that which he uttered in the j Presidential campaign of 1840, in reference to the I early history of one of the candidates for the high t est office in the gift of the American people.* “It ! is only shallow-minded people who make either ■ distinguished origin matter ot personal merit,.or I obscure origin matter of personal reproach. Taunt 1 and scoffing at the humble condition of early life, affect nobody in this country but those who are foolish enough to indulge in them, and they are generally sufficiently punished by public rebuke. A man who is not ashamed of himself, need not be ashamed of his early condition. Gentlemen,” con tinued this great man, “it did not happen to me to be born in a log cabin, but my elder brothers and sisters wore born in a log cabin, raised amid the snow-drifts of New Hampshire, at a period so I early as that when the smoke first rose from its rude chimney and curled frozen hills there was no similar evidence of a white man’s ha bitation between it and the settlements on the rivers of Canada. Its remains still exht. I make to it an annual visit. T carry my children to it, to teach them the hardships endured by the generations which have gone before them. 1 love to dwell on the tender recollections, the kindred ties, the early affections and the touching narratives and inci dents which mingle with all I know of this primi tive family abode. I weep to think that none of them who once inhabited it arc now r among the living, and if I am ashamed of it, or if I ever fail in affectionate veneration for him who raised it and defended it against savage violence and destruc tion, cherished all the domestic virtues beneath its roof, and through the fire and blood of a seven year’s revolutionary war, shrunk from no danger, no toil, no sacrifice to serve his country, and to raise his children to a condition better than his own, may my name, and the name of my posterity be blotted forever from the memory of mankind.” (Speech, at Saratoga, Aug. 1840.) The history of Mr. Webster’s life after ho en tered upon the practice of his profession in his na tive State in 18u5, is known to the nation. It Is a I part of her history. His progress, so wonderfully I rapid to the first rank in the honorable profession | of the Law, until he became the acknowledged I leader of tbo American Bar; his entrance upon ! public life ; “his first term of four years’ service in j Congress, when by one bound he sprang to his i place by the side of the foremost of the rising ; American statesmen;” his steady, onward progress i in a path far above that trodden by ordinary minds, until he stood before the nation and the world dis tinguished by a double eminence—“eminence of the very highest rank in a two-fold field of intel lectual public display, the profession of the Law, and the profession of Statesmanship ;” you need not that I should speak to you of this. You know, this stricken nation knows, how his intense study and his transceudant abilities bore him “in a dou ble and parallel current” to the towering summit of a fame, both in law and diplomacy, which, however it might possibly be equalled by a few noble names in one of these departments, has ne ver been equally enjoyed by another in them both. It would seem as if the herculean labors of those three and thirty years with which he lias been identified with public life and history, would have been well repaid by the fame he had earned as the Prince of the American Forum, as great est advocate of the age. But when we consider that this was but the half of his reputation ; that during all this time he not only most diligently and successfully pursued the legitimate practice of the Law, but was engaged constantly in the great public affairs, adjusting the weightiest matters of public policy, defending the most sacred rights of his country, arranging the most delicate and im portant relations with foreign powers, and gui ding the ship of State on many a troubled sea, un til nis country reposed on his arm with confidence that her rights and her honor would bo safe under its protection, and that her noble Constitution would never be wrested from his giant grasp; when you remember this, “know ye not that a Prince and a great man has fallen in Israel ?” “Who,” asks the eloquent Choate, “who any where has seen, as ho had, the donble fame, wore the double wreath, of Murray and Chatham*; or of Dunning and Fox; or of Erskine and Pitt; or of William Pinckney and Rufus King; in one transcendant superiority I” But it is needless to dwell upon the history of j his public life, and his distinguished services to his country. How can Ido justice to the labors, the success, the triumphs of nearly fifty years, in a few hasty words. In the language of one of his best eulogists, “I dare not come here and dismiss in a few summary paragraphs the character of one who has filled such a space in the history, who bolds such a place in the heart, of his country. It would boa disrespectful familiarity to a man of his lofty spirit, his great soul, his rich endowments, his long and honorable life, to endeavor thus to weigh and estimate them.” “A half hour of words, a handful «f earth, for fifty years of great deeds in high places !” But there was one distinguishing trait in the character and history of our departed statesman which stands out in bold relief on every page of the record of his life, which wo may and ought t® dwell upon, with some particularity. None of America’s sons have been more thoroughly Ameri can. The great idea which became the complete and controlling vision of his soul was America. While ker history will gather lustre from his con nection with, it, he gathered his inspiration from that history. No man was more familiar with it from its firsVrecords. No man had a more intelli gent and earnest appreciation of the principles and character of The fathers of this country ; of their heroic sacrifices and labors to lay its broad founda tions, and commence the massive structure of its greatness. No mind was more deeply penetrated with the wisdom and breadth and comprehensive ness of the institutions which they originated, or more accurately foresaw the influence they must exert upon their country and the world. llis pub lic life was one great offering to the Constitution of his native land, to the integrity of her institutions, to her national honor, and her national interests. No mere questions of party, no local or sectional interest, so roused his great soul, and called his gigantic energies into full play. When questions involving the prosperity or the honor of his coun try were under consideration, then his best powers, hi® profoundest research, his most powerful logic, his masterly eloquence were never invoked in vain. Then he knew no North, no South, no East, no West, His capacious mind, his deep heart, were filled with his country, his whole country , aud his mightiest intellectual efforts owed their being to the creative power of this great idea. He loved his country —m her vast extent; her varied wealth of natural resources — the sublimity aud beauty of her mountains and plains, her rocks and her stream# ; her spreading prairies and her magnifi cent cataracts; and in his breadth of shame, his massiveness of brow, and general nobleness of f>resenoe, he was a fitting son of such a land. He oved his country for her history—for the great and Sood men whom God had given her — for the won erful progress she hadgnado under his own eye from infancy to maturiytnd He loved her for the indomitable energy, i«*r and h, and enterprHP!.” her neonle for her fr^ ooi)S ’ comprising almost eve £ v'p.v;, •%?£= earned as within W abiding friendship tohef for thp sublime v/armest chartq before her; and Hia vast soul was ever*thrilled with patriotic desires that she should achieve that destiny, “ How sincerely,” says a r®cent writer, “ how passionate ly was he devoted to the preservation of the Union. How largely it moved, how extensively it describes the substance of his highest eloquence. Nothing but the majestic image of his whole undivided country could satisfy the poetic and patriotic neces sities of his capacious imagination.” At this sacred shrine —the altar of his undivided country*—he paid his loftiest and purest, and foud estearjhly homage. Tbe Union was not an ab stract ideain his mind, but seemed almost trans ♦ General Harrison. formed into a living creature, not so much the sub ject of cold and passionless argument, as the object of warm, devoted affection. The language of the immoitul Washington, the father of his country, found an echo from the heart and from the life of that country’s distinguished son. “It will be wise to habituate ourselves to reverence ti e Union as the palladium of our National happinoss to ac commodate, constantly, our words and actions to that idea, and discountenance whatever may sug gest a suspicion that it can in any event be aban doned.” (Original manuscript of Washington s Farewell Address.) Such was ever the spirit of .Daniel Webster; a spirit of pure, unqualified, whole-hearted devotion to the American Union, —of generous ardent love to his whole country. As has well been said, “ He was the beau-ideal of an American citizen,” and 1 take leave to add that when we consider all that is implied in being a true American citizen, this is the highest style of character to which humanity can attain. Yes, my countrymen! that great heart which now lies cold and pulseless in the grave, throbbed to its last beat, with vast and generous love for us and our native land. Courts and Cabinets may mourn the loss of one who was their glory and strength ; the Forum may bs clad in sable for him who was its acknowledged master; the Halls of legislation and the Popular Assembly may mourn that they shall no longer re-echo to the strains of his matchless eloquence; Letters and Art may bring their tribute of sorrow at the quenching of the radiance of that brilliant mind, bat alas ! our country weeps, that he who loved her with such a mighty affection ; who shrined her honor and her glory in his heart of hearts, and daily bowed in fond and sacred reverence there, and who only left her for his God, is gone from her forever. — Weep, my stricken country, for the last of your great ones is fallen! “ The beauty of Israel is slain upon her high places. How are the mighty fallen 1” That majestic form which so well repre sented a great and glorious land, is stricken down, and lies beneath the clods of the valley. That gi gantic soul which ivas absorbed and inspired oy the sublime idea of America, has passed away, and the great day of our mourning has come. The gianitc hills of New Hampshire are left, but he who resembled them in the strength and grandeur of his being, is gone. The majestic' ocean stiii thun ders along her but her waves are sounding a fitting dirge for him whose mind was ns vast, whose soul was as deep as her mighty waters. — Plymouth Hock still remains, but He Who smote that rock with the rod of his eloquence, causing streams of wisdom and patriotism to gush from its flinty bosom, sleeps the sleep of death in Pilgrim soil. “Departing day still lingers and plays on the summit” of the monument on Bunker Hill, but he who laid i£s foundations, and placed its top stone shall no more re-count the heroic deeds, and embody the sublime principles which it commem orates. Our country is left in her vastness, her strength, her beauty and her grandeur, but he is gone who added lustre to her glory, “and mountain, and ocean cannot adorn her, as hisjaresence gilded her soil and her name.” And now it remains to us to speak of the last scenes of our departed Webster’s life. In the long and distinguished career whiehit was his privilege to run, there were many scenes crowded with ele ments of sublimity, beauty, pathos and power.— But none, nor all pt these ever equalled its close. The testimony winch that wonderful scene has borne to his religious character, is worth more to his sorrowing country than the rich record of his palmiest days of health, or Os triumph. Had that been wanting, how much had? been wanting! But those solemn hours as they brought nearer and nearer to his clear, calm seli-possossed perceptions the hour when he must meet his God, boro wit ness to a composure, a resignation, a fitting pre paration for that solemn event, which assures us of the undoubted presence of the faith and hopes of Keligion, by that bed of death. And indeed the evidence of his religious feeling has accumulated upon us from many sources. His early training was of a strictly religious character. The Bible, the Catechism and Watt’s version of the Psalms were the text books of his childhood. In his youth he was the subject of deep religious impressions, and at no period of his life was he ever known to mani fest anything but the profoundest reverence for the Keligion of Christ. His famous plea in the case of Girards will, which is said to have been an effort on which he himself placed a high estimate, is one of the most just and noble defences of Chris tianity and her ministers which the world has ever saw. His most intimate and valued friends bear a most decided testimony to the depth and fervor of his religious emotions,' to his intense admiration for the Holy Scriptures, his constant habit of studying its sacred pages, his reliance upon its con solations in seasons of deep affliction, to his most respectful attendance upon the ministrations of the sanctuary, and his desire to be instructed and edified by them. Said he to a friend, on one oc casion, “1 have read .through the entire Bible many times. 1 now make it a practice to go through it once a year. It is the book of all others for Lawyers as well as Divines. And I pity the man who cannot find in it a rich supply of thought, and of rules for his conduct. It fits man for life. It prepares him for death.” Said he to the minister of the Parish in which he resided, “1 want riiy pastor to come to me in the spirit of the GospJ, saying, ‘You are mortal! your probation is brief, your work must be done speedily; you are im mortal too. You are hastening to the bar of God ; the Judge standeth before the door.’ When lam thus admonished, I have no disposition to muse or sleep.” When the period of his probation did arrive, it found him ready. He met the Great Destroyer with an unshrinking front, with dignity, but not stoicism. In that solemn hour his soul reposed only on the truths, the hope-, the promises of the Gospel. “ What" said he to those who gathered round him, “ What would he the condition of any of us without the hope of immortality f What is there to rest that hope on hut the Gospel.' 1 11' 1 Resting on this foundation he could say, as he did say, “ My general wish on earth has been to do my Ma kers Will. I thank him, I thankhim for the means of doing some little good ; for these dear objects ; for the blessings that surround me; for my na ture and associations. 1 thank him that I am to die under so many circumstances of love and. af fection. Yet there was nothing of pride or self-reliance in his dying hours. His humble fervent prayer was for'the forgiveness of his sins, and that nis Heavenly Father would receive him_ to Himself “ through Jesus Christ.” His physician says : “On leaving Mr. Webster for the night at half pad eleven, on Saturday, October 16, 1852, I asked him if 1 should repeat to him a hymn at parting, to which he gave a ready assent; when I repeated the hymn which begins : “There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuers veins.” “Ho gave very serious attention to the recital and at the close he said, Amen, amon, even so y come Lord Jesus.” This was, uttered with gittftU solemnity. He afterwards asked me if I remem bered the verse in one of Watt’s hymns on the thought of dying at the foot of the Cross, and re pealed these' lines with remarkable energy and feeling: “ ‘ Should worlds conspire to drive use hence, Moveless and firm this heart should lie, Resolved, (for that’s my last defence,) If I must perish— here to die.’ ” After this ho said that ‘he owed it to his fellow countrymen to express his deep conviction hi the divine "inspiration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and had embodied some thoughts which ho gave to Mr. Edward Curtis. _ ‘ , He repeated the text, ‘Believe on the Lord Je sus Christ and thou shall be saved,’ and then what he had given to be inscribed on his tomb stone which was as follows : “ ‘Lord I believe, help Thou mine unbelief.’ ” And when at last the shadows of the Valley of Death began to thicken around his soul, then he turned to the Gentle Shepherd of Israel, and sought to lean on his rod and staff, as he went through the passage to the Tomb. Oh! if this was not the spirit of the Christian, in what scene of death shall we find that spirit? If the unbroken sereni ty, the calm submission, the quiet waiting for his appointed time to depart, the confession of sin, and the prayer for pardon through a sin-atoning Savior, the intelligent elevated state of religious feeling which he was assisted to maintain to the last, the triumphant assurance of Immortality em bodied in his last words, if all this does not assure us that this great man went to his grave a believer in Jesus, in the triumph of Faith, and putting his trust in the hopes of the Gospel, then I know' not how such an assurance can bo given us from the bed of death. What though his character was like that of all his race imperfect and sinful; what though there were great blemishes and frailties in that character, what was well said of David the sou of Jesse, may be said of him. “Such oceans of feeling lay within his breast, as could net al ways slumber in their calmness. For the hearts of a hundred men strove and struggled togethor with in the narrow continent of his single heart, and . will scornful men have no sympathy for one so conditioned, but scorn him, because he ruled not with constant quietness the unruly host of divers natures which dwelt within his single soul ?” Wo extenuate not hisearors; we claim for him no ex emption from that sinful nature, which is our com mon inberißuictiyweoilkuyno admiration for his no gratitude for Uis services, no love for n«s a»°nal virtues to blind ns to the fact that he, without of us, was a sinner of a sinful race; but jy2S and we say it confidently that the influ -jee of Li a life and of his death, as a whole, will always bo in favor of justice, virtue and piety— that the cause of- truth,"of morality, and of reli gion, will alwayshave the of his expressed and recorded opinions, and be associated with eve ry mention of his name. But in the words of the sweet poet, whose strains his memory on his dying bad—l would i “ ' o further ?eek his merits to disclose, j Kor draw his frailties from their dread abode\ r* (There they alike in trembling hope repose;) - I] The bosom of his Father and his God !” All that was mortal of Daniel Websteff / - the quiet grave at Marsfield, surrounded by tnsm. precious dust of those he loved so well. He slhepmj in the beautiful home, which will hereafter be hon ored as a second Mt. Vernon by Lis sorrowing and ] surviving countrymen. Around him are those scenes of rural beauty in which he took such de light when returning for a time from the councils of the nation and the cares of state, he sought re freshment and repose in the bosom of his family, and in the labors and recreations of country life. Near him the ocean, with which his great soul often held communion, sings his majestic requiem, and mourns the mighty dead. How sacred that spot in years to come! What reverent pilgrim ages will be made to that simple granite sepulchre ! How many tearful eyes will trace, with deep emo tion, the inscription on its portals—“ Daniel wBUSTER!” his only epitaph, and all the epitaph he needs. While Plymouth Kock and Bunker Hill remain, the objects ot historical interest, and pa triotic reverence, and grateful affection, in the hearts of the American people, with them will be linked forever in affecting remembrance the tomb of Webster! Let the love, the gratitude, the patriotism- of America, hallow that spot till the end of time. Let the turf above it, be watered by the grateful tears of a bereaved people, that it may tie ever fresh and green as the immortal chaplet ot'his fame. And let it be a source of inspiration to the Ameri can people, prompting them, to honorable industry, sublime integrity, exalted action, devoted patriot ism, and humble pi. ty, through the long line of generations yet to come, so that our children and our children s children to the remotest ages, may rise up and bless God and their country for the revered and beloved memory of DANIEL WEBSTER ! A few closing reflections may be permitted on this occasion. While we mourn the loss of the great and gifted men, whom God has given us, we are admonished of the duty of gratitude to Almighty God, that such men have been ours, and that their memory and their sepulchres are with us at this day. It has been one indubitable evidence of the grandeur of God’s designs, in respect to this coun try, that he gave us such men to lay its foundations, arid to rear the solid structure of its greatness.— The long line of patriotic statesmen, of which Washington fras the illustrious head, and which bears such names as Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton, Jay, Madison and Marshall, Calhoun, Clay and Webster, has left the imprint of wisdom, their patriotism, their devotion to the cause of Freedom, not omy on the history, butoq iheinstitu lions, the laws, and the national sentiment of their country. For what we are to-day as a neople, for what we may be, we are indebted under God to them. Genius of the highest order, talents whose solidity was only equalled by their brilliancy, pa triotism of the purest stamp, wisdom of the pro fouudest cast, and eloquence of the sublimest char acter, all have characterized the great men of America. Take them all in all, theworld “ will not look upon the like again.” Under their foster ing care, we have in one sense realized the ancient prediction, that “ a iiation shall be born in a day,” for our lust our lamented countryman, saw with his own eye, the thirteen original States with their three millions of people scattered along the Atlan tic shores, cross with their myriads the Allcgha uies, Mississippi, the Rocky Mountains, until they invaded the shores of the Great Pacific, bearing the Eagle of their country from the rising to the setting sun. That the names of such men are in scribed on the scroll of our country’s history ; that the deeds of such are recorded in her annals and celebrated in her songs; that the wisdom and pa triotism of such men liavo pervaded her institu tions and her laws, and that the glorious memory of such men is left us as a precious heritage to her unborn generations, this is indeed occasion for de vout and fervent thanksgiving to our country’s God. Let us also bo admonished of our duty to put our trust as a people more entirely and confidently in the God of our fathers. The mighty arm on which wo have leaned, has at last proved to be an arm of flesh, and lies pal sied in the grave. And only when it broke, did we begin to realize, how heavily .we had leaned upon it. How fully and confidently we trusted to him to guard our honor, to protect our rights, to preserve our Constitution from the unholy grasp of lawless fanaticism, and to bind us together in a permanent and glorious Union—we knew not, until Death, inexorable Death, forced him to re sign the mighty trust. And now we stand trem bling under the sense of hopeless bereavement, with the responsibilities of the great future crowd ing upon us, and know not how we are to sustain worthily the burden of our very greatness. One by one, those on whom we leaned have been ta ken from us. Clay is gone, and Calhoun is gone, and now Death has taken Webster away ! Oh ! never were such responsibilities heaped" upon a people at such a crisis in their history. “Amid the passionate haste of our prosperity, the head long recklessness of our popular feeling, what a fearful thing it is to remember that the powerful brake which the wisdom, moderation and weight of our great statesman afforded, is suddenly wrenched from tiie train.” The pilot whose sturdy arm and far-rcaehing vision guided our ship o's Stale over the stormy billows, has sunk beneath the waves, and who snail seize the helm and keep the noble vessel on her way ? All seems dark, and threatening, and men’s hearts fail them for fear. Wo now begin to understand what it involves to maintain and make permanent a great national cha racter. The nation trembles under a sense of aw ful responsibilities, just beginning to be apprecia ted, and fears and dreads the future. I" confess that the spirit of despondency and foreboding seems appropoiate to this solemn crisis. But my countrymen, amid the darkness that now sur rounds us, there is one truth which is radiant with light — 11 The Lord reioneth.” The God of our fa thers lives. The God of our country lives, and we may hope that Ho will not forsake the land which He nus loved and blessed. It the re moval of one in whom we trusted, and on whom we leaned, shall rebuke our forgetfulness of tho Great Being whom our fathers delighted to honor and shall lead us as a people to put our trust in Him, and acknowledge Him in all our ways, then this last and mighty stroke will prove a lastrng blessing to this nation. And finally, what a striking and impressive tes timony to the value of Religion , is furnished by the event which our nation deplores. When that noble mind which had traversed al most the entire circle of human learning, power and fame, drew near to the stern realities of the grave and the lofty realm ot spiritual existence which lies beyond; oh, then its confidence was not in the triumphs of the Forum or the Sfmate, or the Cabinet.. When that most illustrious man of his age, was called to meet his God, theye was nothing in the attainments and successes, and glo ries of his earthly career, on which he rested 'his confidence and his hope. No light could be thrown from these into the valley shadow of death, which tire loftiest and the lowest alike moist tread. Kepoimg only in the inerits"W*Cg 'humbly confessing his sins ; praying that Gmf would for . give tW and receive his departing spirit to Him isel£JeSmu g on the rod and staff of the Shepherd Jwhis people, did this great man die. Let bold in nrlelity, let scoffing skepticism, let senseless impie- V-, hide their diminished heads, and shrink away before the simple grandeur of that scene. Let Ec ligioa rejoice that her Heavenly reality, her divine pbwcfyher celestial beauty, her inestimable worth, were so fully acknowledged and honored there. Let a sorrowing nation exult in the hope that while all that was mortal of Daniel Webster is mingled with its kindred dust; his immortal spirit, through the grace of God, has entered upon that '■•rest whi-chremaiueihfor the people of God.” Items from Washington. The New York Express has a Washington letter under date of 3d inst„ which says— The estimates for the next fiscal year, (from June, ’SB to July, ’54,) with the receipts of the De partment for 1852, have been made up by the Treasury Department, with the usual Fiscal state ment. The result shows an extraordinary degree of national prosperity. It'darns out that the "Go vernment has been purchasing largely of its own Stock tho year past, from the Loan falling due in July, 1853. All that it could buy it has bought, and the amount reached, since July last, $2,500,- OOO! These purchases have been made so quietly that the Government tor once has stolen a march upon the Stock dealers. Excepting the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, the reports of all the Departments will be ready on the opening of Congress. The Trca- - sury Financial report is not usually handed in ti’il the'‘close of the current, or the beginning of umew year. Tho Administration do not feel quite at liberty tobuy up Government Stocks atapremiuuu of from 14 to 18 per cent., especially when it is certain this Ercmhun would he doubled or tripled if it was nown that tho Government was in mar ket to pur chase its own Stock. Congress, if it wishes, can instruct the President to do so. It is by no means certain, however, that the surplus will bo as large as at present by five or ten millions of dollars after July, 1853. If the French claims are paid, as they ought to be, and the stock redeemed, which is due in July next, as of course it will be, the surplus .will not then exceed $7,000,000. There are bills enough belore Congress already, which hold over from the lastsessidftpto consume the entire surplus ;aoaiW^wTcc'^Vr<f; and there will he an attempt made"*to legislate upon the whole of them, but, of course, only with partial success. The anticipation of the London Morning Chron icle, that the tariff' of 1846 will be reduced at the ¥ resent, or by the next Congress, is laughed at here, he subject will be reported upon by two Commit tees, briefly debated, and that will be the end of the matter. Tub Boilers of the Princeton. —There is a con trariety of statements in reference to the result of i the lamination pfthe boilers of this tL ST steam frigate, lately hekjby the U. B. Engineer Board j Afi inspection. Norfolk Beacon, generally 1 d authorifA in naval matters, says dial they h'fvA.heen, found complete failures, and that as a itjf have to be adopted, there will not : f loss incurred by the Government, delay in equipping the Princeton steamers, furnished with the service. On tin- other hand a corres- the Portsmouth Transcript says that. |HSoard of Inspectors have “ found tho boiler*, not aft, affective as was expected, and have con cluded to recommend a slight alteration in. the furnaces, which will make them equal to any >plan of boiler now in operation.”— Balt. A.mer. Cjjrflmdc ft Sentinel AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. ~~ SI ADA! MOllffrWG, iJEC R 12, 1852. j Outside of Dailx. I irst Page —“ Love’s Martyrdom.” Fotbth ! Page—“ Poetry,” &c. The Charleston Courier’s enquiry of the Au- j gusta Postmaster, is easily answered. The time allowed, by the present schedule of the Charleston Railroad, for the distribution of the mails at the Post Office in this city is very short, by no means sufficient for a complete distribution even when the Georgia train arrives at the proper hour.— I Therefore, when there is any detention of the Georgia train, it is impossible to distribute the matter. Hence, whatever mail matter for Charles- j ton happens to be in the Augusta pouches, neces sarily lies over one day in this office. And in this way the New Orleans papers referred to were de- | tained. If the Charleston train would, under such cir cumstances, delay till 7 o’clock, a policy pursued by the Georgia road when the Charleston trains are behind time, (almost a daily occurrence for sometime back,) the connection would scarcely ever fail to be made, and our Charleston contem pories and those north would receive their ex changes with much greater regularity. Georgia State Fair. —The Executive Commit tee meets in this city to-morrow, to determine up on the location of the Fair of 1553, and the trans action of other business. We hope our city au thorities are prepared to make such an offer as will secure the Fair to Augusta. The requisite funds can easily be raised among us; as a proof of which, we knew of many persons ready to con- J tribute who are merely waiting the call of the j Committee. We trust tho matter will not b< al- j lowed to “fall through” for want of proper atten ion W t estern Enterprise.—The Tribune, published t at New Albany, Indiana, gives a list of twenty boats which have been built there daring the past season, the tonago of which is $13,275, and he j cost $6 y 0,500. The Gilmer Tragedy. —lt appears that the ian | killed by his wife in Gilmer county, had served a j term in the Penitentiary for the crime of incest I with his own daughter. After returning ho ne, I he was attempting the same offence upon a sec- nd daughter, when the wile and mother, slew him. C. C. LANGDONfcas been elected Mayor of Mo’ lie for three years, obtaining a majority of 72 over ns six competitors. This is the grea test triumph of ds life, and a merited tribute to a worthy and efficb nt officer. Alabama.— Gov. Collier, has appointed Judge Gibbons, of Mobile, to the Seat of the Supreme Bench, made vacant by the resignation of Judge Dargan. Groceries from Nasf.ville. —The Chattano ga Advertiser says : The ? Jolly Garth oil her last trip brought up 6 tons of h.eavy groceries which came j from Nashville, over the Nashville and Chattanoo ga Railroad, and were destined for Sevier coun ty. This is the ffirst shipment of any amount that we have ever noticed over this route, but we are confident i‘ u is but the fore-runner of an ext .n- J sive trade. New Orleans & Jackson Railroad. —The Presi dent, Jav.es Robb, has already ordered the iron ;br one hun.dred miles of this road, the grading of which pa but just commenced. Mr, Robb is likely to inf use a Little go-a-headativeness in the Orleani ans. We congratulate him and them. The amount of Treasury notes outstanding on t’ae Ist inst., -was $121,311.64. The tide of emigration to California byway of the Isthmus is again on the increase. The steam er C oorgla oa ilo/t from Naw VrtrV rm with 750 passengers, and the New steamer Uncle Sum on the same day, took 500 passengers. The Bro metheus for San Juan, on Saturday, also had near 500 passengers. The mails by the Georgia nu;a beued 41,593 letters, and the mail matter weighed & ,464 pounds. The United States Mint returns for November show the enormous deposite of 7,260,000 in gold dust. This is owing to the circumstance of the receipt of three semi-monthly shipments within i the month in instead of two. The returns lor October were reduced by the non-arrival, in sea-on forthe report of the shipment from ( alifornia of the first of that month. The coinage was as fol lows: $4,990,543 of gold piedes ; $99,404 silver pieces ; 242,232 cents. v From Rio de Janeiro.— Dreadful Tragedy .—By the ship Caroline, from Rio, arrived at Rhilad I phia, we have the following from our qorrespoi. i iint : . . W& • [ Correspondence of the Baltimore son■ J Rio de Janeiro, Oct. 13th 1852 We are now having much rainy weather, 1 it w'th it little or no sickness. , On Sunday last, the American flags in the h r bo r were at half-maft caused by news of the wreck of ; brig Emily Jane, the death of Capt. F x wcM, ner command* r, well known' and much cs tee med as an old trader to this poi i. I ».u awful tragedy occurred here last night--a fati ler murdered his daughter, sou, and au 1 i glis.hman. The young girl had been wrongoo. - Th e lather discovered her shame, swore death to j the seducer, the Englishman —found him wit.i : is dav ighter ; drove a bullet through his heart and das lied madly at ills daughter with a knife. son and brother placed himself before her ana ie cei ved the blade of the knife in Ms side. The fat her seeming almost a maniac, wanted more bk od to wash out tho stain upon his daughters honor, and, with another plunge, stabbed her in the heart. The Englishman died immediately ; the sou lived three hours, and the daughter s ill bn lathes but will not live. The father a highly r* Brazilian, gave himself immediately u b to the authorities. Increase of the Slave Trade in Cuba.—All ac counts represent a large increase of the slave trade in Cuba, at which, it is alleged the Spanish f jfflcial.s wink. A letter from Havana gives a list of nine vessels, which have landed at differ-nt ports of Cuba, duringthe present year, 4,170 slaves from Africa. The letter referred to adds : , “lifts is but the beginning. There is a tacit un ' derstainding for the extension of this scheme until ten thousand more have been brought hither, on each of which is paid to officials, tor winking at it, three ounces, or fifty-one dollars, making in ffie aggregate $510,000.” Moves* ents oe Army Officers.—Wo learn from the Fort Smith Herald of the 20th alt., that Dr. Wells, surgeon of the United States army, ar rived there from Fort Gibson, to attend the U. S. Court, at Van Bureri, as a witness. Capt. Little, of the 7th infantry, had left lor Fort Gibson, and Capt. Whitehall, of the sth Infantry, with Ms frm ]V, for the Brazos. Gan. Smith, Chickasaw agent, bud left for hip agency, near Fort V. ashita, to pay off the Chickasaws. Price of Land in Missouri. —The Secretary of State of Missouri, recently sold at public auction five hundred thousand acres of Internal Improve ment lands, under an act of the last Legislature. A lost of the laud has been sold at the minimum t .rice of $2 per acre, but in Rome instances tracks h Rve been sold at prices bringing as high as $lO 2 0 and sl2 50 per acre. The unsold land is now £ übject to entry at the minimum price. Railroad Iron.—Tine New York Tribune states t' hag a purchase of 5,000 tuns English rails had b eeti made by Messrs, Gilbert & lor , j 1 Villiamsport and Elmira Railroad. The C.evclan i Bteraid notices the arrival thereof two thousand I f ans of iron for the Lawrenceburg and 1 pper I Mississippi Railroad: 3 thousand tans for the , Bellalbntaine; three thousand tuns for 1 lion; eight thousand tuns tor the Ncrwaik and j Toledo, and four thousand for the Columbus, ? Pnqua and Indiana, besides other quantities for the Lake Shore and other roads centering there. This iron is shipped to Cleveland to be cut, and is then reshipped for its several destinations. Thus European Steamships.—We regret to Icara th at the Havre line of steamship?, which we t’ nought had been doing a good busmen wdl be c ompelled to give up that busmen limq t be ocean unless their pay for carrying ' c an be increased b.y for this wc g sebut little probability. —A. Y- Exf****. Gorretyondence of the Baltimore American . THIRTY-SECOND CONGRESS—Second SeMion. IN SENATE, Deo. 7. Messrs. Charton, Butler, Badger, Pearce and Hunter appeared in their seats to-day. The Chair laid before the Senate several unim portant communications from the departments, which were ordered to be printed. Mr. Clemens gave notice of a .joint resolution conferring on Major-General Winfield Scott the rank of Lieut. General by Brevet. Mr, Adams introduced a bill to prevent unau thorised banking in the District of Columbia. A message was received from the House, with a resolution providing for election of Chaplains ; which was taken up and concurred in. The Senate then proceeded to the election of Chaplain, and the Rev. C. M. Butler (Episcopal) receiving 27 votes out of 40 given, was declared duly elected Chaplain. The resolution to refer the credentials of the Hon. Archibald Dixon, Senator elect from the State of Kentucky, to fill the vacancy caused by the re signation of the Hon. Henry Clay, which went into etfect on September Ist, 1852, to a select commit tee of five Senators, wits taken up. Mr. Jones, of Tennessee, addressed the Senate at length in support of Mr. Dixon’s right toth' seat and particularly to be sworn in till the case was investigated. Messrs. Mason, Gwinn, Bradbury and Butler urged a reference of the subject to a committee, and Messrs. Sew ard and Dawson replied. At 8 o’clock, without taking the question, the Senate adjourned. HOUSE. On motion of Mr. Stephens, of Ga., it was resolv ed that the Speaker proceed with the appointment of the standing committees. Mr. Weightraan concluded his speech in favor of printing 5,000 copies of the message in the Spanish language. Mr. Brooks, of N. Y. moved an amendment of the original resolution to commit and print, that portion of the message which alluded to the tariff, should be referred to a select committee. He sta ted that his object was to have the subject taken up at an early period of the season, for the purpose of having a corresponding action, and with a view to prevent the farther accumulation of the surplus retinue, which he estimated on the first of Janua ry, at twenty millions. He expressed himself as desirous of enlarging the free list, and reducing the duties on manufactured goods, but did not enter into details. Mr. Clingman said he would vote for the motion, whether made in good faith or not, for the purpose of equalizing the duties, and rendering them less burthensome. The country, he contended, W'as calling for a repeal of the duties on railroad iron. Mrs Brown, of Miss., referred to the opinion en tertained by Mr. Brooks and others at the time the tariff of 1846 was passed—that it would des troy the revenue—and contrasted it with the dread which is now entertained in the same quarter of a surplus revenue. Mr. Dean, of New York, opposed the amend ment, and moved the previous question—under which the yeas and noes were taken, when it was negatived—ayes 73, nays 92. Tne original motion was then put and carried, to refer the message to the Committee of Ways and Means ; and the amendment to print 5,000 co pies in the Spanish language having been nega tived, the original motion was carried as submit ted. Mr. Key, of New York, from the committee ap pointed daring the recess to inquire into the nature of the Gardiner claim, reported a bill to prevent frauds on the Treasury, which, with the report and evidence, was ordered to be printed ; and the bill, having been read a first and second time, was re committed to the same committee. A motion to adjourn having been lost, the House Proceeded to the election of a Chaplain; when the ;ev. Mr. Gallaher, Presbyterian, naving received the number of votes necessary to a choice, was de clared duly elected. The House then adjourned. IN SENATE, December 8. Mr. Hale appeared in his seat to-day. The Chair laid oeforc the Senate a communica tion from the Land Office, relating to private land claims. Mr. Chase gave notice of a bill ceding to Ohio all the unsold lands in that State. Mr. Clemens introduced a joint resolution, an- • th arising the President to confer the rank of Lieutenant General by brevet for meritorious ser viees. Mr. Gwin gave notice of a bill granting land for the construction of a Railroad from the Mississippi to the Pacific. The Kentucky contested election case was then taken up. The question being about to be taken on the amendment allowing Mr. Dixon to be sworn, the chair submitted to the Senate the question whether Mr. Meriwether’s name should be called or not. Messrs. Cass, Butler, Dawson and Clemens, said this would raise the whole question. Messrs, Clemens and, Mason insisted that Mr. Meriwether’s name should be called. Mr. Hunter suggested that it be waived by unan imous consent. Several Senators objected to this. mv maintained*that even if .Mr. .M«ri wether were here he could not vote, being inter ested. The Chair said that might settle his right to vote, but not whether his name should be called. Various suggestions were made, none of which were agreed to. Finally the whole subject was postponed till Monday next. Mr. Gwiu submitted a resolution directing the Committee on Finance to report all the appropria tion bills before January next, with the exception of the civil ami diplomatic bill. The House bill making appropriations for bring ing the votes for President and Vice President to the seat of Government, was taken up and passed. The Senate then adiourned. HOUSE. The Clerk having read the Journals of yester day embracing the appointment of the standing committees of the House — Mr. Houston, of Alabama, submitted a bill ap propriating $20,000 for the payment of messengers, appointed to proceed to Washington, with the electoral returns of President and Vice President. Mr. Scudder, of Mass., then notified the House of the death of the late Hon. Mr Fowler, repre sentative from that: State; gave an accouut of his last illness, detailed at much length the more prominent events of his life, and concluded with a well merited eulogium on his life of usefulness, piety and virtue. He concluded with moving the usual resolutions of sympathy on the part of members, that they wear the customary badge of mourning for thirty days ; that the clerk communicate the sympathy of the House to the family of the deceased, and that the House adjourn. The resolution having been read b} r the clerk, were adopted; and the house accordingly ad journed. From the N. O. Picayune Ith iust. Arrival of the Cherokee. The U. S. Mail steamship Cherokee, Rodney Baxter, commander, arrived last evening from N. York, via Havana, leaving the latter port on the 3d inst. She reached the iar in fifty-five hours, encountering strong northerly winds. Unexpectedly, on the arrival ol the steamer at Havana, she was admitted to enter the harbor, with the pilot on boar-1, and dropped anchor at the usual place. Shortly after, the Captain of the port came alongside, and after having gone through with the usual preliminaries, told the officers of the steamer that they could hold free communica tions with the shore, land the mails and receive passengers on board, &c., &c., giving Capt. Baxter to understand that the great difficulty was settled. The city of Havana was said to be healthy.. The Cherokee left in the harbor of Havana the L . S. sloop-of-war Cyane. It was not said when she would leave. From Havana and Mexico.— By the steamship Cherokee we have received files of the Diario de la Marino, Gaceta, Prensa Diario de la Ilabana to the 3d iust. The news had been in a great measure anticipated by the Black\Warrior. The Diario de la Marino of the 2d, says that “the affair of the buTTTg terminated in a manner highly : ; ~mwc hardly wish to rc cur to it again,” an on with two col umns and a half, iiit’W;"*'a* pressed the Lon don Times, the W ashiugton Republic, London Morning Chronicle, steamer Powhatan, Judgde Couklnig, Captain General, Lieut. Porter, Mr. Smith, and many other persons and things. Advices from St. Jago de Cuba, to the 17th, state that several slight shocks of an earthquake had been felt there, earning much fear among the in habitants, but doing little damage. An official notice from the Collector of Havana is published in the Gaceta of the 28th ult., that the extradinary duties imposed by the royal decree of the 3d November, 1850, on imports and exports, ■ will be continued during the royal pleasure. We find in the Havana papers advices from the city of Mexico to the 11th ult., and from Vera Cruz to "the 14th, being one day later than previously re ceived. ' The Tehuantepec question, on being sub mitted to Congress by the Government, was refer red to the Joint Committees on Industry and the Treasury. The Executive ceded to Congress the privilege of deciding who should obtain the con tract, The proposition of the Guanajuata compa ny is said to occupy the third place, but it is not stated what propositions preceded. The question was raised in Congress whether the proceedings should be secret or not, and it was decided in tlio negative. It is according!} 7 supposed that the pro positions will be immediately published, as also the results of Senor Ramirez’s labors thereon. The Trait d’Union says that on the 25th of Octo ber, at the town of Ahaxotla, (State of Guerrero,) the earth opened and swallowed six houses, trees &c. The paper does not state whether any lives were lost with the houses, but the earth has sunk about six feet for the space of three hundred feet square. Albany, Dec. 6.—Mr. J. Van Namee, of this city has received a verdict of $2,100 from the Hudson River Railroad Company,'in a suit which has just been tried, as damages for being injured by a col lision which occurred in March last.
