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SOUTHERN SENTINEL,
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA:
THURSDAY MORNING, MAY 9,1850.
We are requested to announce that the
funeral services over the remains of the Rev #
D. Cairns, late Rector of the Episcopal Church
in this city, wtH be performed this afternoon at 4
o'clock, at that Church. The friends of the fam
ily of the deceased and the public are respectful
ly invited to attend.
To Our Patrons in the City and Country.
Itash as the project may appear, we think of
publishing a daily paper in this place. The idea
has originated in a conviction of the demand for
such a paper, and the experiment has been delayed
because we nave always doubted, and still doubt,
whether it would be sustained. There is no point
in the South more favorably situated for getting the
news, and there will be no difficulty at all in pub
lishing a real news paper, if subscribers enough
can be obtained, to pay for it. IJut to publish such
a paper as wc desire to publish, we should have to
pay sonic SSOO for correspondents, and as much
more for telegraphic intelligence. Our object is not
to make money by the operation, for wc engage be
fore hand, to expend every dollar arising from the
publication, in adding to its interest, relying alto
pother upon our advertisements and our weekly, for
a support of the office. Wc propose to publish the
paper at the unusually low rates, of $5 in advance,
or $7 at the end of the year. We shall rely of
course, almost exclusively upon our city patronage,
but expect to obtain a few subscriptions in the sur
rounding country, and in the neighboring towns to
which we have the necessary mail facilities. We
shall be obliged to those who will subscribe, if they
will send in their names. We do not ask now for
the subscription, but merely wish the names, that
we may be able to determine the probability of suc
cess. To those who take the daily, the weekly will
of course be discontinued.
Public Documents. —Hon. ff.M. C. Dawson, of
the Senate, lias our thanks for an interesting Report
from the War Department, lion. M. ,1. Well
born will accept our acknowledgements for a bound
copy of the President’s Message and accompanying
Documents. To Hon. Hu A. Haralson, wc are
also indebted for a similar favor.
May Day Celebration. —Wc refer our readers
to the communication of ‘A Visitor,” in another
column for a description of the entertaining ceremo
nies of the May day celebration by the young ladies
of Mrs. Hentz’s school. We second the hope of our
correspondent that the recitations of the young la
dies will be published, ami we shall be happy to throw
open onr columns for that purpose.
De Bow’s Commercial Review.— 'Hie April
number of this valuable work is alone worth the sub
scription price for one year. The leading article
from the pen of J. C. Reynolds, on “Cuba, its posi
tion, dimensions, and population,” is of peculiar in
terest just at this juncture, when there is no doubt
<>f the actual organization of an expedition against
it, which may result in its annexation to this govern
ment. There are comparatively few of us as well
informed as we shouffl be, on a subject which will
probably constitute an element in the next presiden
tial election. The other principal articles arc, “the
early spirit o f the West,” the “Mississippi Valley,”
“Memoir on Slavery,” and “Stability of the Union”
a capital article extracted from the Demecratio Re
view. The work is conducted with eminent ability,
and well deserves a place upon the table of every
intelligent merchant, planter, and eitken. Published
by J. D. B. De Bow, in New Chileans, at $5 per an
num.
Under Water.
We last week called the EnqHirer's attention to
the I‘resident’s territorial policy, and asked for an ex
pression of our neighbor’s opinion as to its merits.
It seems that we very unintentionally touched our
Senior on his “ Sunday spot.” He found himself vc- ;
ry much in the same category with the Israelites of ■
old, when they were called on to determine the di
vinity of the “baptism of John.” A fear of the peo
ple restrains him from taking sides with the Presi
dent, and a fear of his conscience kept him from ta
king sides with the South. Os course we have no
right to demand from the Enquii cr an answer to any
questions which we may put to it. We have no sort
of objection to the lowest niche in the Enquirer's
respect, and do not feel at all riled at the contempt
with which our noighbor regards our right to “cate
chise him on any matter of public policy.” Indeed
we fed complimented rather than otherwise, that we
have been degraded, in our neighbor’s estimation, to
the exact level of the country. We said, and we say 1
still, the Presieent’s territorial policy inevitably tends j
to a complete abandonment of the South. We ask- ,
ed, and we ask again, does the Enquirer endorse that j
policy ? It may answer or let it alone, as best com
ports with its sense of obligation to party. Our
neighbor is extremely anxious to have it appear that
wo charge the people with “ignorance.” We did no’
such thing, and we defy the Enquirer to prove it.
We do charge, however, that if the people were left
to the chances of enliglitment from the columns of the
Enquirer, they would be most miserably ignorant. ;
That paper is very devoted to the people. No
doubt it very sincerely loves them and their rights, ;
but it loves their patronage better, and upon an anal
ysis of its devotion, we wt>uhl risk the estimate, that it
would amount,.for each individual of the people, to
just two dollars and fifty cents per annum in January,
and just three dollars in December.
The March ok Improvement.—Our neighbor, the
Times, commenced last week the publication of a
tri-weekly shoot. It is of the usual size of tri
weeklies, and presents quite a neat appearance.
This is anew enterprise in Columbus, and wc hope
it may meet with encouragement.
Broke Jail.—On the night of the Ist inst.,
four prisoners effected their escape from the
Jr.il of this county; Brown aad Phelan, the two
pugilists who were committed for burglary, To
ler for horse stealing, and one Brown on a peace
warrant. They have not since been heard from-
Akfest of Bulloch.— George J. Bulloch, the
defaulting Cashier of the Central Rail Road
Bank was arrested on the 10th ult., off Cornwall,
by a Boston Police officer, and came passenger
to Boston in the steamer Cambria. We learned
yesterday by telegraph, says the Macon Tele
graph from Savannah, that he has been brought
back to that city and lodged in jail, to await his
trial, at the next term of Chatham Superior
Court.
Rev. John N. Maffit.— Me perceße from
the Mobile papers that this celebrated Pulpit
Orator is at present in that city. There, are ve
ry few men in America whom we would rather
hear than the *• Great Revivalist” and we pre
sume that we speak for nine tenths of our read
ers in saying so. We doubt not our Church
going community would unanimously endorse
an invitation to the rev. gentleman to take Co
lumbus in the round of his appointments.
Kiss Cotillions. — Ihe editor of the Win so r
Journal gives us an account of another new
dance. . He says the professors of dancing in
New York, Jiave recently introduced anew style
of cotillion, called the “Kiss Cotillion,” the pe
culiar feature of which is, that you kiss the lady
as you swing corners. The editor has great ob
jections to The amusement, but would’nt mind
waving them, so far as to “swing corners? now
and then in the new cotillion. We have no doubt
t-iat it introduced, the new figure would be vast
.x popular, and extensively practised.
Hon. M. J. Wellborn. —This gentleman is at
present in this city on .professional and private
business. We are pleased to see him in very
fine health.
The Committee of Thirteen.
If the letter writers at Washington are to be cred
-1 ited, the committee of the Senate to which was refer
red the question of the admission of California and
other kindred subjects, has determined upon a mode
of settling our sectional differences. The details of
tliat settlement have not vet transpired, but it is re
ported that it embraces the admission of California,
the formation of territorial governments for Deseret
and New Mexico, the subdivision of Texas into two
or more slave States, a bill providing more effectually
i for the recovery of fugitive slaves, and the extension
of the laws of Maryland, in relation to the slave trade
j over the District of Columbia. This is the basis
: which general opinion had predicted, and we have
no doubt it will generally be acquiesced in, and will
doubtless be adopted by Congress and signed by the
President. We have two objections to such a settle
ment ; the first is its admission of California as a
State, the second is its general inadequacy to the rem
edy of the evil, in which the entire controversy has
originated. That California is to come in as a State
may be considered a settled question. Blinded by
the abstract right of a people to adopt their own form
• of government, and without stopping to inquire
whether there Is any proper application of this prin
ciple in the demand made by California, the people of
the South have, by refusing to resist it, virtually as
sented to a measure involving a more serious en
croachment upon their rights, than the W ilmot Pro
viso itself. But the verdict of the people has been
recorded in its favor, and it is useless now to discuss
the rights which have been disregarded in the decis
ion. Our second objection is of a more serious char
acter. Whence has arisen the necessity for provi
ding more effectually for the recovery of fugitive
1 slaves ? Why has it been thought necessary to ex
tend the laws of Maryland in relation to the slave
trade, over the IJistaict of Columbia ? Y hat lias
prompted the North to attempt to enact the Wilmol
Proviso ? The only rational answer is furnished in
the general, deep-seated, and rapidly increasing hos
tility to the institution of slavery at the North. The
history of the national Democratic party for the last
fourteen years is fearfully illustrative of this truth.
The time was when Mr. Van Buren, in order to se
cure the nomination for the Presidency at the hands
of that party, was constrained to oppose the exercise
of anv power by Congress over the institution of sla
very in the District. Mr. Van Buren is now the
chief of a large wing of that party, having for its
grand aim, the abolition of slavery, not in the District
alone, but every where, where the general govern
ment mav, by the most forced construction of the
constitution, exercise any authority. The time was,
when a support of Texas annexation was not only a
sine qua non in the nomination, but in the election,
of a Democratic candidate for the Presidency. To
day, the candidate who bore the standard of annexa
tion of a slave State, would not receive an electoral
vote north of Mason’s and Dixon’s line. The Dem
ocratic party, always heretofore the party of the
South, is now as discordant as the varied interests of
the vast republic over which it is distributed. Sla
very proscription is now emblazoned upon the stan
dard of all parties at the North. The more bold
would take the accomplishment of their darling ob
ject into their own hands; the less ingenuous are
content with the “decrees of nature,” which have en
acted for them, the most complete anti-slavery “pro
viso.” If California were finely adapted to slave la
bor. and if it were certain that it would become a
slave State without legislative interdicts, there would
not probably be a man, certainly there would not be
a respectable faction, at the North, who would be ar
rayed, as is now pretended, on the part of the South.
Where would Daniel Webster, that “new light” in a
Southern horizon, where would he be found ? Bat
tling side by side with Wilmot and Hale in their foul
invasion of Southern honor. The “Wilmot Proviso,”
the retention of fugitive slaves, and the abolition of
the slave trade in the District, arc but the hissings of
a serpent that only awaits a more favorable moment
to make the deadly spring upon its victim ; and we
might as well congratulate ourselves that we were
safe when we had closed our cars to the hiss, as to
imagine that the South is secure, when these prelimi
nary measures Ivave been stayed. What i.s the ele
ment of the motive which urges the North to prohib
it slavery in the Territories, that would restrain an
attempt to abolish it in the States ? They tell us that
in the former they are sustained by the constitution,
and that they are expressly prohibited by that instru
ment from doing the latter. In other words, they
have the power to do the one, and have not the pow
er to do the other; it is altogether a question of pow
er. Let us not be deceived. The day i.s not far dis
tant when, from the operation of causes now at work,
the North will have that identical power, the want of
which now circumscribes her violation of Southern
interests. It is to prevent the exercise of that power
when it shall have been acquired that we would now
provide. A settlement which falls short of this Ls
no settlement. It may allay the excitement for the
moment, but it can not arrest the progressive spirit
of northern cnoroaenmont, or permanently quiet the
apprehensions of the southern mind.
The Cuban Expediton.
Our New Orleans correspondent assures us
that we may certainly expect to hear of the in
vasion of Cuba by an armed expedition from this
country, in less than three months. We hope
he is mistaken, though we confess that he is cer
tainly warranted in the conclusion from indica
tions rife enough about the Crescent City.” We
are not sufficiently indoctrinated in the progress
ive spirit of the day, to embrace at a venture, eve
ry new born scheme of“ annexation ,” but in the
case of Cuba, we confess we shall be ready to
open wide the doors to her admission, w henever
she may fairly come in. We are opposed to all
piratical schemes of ad venture,even though they
be prompted by the laudable desire to confer up
on a people the inestimable blessings of a free, re
publican government. When the Cubans revolt
against the Spanish government, it will be time
enough for American crusaders to organize an
expedition in their behalf, but tne movement
should not originate here. If it is determined that
Cuba must be ours, we think the course sug
gested in the following article from the N. York
Herald is the wiser; certainly it is more consonant
■u ith a fair interpertation of our honest obligations
to a nation with whom we are at peace.
Cuba and her Destiny'.— Accounts recently
received from Europe state that the Court of
Madrid have given instructions to one of their
agents, Count Misarol, to make a thorough in
vestigation into the island of Cuba, to ascertain
the political sentiment of the inhabitants, and
that if he found there was no probability of Spain
being able to hold that island for any consdera
blo time, he was authorized to enter into nego
tiation with the government at Washington for
its transfer to the United States, for a reasonable
frice. The agent, it is said, has proceeded to
‘uba, for the purpose of lullfilling his mission.
About a year ago, perhaps longer, we impress
ed upon llis Excellency 31. Calderon de la Bar
ca, the Spanish minister at Washington, the
propriety ol some such steps as this, and reques
ted him to communicate the same to his gov
ernment. We were then, as we arc now, per
fectly satisfied', that the days of Spain’s dominion
over Cuba were numbered, and that sooner or
later, in the natural course of things, that island
would become part and parcel of the. United
States, by either annexation peaceably, or by ne
gotiation, or by revolution, and annexation after
wards. We believe that his Excellency took
the same view of the subject, for he could not
but have known as well as we did, that such a
result was ine\ itable, sooner or later, and as cer
tain of being fulfilled as that the sun will rise to
morrow as usual in the East, and set again in
the West. Calderon de la Barca is a man of
great good sense and intellectual power ; he is
a skilful diplomatist, and a person of accurate
observation. He i.s well acquainted with matters
in the United States, and thorougly conversant
with the tone and course of public opinion here,
especially on the subject of the island of Cuba.
If he has proposed, as we recommended, to the
Court of Madrid, he has acted the part of a wise
man, and the truth will be manifested before a
very long time.
It is therefore not unreasonable to expect that
some proposition, emanating from the Spanish
government, will ere long reach Washington, in
which the cession of the Island ofCuba to the
United States will be offered for a fair considera
tion. Such a proposition ought to be favorably
entertained by the government at Washington.
The consideration or price is nothing in the
scale, no matter how large it might be. The
people ofCuba themselves would make it up,
were it a hundred or a hundred and fifty mil
lion of dollars. The advance in the value of
property that would ensue would be sufficient to
induce them to do so, apart from being released
of the thirty millions of dollars per annum which
the Spanish government extracts from them,
without giving them any privileges in return.
Cuba, once a state of this confederacy, would
jump into anew existence. The people, being re
lieved from despotism, would put forth their en
ergies, and in a short time make it what nature
designed it should be—one of the happiest, most
prosperous, and most wealthy countries in the
world. Such a state of things as the cession of
Cuba to this country is no doubt, seriously enter
tained by the Spanish ministry.
[correspondence oe the “southern sentinel.”]
Boston, April 23, 1850.
.1 Frigid—Concord Celebration—Professor Web
ster—lrish Immigration—The Italian Opera—
and so forth.
Fire! Fire!! clear the way!!! I rescue myself
bv my agility at the crossing, and then turn to look
after an engine dragged by a hundred hands—a hu
man tandem —tapering down along the rope, through
all ages, from the man with the skull cap, to the pub
lie spirited character of four and a half who is vocifera
ting a request that the generality will make way there !
Such a set of furious philanthropists as usually follow
a fire engine. God is great, and Boston is a very
combustible place. Nothing like it between this and
Tierra del Fargo.
But what was I going to say ? I was about com
mencing a decent and dignified correspondence, when
the force of circumstances obliged me to run in, hol
lering ; never mind, let us talk of the weather.
A beautiful Spring day. The cold lias been gone
for several days, and the Common lias got quite a
green look within the last week. The trees are full
of little bulbs at the ends of the branches; every
trace of snow has vanished from the landscape and
the hill tops, all about this place. I hope we have
seen the last of it.
Last Friday there was a grand celebration at. Con
cord. in memory of the doings of the 19th of April,
1775. Governor Briggs and the Legislature, under
the escort of “The ancient and honorable artillery,”
were there, and the illustrious old village presented a
proud and populous aspect. There was a procession
with music and banners round the monument erected
on the spot, where the first British foemen fell, after
which, those composing it returned to a Grand Pa
vilion fitted up for the occasion, with banquet accom
modations for 3,000 persons. The Hon. R. Rantoul,
Jr., was the orator of the day, and being called upon
by Mr. Hoar, the President., delivered a very appro
priate addrass ; but very trying, considering that it
came before the banquet. In Racine’s comedy of the
Plaideurs, one of the counsel in a certain trial, begins
his speech for the plaintiff with the Creation of the
world—on which the Judge asks him if he would be
so good as to come at once to the Deluge. Now, Mr.
Rantoul did not go to the Creation, nor to the Deluge
either ; he only went as far as the battle of Mara
thon. And indeed he began there to some purpose,
showing that this great battle was a crisis which
averted the destruction of Greece, and as a conse
quence, the abolition of all those glories which she
has left as a legacy to the after ages. He then came
down to the eighth century and described the inarch
of the Caliph Abdabrahman, at the head of the victo
rious Saracens, over the Pyrenees, and his utter de
feat in the great fight of Tours in France, by Charles
Martel, who then and there preserved the civiliza
tion of Europe from the destructive influences of Is
lamism, and saved us all from wearing turbans at this
present day, and holding a plurality of wives.
Then, making a stride of a thousand years, the or
ator came to the revolution, which began with the
shots fired at Lexington and Concord, rolled in thun
der over France, shook all the kingdoms of Europe,
and is still carrying out its momentous consequences
in both hemispheres of the world. When Duhourg,
the musician, played some music for 1 landcl, in which,
after indulging in variations and infinite outward
flourishes, he came at last to the air, the great com
poser saluted him very gravely with, “well done,
Mr. Duboitrg ! welcome home, Sure !” The Con
cord audience may have said something of the kind
in their own minds as the speaker returned to the
old revolutionary ground, and alike another Allan
Bane, “flung them a picture of the fight,” and the
disastrous retreat of the British, for thirty-six miles,
from Concord to Boston. But the speech was a
good one—though prolix—and the banquet was good
too, though on the Cochituate principle. A great
many appropriate toasts, sentiments, and speeches
from the Governor and other distinguished guests,
filled up the measure of the long evening. There
were four or five men of the revolution present—two
of whom, Amos Baker, and Jonathan Harrington,
ninety-four and ninety-two years old, had respective
ly been in the affairs of Concord and Lexington.
A fortnight ago the Medical College, where Dr.
George Parkman was murdered, was thrown open
to the inspection of the public for several days, and
about sixty thousand persons, the majority being of
the softer and more curious sex, passed through it.
The day has not yet been appointed for the execution
of Prof. Webster. There is not the slightest likeli
hood that the sentence pronounced after a fair and
patient trial, will be set aside. The Governor and
Council have refused to mitigate the punishment of
death, to which a man named Pearson has been sen
tenced for the murder of his wife and two children.
This, and the punishment of the negro Goode, last
year, seem to make Webster's ease hopeless. There
is a good deal of wanton sympathy indulged in his
regard, all down South—wanton, inasmuch as
nobody has any serious doubts of the Professor’s
guilt: and demur is made against some circumstan
ces of the trial, merely as if a trial for murder were
only a game, of legal crotchets —not an attempt to
find out the murderer. Enough of this miserable
theme.
Irish emigrant vessels continue to come into Bos
ton, and the condition of Ireland leads us to expect
more of them. Fifteen hundred emigrants have
landed here within the last three weeks. There is
an attempt being made by Irish citizens here to get
up an emigrant society, which shall advise and help
their poor bewildered countrymen to go from these
crowded sea-boards to the West. But it is a feeble
attempt. The Irish are a disunited set r as much eo
here as in Ireland, and can never agree en masse
about anything. In this respect they are behind the
Germans and Anglo Saxons.
The Italian opera in this city has been respectably
attended—not over crowded. Don Giovanni, Nor
ma, L’Elisir, PAmore, and other operatic master
pieces are performed ; and Bcrtucea, Truth, Novelli,
Patti, and the rest., are gathering golden opinions of
our musical critics. Miss Davenport will shortly be
with us again. It is said Miss Cushman, that mus
cular Melpomene, is about to relinquish the stage.
People here are beginning to ask, where is Jenny
Lind to sing when she comes ? Catherine Hayes, j
the Irish caniatrice , is to visit America after Lind, it j
is said. Catharine is a prettier girl than the Swede, ‘
and sustains the fair pretensions of the Limerick j
lasses. Let her come, let them all come—
" Our great desire has stomach for them all ”
Now, Mr. Sentinel, for this California question, let
us discuss it. Halloo ! what is that you are pulling
out ? A pistol! Stop, stop ! I'm not Bent-on this
sort of argument; I’ll make Foote- tracks. I mizzle,
man, I mizzle. YANKEE DOODLE.
New Orleans, May 2, 1850.
The U. S. Mail Steamer Falcon, Lieut. 11. J.
Ilartstein, U. S. N., commander, left this port on
Tuesday the 30th ultimo, for Chagres via Havana.
She carried out an immense concourse of passengers
who are on their way to the golden vale of the Sac
ramento, and to seek the glittering ore along the
banks of the Gila. A considerable number were
from your city, and with a heartfelt wish for their
success in every endeavor, and that prosperous gales
will waft them safely to their future home, I say fare
well !
The contemplated attempt on Cuba continues to
excite great talk in the city, and in passing along the
densely crowded streets you can hear little else than
remarks and comments upon the expedition that is
supposed to be organizing in this city at present.
There can be but little doubt but that a considerable
body of men have banded together, and hold secret
meetings every night in the heart of the city, and
yon may rest, assured that a demonstration will be
made on the island in less than three months. The
spies of the Spanish government are acting on the
alert, and I have not a particle of doubt but that the
authorities at Havana are regularly arid well advised
of every movement of the Liberators in the United
States.
The Bulletin is down on the whole affair “-like a
thousand of brick,” as you will perceive from sever
al leaders that have appeared in that sheet during
the last week; in fact, ail the “old heads” are op
posed to it, and all the “young hearts” in favor of it.
The ceremony of laying the corner stone of the
new and magnificent Odd Fellows Hall came oft'with
great eclat, and was decidedly the most interesting
and imposing sight that I over witnessed. The or
der i.s very popular here, as it is every where, but the
people of New Orleans excel those of any other city
in the Union, in cherishing and fostering charitable
institutions, especially if they have such beautiful and
chaste mottos, as “Friendship, Love, and Truth.”
Another alarming crevasse has occurred about
forty miles above the city, and is devastating the su
gar estates all over that part of the country. The
“Father of Waters” will not be held in proper
bounds, but is constantly breaking through and roll
ing Ids turbid stream over the land. Many of our
citizens arc apprehensive that wc will have another
damp summer. lam negotiating for a canoe to pad
dle to my meals and room, and if you will visit the
Crescent City any time during the ensuing summer,
I will take great pleasure in giving you “a lift” when
ever you wish it, and if the afternoons arc pleasant.,
wc will “go a snaking”—an amusement which all
the “first families” delight in prosecuting during the
dull afternoons of summer.
Business in general is dull. The steamers accounts arc
looked for with the usual anxiety. I sec no cause to
change my quotations from last week.
Gen. Quitman, Governor of Mississippi, is stop
ping at the .St. Charles Exchange for a few days ;
the General looks in fine health, but not so well as when
he was parading his gallant division of volunteers in
the valley of Mexico.
Yours truly,
KOSMOS.
[communicated.]
THE MAY CELEBRATION.
The last celebration of May Day deserves more than
a passing notice. We wish that we could do justice
to the occasion. With much propriety and good
taste, Mrs. Caroline Lee llcntz, revived this custom two
years since, and if she would give credit to this crude
notice, as an honest expression of approbation from
all that we have heard speak of the performances, she
would continue to gratify the young ladies under her
instruction, and contribute annually to the entertain
ment of many of our citizens who appreciate good
poetry. It is not the maturity of the flowers of the
vernal season, nor the advent of Flora; nor the rep
resentations of the seasons, and the Queen with her
fairy procession, that attract the brilliant audiences,
who assemble now on the first of May:—there is a
charm attending our coronations, which no simple
pageantry could give, an attraction which links heart
to heart and enchains the attention of those who rp
preciatc a “feast of reason and a flow of soul,” the
uninterrupted converse of a poetess of established rep
utation, in the attractive measures of her art through
those, who are happy as the recipients of the daily
instruction of the gifted authoress.
Notwithstanding the graces and personal attrac
tions of the young ladies, who personated the fairy
characters of these vernal celebrations, where patrons
and pupils mingle, it is no disparagement of the latter
to give publicity to their own confessions, that the
soul of the entertainment, embraces the gems of ap
posite sentiment and poetry which they utter with
much effect. It is a matter of no little delicacy to
select the proper representatives with reference to un
derstanding the spirit, and giving with effect, the ex
pression of the ‘‘breathing thoughts.”
In our foregoing remarks, we have simply attempt
ed to give due preeminence to the feature which dis
tinguishes our May day celebrations, from all others
which wc have attended. From this feature these
occasions derive the charm of freshness and novelty,
and whatever our young friends may think of us, we
are frank to confess, that we measure their success,
from their seeming appreciation of the sentiments they
recite. Wc could meet an array of beauty at any or
dinary assemblage of our city fair, so that the page
antry only attracted us so f; r as it was used to give
effect and prominence to the intellectual effusion.—
We apprehend that this conviction prevailed to a
considerable extent, and is the secret of the interest
manifested in these scenes by our good people.
We wish many returns of the imposing corona
tion of the May Queen, under the circumstances of
the last. We are not alone, in the hope that tilt
whole of the poetry will be given to the public, and
that the labors of the authoress in the school room
and study, may continue to receive the patronage they
deserve.
We had hoped to have been early enough upon
the green sward of the Baptist Church enclosure to
procure a good position for “taking notes,” and to
this end we anticipated the time for commencing the
ceremony by a half hour, but the throng was ahead
of us and wc had to content ourselves among the
“outsiders” and in this position of course lost much
of the recitation. We cannot therefore be accused of
drawing invidious distinctions when wo speak of all
that we could hear.
Flora was well sustained by Miss M. This lady
though quite young, seemed to have mastered the
spirit of her part and the many sparkling gems she
uttered. Miss M. is a few years too young to learn
her own attractions for any practical purposes, or we
should at this point give vent to our inclinations and
inflict a rhapsody upon our readers. We doubt not
she would feel happy to know half the golJen opin
ions we heard as her conquest. In distinctness and
clearness of utterance, Iris took the palm, from any
save the fair Queen.
The Pole-bearers and the Seasons, seriatim , ac
quitted themselves with credit. During the evening
a deserved compliment, in good taste and with
much ease and grace, was paid through Miss McK.
to Miss McD. the Queen eleet of last year, at which
time the interesting ceremony was interrupted by the
indisposition of Mrs 11. We allude to the presenta
tion of a boquet of flowers, which attracted the atten
tion of the audience to the fair recipient of the favor,
who was seated among them. The sisters S. were
excellent selections and while both acquitted them
selves well, their speeches developed many of the
most striking, sentiments of the poetess with the great
est effect.
Wc were astonished at the success of several of the
younger pupils, whose subordinate pa ts were admi
rably sustained. In this we saw an evidence of the
industry and ability which we had heard marked the
life of the distinguished instructress, in her school
room. .
Thcaeveral addresses of the Queen were delivered
in admirable taste and distinct enunciation —more es
pecially the appropriate addresses to the Seasons.
Courtly in manners, she gave admirable expression
to the queenly tone and spirit which pervaded the j
sparkling gems of her poetic speeches. So intimately i
related as she is to the instructress and authoress, we .
almost felt during many of her finely spoken passagee, j
that the real authoress was enchanting our attention, j
May she win and wear the honors which an admiring
community have bestowed upon her gifted mother.
Wc shall long remember the hour and the brilliant
assembly. Every thing passed off pleasantly, and
the young gentlemen reserved their congratulations
for the pleasant reunion at the Saloon of Mr. Strap
per, where the Queen and her retinue mingled that
night in the dance. A \ isitor.
[cOMm’NTCATEDr]
The Mcstico, or the War rath & its Incidents.
BY W. C. HODGES.
I ask the favor, my Dear Editor, of a small
space in the columns of your valuable Journal,
to take a short notice of a work that has lately
appeared among us, written by one o four own.
“Indiscriminate prais.*,” “writes Goethe,” is
worse than abuse!” and we agree with him.
This much we premise, not so much as an apolo
gy, ns a conciliator to turn away wrath at any
strictures we may see fit to make on a book, that
upon the whole pleased us very much, and in
whose favor, upon a fair summing up, we the self
constituted Jury, find a virdict. We may further
premise that we do not intend any lengthened
criticism or review, lor our space will not permit
it, but a simple notice, to call the attention of all
who may be concerned, to the merits of'the book,
and that of the Author, to some slight defects
which care will avoid for the future. And this
is the more necessary, as, if we are not vastly
mistaken in the signs, we shall hear from him
again soon. In the first place as to the manner
! in which the book is got up; if we cannot get our
publishing done better in New York than this is
done, we had better stay at home. The name of
| the Booksellers to whom the book is consigned
; is improperly given; the citizens of Columbus
i are insulted by having their handsome Broad
I street nicknamed Brown street, and to go a lit
| tie further in, the initials of the author are terri
j bly slighted; a hard lick, I should say, to the
amour propre of a young author on his first legs.
The story is founded on the Creek disturban
ces of ! 3G, and is of personal interest to almost
every citizen of Georgia and Alabama. Col.
Melbourne, the father of the heroine, is a man of
refinement and education, who takes it into his
head, from a lore of wild adventure, to make a
“clearing” in the “nation.” lie is a wealthy
planter, has all the comforts around him that
the country affords, has an excellent wife in bad
health and a nice little daughter, accomplished,
refined, beautiful and pious; a sort of seraphic
missionary among the Squawleens, with whom
j (the missionary not the squaws) were we a
! young man, we should incontinently fall in love.
! But as we are not, it was done for us by a prom
j ising young limb of the Law from the neighbor
ing city of Columbus, who, in view of her loveli
ness (and, it is barely possible, the old gentle
man’s plantation, which fact, however, does not
appear on the “face of the record”) sets to work
and engages her affection and herself too. And
here comes the rub.
For when we love, so Shaky pear says,
Bad luck is .-ure to have us,
The course of true love runs,
Without a “special Traverse.”
And so it proved in this case, as the Creek war
is laterally got up by the great Creek leader, a Half
Breed named Jim Henry, who is we presume the
“Mestico,” for the purpose of gaining a favorable
opportunity of carrying off Laura Melbourne, for
whom he entertains a strong passion, to the wes
tern reserve, and at the same time, to gratify a
malignant hatred to the whites.
In this portion of the work is the Indian char
acter brought prominently forth: A portion of
the work indeed, which rentiers it really valua
ble, as the author knows what he is writing about,
and does not attempt to foist on an unsuspecting
public, that high wrought picture of Indian hero
ism and Indian wrongs, their chivalry and their
bravery, which we have been accustomed to swal
low with our Blue Pills from youth up, and in the
words of the Junior Weller, “think it all very cap
ital.” But he paints them as they really are, brutal’
savage, treacherous, except the sweet Squaw
leen Mayatla ; for Benna Ilatchie the only other
apparent exception to the general rule, is a traitor
to his own cause; love, however, caused the
poor fellow to do this, and we extend the man
tle of charity over him. But, my dear author,
should you even again be called on to depict In
dian character, which we sincerely hope will be
the case, never, we beseech thee, put such lan
guage in their mouths as you have done. “I
tell you Samivei, it’s ormat'ralfor never since
the discovery of America has Half Breed or full
blooded Indian, talked as you have made Benna
Hatchie and Jim Henry talk. In the last scene
between Henry and Laura; instead of the length- j
ened and nice argument which he enters into,!
and which does greater credit to the ingenuity ■
ofthe author than to his delineation of Indian j
character, an Indian would most probably have i
beared Laura about half through with her sar- >
castic speech, sprang up, cried “Big Ingin me,” j
and have had time to consummate his vile pur- |
pose before the arrival of the “messenger,” whose
timely coming saved poor Laura, a shorter and
much more sensible plan too, in our opinion, if j
the thing had to be done. We shall not have j
room to give any extracts; nor do we wish to I
forestall the interest of the work by telling the sto- i
ry, which the author has done so much better !
than we can hope to do. The Texan struggle, the j
Alamo and Col. Cos, all have a showing, which j
adds greatly to the interest of the story, so ingen
iously is the whole plot managed. These
are introduced in favor of a Mrs. Wayne, whose
husband prefers Texas and a campaign which
ends in his death, to the attractions of wealth at
home and a charming young wife who loves him ■
to distraction. The story is a very entertaining I
one and does great credit to the author; and we
hail with pleasure the evidence that our young 1
men are turning their attention more to the re- j
finements of literature. We would willingly epi
tomize the story, but do not feel that we would
be doing justice to the author, as it is too short to
infringe much upon the time of any one.
There are a few inaccuracies which we should
like to point out to the author, but doubtless he
will discover them without our aid. With these
few remarks we recommend the story to all with
in whose reach it may come.
Foreign News.— Among the items of foreign
intelligence brought by the Canada, the most in
teresting are, commercially, the advance in cot
ton, and politically, the return of the Pope to
Rome, and the shameful surrender of the Hun
garian Heroes. They have all, including the
noble Kossuth, been sentenced to death.
For the Sentinel.
A Short Se rmon about Books, Authors, !
- Ushers and so forth.
In the overwhelming rush and crush of
book writing, printing and publishing which
characterises the present day, a glance at the
beginnings of this now mighty department of
the world s history may not be uninteresting,
Books in their present form were invented, it
is said by Attains King of Pergamus in 887.
They were all printed on parchment which
was first made by Eumenes King of
mus 030 years before. Whence its name
Pcrgamenu , parchment. The term book was
first used as the name of every species of lit- !
crary composition and was derived from the
German “Buck,” or Bark, as this was the ]
material most used in the early manufacture.
The Romans rolled up their writings in scrolls
whence they were called Volumes from the
Latin Yolumin a scroll. After the Bth cen
tury parchment was used to the exclusion of
papyrus and so continued till the inventing of
paper in the 13th century.
| The earliest mentioned dealer in books is
one Peter de Blois about 1170. The first
regular bookseller however was Faustus who
carried his books for sale to the monasteries
in France and elsewhere. The first booksel
ler who purchased M S S. for publication, not
possessing a press of his own was John Otto
of Nuremburg in 1516. Caxton however un
doubtedly had in 1471-1491 24 presses in his
office in Westminister Abbey, and doubtless
issued many works at his own risk; some j
of them emanations from his own pen.
From the days of Caxton to James 1. the |
press was chiefly devoted to printing classic- j
al works; not only in England but also in
Germany, Italy and Franco.
The Alduscs, Stephenses and Planting
were thus occupied till the dawn and era of
the Reformation, when the printing of the sa
cred Scriptures in a great measure divided the
attention of the Printers. And it may as well
be noted here that the first booh ever printed
with moveable meted types was the Holy Bible,
somewhere between 1450 and 1455. Os this
splendid work 18 copies are known to exist,
four on Y ellum and fourteen on paper; one of
the vellum copies has been sold as high as
S2OO.
Between 1474 and 1600, about 350 Prin
ters fluorished in England and Scotland and
the products ol their several presses amount
to about 10,000 distinct productions. At the
great fire of London, 1660, the Booksellers
suffered a great loss they having for security
stored books to (he amount of $1,000,000 in
the vaults of St Paul’s Cathedral; those were
all burnt
In 1827 the new system of cheap publica
tions commenced; “Constable’s Miscellany”
and the issues of the “Society for the Diffu
sion of Useful Knowledge,” taking the lead;
“'hice were followed in 1832 by the “Penny
Magazine,” “Chambers Journal,” “Family
Library,” “Penny Cyclopedia,” Ac. which
last, cost about £200,000 in its production.
It is estimated that at this time the anuual
periodical issues of the British press exceed
ed the amount of all the printed sheets pub
lished throughout Europe lYom the period of
Guttcnberg’s discovery to the year 1500.
“Punch,” circulatee weekly 300,000! and
the gross amount of Magazines and other
periodicals sold on “Magazine day,” in Pater
noster Row monthly, has been estimated at
500,000 copies.
| The Pictorial History of England cost the
j Publisher $251,000 and was a poor specula
tion; like tho Penny Cyclopedia it was a gift
to the masses. Reese’s great Cyclopedia
was produced at a cost of $ 1500,000. Scott
received something like $500,000 for his ro
mances. Byron about $125,000 for his va
rious works.
Longman & Cos. are the largest publishers
in the world, taking into account the enor
mous amonnt of capital constantly embarked
in copyrights. Moore received from this Estab
lishement, $15,000 for his Lnllu Rookh and
for several years $2500 per annum for his
Irish melodies. Mr. Macaulay also receives
S3OOO a year for ten years for his History of
England Vols 1 & 2.
Messrs. Chambers of Edinburgh are unri
valed for the extent and completeness oftheir
Establishment, about 500 persons being em
ployed in the several departments. They
paid $128,000 for the paper used in printing
their series of “cheap tracts,” also 8200,000
merely for advertising their Cyclopedia o
Literature. Their Establishment is eleven
stories high, and their presses throw off 150,-'’
000 sheets per day. It is their boast that
they pay liberally for literary service and have
never printed a pirated edition of any work.
They “commenced business,” twenty years
ago in Edinburgh, by hawking small pamph
lets about the streets! I hey have done prob
ably more than any other two individuals of
the age, for the promotion of sound and useful
knowledge and the cultivation of an improv
ed popular taste for reading.
Thiers received 500,000 francs from his
publisher for his History of the Consulate of
Napoleon. Scribe has received 2,400,000
francs for alibis dramatic works. Didat, a rich
publisher of Paris, estimated the issues of the j
French Press during the first eight months of j
1840 to be 87,000 new works, 3,700 reprints,
and 4000 translations. Brockhaus’s estab
lishment in Leipsic ranks next to Chambers’s ;
in Europe, employing about 425 persons, be
sides 36 engravers on wood and steel. Eight
steam power and forty two iron hand presses
are striking 110,000 sheets of 34 pages each
per day; like the Harpers, they sell only their
own publications. Goethe received 30,000
crowns for his copyright; and of Schiller’s
works nearly 100,000 copies have been sold.
We intended to give many interesting
items of information respecting the book trade
in the United States but Tiave already made
this article too long; we may do-so at another
time.
PAPYRUS.
The Muscogee Superior Court will commence its 1
spring session next Monday. There is,a heavy criminal
docket to be disposed of. I
Northern Sentiment.
We extract the following from’ the colmrtns of
Noah's N. Y. Sunday Times , oue of the ablest, and
decidedly, the motet southern in its tone, of all the
journals of the North. The Injustice of northern in
terferance, the humbnggers of northern philanthropy
and the impolicy', to the North of a continued agita
tion of the slavery question, are truthfully, fearlessly
and forcibly exposed. We commend it to the careful
perusal of our readers :
The Tennessee Convention. —The danger is
by no means over. We are not much nearer a
satisfactory settlement of the great dividing
question than we were a month ago, and instead
of the Tennesse Convention having been aban
doned, Southern States are still choosing dele
gates. We shall continue to show our North
j ern friends the cotisequances of this movement*
if persisted in, and call upon them to give way,
| and allow no light, unnecessary impediments,
| no cavilling for a hair, no indulging in sickly
sentiment on slavery, to impede an immediate
: and satisfactory adjustment of the whole ques--
i tion.
Os all attempts at reformation of any kind,’
that of expecting to change the position which
the slaves of the United States occupy, embra
ces the most absurd and astonishhing inconeisf
tencies, the greatest amount of folly and fanati
cism. It is true, that no such change is said to’_
have been contemplated. We have no belief
in such declarations. Excluding slavery hi t'cib’
territories is the beginning, and abolishing it in
States is the end contemplated. look, for ex
ample, at the inconsistency of such a coufse,-
and let us begin with Massachusetts. That
State may be considered the hot-bed of aboli
tion, and yet, at the same time, it is the great
est manufacturing State of the products of slave’
labor. It imports a large amount of cotton from’
the South, and her population rely upon the’
manufacturing of that article alone for a largo
portion of the very means of living. Look at
the port of New Orleans during the winter and
fall season, and we shall find some hundreds of
vessels from the Eastern States waiting for car
goes of sugar, cotton, tobacco, rice, molasses and
all kinds of produce <f slave labor, of which those
states are the carriers. Those states which have
such a holy horror of slavery import the raw
cotton from the south, and export it in various
descriptions of manufactured articles to New
Orleans, which find their way to the people of
the south and west in every direction, and lor
thousands of miles on the borders of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, and through the vast ter
ritories of the west and north west.
The manufacture of cotton into goods sup
ports thousands of persons down east, including
females, and children of both sexes. The facto
ry girls derive all the advantages of living, edu
cation, accomplishments, &.C., &c., from slave la
bor. The advantage which the people of Mas
sachusetts derive, in a pecuniary point of view,
is nearly equivalent to tire amount of any sootfe
ern producing state. Her exports consist most
ly of goods manufactured from the southern im
ports. In short, the people of the south are the
negro drivers for the benefit of the people of the
east, and while the former get all the odium of
negro slavery, the latter gain all the essential ad
vantages; and what applies to Massachusetts
is equally applicable to New York, and more
or less to all that are called free states. Now, if
to hold slaves is no criminal in the eyes of the
people of Massachusetts, how much less crimin
al are they than the masters of slaves—those
who indeed own them, but work them for the
benefit of the whites in the free states ? Is it not
we ask, the very height of knavery and hypocri
sy in any people to declare slavery to be a curse,
and slave-holders an accursed race, and yet
be the most efficient means of sustaining that
course ?
Massachusetts, me hot-bed of abolition, as we
have said, lives by* slave-labor—willingly, anx
iously, laborously by it, and yet condemns
slavery. But this is not all. At least two thirds
of the population of New Orleans are from the
eastern states—merchants, lawyers, clergymen,
schoolmasters and mistresses,’ and their chil
dren, to say nothing of mechanics, tradesmen,
and business men of all descriptions. The con
nection of the east with slavery does not end
here. Many of the wealthiest planters and
slave-holders of the state of Louisiana are from
the east.; and what applies to New Orleans and
Louisana will equally apply to the other towns
and states south or west, in a greater or less de
gree. We declare that larger numerical portions
down-east are more interested in slavery than
the owners of the slaves in the south.
We shall be answered by the question. ‘Can
we not derive benefit from slave labor and yet
be opposed to slavery V We can answer, no !
If you are willing to drive the south almost out
of the Union, ostensibly or really, on the slavery
question, you should not touch’ a dollar out of
slave labor. You cannot serve God and mam
mon at the same time, and it is rank hypocrisy to
live in splendor, as many of our eastern nabobs
do, on slave labor, and yet roar, and rant, and
rave about slavery in’the halls of Congress.
These are the men who unfurl the abolition flag,
on which is inscribed—“ The poor negro ?is he
not a man and a brother ?” VVe say he is not,
and the north and the east prove it’ by not ad
mitting the negro to an equality of personal and
political rights—by not allowing him to sit ih'the
same pew in church—in short, by denyihg to
the negro the enjoyment ofmany little privileges
and indulgencifcs which the black man obtains
from his kind master in the south.
As, therefore, there is no sincerity, rio Hoficsty,
no principle, no humanity in tins vaunted aboli
: tion, why continue to urge it so stringently in
; Congress ? Because it is altogether a political
| movement to cripple the influence of the slave
| states, and nothing more. Slavery is the ex
! cuse, the apology—political predominance the
; real object. They want to draw the line ofslav
i ery and anti-slavery distinctly, in hopes that, the
i ballot boxes will give the entire power of the
government to what is called the free-states.
But the south will allow no such issue to be
made at their expense. They stand upon an
: equality of rights as sovereign and independent
| states, and will not permit a double advantage
| to be taken by the north and east—pecuniary
and political. Let the honest yeomanry of the
cast and north, untainted by tins fictitious sym
pathy and by this political trickery, demand, for
the sake of the Union, a prompt settlement of
all these questions by Congress, so that the pub
lic interests may be protected, and the business
of the peonle promptly attended to and faithfully
discharged by their representatives.
J rom the Angusta Chronicle &. Sentinel
LATER FROM EUROPE.
ARRIVAL OF THE STEAMER CANADA.
One Week Later Intelligence.
Further advance in Cotton of l-B<£ Fair Upland
6 7-B d.; Fair Orleans 7 1-ldL Business gen
erally improving.
Baltimore, May 2,
The Canada arrived at 10 o’clock to-day,
bringing Liverpool dates to the 20th ult.
Liverpool Market.
Liverpool, April 20— Cotton. —The Ni
! agara arrived at this port on the 16th, ami her
j news from the United States caused cotton to
advance lolly l-Bd. on all description. Sales
|of the week 61,000 bales. The Cotton cir
cular ol the Board ol Brokers, dated Liver
-1 pool, I’ lid ay evening, 19th, gives ffie follow
ing as the Committees’ quotations-:
Fair Orleans 71J
Fair Mobile ‘
Fatr Uplands? ... GJJ.
The circular says: “INO doubt the short re
ceipts in America, too serious to be overlook
ed, must produce a powerful impression ore
all parties interested.”
The Havre Cotton Market was firm and
active.
Money Market, —Consols had fluctuated
from 85 1-2 to 96, the closing price on Fri
day. American securities-had advanced ter
111. Others unchanged.
Business From the manufacturing dis
tricts the intelligence was- more cheering, and
business generally somewhat improved. The
advices from China and India were also sat
isfactory.