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‘ME SOUTHERN SENTINEL
IS i’LJiLlSlltl)
EVE iIY THURSDAY MORNING,
MV
T. LOMAX & CO.
TRN T XEXT LOMAX, picip.l editor.
CC n;i / ‘ I‘ldnlfth Stve<t.
Citcranj Department.
’’ovorcTED bt CAROLINE liEE HENTZ.
THE SPIRIT RAITIXGS.
The spirit lappings are again engrossing
a lion’s share of the talk; and the electro
biologists and mental alchemists are again
upon their winter’s beat. As faithful chroni
clers of the times, we cannot let them go bv
unnoticed. The biologists are eompaiative
ly vulgar, and do not extend their operations
beyond making a m in smell brandy out of a
pup of pure \vate\ or fancy that a red nose i
sinmUtak ifilv green. Their province is com
para Lively limited, and does riot as vet ex
tend into the spirit world.
Not so, however, of the rappers and table
•movers Tin* media are, we understand, mol
tipiyiug day by day to tiiseh no extent, that
presently no live man v ill be sure of his side
board, and no dead tasu will by sure of his
soul.
We do not tfttfin to speak too flippantly of
what the eery respectable wed in will tell us
we do net eonipreheud ; ami we only object
to the blatter that it takes oil’ so much from
TOC dignity of th spirit life ; and if Heaven
grants us the gift of übiquity, when once litis
dull mortality is shaken off, wo do humbly
hope and pray, and, as in duiv bound, will
ever prav, that we shall not come, down to
such scurvy occupation as rapping upon an
old lady’s table, or guessing at a dead matt’s
age!
We have, with all modesty, laid out for
ourselves what seems to us better employ
ment; and if worse comes to worst, we would
hope for no bu.-iaess at all, and no übiquity,
rather than to stand the catechizing of in
quisitive mortals. There rati be no doubt at
all that the m ist ext a<> dimiry answers have
been returned to many querists, sufficient ill
most to shrike our common sense. And there
js still less doubt, tint tables have moved, or
seemed to move', without the application of
any apparent bo-re. This lust may depend
pit some truths of animal maguethm, or elee
tiic influences, which me not yet fairly un
derstood. It is certainly somewhat easier t<>
believe this, than to believe that eithei good
/);■ bad spirits are at the bottom of the mat
ter; and being easier, we alio into it without
any harm to our consciences.
As for the spi it-eomniauications, we had
.rather count them strange, than to count
them -pii itnal; cur faith is taxed enough in
the grappling of weightier matters —matters
•which belong to Death and the Deity; and
•until it appear that anew faith, in these new
-come spirits, will make ns either healthier,
or heartier, or happier, we shall not cultivate
•faithfulness in them.
We happened the other day, upon an old
dissertation, by Increase Mather, upon angel
ical apparitions. The old gentleman, it will
be remembered, wrote and lived at a day not
faixremoved from the deviltry of witchcraft;
and as lie was himself a quasi believer in both
good and bad spirits, we shall bolster up our
friends of the nippings with a few pertinent
quotations:
“No good angel ev’er told a lye. lienee ,
that spirit whieh shall Ik* onee found in a lye, i
Comes not from Heaven. Or, if it does per
suade to any dishonest tiling, it is an evil
spirit. By thi< it was manifest, that the spir
its which Dr. Dee and Iviilet were so famil
iar with, supposing tilings* he good angels. ;
were unclean Devils: for. although those j
spirits did, for a long time, pretend ro great
sanctity, they, at last, advise to filthy tilings.
Or. if the seeming angels shall endeavor to
establish any notions in Religion not ground
ed in the Scripture, they are not from
Heaven.
“Or, if they shall speak any tiling which is
.not grave or weighty, it is easy to judge
what spirits they are. it is beneath the ma
jesty of an angel to speak or do any thing
whieh is trivial, mean, or little.
“If the apparitions are frequent, and the
spirits that come use familiar converse, it is
much to he feared that they are not from
Heaven, lint from Hell. If these spit its ap
pear to Females only, who are the weaker
sex (deluded Increase Mather!) and more ea
y to He Imposed on, that renders the case
vet mote suspicious. It was part of the Dev
-ii’s subtlety in the tirst.temptation which he
assaulted mankind w ith, that lie began with
the woman ; and he hath found such success,
as to hold on in the same course [ever since]
Flow manv women have been lanioits in
some former dark ages, on account ot pre
tended angelical revelations and apparitions!
There was tSt Iliidegardis, with whose reve
lations as wise a man as Bernard was de
ceived. There was Lntgardis, whose many
revelations me re; > ded by Sin ins. There
was St. Bridget, Klizahc thn, Liduiria, Cath-
Arina, Agnes. Politiana, and l know not how
many more such, of whose converse with
spirits, Sandenus, Dolrio, and other such au
thors, have published strange things. Ifeveran
age for angelical apparitions shall come, no
question but men, and not women only, will
be honored with their visits, of which 1 hear
little or nothing at present.”
He further tells this strange story —not
.without its pertinency to the present fever—
of a certain Christina Poniatovia, the pious
daughter of a pious minister, who was of a
noble family in Prussia: £
“This, her Father, was a learned and a ju
dicious Divine, and a great opposer of Reve
lations and Visions, wjto, when he understood
that his daughter pretend#! t t ? ha did,
YOL. 111.
with great solemnity and severity, lay obtesta
tions on her, that she should not regard tiierr..
Neveitheless, he himself did at the last think
rhat they were Spiritual and Divine. Those
superemiuent Divines, Yedelius and Diodat,
and other learned men in Germany, had a fa
vorable opinion ot them. C’ommenitis, who
was her Tutor and Spiritual Father, has re
lated such things of her as are marvellous
and unaccountable. Once, when an aged
minister came to visit and comfort her, being
sick, as soon as he was gone, she said to her
Tutor: ‘That good old mao little thinks that I
lie will be the fiist of all the Pastors that shall ‘
go into the Eternal City/
“Her Tutor asked her how she knew that ?
To whom she replied. ‘I was with the Lord)
and 1 saw the Pastors that live here coming
one after the other, of whom he was the first.’
She likewise told him that she saw Stadias,
who was a young, and a strong, healthy man,
come after him. And that because she did
not see Comrneniiis, site asked the res
•on. She was t**hi that God had work for
him to do on earth, and therefore he must
not go to heaven as yet.
“These things happened nccoMiingly 1
That Pastor dyed first, and then the rest;
ami Stadias when he was but in tj;e fortieth
year of his age. But < ‘nipnipiiius five:l above i
forty years after.
“An angel appeared to her, and told her
she should speedily dye of an Apoplexy : she
was that night smitten with that disease. :
She made her will, and took her leave of all
her friends; was for some time thought to be
really dead: there was no breath perceived
in her, but she was grown quite cold; her
hands and feet were become stiff, like a dead
person’s. Vi! persons went out of the room, |
leaving only two nurses to Jay her out. But
on a sudden she rose up in her bed, and
called for Iter clothes, and was in such per- j
lect health as before she had not been in, her i
lame hand and foot being whole and perfect, j
to tiie astonishment of all about her.
“ The account which she herself giveth of
t'n.s matter is, that on the day before, there
uas a knocking or striking on the Table—
first, one. stroke ; and after that, Jive; whence
she concluded that tire next day she would
dye at five o’clock in the afternoon ; that she i
heard a voice saving, ‘Come ! come! rime/’ j
VY hen that evening came, her sight and
speech failed; and (say s site) ‘I felt myself
go foith with my Spirit, and he carried into j
heaven, where, surrounded with a groat shi
ning, I saw a huge company clothed in white :
and the Lord stepping forth, took me in his j
embrace/ She added that the Lord told her
s.ie should return again, and behold his good
ness in the land of the living; that her dis
ease should leave her. Whereupon she wor
shipped him, and was restored to life, and to
full vigor, health and strength, in that very
moment.
“This, surely , is a strange relation ; yet re- j
posted as credible by as grave and learned a i
man as Commetiius. Now, 1 must confess, I
am not easy to believe that Christina’s death, I
or her ascension into Heaven, was real, but !
that they were both fantastical.”
Mr. Mather’s opinion jogs rather severely
upon that of the German pastors; the story,
however, goes to show, if nothing more, that
the spirits of old time were not unused to
rapping* upon tables; and that the devils—
if devils they are—have alway s Lad a gilt of
the* knuckles.— Harper’s Magazine.
\
MADAME DE YAI.LIERE.
Some graceful French feuilletonist has told
latterly a pretty storv of an episode in the
; life of Mad line de Valliere, which does not,
| we fancy, appear in the biographies.
It appears that when the gallant Louis
XiV. took possession of the splendid palace
; of \ ersailks, and the court (of which the
V dliere was even then a petted member)
were amusing themselves upon the parterres,
and in the magnificent alleys which Le Notre
had wrought, the younger graces of the cir
cle (La Yallier among them) contrived
the frolic of walki. g blindfold down the
main avenue, to the great fountain of
Neptune.
La Valliere, with pretty feet and coquet
tish air, and eves hound up with scarf, bear
ing the royal cipher, strayed more wildly
I than any ; and with pretty naivete, appealed
to the grave Bnssuet to know why it was,
I that she could not walk in a direct path, but
was forever going astray ?
“They who walk upon the parterres ot tiie
court,” said Bossuet, “if they be young and
beautiful, must neither bandage their eyes
nor their conscience.”
Time went on, and the pretty wearer of
tiie scarf, with the royal cipher, was as good
as queen. Poets made ditties in her honor;
and courtiers won her to their suits. Racine
threw at the feet of the gallant monarch that
perfumed drama of Berenice, in which lie had
wrought up ancient story into delicate flat
terv of the lover monarch.
Rut, with the lapse of years, La Valliere
had lost her hold upon the affections of the
king; loving him still, as such wronged wo
j man will love, through all her vices, she bore
up in the hojie of winning again the distinc
tion that seemed slipping from her grasp.
The night for the show of Berenice had
come; and La Valliere, wandering tearful in
her apartment, searches in her jewel-box for
that old and tenderly cherished scarf, bear
! ing the cipher of the king. But the scarf is
j gone: and taking only a simple gold ring,
| which is (Oldest memento of jgt royal Ipve,
j y i’ . ‘’ j| f
she plumes herself to the air of the time, and
takes her place in the royal box.
The drama lias its sad touches; and not a
few which chimed to the wayward life of the
royal lover, who was the courted listener.
I rider all, however, the Valliere bore up
bravely, until the hero of tiie piece savs to
the desponding fair one that loves him: “It
is ended; we must part!”
Poor La Valliere, riot so barren of imngi
nation, or so bereft of forecast, but that she
saw in this, the heralding of her own sad sto
ry, with difficulty could hold her place. And
“hen the drama ripened into actual and ag
onizing grief, her courage sank, and the roy
al theatre-goers, pushing their way out of the
princely scene-room, Lit La Valliere in tiie
hands of t| K . tiring women, and to the kind
ness of the pin sieian.
There was no Valliere at the ball which
followed the play: but alone, forgotten, un
called for, she paced those chambers which
had been the scene of so many of her ribald
joys. The laugh and the shout of that beau
ty of Montespan, which was fast eclipsing
her fallen fortunes, reached to her princely
chambers, and echoed like sepulchral mock
ery between the walls of her royal tomb.
Again site sought her casket, to replace
that ring—the pledge of so much and of so
little—when she found, to her amazement, the
old and tenderly cherished scarf in its place.
But. alas, for La Valliere, and alas, for her
presentiments of the evening, the royal ci
pher was torn a.vay, and tiie scarf bore onlv
now toe name of Berenice. Fatality had
crowded oil her, and the heroine of tiie play
was but she herald of her woes.
Again, at the feet of tiie mild Bossuet, in
this day of her affliction, she threw hers ‘if:
confessing, tearfully, how with bandaged
eyes and bandaged conscience, she had stray
ed through the sweet gardens of the court;
and “Now—now, sire, guide me to repose!”
“Repose, madam 1 Alas! God only can
guide you there through paths of'grief.”
And the grief came quick and heavy; and
in after years, when u ith fortunes all fallen,
La V allit-rc went out, on iter way to the Con
vent of the Carmelites, she gave up the last
trophies of her palace life to tlso se who smi
led at her wreck : a ling to one, and a neck
lace to another; but to the .Montespan, who
had supplanted her in the king’s favor, she
gave, with a vengeance that she did not
know, the long cheiished scarf—once broid
ered with the cipher of tiie king—but now
bearing only the bitter words, “the scarf of
Berenice ”
A vengeance it proved; because, in her
turn, the .Montespan yielded to another, and
served only as a stepping-stone for the proud
and gallant king, on the way to his “deep
damnation.”
And with this we close our budget, until
the winds shall have piped the refrain of the
dying year, and we greet our readers upon
the threshold of ’s!>.
A MARTIAL I'iG.
During the last war with Knghnd, a com
pany of volunteer soldiers, de-giaed to join
Shelby’s army for the invasion of Canada,
had their rendezvous at Harroilshurg, in
Kentucky, and remained there some time,
while others were gathering there to prepare
for their march towards’the Oiiiogtiver; they
saw two pigs fighting each other, and halted
to see the battle ended. Wuen they resun eel
their march the victorious pig was seen fol
lowing the soldiers, and at night when the
troops encamped, the pig found a shelter
near by and halted also. Flic next day the
; pig marched on again with the troops, ami
continued to accompany them till tiiev reach
ed the river opposite Cincinnati, where they
crossed on a ferry boat. The pig, on g filing
to the water’s edge, plunged in and swam
across and waited on tin* other side till the
troops were again prepared to march in
the same way the pig kept on with the troops
till they came to Lake Erie.
As the men had their attention turned to
the pig, it became a pet, and they gave it full
share of the rations which they received ;
and although the troops themselves were of
ten almost destitute of food, they never
! thought of putting the knife to the throat of
■ their fellow-soldier, tire pig. At times it fa
red rather scantily, but it still grunted on
j ward ami manifested as much patriotism, in its
way, as its biped comrades whom it accom
panied. At the Lake the pig embarked with
i the soldiers and went as far as Bass Island.
; Some of the horses were left at that place,
and although the pig was offered a passage
! over to Canada, it refused to go any further.
Some of the soldiers attributed her conduct
there to constitutional scruples , and ob
served that she knew that it was contiary to
tiie Constitution to force a milifnrv pig over
the. line.
When the campaign was ended, and the
troops came back, as soon as the line of
march was formed, they were astonished to
see the pig on the right of the line, ready to
resume the march with the rest. By ibis
time the winter had set in, and the pig suf
fered very much on its way back again. It,
however, reached Mavsville, Kentucky,
where the troops re-crossed the Ohio River.
There the pig gave out, but was placed in
trusty hands by Gov. Shelby, and finally was
taken to the Governor’s home, where she
passed the rest of her days in ease and idle
ness. There are many living who were wit
nesses to the fact I have stated, which I read
a few vears since in a work containing many
COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, THURSDAY MORNING, DECEMBER 9, 1852.
interesting incidents and historical facts re
specting the early .settlements of Kentucky.
A TIGHT PLACE.
Duiing tiie process of re-building the low
er portion of Xew-York City, which was de
stroyed by the great fire of i835, two Irish
men, employed as hod carriers upon a block
of brick stores in Beaver street, were seen
loitering about half an hour after the other
workmen bad left the premises one evening.
1 here was a quantity of staging and other
lumber lying about, loose, in different parts
of the building, which these men had not j
lost sight ot daring tiie day, and they re- i
mained behind to secure a back-load of!
boards, which they had found leisure, in the !
afternoon, to get together at the top of the i
house where they had been at work.
YV hen it had got to be thoroughly dark,
Patrick ventured to ascend the ladder lead
ing to the half-finished roof, followed by Ins :
friend .Michael, for the purpose of securing
the plunder they had gathered together.
Having gained (lie upper storv, the two
friends leisurely commenced to “wood up,”
” hen Patrick suddenly dropped his pile, and
turned wildly to his companion with the in
terrogation :
“YVhat’s that V*
“Mnrther,” shrieked Michael in response; !
and in another instant the two lumber thieves ‘
had scrambled, one over the oilier, out upon
the edge of tiie rear wall of the building, as
n \
the entire trout went down with a crash into ;
the street! i lie hack wall trembled violent
ly with the shock, the heavy timber gave wav
at one end, ami, Patrick having seized upon I
it as it partial!v descended, Michael clum* to i
bis sifirts witn the desperation ot a drowning ,
>i .... !
man ; and the two friends found themselves, !
on a sudden, dangling between heaven and j
oarth, in the darkness, from the edge of the j
frail limbers!
I
“Oeh! bad luck to it, Michael!” shouted j
Patr iek as he clung to the conductor, “what ‘
are ve doing ?”
“Faith, Patrick, I’m houldia’ mesel” fast ;
to that, beautiful futof yours!”
“Ah, begorra, Michael, we’re done for!
Let go the fut, man—let go the tut, or we’re
murthered, the both uv us, so we are !”
“All, bejabers, Michael, mind yer business
“id the timbers now, fornint ye, there; and
don’t be botherin’ yersel’ wid the fut. It’s!
sure ye may be that Michael Maloney,, will I
take care us the fut.”
“Let a lope yer houit, v.e spalpeen ve! It’s
mesel’ as wudu’t bo kilt wid ye!
l say!”
“Geli, Pat, is this the way ve bate a friend
that’s clung to ye fer nigh a year? Bv the
powers ye may well say that Michael Malo
ney won t quit ve now!” and, inditeuinir hi
gripe, Michael seemstl determined upon ad
hering to the only chance apparently left him
for safety from a terrible death.
Michael shouted “murther !” at the top of
: his voice, and really did ail in his power to
attract any aid which might chance to bo
within hearing distance; but Patrick found it
impossible to support liis own weight and
his friend’s beside, and after several violent
I kicks and struggles, Michael found he must
1 go for it, or bring down his companion.—
Deciding it to be better to leave liis friend to
the chances than to destroy Patrick as well
as himself, he made up his mind to swing off,
■ though a. broken skull, shattered limbs, or
| certain death, seemed inevitable. Having
received a most unchristian-like hint on the
i top ol his cranium from the boot-heel of his
friend’s “iui,” which happened to he at lei
sure, his determination was hastened.
“Oeh, then, good bye, Patrick,” said Mi
chael, in a suit of dying speech, “bad luck
to it; but 1 didn’t stale the boords, Patrick,
j mind ye. Goodbye; I’ll he smashed into
pergatory, for cert’n, I will. Mould on the
! limber, Patrick, and look to me wife and
childrens —owl” and with a most unearthly
! scream he quit his grip upon his friend’s foot,
! uho gave him a final “to the divil wid ye!”
and down went Michael with a rush.
It so chanced, in the darkness, that the
frightened irishmen had not the remotest idea
!of their real position. One end of the ti mber
: to which Patrick clung, had lodged, as it was
falling, upon tiie adjoining building, distant
only about fifteen feet from the ground ; so
; that. Michael had been dangling all tire while,
in fact, but abont a foot from the earth! At
the moment he quit his hold upon Patrick’s
foot, he imagined he was being launched into
eternity, and his surprise may be conjectured
when lie found that instead of this, he was
launched safely into a muddy passage way
which ran between the buildings !
“llowly Murther!” continued poor Pat
rick, still clinging in despair to the gutter,
some six feet from terra firrna, “Oh, me wife
and chiiders ! Help! Murther! help!”
“Come down out o’ that, ye blulrdherin*
fool!” exclaimed Michael, evidently disap
pointed to find that he wasn’t hurt at all.
“Down wid yer, I say ! It’s a mighty fuss
ye’re makin* up there about nath’n !”
j “YY 7 hat, Michael, is it yersel’ there?”
“Bejabers, ve’re wak- in’ the whole sthreet
wid yer bloody howlin’—come down, I say,
and leave the boords till niorniu’.”
Patrick was soon released from this plight
by the aid of a short ladder which Michael
procured near bv, and the two friends jogg
ed along homewards, declaring that they had
i never been in so “tight a place” before.
, | Whenever they had occasion to provide
| themselves with fire-wood afterwards, both
j Michael and Patrick did it by day-light!
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE.
Fellow citizens of the Senate
and of the House of Representatives :
The brief space which has elapsed since the j
close of your last session has been marked by
no extraordinary political event. The quad- ■
rennial election of Chief Magistrate has passed .
off with less than usual the excitement. Mow- j
ever individuals and parties may have been dis- j
appointed in the result, it is nevertheless a sub- j
fi-ct of national congratulation that tiie choice j
his been effected by tire independent suffrages j
of a free people, undisturbed by those intluen- j
ces which in other countries have too olten j
affected the purity of popular elections.
Our grateful thanks are uue to an All-mer- :
cifui Providence not only for staying the pes- ,
tilence which in different forms has desolated j
some of our cities, but for crowning tiie Labors ■
of rhe husbandman with an abundant harvest. I
and tiie nation generally with tiie biessiugs of •
peace and prosperity.
Withii a few weeks the public mind lias been ;
deeply affected by the death ot Daniel \Y tb- i
ster, filling at his decease the office ot iseereta
ry of State. His associates in the Executive I
government have sincerely sympathized with [
his family and the public generally on this j
mournful occasion. His commanding taients, ;
his great political and professional eminence, 1
his well-tried patriotism, and ins long and faith- j
fut services, in the most important public trusts, j
have caused liis death to be lamented through
out tfie corn !rv,and have earned tor him a last
ing place in our history.
In the course of the last summer considera
ble anxiety was caused for a short time by an
official intimation from the government of Great
Britain that orders had been given lor the pro
tection of the fisheries upon tiie coasts o; tiie j
British provinces in North America against tiie .
alleged encroachments ot the fishing vessels .
of the United States and France, i’iie snort- i
ness of this notice and the season ot the year j
seemed to make it a matter of urgent impor- !
tance. It was at first apprehended that an in- j
creased naval force had .been ordered to the j
fishing grounds to carry into effect the British
interpretation of those provisions in theconveu* j
tion of 1818, in reference lo the true intent ol :
wliidi two*.he governmets differ, it was suon j
discovered that such was not the design or ;
Great Britain, and satisfactory explanations ol\
the real objects of the measure have been given j
both here and in London.
The unadjusted difference, however, between j
the two governments us to the interpretation i
of the first article of the convention in 1818 i.- j
still a matter ol importance. Amencdii fishing ■
vessels within nine or ten years have neon ex- ;
chided from waters to which they had free ac- :
cess for twenty-live veins alter the negotiation ;
of the treaty. ’ In 1845 this exclusion was re-j
taxed so far as concerns tiie Biy old utidy, but i
the just and liberal intention ol the Home gov- j
eminent, in compliance with what we think, the j
true construction of the convention, to open j
all the other outer bays to our fishermen, was !
abandoned, in consequence ot the opposition ol
the colonies. Notwithstanding this, the United
States have, since the Bay of Fundv was re
opened to our fishermen in 1845, pursued the
most liberal course toward the colonial tisiuug
interests. By the revenue law of 18 Uk the
duties on colonial fish entering our ports were
very greatly reduced, and by the warehousing ;
act it is allowed to he entered in bond without i
payment of duty. In this way colonial fi-h has
acquired the monopoly ot the export trade ;n |
our rnarkf t, and is entering to some extent into j
the home consumption. These facts were
i among those which increased the sensibility !
! of our fishing interest; at the movement in i
! question.
j These circumstances and the incidents above !
1 alluded to have led me to think the moment fa- j
I vorablc for a reconsideration o! the entire subject
! of the fisheries on tfie coasts ot the British
| provinces, with a view to place them upon a
; more liberal footing of reciprocal privilege. A
. willingness to meet us in some arrangement oi
: this kind is understood to exist, on the part or
Great Britain, with a desire on her part to in
i elude in one comprehensive settlement, as wen
! this subject as tiie commercial intercourse be-
I tween tiie United States and the British pro
: viuces. I have thought that whatever arrunge
! meats may be made on tfie e'w-; •• u jecis it is
j expedient'that they should be embraced m se|)g
; a rate conventions. The illness and death ot
i tiie late Secretary of State prevented the coni
| msneement of the contemplated migration. —
l Pains have been taken to collect the i .forma
! tion required tor the details ot such an arrange
-1 meet. The subject is attended with eonsider
j able difficulty. If it is found practicable to come
i to an agreement mutually acceptable to the
I two parties, conventions may be concluded in
: the course of the present winter. The control
I of Congress over ail the provisions oi such an
| arrangement, afiectiug the revenue, will oi
! course be reserved.
; The affairs of Cuba formed a prominent toj>-
|ic in my iast annual message. They remain
j in an uneasy condition, and a feeling ol alarm
i and irritation on the part of the Cuban authon
j lies appears to exist. This feeling has interfe
red with the regular commercial intercourse be
j tween ihe United Slates and file island, and ied
| to some acts of which we tnve a right to com
i plain. But the Captain General of Cuba is
I clothed with no power to treat with foreign gov
j enuneiits, nor is he in any degree under the
I control of the Spanish Minister at Washington.
! Any communication which lie may hold with
j an agent of a foreign power is informal acd mat
| ter of courtesy. An xious to put an end to the
j existing inconveniences, (which seemed to rest
t on a misconception,) l directed the newly op-
I pointed Munster to Mexico to visit Havana, on
j iiis way to Vera Cruz, lie was respectfully re
j ceived by tiie Captain General, who cjulorred
| with Him freely on tiie rece t occurrences ; hut
i no permanent arrangement was effected,
i In the mean time the refusal of the Captain
j General to allow passengers and the maii to be
! larniwd in certain cases, for a reason which does
; not furnish in tiie opinion of tins Government
j evc-ii a good presumptive ground for such a
! prohibition, has been made the subject of a seri
| oils remonstrance at Madrid, and I have no
; reason to doubt that due respect will be paid by
j the government of Her Catholic Majesty lo the
: repesentatious which our Minister has been in
structed to make on the subject.
I It is but justice to the Captain General to add,
j tiiat iiis conduct toward tiie steamers employed
l to carry the maiis of the United Slates to Hava-
Ina has, with tiie exceptions above alluded to,
ueen marked with kindness and liberality, and
1 indicates no genera! purpose of interfering with
the commercial correspondence and intercourse
i between the island and this country.
Early in the present year official notes were
received from the Ministers of France and Eng
land, inviting the -Government of the United
States to become a party with Great Britain and
i France to a tripartite Convention, in virtue of
i which the three powers should severally and
■ collectively disclaim, now and lor the future, ail
intention to obtain possession of the Island
iof Cuba, and should bind theinseives to dis
| countenance all attempts to that effect on
; the part of any power or individual whatever.
This invitation has been respectfully declined,
for reasons which it would occupy ioo much
space in this communication to state in detain
but which led me to think that the proposed
j measure would be of doubtful constitutionality,
. impolitic, and unavailing. I have, however, in
; common with several of my predecessors, di
-1 rectea the Ministers of prance and England to
j be assured that the United States entertain no
designs against Cuba; but that, on the contra
ry, 1 should regard its incorporation into the
Union at the present time as fraught with seri
ous peri!.
Were this island comparatively destitute of in-1
habitants, or occupied by a kindred race, I j
should regard it. it voluntarily ceded by Spain, j
as a most desirable acquisition. But, under on- j
isting circumstances. 1 should look upon its it - j
corporation into our Union as a very hazardous j
measure. It would bring into the Confederacy j
a population of a different national stock, speak- J
mg a different language, and not likely to liar- t
momze with the other members. It would pro
bably .affect in a prejudicial manner the hunts- j
trial interests of the South ; and it might revive j
those conflicts of opinion between the different j
sections of the country, which lately shook the j
Union to its centre, and which have been so I
happily compromised.
The rejection by the Mexican Congress of the
Converiti >ll which had been concluded between
that Republic and the United States, tor the pro
tection of a transit w-ay across the Isthmus of
Tehuantepec and of the interests of thus-- citi
zens of the United States who had become pro
p’„ ors of tiie rights which Mexico had cotifer
reu none of her own citizens in regard to that
transit, lias thrown a serious obstacle in the way
of the attainment of a very desirable national
object. lam s’ill willing to hope that the dif
ferences on the subject which exist, or may
hereafter arise, between the gov- rmnents, will j
be amicably adjusted. This subject, however, j
has already engaged the attention of the Senate j
of the United States, and requires no further
comment in this communication.
Thr settlement of the question respecting the
port of San Juan de Nicaragua, and of the con
troversy between the Republics of Costa Rica
and Nicaragua in regard to their boundaries,
was considered indispensable to the commence
ment of the ship canal between the two oceans,
which was lire- subject of the Convention be
twe< n the United States and Great Britain oi
the 19th of April, 1850. Accordingly a propo
sition for the same purposes addressed to the
two governments in that quarter, and to the
Mosquito Indians, was agreed to m April last by
the Secretary of State and the Minister of her
Britannic Majesty. Besides the wish to aid in
reconciling the differences between the two re
publics, I engaged in the negotiation from a de
sire to place the great work of a ship canal be
tween the two oceans under one jurisdiction,
and to establish the important port of San Juan
de Nicaragua under the government of a civili
zed power. The proposition in question was
assented to by Costa Rica and the Mosquito In
dians. It has not proved equally acceptable to
Nicaragua, but it is to be hoped that the furtheP
negotiations on the subject which are in train,
will be carried on in that spirit of conciliation
and compromise which ought always to prevail
on such occasions, and that they will lead to a j
satisiactory result.
I have the satisfaction to inform you that the
executive government of Venezuela has ac
knowledged some claims of citizens of the Uni
ted States, which have tor many years past been
urged by our charge d’affaires at Caraceas. It j
is hoped that the same sense of justice wiil ae- j
finite the Congress of that Republic in providing j
the means for their payment.
The recent revolution in Buenos A v rev and j
the confederated (States having opened the pros
pect of an improved state of tilings in that quar
ter, the governments of Great Britain, quid
France determined to negotiate with the chief
of the new Confederacy for the frgj access of
their commerce to the extensive countries wa
ited by the tributaries of the La Piata; and
they gave a friendly notteq of this purpose to
the United (States, that we might, if we thought
proper, pursue the same course, -kin compli
ance with this invitation, our minister at Rio
Janeiro and our charge d’affaires at Buenos
Ayres have been fully authorized to conclude
treaties with the newly organized Confederation,
or the States! composing it. The delays which
have taken place in the formation of the new
government have as yet prevented the execu
rion of those instructions; but there is every
r ‘a.-on to hope that these vast countries will be
eveiitmi'lv opened to our commerce.
A treaty of commerce has been concluded be
tween! the United States and the Oriental Re
public of Uruguay, which will be laid before the
Senate. Should this Convention go into opera
tion, it will open to the commercial enterprise of
our citizens a country of great extent and un
surpassed in natural resources, but from which
foreign nations have been hitherto almost whol
ly excluded.
The correspondence of the late Secretary of
S aie with the Peruvian charge d’affaires rela
tive to the Lobos Islands was communicated to
Congress towards the close of the last session.
Since that time, on further investigation of the
subject, the doubts which had been entertained
of the title of Peru to those islands have been
removed; and I have deemed it just lhat the
temporary wrong which had been unintention
ally done her, from want of information, should
be repaired by an unreserved acknowledgment
of her sovereignty.
1 have the satisfaction to inform you that the
course pursued by Peru has been creditable to
the liberality of her government. Before it was
known by her that her title would be acknowl
edged at Washington, her Minister of Foreign
Affairs hnd authorized our charge d’affaires at
Lima to announce to the American vessels which
had gone to the Lobos for guano, that the Pe
ruvian Government was willing to freight their?
on its own account. This intention has been
carried into effect by the Peruvian Minister here,
by an arrangement which is believed to be ad
vantageous to the parties in interest.
Our settlements on the shores of’he Pacific
have already given a great extension, and in
1 some respects anew direction, to our commerce
in that ocean. A direct and rapidly increasing
. intercourse has sprung up with Eastern Asia.
1 Tim waters of the Northern Pacific, even into
the Arctte sea. have of late years been frequent
ed by our whalemen. The application of steam
to trie general purposes of navigation is becom
ing daily more common, and makes it desirable
j to obtain fuel and other necessary supplies at con
j ’-enient points on the route between Asia and our
Pacific shores. Our unfortunate countrymen who
; from time to time suffer shipwreck on the coasts
i of the eastern seas are entitled to protection.
Besides: th-v.-e specific objects, the general pro
! peri tv of our Slates on the Pacific requires that
I an attempt should be made to opc-n the opposite
i regions of Asia to a mutually beneficial inter
i course. It is obvious that this attempt could be
made by no power to so great advantage as by
’ the United States, whose constitutionar system
; excludes every idea of distant colonial depen
dencies. I have accordingly been leu to order
an appropriate naval force to Japan, under the
I command of a discreet and intelligent officer ot
; ihe highest rank known to our service. He is
j instructed to endeavor to obtain from the gov
j eminent of that country, some relaxation of the
I inhospitable and anti-social system which if has
> pursued for about two centuries. He has been
: directed particularly to remonstrate in the stron
; gest language against the cruel treatment to
j which our shipwrecked mariners have often
! been subjected, and to insist that they shall be
; treated with humanity. lie is instructed, how
; ever, at the same time to give that government
; the amplest assurances that the objects of the
United States are such and such only as I have
, indicated, and that the expedition is friendly and
j peaceful. Notwithstanding the jealousy with
j which the governments of Eastern Asia regard
; ail overtures from foreigners, I am not without
■ hopes Gs a beneficial result of the expedition.
Should it be crowned with success, the adva.n
----j tages wiil not be cqnfiiied to the. United States,
| hut, as in the case of China, will be equally en
j j ived by all the other maritime power?. I have
TERMS OF I’UBUCATION.
One Copy, per annum, if paid in advance,...B2 GO
“ “ “ “ “ in six mor.ihs, 250
“ “ “ ■* ** at end of year, 300
RATES OF ADVERTISING.
Oaa square, first insertion, - - - - -$1 00
“ “ each subsequent insertion , - 5u
A liberal deduction made in favor of those who
advertise largely.
NO. 50.
nuch satisfaction in staling that in all the steps
preparatory to this expedition, the. Government
of the. United Slates has been materially aided
>)Y the good t ffices of the King of the Nether
lands, the only European power having any
commercial relations with Japan.
In passing from this survey of our foreign
relations, ! invite the attention of Congress to
the condition of that department of the Govern
ment to which this branch of the public busi
ness is entrusted. Our intmourse with foreign
powers has of late years greatly increased, both
in consequence of our own growth and the ‘in
troduction of many new States into the family
of nations. In this wav the Department of
Lit te has become overburdened. It has,’ by
the recent establishment of the Department of
the Interior, been relieved of some portion of
the domestic business. If the residue of the
business of that kind, such as the distribution
of Congressional documents, the keeping, pub
lishing and distribution of the laws of the Uni
ted States, the execution of the copyright law,
the subject of reprieves and pardons, and some
other subjects relating to interior administra
tion, should be transferred from the Department
of (State, it would unquestionably be for the
benefit of tiie public service. I would also sug
gest trial the building appropriated to the State
Department i not tire-proof; that there is rea
son to think there are detects in its construc
tion, ami lhat the archives of the Government
in charge of (lie Department, with the precious
collections of the manuscript papers of Wash
ington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Madison, and Mon
roe, are exposed to destruction by fire. A simi
lar remark may be made of the buildings ap
propriated to tiie War and Navy Departments.
The condition of the Treasury is exhibited
in the annual report from that Department.
The ca.-h receipts into the Treasury lor the
fiscal year ending the 30lh June last, exclusive
of trust funds, were forty-nine millions seven
hundred and twenty-i ight’theusand three hund
red and eighty-.nx dollars and eighty-nine cents,
(49,728 386 89.) and the expenditures for the
same period, likewise exclusive ot trust funds,
were forty-six millions seven thousand eight
hundred and ninety-six dollars and twenty cents,
(49,007,996 20;) of which nine millions four
hundred and fitly-five thousand eight hundred
and fifteen dollars and eighty-three cents (9,-
455.815 83) was on account of the principal
and interest of the public, debt, including the
last instalment of the indemnity to Mexico, un
der the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, leaving a
balance of $ 14,632.139 37 in the Treasury on
the first day of July last. Since tins latter pe
riod, further purchases ot the principal oi the
public debt have b en made to the extent of two
millions four hundred and fifty-six thousand
five hundred and fortv-seveu dollars and forty
nine cents, iS~ 45(5.647 49,) and the surplus in
the Treasure will continue to be applied to that
■bj- 'fit, w!;* never the stock can be procured!
within the. limits, as to price, authorized by lavy.4
The value of foreign merchandise import*
during the last fiscal year was two hundred amj|
seven millions two hundred and forty
one hundred and one dollars, J :) ’
;uui Dm valm of do juoduetfo.i-’ • ‘.pm;-
i• ■JsjrtßMpwiinemillions i ight
hundred and !.-<!s thousand nine hundred;
and “ ! i-stir- ($149,861,911 0 besides se
vore:t.-oiM4ii!i!ons two hundred alio four thousand
and uventy-six dollars ($17,204,026) ot foreign
.merchandise exported; making the aggregate
of tiie entire exports one hundred and sixty
seven millions.sixty five thousand nine hundred
and thirty-seven dollars, ($157,065,937;) ex
clusive of the above there was exported forty
two millions five hundred and seven thousand
two hundred and eighty-five dollars ($42,507,-
285) in specie; and imported from foreign ports
five millions two hundred ami sixty-two thou
sand six hundred and forty-three dollars. ($5,-
262,643 )
In my first annua! message to Congress I
called vour attention to what seemed to me some
delects in the present tariff, and recommended
such modifications as in my judgment were best
adapted to remedy its evils and promote the
prosperity of the country. Nothing has since
occurred to change my views on this important
question.
Without repeating the arguments contained
in my former message, in favor ot discrimina
ting protective duties, l deem it my duty to call
j your attention to one or two other considerations
I affecting this subject. The first is, the effect of
large importations ot foreign goods uj.cn our
currency. Most of the gold ol California, as
fast as it is coined, finds iis way directly to Eu
rope in payment tor goods purchased-: in the
second place, as our manufacturing ef-ifr-r-t**-
meats are broken down by competition with
foreigners, the capital invested in them is lost,
thousands of honest and industrious citizens are
thrown out of employment, and the farmer to
that extent is deprived of a home market for
the sale of his surplus produce. In the. third
place, the destruction of our manufactures
leaves the foreigner without competition in our
market, and he consequently raises the price oi
the article sent here for sate, as is now seen in tho
increased cost of iron imported from England,
‘fhe prosperity anu wealth of every nation must
depend upon its productive industry. The
farmer is stimulated to exertion by finding a
j ready market for his surplus products, and'beu
! efitted by being able to exchange them, wehoutj
I loss of time or expense oi transportation, for tire;
j manufactures which his comfort or convenience
j requires. This is always done to the best are
j vantage where a portion of the community in;
| which ire livrs is engaged hi other pursuits.’
1 But most manufactures require an amount of
; capital and a practical skill which cannot,’.*£
j commanded, unless they he protected for; ri .. “
| from ruinous competition from abroad. Hence
; the necessity of laying those duties uron in.-
j ported goods which the Constihilfore-.'i.ufhofizes
j lor revenue, in such mancfcv as to protect and
j encourage tiie labor of our own citizens. D-wf/Av
i however, should not be fixed at a rate so high
j as t*> exclude the foreign, article, but should be
j so graduated as to enable the domestic mann
j faciurer fairly to compete with the foreigner in
I our own markets, and by this competition to re
! duce the price of the manufactured article to
i tho consumer to the lowest rate at which it gan
j be produced. This policy would place the me
i cha nic by the side of the farmer, create a mu
j tual interchange of their respective coumi&di
j ties, and thus stimulate the industry of lire whole
i country, and render us independent of foreign
j nations for the supplies required by the habits
I or necessities of the people,
j Another question, wholly independent of pro-,
j lection, presents itselfi had mat is, whether the
i duties levied should be upon the value of the
j article at tiie place of shipment,, or, where it is
j practicable, a specific duly, graduated accord-
I mg to quantity, as ascertained by weight or
measure. All our duties are at present ad va
lorem. A certain ner centage is levied on ihe,
price of the gobds at the port of shipment in a
foreign country. Mostdomtitercial nations have
found it indispensable, for rtuFpiiirpose oi pre
venting iraud and perjury, to make the duties
specific whenever the article is ofosuch a uni
form value in weight or measure as to justify
such a duty. Legislation should never encour
age dishonesty or crime, it is impassible tha't
the revenue officers at the port where! the goods
are entered and the duties paid, should know
with certainty what they cost in the foreign
country. Vet the law requires that they should
levy the duty according to such cost. They
are therefore compelled to resort to very unaat
! isfactory evidence to ascertain what that cost
was. They take the invoice ol the importer, at
tested by his oath, as the best evidence of which
the nature of the case admits. But every one
must see that the invoice may be Fabricated,arid
the oath by which it is supported false, bv rea
sou of which the dishonest importer pays a