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SOUTHERN SENTINEL.
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA:
THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 11, 1850.
Postscript.
DEATH OF PRESIDENT TAYLOR!!
Wc stop the press to announce the following
despatch, lor which wc are indebted to the Ma
con Telegraph.
Macon, 9, r. si. July 10.
President Taylor was attacked with Clio lera
Morbus on Friday morning, lingering until Tues
day night, half past 10, and died.
To tiie Puntkiui. —We are requested to give no
tice that the Muscogee and Russell Agricultural So
ciety, will meet at its rooms on Saturday next.
lion. 31. J. Wellborn.
AA'e publish to-day, the speech of our immediate
Representative, on the slavery question. It will be
seen that Judge Wellborn stands upon the Missouri
Compromise ; just the position that the Representa
tive of the 2nd Congressional District should occupy,
and more especially, the position which it was known
that this gentleman’s ability, moral integrity, and de
termined fidelity to the interests of his constituents,
would compel him to occupy, in a choice between the
three inodes of a.ljustment now before Congress. We
ivjoice at the stand which Judge “Wellborn has taken
on this quest":dh, as well for the good of the Country,
as for his own unblemished reputation for political
sagacity and disinterested patriotism, lie was the
first to present the Missouri Compromise at this ses
sion, and he will be the last to abandon it, but even
should it be beaten down by the opposition of its en
emies and the treachery of its friends, he can never
become the apologist, much less the advocate of either
-of the alternatives to this measure, now pending in
Congress. Unlike some of those into- whose hands
the South has committed her interests, he can never
be bribed into her betrayal < it her by the* hope of empty
national honors, or be driven from her support by a
sickly sentimentality.-which merges all sense of man
liness and honor into an indiscriminate attachment to
the Union. I latticing as lie has done and as lie will
continue to do for the lights of the South, he will re
turn to a ( oru tituaney. proud of his position, and grate
ful for his services, while the Southern man who shall
dare to sustain the adjustment scheme of the com
mittee of thirteen, or the ridiculous plan of the Presi
dent will he greeted with hisses at home, and consign
ed to a merited oblivion.
Our Book Tabic.
Southern Literary Messenger. —Wc are pleased
to discover in the punctuality of its appearance, and
the character of its pages, the evidences of prosperity
in this old and established Southern Monthly. The
July number, which we have received, will not suffer
by comparison with any contemporaneous issue from
the, periodical press of America. Southern readers
should by all means patronize it. Published at Rich
mond Va. at £3 per annum.
Godf.y’s Magazine. —Rich in good tilings, and
sparkling with beauty, the August Number, has as
u sual anticipated its day of publication by a month.—
The number on our table presents the unusual attrac
ts >n of three full paged highly finished steel engrav
ings, besides a beautifully colored fashion plate, and
nineteen other embellishments. Its literary merits
r.rc equal to its artistic beauty.
Death of S. S. Frf.ntiss.— The New Orleans pa
-ers inform us that this distinguished Orator died at
bitches on the Ist hist.
Dictionary of Mechanic’s and Engine Work.—
We have received No. 13. of this valuable publiea
on. The number before us is devoted to the Steam
“ngiiie. Sec advertisement in another place.
llari f,r,s New Monthly. —Number two has been
received, and fully sustains the character of the first.
We are completely taken with this work, and as a
laiiuly inagazino recommend it above all others.
L)e Row’s Review.— The July No. is on our ta
ble. This number commences anew volume, enlarg
ed and much improved. It contains one hundred and
ltreaty pages, and presents us with the following in
viting table of contents:
i. Home Government of India; by W. Adam*
Esq.
ii. Origin, progress-and prospects of Slavery; by
the Editor.
in. Invasion of He Soto in Alabama.
iv. Dr. Channing on Slavery, reviewed by John
Fletcher of Miss.
v Mexican Mines and Mineral Resources in
1 850*; by.Brantz Meyer, of Baltimore,
vi. Ruins of Central America and Yucatan by A.
W. Ely M. D.
vn. The Beautiful, by the Editor,
vtii. Mississippi River, by A. Stein, of Mobile.
ix. Lkerqtuve of Spain, by tlip Editor.
x. Population—part 3.
xi. Protection of Mississippi Low Lands by Maj.
J. G. Barnard.
mi. Depart incut of Commerce.
mil Department of Agriculture.
xiv. Department of Manufactures and Mines.
xv. Editorial Department.
Errata. —By an oversight of the proof reader,
several awkward blunders crept into our advertising
oluinns last week. For instance Messrs. Ellis,
Hendrick & Redd are made to advertise “Apple
yrtip” instead <>f “Maple Syrup.” To tlie excellence
’ this latter article we are aide to testify, from hav
g tried it. Again, the word “bushels'’ was omit
>l in the advertisement of Winter’s Palace Mills.
The Execution. — George AY. Evans, was on
Friday last, hung in execution of the sentence pro
nounced upon him at the last session of the Superior
Court of this County. His bearing at the gallows
was most remarkable; keenly alive to the* circumstan
ces by which he was surrounded, apprised of liis fate
and its consequences, he seemed, not indifferent, but
perfectly submissive nnd resigned, to the execution of
his dreadful sentence. The interval between his con
viction and execution had been constantly employed
by the Christian Ministers of this city in awakening
the unfortunate culprit to a sense of his true condition,
and we are informed that before bis execution he ex
pressed a perfect willingness and preparation to die.
The spectacle at the execution was a most melancholy
one. Thousands upon, thousands, congregated from
all the surrounding country, a mingled mass of men,
women and children, whites, blaeksand mulattoes, had
cinblcd, for hours before the execution, in anxious
expectation of the awful treat. AA'hen the hour ar
rived, and the prisoner was taken from the dungeon
to be carried to the gallows, the scene, if it could have
b mi divested of the solemnity of the occasion, would
have been one of the intensest merriment. Ox carts
road wagons, carriages, barouches, buggies, riders on
mules-and horses, old men and little boys, fat women
with brawling babies, all were rushing in mad confu
sion to secure a place near enongh to the gallows to
see all and bear all, that might be said or done. Ar
rived at the spot, the excitement raged still more
fiercely. Carriages, horses and footmen were jam
med in an indiscriminate mass around the scaffold.—
AVe shall not undertake to describe the execution. In
horror and disgust, we turned our eyes from the
scene. Suffice it to say the unfortunate young man
“died like a hero and a Christian.” We did not hear
his - dying words. AVe understand they were ad
dressed to parents in earnest admonition of the im
’ pnrtauee-of instilling correct nations into the minds of
their children. • He ascribed his fate to disobedience,
and warned his youthful hearers of a death of shame.
These executions arc made public on account of the
military ellect they are supposed to have upon the
public mind. In our opinion there never was a
reater mistake So far from it. in most eases, the
influencies are of a directly different nature. The ten
decy is rather to brutalize, than ameliorate the heart.
Men go to a hanging in the same spirit that they
would attend a bull fight, and the spectacle is about as
profitable in one case as the other. On this occasion,
we saw five drunken men to where we saw on? at the
celebration the day previous. AVe saw a mother
whose head was sprinkled with gray hairs, leading a
stripling by the hand, and uttering the most blasphe
mous oaths, when the dying admonitions of the. pris
oner were scarcely out of her ears. AA'e heard a
man within fifty steps of the gallows, threatening to
cut another to pcices, as soon as he laid eyes on him.
Incur advertising columns will be seen the offer of a
reward for a pocket book, stolen in tlie crowd that
gathered around the scaffold. AVe might multiply
these instances, but they are not needed to convince
any one who has ever witnessed a public execution,
that no good can result from such a sepne.
The Two Compromises.
•
The first argument which the friends of tlie Mis
souri compromise had to meet, was, that it was im
practicable, and the Clay compromise was recom
mended as the best wc could get. Now, the note
has been changed, and the argument is, that of the
two, the Clay compromise is better for the South.
There are two views which may be taken of this
question, and we propose to show that in neither can
it be said, that the compromise recommended by the
committee of thirteen, is better for the South, than
the old Missouri compromise. In the first place it is
more violative of the constitutional rights of the
South, and in tlie second place, it is more violative of
the interests of the South ; it is in these two partic
ulars that wc propose to institute a comparison be
tween the two modes of adjustment, and we hope we’
shall be able to give some reasons for the declaration,
that in no sense, can tlie Clay Compromise he said to
be better for the South than the Missouri Compro
mise.
First, as to the Constitutional rights of the South.
AA c set out with the admission that the Missouri
Compromise is unconstitutional. AVe admit that
Congress has no constitutional authority to legislate
on the subject of slavery, either for its prohibition
North, or its establishment South, of the line of 3(5
30. Here, then, is one violation of the rights of the
South, hut it is the only one incident to the Mis
souri Compromise. llow stands the ease with the
compromise of tlie Committee of Thirteen ? In tlie
first place, it violates that undoubted constitutional
right of the South, which Secures to her an equal
participation in the Territories. That this is the
right of tlie South, we shall not attempt to argue, be
cause we do not know that it is questioned ; and be
ing a right, we contend that there is but one way in
which she can be divested of it. Congress can not
do it; the Territorial Legislature can not do it; nor
can any power under Heaven do it, except the peo
ple of the Territories, when, in the exercise of politi
cal power previously delegated by the consent of the
owners of those Territories, they meet for the pur
pose of forming a State constitution. This pre-requi
site is wanting to the constitution which has been
formed by California. Not only did they not have
the political power to perform any of the functions of
government, but there was not a sufficient resident
population in that country, to entitle them to admis
sion into the Union. Their admission, therefore,
with a constitution excluding the South from her bor
ders, is a violation of the right of the South to an
equal participation in the Territories. This is one vi
olation of the constitution. In the second place, this
right is violated by the refusal in the Bill to remove
those restrictions which effectually preclude the
South from a share of Utah and New Mexico. It is
said that the laws of Mexico prohibiting slavery, still
exist in those Territories. If they do, they certainly
prevent the South from an equal participation in them,
and of course, therefore, are violative of that princi
ple of the constitution, which secures that right of
participation. These laws can not exist cx proprio
vigore , and if they are in force, it must he merely by
the sufferance of this government. That sufferance
is as much violative of the constitution as would be a
positive enactment of Congress tantamount to its pro
visions. This, then, is violation number two. In the
third place, the Clay compromise abolishes the slave
trade in the District of Columbia, and so far violates
tbe constitutional rights of the South. The right of
Congress to legislate on this point, is derived from
that clause of the constitution which gives to it, ex
clusive jurisdiction of the District. But the same
reasoning which would dedube from that clause the
power in question, would, with equal force, imply the
right to abolish slavery itself. If one is constitution
al, the other is, and c convcrso, if one is not, neither
is the other. This, then, is violation number three.
Looking, therefore, to this view of the question, we
see that the advantage is altogether oil the side of
the Missouri compromise. Compared with a view to
their results, respectively, upon the interests of the
South, the conclusion is more decidedly against the
Committee compromise. By its provisions, California
is admitted with a constitution excluding us entirely
from her limits. The Missouri compromise excludes
us front all territory North of that line, and admits
us South ot it. So far the advantage is on the side
of the latter. But it is said that the effect of divi
ding California by this line will be to make two, in
stead oi one free State. We refer to the debates in
the convention which framed the constitution of Cali
fornia, tor proof that all the delegates in that conven
tion South ot the line of 30 30, were opposed to the
formation of a State government excluding slavery,
and for the additional proof that so great were the
inducements to slave immigration into that country,
that they were driven to the necessity of actually pro
hibiting its introduction. There is no evidence that
slavery would not go to California were it allowed by
law, hut on the other hand, there is every reason for
believing that it would. No country in the world is
so finely adapted to that sort of labor.
In the next place, the Clay compromise provides
Territorial governments for Utah and New Mexico,
and the Missouri compromise divides them between
the North and the South. In this particular, the ad
vantages for the Soutli are equally in favor of the lat
ter. Mr. Clay himself, the originator of the commit
tee's scheme, and many others, hold to the doctrine
that the laws of Mexico, abolishing slavery, are still in
force in these Territories. Whether this doctrine be
true or false, its prevalence will act as a complete
barrier to emigration from the South. Men will not
carry their slave property thither, under the appre
hensions excited by this doctrine. It was so in Cali
fornia, and it would be so in Utah and Now Mexico.
1 heir formation into Territorial governments, there
fore, without the removal of these restrictions, would
as effectually exclude slavery, as would the Wilmot
Proviso. On the other hand, the compro
mise, while it would in express terms exclude slavery
from some portions of these Territories, wouhl in
equally explicit terms, aeimit it into other portions of
them. Thirdly, the Clay compromise abolishes the
slave trade in the District, and the Missouri plan does
not. Here, of course, the advantage to the South is
in favor of the latter policy. In the fourth place, the
Clay compromise robs Texas of a large portion of her
territory now slave, and makes it free. The Missou
ri compromise leaves all that country subject to the
terms of its annexation. In this respeet, the latter is
better for the interests of the South.
Whether we look, therefore, to our rights under
the constitution, or to our interests as effected by the
plan of adjustment, our conclusions are alike in favor
of the old Missouri compromise. In respect to the
former view, we have seen that neither can lay claim
to a strict observance of tlie constitution, but of the
two, the compromise of the committee is mest obnox
ious to the charge of a violation of its provisions.
Viewed with reference to the interests of the Soutli,
we have seen that the preponderance of argument is
altogether in favor of the Missouri line. Between the
two, then, can the South long debate, in the choiee.
The Glorious Fourth.
The celebration last Thursday, was the most bril
liant which we have ever seen in this city. The
notes of preparation for several days previous had ex
cited general expectation, and every body awoke in
better mood that morning, in anticipation of the pro
mised entertainment. Nature, too, seemed to share
in the disposition to commemorate in a manner wor
thy of tKe occasion, the glorious anniversary of our
national independence. At sunrise, the booming
cannon announced in thirteen thundering cheers,
that the ceremonies had begun. The order of the
day was a temperance celebration in the forenoon and
the military celebration after dinner. At 10, A. M.,
the Sons formed in procession at their Division Room
in the following order :
Music.
Cadets of Temperance,
Girard Division S. of TANARUS.,
Orion Division S. of TANARUS.,
Bald Hill Division S. of TANARUS.,
Chattahoochee Division S. of TANARUS.,
Muscogee Division S. of TANARUS.,
Visiting Brethren,
Members of Grand Division S. of T.
The procession marched down Eroa.l street to
Thomas street, through Thomas street to Oglethorpe
street, and up Oglethorpe to the Oglethorpe House,
where the orator, Hon. Jas. E. Belser, was receiv
ed, and thence to the new Temperance llall. The
spectacle which this procession presented was well
calculated to eliecr the heart of the philanthropist.
There were upwards of three hundred members, em
bracing the youth just ripening into manhood, and
the gray-lieaded veteran of three score, all enlisted in
a war of extermination, upon the evil of intemperance.
The order of exercises at the llall were :
Prayer by Rev. Dr. Pierce,
Song by the Glee Club,
Oration by Hon. Jas. E. Belser,
Song by the Glee Club,
Address by Rev. Mr. Dawson,
Song by the Glee Club,
Benediction by Rev. Mr. King.
Os the merits of Mr. Reiser’s oration, we can not
too highly speak. His sole design seemed, to do
good, and the effort was a most happy one. No
(lowers of rhetoric, no attempts at display, no appeals
to passion, were used, but the whole speech beamed
with truth, most eloquently enforced. The people of
Columbus have fully realised their preconceived opin
ions of Col. Reiser's eminent ability. AVe must say,
however, that the speech was most unconscionably
long. Tlie orator seemed to have forgotten in his
zeal for temperance in strong drink, that the same
virtue might with the same propriety be applied to
other things. Those who, like ourself, had the good
fortune to be well seated, could very patiently have
listened for an hour longer, but the house was densely
crowded, and many of the audience doubtless became
weary of a speech which all admired.
The Rev. Mr. Dawson followed in one of his most
felicitous efforts, and when we say this, those who
have ever had the pleasure of listening to his burning
eloquence on this theme, will know what a treat we
enjoyed on this occasion. His speech was very brief
and intended as an appeal for help in the completion
of the new llall. Its fruits are the best test of his
success. Although the Hall was crowded with la
dies and persons from a distance, who felt no partic
ular interest in the enterprise, the very handsome
sum of $1,500 was obtained in a very few moments.
Columbus liberality is unparallellcd. The singing of
tlie Glee Club was admirable. The songs were ju
diciously selected and executed to perfection. The
services at the llall being over, the crowd adjourned
to the AVare House of Messrs. Ruse, Patten and
Brice, where a sumptuous free barbecue had been
prepared under the supervision of Col. T. M. Hogan.
The Col. doubtless felt amply rewarded for nil his
care by the manifest delight with which the assem
bled thousands walked into his good things. There
were four tables, which together were about eleven
hundred feet long, literally groaning witli abundance,
and the manner in which they were cleared was a
warning to pigs, lambs, kids, chicken-fixens, and
flour doings generally. Every body got enough, and
every body went away satisfied. So much for the
Temperance celebration.
The tables were scarcely cleared when tbe drums
beat the military to parade. At three o’clock tlie
City Light Guard and the Columbus Guards formed
in battalion, Capt. Cooper commanding, and marched
to the Oild Fellows llall, where they were joined by
Muscogee Lodge No. 6, and Chattahoochee Encamp
ment No. —. AVe were very much pleased with the
appearance of our two spirited military corps. The
Guards are out, we see, in new caps and plumes, and
are shortly to be uniformed in anew and beautiful
dress. The State does not boast of two better com
panies, better officered and better drilled, or who
would do better service thaw tbe City Light Guard
and the Columbus Guards. AVe arc proud of them.
Tlie procession marched from tlie Odd Fellows
llall to the Temperance Hall, where the Declaration
of Independence was read by Seargeant B. B.
deGraffenreid, of the Columbus Guards, and the ora
tion delivered by Lieut. Alex. C. Morton, of the
Light Guard. Mr. Morton’s address was far above
the standard of Fourth of July orations. Many parts
of it were tlirillingly eloquent, and all of it was good.
No; not all. AVe objected to the blind, indiscrimi
nate eulogies of the Union. AVe arc proud of this
glorious old confederacy af .States, and with the ora
tor of the day, would battle for its preservation in a
just cause, but for a just cause we would battle too,
against it. It is time we should eeaf eto celebrate the
Fourth of July, when, in our devotion to the Union,
we shall have proved recreant to the spirit, which
made that day immortal. When the North shall,
like England, have driven us to count the cost of the
Union, tiio South may, like tlie thirteen colonies of
TG, be forced to sever the political connexion which
has hitherto united us. AVith this exception, the ora
tion reflected great credit upon the talented young
speaker. Altogether, tlie celebration was a grand
affair, and one which will not be soon forgotten.
The Girard and -Mobile ltail Road.
AVe have received a letter from one of the officers
of this road, who is now in company with the Engi
neer, making the experimental survey through the
lower counties of Alabama. He writes from Cone
cuh county, and says: “The survey is within ten or
twelve miles of this place, and the Engineer finds the
route entirely practicable*. Our success has passed
our most sanguine expectations, wherever we have
attempted to obtain stock. Such is the character of
those who have taken stock, that I have been inform
ed by those well acquainted through tlie country, that
they could not have selected from the tax books of the
lower counties of Alabama, men whose integrity and
property would augur better for the building of the
road ; and when I tell you that almost every man of
wealth in Butler county has taken stock,, and that
we find the same spirit pervading the people of Cone
cuh and Monroe, you have our chances of success.
The grading from Girard to the east line of Conecuh
county has been taken, besides a large amount of
cash and subscription for superstructure. If this
county does not fall short, much of the stock being
taken, we will be able to begin the location of tlie
road immediately.” This is indeed cheering intelli
gence to the friends of this enterprise. The people
living on the line of this road, are alive to an enlight
ened view of their interests. AVhat they have put in
this enterprise, will pay them well as an investment,
but it will be in the improved value of their lands, and
in the conveniences wlfieh the road will ensure them,
that they will receive the principal remuneration.
There is on the contemplated route, a large section of
country admirably adapted Jo the cultivation of cotton,
and abounding in mineral as well as agricultural re
sources, which has hitherto been unnoticed because
there has been no means of transportation to market.
All this wealth is now to be developed, and the day
is not distant when along the line of this road will be
found one of the wealthiest communities of planters in
the Southern country.
THE PEOPLE -MOVING.
A real mass meeting of the friends of the Missouri
Compromise, was held in Macon Ga. on the evening
of the sth inst. Judge Colquitt was present and de
livered an address in his own unrivaled style of elo
quence. AVe the following frem the string of
Resolutions unanimously adopted by the meeting :
1. Resolved, That we heartily approve of the Ad*
dress and Resolutions of tlie Nashville Convention;
and with the whole South, will be ready to maintain
them “at all hazards and to tbe last extremity.”
2. Resolved, That we see in the scheme of the Com
mittee of Thirteen, commonly called “Clay’s Compro
mise,” so much to condemn, that we consider it an
insult to call eueli propositions an offer of compro
mise.
3. Resolved, That the Missouri Line was adopted
upon the solemnly pledged faith of the North, acqui
esced in for thirty years, acknowledged and acted upon
by the South in good faith on the admission of Texas,
and the establishment of the Oregon Territories, and
it is a gross breach of faith, and a violation of justice
on the part of the North, to repudiate it now, and de
prive the Southern people of its benefits in the first in
stance in which it could operate in their favor.
4. Resolved , That unless justice be done tlie South,
our Senators and Representatives will be justified in
refusing to vote supplies to a government which is no
longer worthy of the confidence of the Southern peo
ple, because it has proved either incapable or unwilling
to perform its obligations equally to all the States, and
every section of the Union.
5. Resolved, That until the slavery question is set
tled, we repudiate all former political distinctions, and
desire to meet all Southern men as brothers on the
Southern platform.
At a meeting of the citizens of the Upson County*
held at Thomaston on the 6th inst. the following a
inong other resolutions, were unanimously adopted:
Resolved, That the meeting cordially approve and
sustain t|ie Address and Resolutions of the Nashville
Convention.
Resolved, That the Bill and Reports of the Commit
tee of Thirteen is no compromise whatever, but a total
surrender of Southern rights and honor.
Resolved, That if Congress can forbid, it can es
tablish slavery. That we are willing to divide tire,
territories, leaving all north of 36 30 free, all south
| slave territory, and shaking bauds with the North
over some such Compromise, we will never be driven
from it except try force.
Avery large meeting of the citizens of 1 laneock
county, without distinction of party, was held at the
Court House on the 4th inst. AVe make the following
extract from an able report which was unanimously
adopted by the meeting :
Wo further declare, however, that to quiet the
present disastrous agitation, and alone for the
sake of preserving the Union, we would consent
to be excluded from that portion of the territory
which lies north of the parallel of thirty-six (36)
degrees and thirty (30) minutes north latitude,
but that in making this concession, vve at the
same time demand of those to whom we make
it, the gnarantieofthe uninterrupted enjoyment
of the territory south of that line.
AVe further declare, that we are opposed to
any adjustment of this controversy than that
above specified, except it be upon some
plan not yet suggested, founded upon the
perfect political equality of the sections—that we
ought not to submit io any other adjustment, and
that so far as our co-operation with the people of
the South will effect the object, we will not sub
rnit to any other—and Ibis declaration is made
with the lull and cheerful determination to abide
by all the consequences which result from a
firm and unyielding adherence to it.
AA'e publish in another place the proceedings of
similar meetings in this county, in Meriwether, and in
Decatur counties. The ball is in motion. AA'e hope
to see it roll through every county in Georgia, and
through every county in the South. AVe know that
if the people of the South have the will, they’ have the
power, to settle these distracting issues on their own
terms. Let us have no surrender, and no disunion.
AVe may preserve our honor, and in so doing pre
serve the Union; we certainly never can secure the
latter, atthe expense of the former.
CO-ME ONE ! COME ALL!!
From the call in another column, it will be seen
the people of Muscogee without distinction of party,
are invited to a Free Barbecue in this city, on Tues
iAy next, the 16th inst. The object of tlie meeting,
as expressed in the invitation, is a full discussion of
the matters in issue between the North and the South.
Let the man who feels no interest in these matters
stay at home, and let his absence be a test of his in
diflerenee, but every citizen of Muscogee (and of {lie
adjoining counties too,) who has marked the indica
tions of the times, and who has seen in those indica
tions any thing to excite the apprehensions of Southern
men, is expected to be present on that occasion, to
confer with his fellow citizens on the magnitude of the
crisis, and the proper remedies for it. AY’c shall
have speeches from our most eloquent men, smiles
from our most lovely women, and good things from
our best stored larders. The day has arrived when
Southern men can no longer sit quietly in their homes,
in silent observation of the gathering storm; they
must come to-gether, with warm hearts, clear heads
and ready hands, to deliberate , *ro devise, and TO
ACT. Every hour of inactivity on our part but in
creases the danger of ruin. Let us stir ourselves
while there is yet hope.
[YANKEE CORRESro.NDENCE.]
Boston, June 30, 1850.
Reported Confession of Professor Webster—The
Weather and the Bills of Mortality—Legisla
ture of Maine—Rochester Knockings — Railroad,
Celebration at Burlington — Mr. Soule — Mr.
Webster — Paine's Hydrogen Light — Morse's
Patent — House's Printing Telegraph, <£<-.
It was generally reported in this city, yesterday,
that Professor Webster had written a letter to Gov
ernor Briggs, in Council, confessing that lie killed
Dr. Park man, but denying that the act was murder.
The letter, it is stated, does not give any particulars
of the transaction, such as would show provocation
and extenuate the deadly deed. The Professor prays
that his sentence maybe commuted to imprisonment.
The only chance of commutation would lie in tlie con
fession ; but whether this lias been explicit enough
to make a favorable impression, is uncertain. Tlie
general opinion here, is, that AVebstcr must suffer.
If he has made the admission, as reported, it will on
ly prove that his conduct and words on his trial were
full of the most profound duplicity—a characteristic
which need not and does not always accompany the
guilt of a man who ha3 suddenly taken the life of an
other. If the statements concerning his own family
be correct, (to wit: that they believe in his perfect
innocence,) suc-h a confession would come upon them
with the most crushing surprise. Their situation has
elicited the strongest feeling of public pity and sym
pathy.
This is a very healthy summer in this city. AA'e
have had much more Tain than occurred last year ;
the winds have not been so much from the dreaded
East, and the temperature of the atmosphere has
been much more cool and pleasant. Last week only
fifty-five died here ; forty-seven less than during the
same period last year. Cases of fever, dysentery,
and diarrhoea, arc rare. The oldest person who died
last week was one wlio was born when George the
Third was eight years old, and the youngest had liv
ed but one day. Twenty-two of the deaths were of
children under five years of age. A good many of
these innocents are foreigners, or having foreign pa
rents, who forget that this climate is not so moist and
moderate as those they have been accustomed to.
The legislature of Main has made several imper
fect attempts to elect a U. S. Senator, and has post
poned all further action to 23d July. They passed a
couple of resolutions to the effect that California should
be admitted unconditionally and New Mexico and
Utah should receive territorial governments with the
Proviso.
The Rochester Knockings continue in the city of
New York. It is generally believed that the Fox
family make their own noises; but how is not discov
ered, as yet. The other day, in consequence of the
prevailing perplexitity, a body of ladies who could tol
erate a condition of baffled curiosity no longer, went
to the hotel of the “knocking family,” and announced
themselves as come to perform a very decided but
indispensable duty. It was said the noises were made
by mechanism under the clothes of the sisters, and
they, the lady visitors, came to hand the other ladies
out of their wardrobes—to strip them, in fact, and
then look out for knocks! And they did. The
seeresses were peeled, and the experiments recom
menced. But strange to say, the knockings were
heard as before!
“I do not know how the trutli mav be;
I tell the tale as ’twas told to me.”
A great “Railroad Celebration” took place at Bur
lington, in the State of Vermont, a few days ago.
Burlington is on the shore of Lake Champlain, near
the Canadian frontier. A great number of capital
ists and notabilities from Boston and many other
parts of New England, steamed up to the city and
dined together under a large tent. Twenty or thirty
editors of various Yankee newspapers, also attended,
and many were the congratulations on the opening of
the markets of the East, West, North and South, to
the people of Vermont. Two hundred and eighty
miles have been completed within her limits, and one
hundred and seventy more will be completed this
year.
Your great Southern Senator, Mr. Soule, is rising
into great consideration and celebrity, in such a short
time, too. lie has all the ccltic vivacity and power of
his birth-place about him. The Washington corres
pondent of the Philadelphia Inquirer, thus speaks of
him:
“A medium sized, though rather slight figure
—prominent features, said to very much resem
ble the Emperor Napoleon—piercing black eyes
—long black hair, thrown back from his face—
dark complexion—a most energetic and empas
sioned manner—deep sonorous tones, with
great flexibility of voice, and at times sweetly
modulated—a strong French accent and rather
broken pronunciation—picture all these, and
you may have some faint idea of the orator who
has for two days past addressed the Senate:
In his native tongue, his eloquence must be al
most irresistible; and I can readily believe in
the great success which it is said lie has achiev
ed in his practice at the Louisiana bar. 1 have
heard it stated that out of some hundreds of
criminal cases in which he appeared for the de
fence, but four or five convictions were had—a
most remarkable and almost unprecedented in
stance of success.”
Daniel Webster has been recently receiving the
approbation and encouragement of a great- body of
the most influential citizens of New York, on the ef
forts he has been making to promote conciliatory
measures and maintain the Union interest. His re
ply is as fervent as that which called it forth. He
says the letter lias been received and read, with very
strongly excited feelings. I hope his efforts will not
be relaxed,
“Till danger’s threatening Night be part,
And the star of Peace return,”
to the distracted counsels of our Congress. This
theme of slavery is a terribly absorbing one, but I
must not say a word about it. I will not venture to
the edge of it. It is like that “great Serbonian bog,”
described by Milton, in which “armies whole have
sunk.” I look at the whole thing from a distance,
content to say, with Francis the First, looking from
his seat into the arena where the lions were ramping
and raging,
Faith, gentlemen, ’tis letter here than there.”
I have told vou of Mr. Paine’s hydro-electric gas.
Tli esc Northern Lights arc exciting the minds and
attracting the attention of all observers. I hope the
whole thing will turnout a true Aurora Borealis after
all! Indeed, I think it will. It is true Mr. Paine
lias a great many impugners, who doubt and decry
his pretension. But one satisfactory thing is, that
the means they take to throw discouragement upon
him, appear to corroborate the theory of turning
water into fire. This hostile discussion shows that
the thing is not an experiment, but a sact —that the
turning of water into inflammable gas, or hydrogen,
is an old scientific truth, or one put forward at this
time, by others than Paine, of Worcester. They
show that M. Pixii, a native of Paris, performed tliis
very achievement, over eighteen years ago, and it is
true that his experiments have been repeated several
times since. In Laneanshire, in England, a magnet
ic apparatus (such as Mr. Paine professes to use.) lias
been employed for a year in the Basford Iron Works,
producing hydrogen from water. The gas is carbu
rettod by spirits of turpentine, and furnishes an excel
lent light for the establishment. In this very year,
1850, Mr. Gillard, another Parisian, has got a patent
for machinery which does the same thing, by means
of several magnets in action and layers of coal, which
produce carbonic acid. He has two modes, both of
which are successful. Another chemist in this city
of Boston, produces light from water, by the help of
sulphuric acid. All these things are put forward to
depreciate Paine’s claim of originality. But they
affect the public differently. We, the oi poiloi. see
that whether Paine shall consummate the invention,
and its general practice, or not, the world will not be
long without its serviceable hydrogen, which is des
tined, in a short time, to do the business of coal, tim
ber, lamp-oil, camphene, &e., in so general and cheap
a manner as to change the character of society.
Both in England, Franco, and America, water is
turned into fire, by the assistance of spirits of turpen
tine, which carburets the inflammable hydrogen. The
only difficulty to be overcome is that of adapting to
the production of hydrogen light, an apparatus capa
ble of generating it in sufficient quantities, and inex
pensively. In spite of doubts and ridicule, Mr. Paine
insists that lie lias such an apparatus, and offers to
light the Astor House in New York, claiming a mil
lion of dollars, on the successful completion of his
contract. There is some difficulty about tliis part of
the business, and I don't exactly sec how it will end.
Mr. Paine’s house at Worcester is visited, day and
night, by hundreds of the curious or the learned who
sec and admire his beautiful light, but are not initia
ted into the mystery of the generation of it. The
chemists stand over the little box in which he has his
apparatus, and not being able to see through it, they
say there must be something strange in it—there
must be some humbug in it! So the matter stands.
All that seems clear to the public, is, that a great dis
covery is on the jH)int of being perfected : it is agita
ting the minds of the people of France and of ling
land, as well as our States. For our part we find
ourselves shouting reverently, but cheerily, “Fiat
Lux ! Fiat Lux !” Let us have the light! If we
arc not to have it through this Worcester Paine, let
us have it, through any pane at all!
For some time past another scientific matter lias
been under discussion here, to wit: the rival claims
of House's Printing Telegraph and Morse’s patent.
The ease has been argued, at great length, in our U.
S. Circuit Court. F. O. J. Smith opened the ease on
His own behalf, and was sustained by B. R. Curtis.
Messrs. Woodbury, Choate, and Gifford, have spo
ken for the defendants. It was prayed, on Mr.
Morse’s behalf, that the House patent, by which Tel
egraph intelligence is printed , may be destroyed, as
an infringement on Morse’s patent, under which tele
graphic intelligence is conveyed by marks or dots.
“All the scientific witnesses seem to agree that there
is nothing whatever in it original with Morse except the
fixation of the alphabet of marks and dots, and they all
testify that House, in his Printing Telegraph, has noth
ing in common with it except the electro magnetic prin
ciples, which were older than -Morse, and public proper
ty. They all testify—and among them are such men as
Prof. Henry, Dr. Jackson, Dr. William F. Channing,
Prol. Renwick. Prof. Oliver Byrne, Mr. Borden, Mr.
Hibbard, Mr. Eddy, Gen. Harvey, <fcc., &.c.—that Mr.
House has produced an entirely different machine, ap
plying the electro-magnetic principle in a different man
ner, and producing a much more pc rice t result. He, in
fact, prints in Boston the message which is delivered to
turn in New York, letter by letter, in good, plain, Ro
man capitals, and does it with a greater rapidity than
Morse can write it in cypher.”
The opinion of the public is in favor of the defen
dants. and leans against the claims of the Morse pat
ent. The art of telegraphing was practiced since
1833. Morse only invented the recording marks or
dots. House invented the printing apparatus.
Both made their improvements on a prior discovery.
The claim, therefore, of Morse to stand between the
American public and all future improvements in the
Electric Telegraph, is not a valid one, and must go to
the ground. No monopolies of science can be tol
erated.
YANKEE DOODLE.
[new YORK CORRESPONDENCE.]
New York as it is—City Orders — Panic's “Gas'’
—Arrival of Dempster —Fishing Banks and Pol
ities—Willis and Forrest —Fall of Table Rock,
Niagara—Literary Intelligence —ts-e.
New York, July 1, ISSO.
An old lady, some years since, on a visit to our
city, being asked how she liked its appearance, an
swered, that she hardly knew—she eould’nt see much
of New York, on account of the houses. If this rev
erend dame were now a second time to visit the great
metropolis, her surprise would certainly assume a
still livelier form. Bricks and mortar have been podue
iug marked metamorphosis in Gotham during the past
two years. Old piteli-roofed, garret-windowed,
Kniekorboeker-built houses, have gradually given way
and yielded the stage to more modern and tonnish
flat-roofed domiciles with the inward accompaniments
and comforts of bath rooms and Croton water. Not on
ly this, but vacant lots, particularly in the upper part of
the city, have been covered with a mushroom growth of
houses, and been converted into “squares,” “terraces,”
and “places.” Amazed, indeed, would one of those
respectable gentlemen in tights be, who fifty years
ago took their evening walks, and smoked their placid
pipes amid lawns, fields, meadows, and gardens, to
behold on the very spot this half century’s growth of
brick walls. Our city my now be said to bo densely
built from the Battery to 35th street, a distance of
more than four miles. Beyond this, the residences
are numerous though not crowded ; and there is no
doubt that, in a few years New York will extend in
one unbroken line of nine miles to Ilarlaem.
The condition of our great city is now, in all res
pects, above the average. The records of the City
Inspector show that it ts unusually healthly for the
season ; and the streets are cleaner than I have
known them for years. The most disagreeable thing
just now about N. Y. is the unmitigated, rascally,
odor proceeding from the blossoms of the Ailonthus
trees, w hieli are scattered in such numbers through
our streets. Let me warn you and your readers, Mr.
Editor, to have nothing to do with this shade tree, now
become so popular. During the whole blossoming
season, of three weeks or more, the air is filled with
this poisonous and most disagreeable odor.
You have no doubt heard of the great discovery
claimed to have been made by Mr. Paine, of Worces
ter Mass.; of being able, by a simple and (inexpen
sive process, to elicit light and heat from water (bad
fellow that to make light of water—he’d better join
the Temperance Society.) A committee was appoint
ed to investigate his pretensions, consisting among
others, of Prof. Torrey, M. D., Dr. Chilton, onr best
chemist, and Chas. Roome, engineer of the Manhat
tan Gas Works, of this city. This Committee have
partially reported, i. e., as far as the facts are concern
ed, their own conclusions they have not yet given.—
Fiom the report it would seem that ihe test was by
no means satisfactory; there was evident deception
and a desire to show as little as possible. The Com
mittee say that the gas was hydrogen only, and not
earburetted hydrogen, and that it is, therefore, unfit
for illumination. Iliad expected to forswear oil and
camphene forever ; and instead of filling my cellar’
with anthracite, warming my toes, next winter, over
a pail of Croton. Alas ! sic transit gloria mundil
Mr. Dempster, the excellent vocalist, arrived in
this city on Saturd.-y last, by the steamer City of
Glosgow, after a successful profcsnionol tour through
Scot laud. Ho was received there with most enthusi
astic applause.
Our citizens have a while back very sensibly for
saken their Ledgers for a season, to enjoy the cool
breeze of the Bay, and some fine sport at the Fishing
Banks. Porgies and bass are being caught there in
great numbers. On the return of the Buffalo, one
day last week, the passengers waxed patriotic, and,
electing a chairman and secretary, proceeded to con
sider tlie case of the American citizens confined in
Havana. Resolutions were passed, expressing disap
probation of tlie course pursued by Government, and
requesting them to demand the immediate surrender
of the prisoners. 1 mention this because it is indica
tive of the feeling which every where prevails. The
excitement lias, indeed, parsed over, and the warm
weather rather operates as a damper to any renewal
of it ; yet the people arc universally indignant that
U. S. citizens, on their way to Chagres and N. 0.,
and not implicated at all in the Cuba affair, (if their
statements be true) should be treated with such indig
nity. “Willis lias commenced suit against Forrest, for
$ 10,000 damages. This is a very fair price for a can
ing, and it looks as if lie would seek no further “sat
isfaction.”
This morning’s Sun contains a talegraphic despatch,
dated Saturday, to tlic effect that Table Rock at Ni
agara Falls has given way, and fallen with a tremen
dous crash, and that six persons saved their lives only
by leaping from a carriage. This is wonderful if true” ;
but as the Sun not unfrequently produces mirage and
other deceptive appearances, we shall be excused for
disbelieving the story, until it is endorsed by some oth
re authority.
Our publishers arc enjoying a summer of “otium
cum dignitate ,” and there is consequently a complete
dearth of new hooks. Nevertheless I have been able
to procure some little information for your readers res
pecting authors and books.
Dr. Hawk’s has been for some time engaged, with
all his acuteness of intellect, and untiring research, on
a work illustrative of our early Colonial History.—
Those who have seen it express the highest opinion
of its merits ; it is to he published in the Fall. Alice
and Phebe Carey, whose names have within a few
years become identified with western Poetry, even
outshining in lustre that of our favorite “Amelia,”
M rs. Wclby, are now making a visit to New York,
ami are expected to spend the summer in the pleasant
resorts in our vicinity. It is gratifying to sec that
English publishers are beginning to appreciate Amer
ican genius. Bayard Taylor’s “El Dorado” has been
republished by both Bohn and Bentley and has been
everywhere well received. Bentley has also issued
Bryant s “Letters of a 1 ravoller” • he has, moreover,
published two original works from American authors
—Alfred B. Street’s “Life iti the Forest and the
frontier,” and “Rural Hours in the U. 5.,” by a
daughter of James Feniinore Cooper.—Ralph Waldo
Emerson has been refreshing his metaphysics in the
Mammoth Cave of Kentucky, and is now sailing up
the Mississippi,on a visit to the Falls of St. Anthony.
Margaret Fuller, now Signora Ossoli, who lias east
such light on the world through the columns of the
Tribune, was at Gibraltar on the Ist ult., in quaran
tine. She is expected here about the twentieth.
1 am sure this letter can’t be dry; I’rn perspiring
at every pore. The weather’s in earnest this time.
r. q.
Lumtkin July 4th, 1850.
To the Editors of the Columbus Times, Enquirer and
Sentinel.
Gentlemen : The following Resolutions were unan
imously passed at a public meeting of the citizens of
this county, without distinction of parties held in
Lumpkin on the 2nd inst.
Resolved 1, That the citizens of Stewart county ir
respective of party be requested to meet in Lumpkin
on the First Tuesday in August next for the pur
pose of conferring together relative to the course pro
posed by the Nashville Convention. And the policy
of the Southern States.
Resolved 2, That the above Resolutions be publish
ed in the Columbus papers.
‘V illard Boynton Chairman.
D B. T Carrell Secretary.
Pkof. Webster.— We publish to-day the con
fession of this unfortunate man, of the killing ol
Dr. Parkman. We are scarcely more certain
now, than we were before of the fact, but the con.
session has placed the affair in a light altogether
different from that in which wc had before re
garded it. Wc think the circumstances, as re
lated, are true, and disprove any thing like pre.
meditation. If so, an essential element of mur
der is wanting, and wc hope the Governor op
Massachusetts may be induced to commute his
punishment.
In giving place to the following, we are pleas
ed to state that the writer, in a private note, pays
a just compliment to many in the Southern States
from the North, who are true to their adopted
section:
Messrs. Editors: Your last nnmber remind
ed me of what I have intended doing for some
time. Would it not be right for the public to
know who are managing the Southern news
papers? I don’t mean to give their names,
these wc can see every week if we choose —but
I mean where they were born, or educated, or
both if they please. Perhaps some would say—
and where were you born ? Poudly, I say in a
Fort where my Father and his neghbors de-*
fended themselves against the Indians, as he had
done his country against the British and Tories.
I think it proper that we should know where
their relatives live—whether on this or the other
side of Mason and Dixon’s line—and it it were to
come to the test, to which side would they ad
here, North or South ? I fear sirs, if you should
let these questions appear in your paper, we
would have some kicking and floundering, in
stead of plain catagorical answers, or some might
pass it over with pretended dignified silence—
“ Straws will show which way the wind blows.”
A Georgian.
Mr. Editor.— l have cut the foregoing para
graph from the Weekly Republic, and desire you
to publish it. I have been opposed to making
enquiries into the birth’ place of any ofourcit
zens, or to the attempt to create or excite preju
dices on that account, and should continue to be
so if the signs of the times did not admonish us
that education and early conceived prejudices
have their influence against us in a most im
portant domestic institution. It is within the re
collection of many ofour citizens that a talented
Minister of the Gospel abandoned his charge and
and left this city before lie would consent,
at the earnest request of his flock, to maintain
a respectful silence on the subject of slave
ry. lie has since been preaching Abolition
ism in the Northern States. And more recently
an editor of a leading paper in this State, covert
ly and insidiously promulgated his Abolition
feelings and sentiments to the great injury of
the party to which he was attached, as well as
to the injury of the State.
1 hold then that the enquiry proposed is a
proper one. Let us know where the editors
and those controlling the public press of Georgia
were born and educated, and we may perhaps
be better able to determine what degree of in
fluence should bo given to their opinions.
May I be pardoned for making another sug
gestion. The education of our children is a very
important matter, and we all know the influenc e
of early impressions. Is there, Mr. Editor, as
much circumspection used by Southern parents
in the selection of Teachers as the import of the
times require? It cannot be said now as it was
formerly, that we cannot obtain*the services of
Southern men in our schools and academies.—
The multiplication of colleges and high schools in
Georgia, is annually turning out great numbers
of talented young men, who will be glad to br
come teachers; and yet it is as true as it is mor.
tifying, that a stranger, about whose family, qual
ifications, feelings, principles or habits, we know
nothing, hut of whose brass there can be no
doubt, will be patronized by our generous and
unthinking parents, in preference to those who
have been born and raised among us. I say it
is time to make these enquiries, and to act upon
them. BULLOCH.
The Confession ot Professor Webster, of the
Murder of Dr. Parkman.
The Rev. Mr. Putnam, Dr. Websters spiritual
adviser, read the following paper before the Gov
ernor and Council of Massachusetts on the 2d.
Inst.
On Tuesday, 20th November, I sent the note
to Dr. Parkman, which, it appears, was carried
by the boy, Maxwell. I handed it to Littlefield
unsealed. It was to ask Dr. Parkman to call at
my rooms, on Friday, the 23d, after my lecture.
He had become, oflate, very importunate for his
pay. He had threatened me with a suit; to put
an officer in my house, and to drive me from my
professorship, it I did not pay him. The pur
ports’my note was simply to ask the confer
ence. I did not tell him, in it, what I could do
or what I had to say about the payment. I wish,
ed to gain, for those few days, a release from his
solicitations, to which I was liable every day, on
occasions, and in a manner very disagreeable
and alarming, and also to avert for so long a
time, at least, the fulfillment of recent threats of
severe measures. I did not expect to be able to
pay him when Friday should arrive. My pur
pose was, if he should accede to the proposed
interview, to state to him my embarrassments
and utter inability to pay him at present—to
apologise for those things in my conduct which
had offended him—to throw myself upon his
mercy—to beg for further time and indulgence,
for the sake of my family, if not for myself, and
and to make as good promises to him as I could
have any hope ol keeping. I did not hear from
him on that day, nor the next, (Wednesday,) but
I found on Thursday he had been abroad in pur
suit of me, without finding me. I imagined he
had forgotten the appointment, or else, did
not mean to wait for it. I feared he would corne
in upon me at my lecture hour, or while I was
preparing my experiments for it; therefore, I
called at his house on that morning, (Friday,)
between eight and nine o’clock, to remind him
ot my wish to see him at the College, at half-past
one—iny lectures closing at one. I did not stop
to talk with him, for I expected the conversa
tion would be a long one, and I had my lecture
to prepare for, and it was necessary for me to
have my time, and, also, to keep my mind freo
from other exciting matters. Dr. Parkman
agreed to call on me as I proposed. He came*
accordingly between half past one and two
o’clock,entering at the lecture room door. I
was engaged in removing some glasses from my
room table, into the room in the rear, called the
upper laboratory. He came rapidly down the
step, and followed me into the laboratory. Ho
immediately addressed me with great energy—
“ Are you ready for me, sir ? Have you got the
money?” I replied, “NoDr. Parkman;” and I
was then beginning to state my condition, and
my appeal to him, but he would not listen tome,
and interrupted me with much vehemence. He
called me a scoundrel and a liar, and went on
heaping on me the most bitter taunts and op
probrious epithets. While he was speaking, lie
drew a handful of papers from his pocket, and
took from among them my two notes, and also
an old letter from Dr. Hossack, written many
years ago congratulating him on his success in
getting me appointed Professor o f Chemistry.
“You see,” said he, “I got you into your office,
and now I will get you out ol it.” He put back
into his pocket all the papers except the letter
and the notes. I cannot tell how long the tor
rent of threats and invectives continued, and I
cannot recall to memory but a small portion of
what he said ; at first, I kept interposing, trying
to pacify him, so that I might obtain the object
for which I sought the interview, but I could
not stop him, and soon my own temper was up ;
1 forgot everything, and felt nothing but the sting
of his words. Iv. as excited to the highest de,
gree oi passion, P.nd while he was speaking aud