The Southern sentinel. (Columbus, Ga.) 1850-18??, September 05, 1850, Image 2

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them now to determine whether it shall be preserved or not. In point of money va lue, I think it is worth more to the North than to tho South. Wo have heard but little from gentlemen from that section, for eight months past, but eulogies up on the Union. If they are sincere in the expression of this deep devotion to the institutions of our fathers, it is time for them to present the offering which they are willing to make upon the altar of our common coun try for its preservation. If they expect the South to make all the sacrifices, to yield eve rything, and permit them to carry out their sectional policy under the cry of “our glorious Union,” they will find themselves most sadly mistaken. It is time for mutual concessions. This Union was formed for the protection of the lives, the liberty and the property of those who entered it, and those who should fill their places after them. Allegiance and protection are reciprocal; where no protec tion is extended, no rightful allegiance can he claimed. And no people, in my judgment, who deserve the name of freemen, will con tinue their allegiance to any Government which arrays itself, not only against their pro perty, hut against their social and civil or ganization. If you, gentlemen of the North, then, intend to engraft upon the policy of this common Government your anti-slavery views, and to make its action conform to your sec tional purposes, it is useless to say any thing more of compromise, settlement, adjustment or union. It is as well for us to come to a distinct understanding upon the subject at once. I do not [dace a low estimate upon j the value of the Union to the South ; hut I do \ not consider its dissolution, with all the man- j ifold attending evils of sucli an event in full : view before me, as the greatest calamity that’ could befall us. ‘Far from it. There is no evil which can fall upon any people, in my opinion, equal to that of tho degradation which always follows a submission to insult, injury, outrage and aggression. And when- | ever this Government is brought in hostile ar ray against me and mine, I am for disunion— openly, boldly and fearlessly for revolution. I speak plainly. Gentlemen may call this “treason” if they please. Sir, epithets have jio terrors for me. Tho charge of “traitor” may be whispered in the ears of the timid and craven-hearted. 1. is tho last appeal of ty rants. It is no new word of modern coinage. It is a term long since familiar to those who know how freedom is lost and how free dom may be won. And I say here, in the presence of this House, in broad day, that I will acknowledge allegiance to no govern ment. that puts the property of the people to which I belong out of the pale of the law, and which attempts to fix public odium and repro bation upon their social order and civil or ganization. When that day comes, if it ever does, “down with the Government,” will be my motto and watchword. When lam outlawed by you, I shall become your implacable ene my. 1 shall never kiss the rod that smites me. And no people who do not deserve to be seeded at, trampled upon, and kicked by their oppressors, will. I told you that we might as well talk plainly upon this subject, and 1 intend to do it. And it is for you now, who have nothing on your lips but “union,” if you are earnest in your profession, to come forward and assist in devising the ways and means of sustaining it. 1 have, on a former occasion, given my views upon the subject of our differences, and 1 intend to repeat them before 1 close ; but I have not yet heard any thing from those who compose the majority in this House of a conciliatory character. If your only reliance for harmony, peace and union is force, come out and say so ; or if you have any plan of conciliation, submit it. 1 am for conciliation, if it can be accomplish ed upon any reasonable and just principles. I am also for making a clean business of it. I am for no partial arrangement. If we aim at peace, let us have no temporary truce, but permanent quiet and repose. This, in my opinion, can only be done by a settlement of all the questions growing out of these territo rial acquisitions upon liberal and proper terms. \\ hat are such terms ? This is the practical point for us now to consider. The gentleman from Pennsylvania [Mr. W ilmot] said the other day, that these agi tations would never cease until the South ceased her endeavors to force the General Government to conform its policy to their sectional views and interests. This was the purport of his remarks, if I heard him cor rectly. In this he virtually charged that, these agitations came from the South, and without just cause. And the correctness of this accusation I deny. When, let me ask gentlemen, did the South ever attempt to con trol the action of this Government for the promotion of her peculiar interests? When did she ever ask this Government to pass any law for the promotion of her interests? The North has repeatedly asked for tariff acts and navigation acts, upon which their inter ests so much depend—which have been re peatedly granted. It is tme that men from the South have often voted for such meas ures when presented and urged by the North —not because the South was particularly in terested in them, but because the North was, and they were willing to advance the inter ests of the North, when, in their opinion, they could do so without injury or detriment to other sections. But when did the South ev er invoke the action of this Government for its exclusive benefit? I ask for the instance to be named. I recollect but one, and that is the passage of a law more effectually to se cure the rendition of lugitives from labor, which is our right expressly guaranteed under the Constitution; and this you continue to refuse us. And how is it upon this very territorial question which is now the source of die excitement which the gentleman from Pennsylvania says will never be allayed un til the South ceases her endeavors to gain an unjustifiable control over the action of the Government? How does this case stand?— Who is it that is attempting to control the policy of the Government to carry out their sectional views and purposes? A public domain has been acquired bv the common blood and common treasure of all, aud the South who is charged with endeavor ing to control the Government for their pur poses, asks nothing but that the common ter ritory, which is the public property, may be opened to the entry and settlement and equal enjoyment of all the citizens of every part of the Republic, with their property of every de scription; while it is the North who comes here and demands that the whole of this com mon domain shall be set apart exclusively for themselves and such persons from the South as will strip themselves of a certain species of their property, and conform their views to the policy of the North. I submit it to every candid man in the world, outside of the House, if this is not a fair statement of the question? The South asks no-discrimin ation in her favor. It is the North that is seeking to obtain discriminations against her rid her people. And who leads in this en deavor to control the action of the Govern ment for sectional objects? It is the gentle man himself, who brings his charge against the South. Sir, I deny the charge, and repel it. And I tell that gentleman, and the House, if these agitations are not to cease until the South shall quietly and silently yield to these demands of the North, it is useless to talk of any amicable settlement of the matters in con troversy. If that is the basis you propose, we need say nothing further about agreement or adjustment—upon those terms we can nev er seitle. The people of the South have as much right to occupy, enjoy and colonize these territories with their property, as the peo ple of the North have with theirs. This is the basis upon which I stand, and the principles upon which it rests are as immutable as right and justice. They are the principles of natu ral law, founded in natural justice, as recog nized by the ablest publicity who have written upon the laws of nations and the rights per taining to conquests. These acquisitions be long to the whole people of the United States as conquerors. They hold them under the Constitution, and the General Government, as common property in a corporate capacity. Mattel, in treating on this subject, in his work on the laws of nations, says, (book 1, chap. 20, p. 113): “All members of a corporation have an equal right to the use of the common property. But respecting the manner of en joying it, the body of the corporation may make such reg ulations as they may think proper, provided that those regulations be not inconsistent with that equality of right, which ought to be preserv ed in a communion of property. Thus a corporation may determine the nse of a common forest or a common pasture, either alloting it to all the members, according to their wants, or alloting each an equal share, but they have not a right to exclude anyone of the members, or*to make a distinction to his disadvantage, by assigning him a less share than that of the others.” The principles here set forth are those up on which 1 place the merits and justice of our cause. Under our Constitution, the power of making regulations for the enjoyment of the common domain, devolves upon Congress, the common agent of all the parties interest ed in it. In the execution of this trust, it is the duty of Congress to pass all laws neces sary for an equal and just participation in it. And so far from this common agent having any right to exclude a portion of the people, or “to make distinctions to their disadvan tage,” it is the duty of Congress to open the country by the removal of all obstructions, whether they be existing laws or anything else, and to give equal protection to all who may avail themselves of the right to use it. But you men of the North say, that we of the South wish to carry our slaves there, and that the free labor of the North cannot sub mit to the degradation of being associated with slave labor. Well, then, we say, as the patriarch of old said to his friend and kinsman, when disputes arose between the herdmen of their cattle: “Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee ? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me. If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or, if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.” In other words, we say, if you cannot agree to enjoy this public domain in common, let us divide it. You take a share, and let us take a share. And I again sub mit to an intelligent and candid world if the proposition is not fair and just ?—and w heth er its rejection does not amount to a clear ex pression of your fixed determination to ex clude us from any participation in this public domain. Now, sir, all that we ask, or all that I ask, is for Congress to open the entire country, and give an equal right to all the citizens of all the States to enter, settle and colonize it with their property of every kind, or to make an equitable division of it. Is this w rong ? Is it endeavoring to control the action of Con gress improperly to carry out sectional views and interests ? And am Ito subject myself to tho intended reproach of being an ultraist for insisting upon nothing but what is just and right ? If so, I am willing to bear whatever of reproach the epithet may impart. If a man be an ultraist for insisting upon nothing but his rights, with a willingness to compro mise even these upon any fair and reasonable terms, without a total abandonment of them, then lam an ultraist. And lam mistaken in the character of that people amongst whom I w r as born and with whom I have been reared, if a large majority of them, when all their propositions for adjustment and compromise shall have been rejected, will not be ultraists too. Be not deceived and do not deceive oth ers—this Union can never be maintained bv force. AVith the confidence and affections of the people of all sections of the country, it is capable of being the strongest and best Go vernment on earth. But it can never be main tained upon any other principles than those upon which it was formed. All free govern ments arc the creatures of volition—a breath can make them and a breath can destroy them. This Government is no exception to the rule. And when once its spirit shall have departed, no power on earth can ever again infuse into it the Promethean spark of life and vitality. You might just as well attempt to raise the dead. Mr. Chairman, when I look to the causes which lie at the bottom of these differences of opinion between the North and the South, and out of w r hich this agitation springs; when I look at their character, extent and radical nature—entering, as they necessarily do, into the very organization of society with us, I must confess that unpleasant apprehen sions for the future permanent peace and qui et of the different States of this Union force themselves upon my mind. I am not, how ever, disposed to anticipate evil by indulging those apprehensions unless compelled to do so. It may be that we have the seeds of dis solution in our system which no skill can eradicate, just as we carry w ith us in our bo dies the seeds of death which will certainly do their work at the alloted time. But be cause we are all conscious that w r e must die, it does not follow that we should hasten the event by an act of suicide. We have the business, duties and obligations of life to dis charge. So with this Government. Because I may have serious apprehensions of the workings of causes known to exist, I do not conceive it, therefore, to be in the line of duty, to anticipate the natural effects of those caus es by any rash or unjustifiable act. lam dis posed rather to hope for the best, while I feel bound to be prepared for the worst. What is really to be the future fate and destiny of this Republic is a matter of interesting specula tion ; but I am well satisfied, that it cannot last long, even if the present differences be adjusted, unless these violent and bitter sec tional feelings of the North be kept out of the National Halls. This is a conclusion that all must come to, who know anytliing of the les sons of history. But our business to-day is with the present, and not the future; and I would now invoke every member of this House who hears me, with the same frankness, earnestness and sin gleness of purpose with w hich I have address ed them throughout these remarks, to come up liko men and patriots, and relieve the country from the dangerous embarrassments by which it is at this time surrounded. It is a duty we owe to ourselves, to the millions we represent, and to the whole civilized world. To do this, I tell you again, there must be concessions by the North as well as the South. Are you not prepared to make them ? Are your feelings too narrow and restricted to embrace the whole country and to deal justlv by all its parts ? Have you formed a fixed, firm and inflexible determination to carry your measures in this House by numercial strength, and then to enforce them by the bay onet? If so, you may be prepared to meet the consequences of whatever follows. The responsibility will rest upon your own heads. You may think that the suppression of an out break in the Southern States would be a hol iday job for a few of your Northern regi ments, but you may find, to your cost, in the end, that seven millions of people fighting for their rights, their homes and their hearth stones, cannot be “easily conquered.” I sub mit the matter to your deliberate considera tion. I have told you, sincerely and honestly, that I am for peace and the Union upon any fair and reasonable terms —it is the most cherished sentiment of my heart. But if you deny these terms—if you continue “deaf to the voice” of that spirit of justice, right and equality, which should always characterize the deliberations of statesmen, I know of no other alternative that will be left to the people of the South, but, sooner or later, “to acquiesce in the necessity” of “holding you as the rest of mankind, enemies in war—in peace, friends.” SOUTHERN SENTINEL. COLUMBUS, GEORGIA: THURSDAY MORNING, SEPT. 5, 1850. O’ Several articles intended for publication this week arc necessarily omitted. Among them an interesting letter from “Rambler,” and the favors of “R. S. A.” and “S. J. A.” We hope our corres pondents will be patient. We are also compelled to omit a number of editorial articles designed for this itsue. “Laugh and Grow Fat.” —We find on our table anew work of one hundred and twenty pages, the title page of which is as follows: “A Ride with Old Kit Kuncker & other Sketches, & Scenes of Alabama Life, by J. J. Hooter, author of Simon ‘Suggs,’ &c. Jonce Hooper’s name is a sufficient recommenda tion of any thing in the way of humor. Every body has read, or ought to read, “Simon Suggs,” and no body who has read that, will fail to get this, the lirst opportunity. It is for sale at the book store of B. B. deGraffenried. Tiie CRors. —From all sections of the cotton coun try we receive gloomy intelligence of the crop*. A correspondent from Russell writes us : “The damage to the crop from the storm has been very severe.— We must have a very dry fall, or the cotton will rot, most of it being on the ground.” Later from Europe. —A Telegraphic despatch to the Times , announces tho arrival of the Atlantic with three days later European intelligence. Cotton had declined 1-4. Jennt Lind came over passenger. ID” Professor Webster was hung last Friday.— He made no farther confession. From Texas. —The Governor’s Message was re ferred to a committee of thirty-four members from both branches. Bills had been introduced author izing the Governor to raise 5000 troops, to whom a bounty of three hundred and twenty to twelve hun dred and eighty acres of land was to be given. Judge Berrien’s Letter.—Who is to Blame? We find in the Macon Telegraph , a number of letters from different gentlemen, in reply to invita tions to attend the Mass Meeting at that place. Among them is a letter from Judge Berrien, from which we extract the following paragraph : “ The immediate object of your assemblage, the Compromise bill, has been disposed of in conformity to your wishes; but questions of deep interest re main, and will, no doubt, engage your attention. Al low me to speak frankly with you, although I must necessarily do so briefly. The efforts of your repre sentatives here, have been paralyzed by our divisions at home. Georgia occupies a high position among the States of the Union. If her citizens had united in a firm and temperate demand of her rights, we could have obtained them. The absence of this union of sentiment has weakened us, and strengthened onr opponents. With a numerical superiority in both Houses in Congress, they have felt that they could exert it without hazard, as their interests or inclina tions might dictate. Looking, as they have studiously done, to the course of the press, and to conflicting results of the various public meetings in our State, it has been impossible to make them believe that we could be brought to unite in any mode of determined resistance. These considerations have also had their influence on Southern representatives. They are adverted to in no querulous spirit, but to urge you respectfully, but earnestly, as you value your constitutional rights, to union in future. Stimu lated by the prospect of success, which awaits a system of measures calculated to destroy your polit ical equality, our opponents will not pause in this crusade against our domestic institutions, unless thev are met by united counsels and a spirit of determined resistance, a calm, deliberate firmness, which shall manifest its sincerity. That political equality is in dispensable to our position in the Union. Its obtain ment should be the great leading principle of our po litical action, and every patriot Georgian, under what ever party banner he may have heretofore ranged, should rally to the standard of a great and united Southern republican party, whose motto should be ‘equality of rights,’ under our constitutional bond of union, and determined resistance to all who oppose them.” We agree with Judge Berrien in all he says about the necessity for union among Southern men, and we sincerely unite with him in deploring the evil consequences which have resulted to the cause of the South, from the absence of such unanimity, but we hope that if censure has been merited in this matter, it may rest whore it belongs. A few of our presses at home, and a number of our aspiring politicians here, have done us immense injury, but the un fortunate differences which have so nearly ruined our cause are to be attributed to other influences than these. In the party parlance of the day, our repre sentatives in Congress are called the servants of the people, but they really are the leaders. Their con stituents look to them for direction, and, as is invari ably the ease, where the representative has had the mind and the will, he lias given tone to public senti ment at home. We think we say no more than will be generally admitted, when we declare that there is not a Representative in Congress from this State, who could not with ease have decided the course of his District on the questions now before the country. We have elected our best men and sent them to Washington to look after our interests ; we have stationed them as sentinels upon the watch-towers of liberty with the expectation that they would not only defend our rights, but keep us advised of the in roads that were made upon them. We naturally look to them for advice, and reflect, incur own course, the indications afforded by theirs. Well, what has been the consequence in this crisis ? One of our Senators has taken bold ground against the Clay Compromise. He has done well, and we thank him for it. Our other Senator has taken ground in de fence of that Compromise. We are divided, then, in the Senate Chamber. In the other House, one of our Representatives lias, twice, ably advocated the Missouri Compromise, but has not indicated his posi tion on the Clay Compromise. Another lias come out distinctly in opposition, to the latter scheme, and his position abundantly illustrates the remark just made, that a Representative may give tone to senti ment at home. Another has, with equal boldness, avowed his preference for the Compromise, and the other five—alas ! where are they ? Echo answers where. There is not a man in Georgia who can positively locate either of our Representatives on this question. And, now, whose fault is it that \vc are di vided ? Are we to be told that these differences at Washington are the result of divisions at home ? Without intending to impugn any of our servants there, we may say, that if, instead of “looking, as they have studiously done, at the course of the press, and to conflicting results of the various public meetings in our State,” they liad watched the progress of things at Washington with an eye single to the good of the country , they would not have found so much difficulty in “uniting in any mode of determined re sistance.” And, now, in the language of Judge Berrien, these things “are adverted to in no querulous spirit, but to urge our Representatives and Senators in Congress, respectfully, but earnestly, a* they value our constitutional rights, to union in future. Stimulated by the prospect of success, which awaits a system of measures calculated to destroy our politi cal equality, our opponents will not pause in this cru sade against our domestic institutions, unless they are met by united counsels and a spirit of determined re sistance, a calm, deliberate firmness which shall man ifest its sincerity. That political equality is indis pensable to our Union. Its attainment should he the great leading principle of our political action, and ev ery patriot Georgian, under whatever party banner he may have heretofore ranged, should rally to the standard of a great and united Southern republican party, whose motto should be ‘equality of rights’ under our constitutional bond of union, and determined re sistance to all who oppose them.” [correspondence of the southern sentinel.] “Washington, August 24, 1850, In this city of illustrious memories, I ought to be inspired to write something worthy of an editorial correspondence. The journey from Columbus to this place, is so well known, that it would seem an act of supererogation to speak of the features that distin guish the country through which we pass. But the rays of light vary in hue, and brightness, according to the medium through which they are seen, and differ ent minds receive and present very different impres sions. To me, the city of Savannah appeared beauti ful ; wc approached it when the intense rays of an evening sun were beginning to melt into gold, and the majestic monument, erected to Pulaski, the Pol ish hero, who shed his 1 iff-Mood in our country’s cause, was the first object that greeted the stranger’s eye. The courts alternating with the streets, sha ded by luxuriant"trees, gave an air of repose and ru ral beauty to the city, that was exceedingly refresh ing. We beheld Charleston by the light of the morn ing sun. Its fine harbour, guarded by numerous forts, seems to defy the power of invasion. Some of these fortifications frown upon you in dark, gray stone, others wear a modern brightness of aspect, showing that the sons of the revolutionary fathers arc determined to preserve tho liberty purchased by their blood. As it was Saturday, the Jewish Sunday, we visit ed the Synagogue, a very elegant building, where we witnessed some of the interesting rites of their ancient religion. Hieroglyphic characters glittered over tho altar and reminded one of those days when God led his chosen people through the wilderness, when tho pillar of clouds went before them by day, and the pil lar of fire illumined their darkness. We visited the old churches and wandered amidst their ancient monuments. There was something ex tremely impressive in the subdued light comm” through the stained glass, the inonumented inscrip tions beneatli the feet, the weeping marble statues that filled the niches of the walls. But more inter teresting still, were the church yards, populous with past generations. Weeping willows iJvept, with long veiling boughs, over many a lofty monument and low ly grave, and the long grass sighed beneath the steps that carefully avoided desecrating each name less mound. My companion, who was equal to old Mortality in decyphering moss-grown stones, read some inscriptions written more than a hundred and fifty years ago, to immortalize the dead, who sleep beneath. The magnificent and solemn lines of Gray came back to the memory, with power, in this place of graves— “Can storied urn or animated bust, Back to the mansions call the fleeting breath, Can honor’s voice provoke tho silent dust, Or flattery soothe the dull, c<sld ear of death ?” I thought, too, of the sublime Thanatopsis of our own poet, Bryant, and felt the truth of his assertions, “that all that dwell on earth are but a handful to the tribes that slumber in its bosom.” We came near having an adventure in one of these solemn lo calities, for we found ourselves locked in, the living with the dead. I felt almost willing to remain, eve ry thing looked so peaceful and serene, the sun shone so calm on those white marble stones, the willows wept so gently over the silent dust.—l can say, with Greenwood, “I never shun a grave-yard.” The voyage from Charleston to Wilmington was delightful. The old “Vandervelt” bore us triumph antly along. I felt the joy that bounds in the sailor’s heart when on the bosom of the deep, deep sea— when, nothing was seen but the blue of the sky and the blue of the sea, meeting in onebroad, magnificent, ring, at night, clouds skirted the horizon, and the lightning, incessantly flashing, reddened the white foam of the waves and made the most brilliant fire works the immagination can concieve. The boat was excessively crowded and the cabins close and warm, but we sat on the hurricane deck, till near the mid night hour, feeling the freshness aud inspiration of the sea-born breeze. The Railroad journey from “Wilmington is too tedious and uninteresting to deserve a record. The most amusing, perhaps I should rather say, mourn ful incident, I recollect, was seeing a man—in all the glory of inebriation, leaning against a post, in an at titude of studied grace, with a smile of ineffable satis faction on his countenance. He flourished his arms, as the ear approached, and seemed to rejoice, when it stopped, that he might have an opportunity of giving out some of his superfluous eloquence. He said he liked to see men consistent. If they were temper ance men, he liked to see real total abstinence ones ; if they got drunk, he liked to see them do it in a gentlemanlike manner, as he did. “When we depart ed, he waved his hand gracefully after us, repeating Byron"* beautiful lines— “ Fare thee well—and if forever— Still forever fare thee well.” It seems to me, that old North Carolina was deem ed a privileged place, for there was no end to the witticism that the gay passengers perpetrated on the negroes and market women that greeted the #ar at every stopping place, with bushels of fruit and cake. Owing to some defect in the engine, we did not ar rive at Petersburg in time for the morning ears, so we were detained one day on the banks of the Appo matox. Tlio scenery around the city is picturesque and beautiful, and there is much that is interesting with in its suburbs. TV hat excited my admiration most of all, was an everlasting oak in the heart of the city, | that looked covered with.time itself. Far and wide it I stretches its gigantic branches, forming beneath its j boughs a grand amphitheatre. It stood in green un- I ” hhered prime—not one leaf had faded on its lnftv j coronet, no scar liad marred its massy, noble trunk. ; I forget whether they call it Carlu's or Harrison’s oak, but whatever name it beais, its grand old image is daguerreotyped on my memory in itrong enduring tints. We visited the old Blaridford church in the sub urbs of the city, around whose mouldering walls the dead are deposited. A short time sirtco this old brick church, as a friend informed me, was literally covered with garlands of ivy, that trailed over its damp and time-worn walls, presenting that appear ance of ruin so seldom seen in our new and young looking country. But think of the vandalism of the age! Those rich, luxuriant wreaths have been all swept away that the ruined walls might be repaired, and you see nothing but an old, ugly brick building, where those ivy-mantled towers so lately stood.— The moping owl may well now complain to the moon, of those whose barbarous hands have desecrated as will as “ molested her ancient solitary reign.” There are many beautiful and striking monuments around this old monument of an edifice. There was one that struck me from its beautiful simplicity. It was a plain marble obelisk, rising to a lofty height, with nothing on the pedestal but a wreath of roses, carved in bas-relief, with the sweet and simple name of Mary enclosed within, llow much more eloquent was this memorial than all the pomp of words. — Those wreathing roses breathed of youth arid beauty and love. That simple name seemed associated with woman's loveliest attributes. That sweet, unrivalled song, Burn's “ Highland Mary,” came to my re collection like a strain of plaintive melody sighing round that beautiful monument. Just as we left the grave-yard, the setting run, tinged with golden crim son, or crimsoned gold, the white stones, the old church and tho whole town of Petersburg, that spread out before us. You wall probably think I have a peculiar passion for grave-yards, as I have de scibed so many, but I hope, before this correspondence is closed, to take you to Mount Auburn, that Paradise of the dead. I will close this letter by transcribing some beautiful lines, which were traced with a pencil on the walls of the once ‘‘ivy mantled tower.” The authorship is unknown, but they are ascribed to Pow ers, the celebrated sculptor, as they were found im mediately after he had visited the church. 1 have promised to make a reply to it, and if the inspiration comes upon me, I will add it to niy next letter, which will be descriptive of the city of magnificent distances and stirring recollections. Lines written nn the Walls of the Old Blaridford Church, near Petersburg, Va. “Thou art crumbling to the dust, old pile ! Thou art hasting to thy fall! And around thee, in thy loneliness, Clings the ivy to the wall— The worshippers are scattered now Who met before thy shrine, And silence reigns where anthems rose, In days of auld langsyne. .Tnd sadly sighs the wandering wind, Where oft in years gone by, Prayers rose from many hearts to Ilim, The highest of the high ; The tramps of many a busy foot Which sought thy aisles is o’er— And many a weary heart around Is stilled forever more. llowdoth ambitious hopes take wing? How droops the spirit now 1 Wo hear the distant city’s din — The dead are mute below; The sun which shone upon their paths, Now gilds their lonely graves— The zephyrs which once fanned their brows, The grass above them waves. Oh ! could we call the many back, Who’ve gathered here in vain— Who’ve careless roved where wo do now, Who’ll never meet again— How would our very souls be stirrod, To meet the earnest gaze— Os the lovely and the beautiful, The light of other days 1” C. L. H, [XKW YORK CORRESPONDENCE.] New York, August 27, 1850. Fancy Dress Ball at Saratoga—Murder and Sui cide at Troy—Jenny Lind—Rejected Address es— The Poets of This Age—Return of Henry Clay—Accident to Mrs. Gen. Avezzana, i J-c. Dear Sir : Since my last letter, the great event of the fashionable season, the Fancy Dress Ball, lias ta ken place at Saratoga. Several days of wet and chil ly weather, about a week before its occurrence, dis 'pelled many of the visiters, who, like butterflies flit ting around flowers, remain only so long as there arc sunshine and pleasant weather; owing to this, and the fact that there was very little talk about the grand event, it was generally supposed that the Ball would be a failure. A day or two beforehand, however, brisk preparations were made, and on the evening in question a most brilliant assemblage graced the Hall. We have not space here to describe the various cos tumes worn, or to enumerate the distinguished per sons present; we would only say that the whole affair went off finely, and that there was dancing and fro licking enough to satisfy the nimblest Diana, and the gayest Lothario. But tho next morning, when the Hamlets, the Falstaffs, the Courtiers, the Sailors, and the Countesses, the Rebeccas, the Ilebes, the Pompadours, tho Nuns, tho Flower-girls, had laid aside their fustian, and appeared in propria persona, there was a sad re-union at the breakfast table, and a hundred head-aches in those well-dress ed heads of a hundred different degress of intensity. Immediately after the ball there was a perceptible diminution in the crowds at the Springs, and every train has been more than comfortably filled. I omit ted to state that the price of tickets to tho ball was $lO, or without costume sls. The cities of Troy, New York, and Brooklyn,have been thrown into considerable excitement by a sad event which happened in Troy on Tuesday of last week. Two persons calling themselves Mrand Mrs W A Caldwell, arrived at the St. Charles Hotel in that city on Sun day 7, the 1 Sth instant, and after remaining there for two days, during which time their singular conduct attracted much notice, were fonnd dead with their throats cut from ear to ear. Caldwell, the man, left several letters, from which it appears that they had made up their minds to suicide some time before. He was recognized as a worthless and profligate fellow, and had seduced the woman to desert her husband and elope with him. Her maiden name was Van Winkle, and sho was related to several highly re spectable families of Brooklyn. She was married to ITenry Knapp, formerly a printer, but of late keeper of “The Arbor,” a drinking house in Murray street, New York. In this establishment her beauty was a great attraction, and it is this probably that first ex posed her to her seducer. Her remains have been taken to Brooklyn for interment. I must keep you posted up in all that relates to Jenny Lind. She was expected in London on the 10th instant, where she was to be the guest of our minister, Abbott Lawrence. She was expected, be fore leaving to go to Osborne House, Isle of Wight, to bid farewell to Queen Victoria. At her concerts in Liverpool, on the 17th and 19th instants, every place was filled, although five hundred additional seats were placed round the hall. Enormous pre miums were offered for tickets. Meanwhile the furor here is still on the increase. Barnum’s offer of S2OO for the best “Welcome to America” for M’lle Lind has operated as quite a stimulus to the poetic genius of our land. Songs are said to be inundating the committee at the rate of thirty or forty a day. It is proposed to collect them afterwards and publish them in a volume, after the manner of Horace Smith’s “Rejected Addresses.” It would possess one attrac tion at all events—variety—and would, we are sure, be very 7 entertaining. The great number of candi dates for this prize proves sufficiently how strong is the impression in the breast of each individual member of the community that he or she ia a poet. “Rhyme ster*.” quaintly says an old writer, “rhymesters, in this generation, spring up as thick asjstalks of wheat in a rich field, and as suddenly ns a mushroom;” and ’ cril y our generation seems not to differ much from bis. maxim is now reversed, and we see daily instances that pacta fit , non nascitur. Henry Clay passed through this city on Saturday, | last on his return to Washington, having left New port on Friday night. He seems much invigorated. Mrs. Avezzana, wife of the General, while seated by the window in Broadway, tell asleep, and losing her balance, was precipitated upon the pavement be low, a distance of twelve feet. She was so severely injured that her recovery is hardly expected. Yours, &c. r* Q (taNKE* CORRESroNDENCE.] Boston, August 25, ISSO. The Weather—-Bank Abolished—Professor Web ster's Execution —Sanctimonious Rogue—New Way of Daguerreotyping — Paine's Light too Costly—Calhoun's Statue—Mr. James, the No velist—A Big Chimney, j-r. The weather in the North here has been very re markable. The erv front all quarters, for the past week, is, that the season is most inconsistently cold. At Saratoga the mercury was at 48 three mornings,and fires Were needed ; next morning it mounted up to 60, and the fires were partially put out. At Glou cester and Newport, the people who desired to be comfortable had their fires and top coats in active ser vice. Letters from Vermont and the North state that hail lias fallen in several places, and that anthra cite and flannel were in great request. Within tho last two days there ha* been a seasonable change,and the weather feels more like summer. Rain is failing to day, and the atmosphere is altogether moist and muggy. A bank in this city—the Haymafrket Square Bank —has been abolished in consequence of an injunction carried into the Supreme Court by sundry stockhold ers. It seems a Mr. Way, stated in court to be a bold, fraudulent speculator, got the control of the bank by securing to himself shares to the value of SIOO,OOO, choosing directors devoted to his views, and acting, in various ways, as if tho whole concern Were his own. Way’s character and course of pro ceeding were very roughly handled in court; and, to make a complicated story short, the result now is, that he hits promised to make good all the claims of the stockholders, in the fullest and most satisfactory manner, and retire into a comparatively private life, carrying his conscience along with him. Mr. Ware, a defaulting clerk of the Western Rail road Company, who had eloped to New York last week, was arrested there and carried back to Spring field, to answer for the defalcation in his accounts, amounting to $60,000, they say. Mr. S. A. Eliot lias gone to Congress for our first Congressional District. In his election Boston is said to have indicated a condemnation of the Wihnot Proviso, Ainsi soit-il. John W. Webster is to suffer next Friday 7. No body seems to think lie will anticipate his fate on the gallows with poison. He appears sedate and re signed. Somebody made a sort of demonstration in his favor, yesterday, by sending to tlie Transcript a letter written by Professor Webster to a friend in 1841, inculcating caution in the use of spirit lamps. This friend says that the convict having read in the papers of the numerous fatal accidents that have late ly occurred in this place, earnestly desired that his letter should be published to check, in some degree, the general carelessness in the manipulation of these tilings. It is a deplorable thing to see a man capa ble of doing so much enlightened service to society about to die the death of a felon. A report is in cir culation that Webster lias made a complete and true confession of the murder of Dr. Parkman, not to be promulgated till after he shall have passed into the world of spirits. I do not implicitly believe thi*. Webster is not a man to feel remorsefully and give way to bis conscience. His confession of the mur der, imperfect and unworthy of credit as it is gener ally considered here, was made with a view to a com mutation of sentence. This is now impossible—lie must die. And Ido not think that he will make the gratuitous sacrifice to truth and repentance implied in that reported confession. It is also reported that a sum of $12,000 is about to be collected for his family. But there is no truth in this. The truest charity and sympathy for them would be to let them pass away from the public mind. They will not be left desti tute, by any means, and such an attempt at collecting money would mortify them, by the failure of it. In spite of the fact that Webster seems resigned to his fate, we are by no means sure that lie will come out and die on the scaffold. Wo shall soon know ; only four days lie between him and the place where Dr. Parkman ha* been for the last nine months. A remarkable clerical impostor lias been just ar rested in this city. He i* tt gentlemanly young man about twenty-five years old, who booked himself at •oxeral of oitr principal hotel* as Rev. Mr. Sclilegel, for some three weeks past. Deleft these hotels ab ruptly, “without paying his stint,” and went away “down East.” At Manchester, (N. II.,) and else where, he victimized some stabler? and others, and got hi* name up there. News of his doings came to Boston, and the hotel-keepers were warned about him, and desired to give the police notice if he should call again. He did call again, the day before yester day, to th# Montgomery House, which place he had in reserve for a week's sojourn in Boston. An offi cer called on him there and found him calmly and gent#e!ly at breakfast. When invited to go to the Marshall’* office, he *aid it was a mistake, and went politely. But it was no mistake. A variety of let ter* were found upon him, addressed to clergymen, in all parts of the country—one of his schemes being to collect funds for building a German Baptist Church in Lafayette, (La.) His card-case was filled with card* bearing the name of Dr. Ncander, the distinguished theologian of Prussia. He tried to pass for a Ger man. Daguarreotypes of himself and a young lady were also found in his pockets. The Rev. gentleman was carried off to Manchester to be tried for feloni ously disposing of a horse and buggy. There is an artist in this city, Mr. Hawes, who professes to have discovered a plan by which an or dinary sized miniature can be magnified to life size, and thrown on canvass or any fiat surface, retaining, in this way. all the miniature clearness of the daguer reotype. This discovery would facilitate the work of the portrait-painter, and save a world of time, to the sitter. Mr. Paine's hydrogen light is not yet extinguished, though certain New York chemists damaged his pretensions a good deal, by saying that his gas was oil gas—not hydrogen gas. Mr. Mathiot, of the U. S. Survey, a metallurgist and man of practical sci ence, publicly asserts that hydrogen can be rendered brightly combustible by cold turpentine, just as Mr. Paine asserted. He found this by experiment. The end of all the elishmaclaver, as they say in bonny Scotland, is, that zinc, with the due quantity of vi triol and water, gives out hydrogen, which, passing through turpentine, makes a bright blaze. But this is not a cheap discovery. A blaze from coal gas would be cheaper. There is no doubt the hydrogen blaze can be evolved : but the question is, to make it available, to make it cheap. At pr#sent it is no bet ter than a theory. In the Providence Journal , I see a letter from Mr Paine, in which he says pecunia ry consideration will not permit him to give his dis covery to the world. lie says experiments are being made with his apparatus in a “far more important branch than either light or beat.” I don’t know what he mean* by this. But the truth seems to be that his discovery is too costly for the public. Zinc is too dear a material for the business. Chemistry must try about, and lay hands upon another, and I have no doubt she will do so before long. I see, by the Pittsburg Gazette, that Mr. Sutter, a respect able mechanic of Alleghany City, has found out a method of decomposing water by mechanical means without the use of the magnets —such (is Paine em ploys. He gets hydrogen, he says, at a merely nomi nal expense. Now, that is where Paine fails ; zinc is a serious expense. If both these discoverers would hut club their inventions, we should be all right; the problem would be solved for the world. But the thing is evidently “coming along,” and we s ] ia Uhave one “cheap fire” some of these mornings. I am happy to see that Powers’ fine statue of the lion. J. C. Calhoun, has been, found, in the wreck of the Elizabeth, by the officers of the IJ. S. Cutter Morris. Liout.Martin is about to get a sub-marine ar mor for tlio purpose of having the box slung for hoist ing. Mr. James, the English novelist, who i9 now liv ing at Staten Island with his family, is about lecturing on the “Chivalrie Ages,” in our chief cities. Ho knows a good deal about the history of these age*, having rummaged a great deal in them, for them#* and plots. It would be somewhat fresher and mere to tho purpose if he would lecture on these Cotter monger Ages of ours, and show the coutrasts of the old world and the new world civilizations, and point out the tendencies of this multitudinous progress that is for ever in our ears—for ever hurrying us on, on— never back —never to the middle ages. Chivalry is as threadbare a thing as Mr. James’ own talent at nov . el elaboration, in which, be it said, the elaboration is not novel, at all! We liavo got anew Glass Factory Chimney at East Cambridge, near us, which towers ten feet above the Bunker Hill monument. It is 230 feet high, and carries otF the smoko from half a dozen furnaces in the’ establishment, in such a way that it is dissipated in nubibus —among the clouds, instead of being evt into the dwellings, eyes and lungs of the public. T 1 e monument is no longer the tallest feature in the Bos tonian landscape. Look out for the big brick chim ney in the future engravings of us. YANKEE DOODLE. Proceedings of the Convention. MACON, August 22, 185 ft. Agreeable to a call of a large number of the Citizens of Bibb county, thousands of the citizens of Georgia, friendly to the ad justment of those causes which now distract our Federal relations, on the basis of the Missouri Compromise line, known as 36-30, north latitude, converted in tho Warehouse, occupied by Messrs. Field & Adams. The Convention was called to order by calling Col. Wm. C. Redding, of the county of Bibb, to the Chair. On motion of Alajor A. H. Colquitt, Ex-Gov. C,J. McDonald, of Cobh county, J udge C. B. Strong, of Houston, were erected Presidents of the Convention. On motion of Mr. S. J. Ray, the following gentlemen were elected Vice Presidents: Col. H. G. Lamar, of Clarke county. J. H. McMath, of Merriwether ‘ r J. A. Tucker, of Stewart “ Gen. 11. 11. Tarver, of ‘Twiggs “ Dr. Wm. C. Daniell, of Chatham “ W. Cleveland, of Crawford ” Col. J. Edmundson, of Murray “ Joseph L. Holland, of Jones “ Col. Allen Cochran, of Monroe “ Maj. J. 11. Howard, of Muscogee On motion of Mr. Ray, C. A. L. Lamar, of Chatham, and Thomas Hardeman, Jr., of Bibb county/ were requested to act as Secretaries of the Convention. The Convention having been organized by the election of the necessary officers, the meeting was opened with prayer, by tho Rev. Wm. Martin, of the county of Merri wether. Judge Strong, and Ex-Gov. McDonald, then made a few appropriate remarks as to the objects of the Convention, and expressive of their gratitude for the honor conferred upon them. Col. 11. G. Lamar moved the appointment of a Committee of Six to report business for the action of tho meeting; whereupon the chair appointed the following gentlemen : Col. 11. G. Lamar, of Clarke county; John W. Green, of Upson county; Major John 11. Howard, of Muscogee county; John Bilbo, of Chatham county ; Hon. John D. Stell, of Fayette, and Joseph Law, of Decatur county, said Committee. The Committee having retired, tho Hon. Robert Barnwell Rhett, of South Carolina, was loudly called l’or, who ascended the ros trum, and entertained the audience in a'speech of near two hours length, clearly and elo quently setting forth the aggressions of the North upon Southern Rights. Tho Committee appointed by the chair to prepare business for the Convention return ed and reported the following resolutions, through Col. 11. G. Lamar, their chairman : Resolved, That we approve the Resolutions and Address of the Nashville Convention, and recommend them to the cordial support of the people of Georgia. Resolved, That in recommending tho peo ple of Georgia to acquiesce in the applica tion of the Missouri Compromise line of 36-30, to the Territories of the United States with a recognition of slavery south of that line, we propose the acquiescence for tho sake of the peace of the country, and tho preservation of the Union. Resolved, That it is the constitutional right of the citizens to he protected in the enjoy ment, on the public Territory, of any pro perty, which, by the laws of the State, of which he is an inhabitant, he is authorized to own, and to withhold from him this protec tion, is to debar him of a constitutional right. Resolved, That the admission of Califor nia into the Union, with her present pretend ed organization, will be the sanction of tho most unjustifiable aggressions of intruders upon the public Territory, on the rights of the people of fifteen sovereign States of this Union. Resolved, That the Territorial policy of a majority in the two Houses of Congress, ia to prevent forever the admission of another slave State into the Union ; subvert the rights of the South in the public Territories, and eventually to abolish slavery in the States— thus converting a Government, which was established for the protection of all, into an engine of attack and spoliation of a portion of its members. Resolved, That we invite those who medi tate these aggressions, to pause before they perpetrate a wrong which they cannot reme dy, and to which a people having the spirit of freemen will never submit. Resolved, That should the events occur, in which it shall become the duty of the Gov ernor, under the direction of the last Legis lature, to call a Convention of the people of Georgia, to consider of the necessary mea sures of safety to the State, it is the opinion’ of this meeting that our Senators and Repre sentatives in Congress should immediately re turn to their State, and unite with their con stituents in consultation and action on such measures. Resolved, That the territory claimed by Texas to be within her boundary, is hers otr every principle of National law; that it is recognized by the resolution of Congress, admitting her into this Union. That the de mand of a portion of it now by the Govern ment, with a sword in one hand, and a purse in the other, is unbecoming the dignity of the nation, is grossly immoral, and cannot and will not be approved or sustained by a virtu ous and enlightened people. Resolved., That the message of President Fillmore to Congress, strongly intimating his determination, by force of arms, to prevent a sovereign member of this Confederacy from enforcing its laws in Territory which it bona fide claims tb be within its boundary, is with out warrant in the Constitution or laws, and if he attempts to carry his purpose into effect,, the public liberty and the safety of the Coa-