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POETRY.
GOD’S ACRE.
BY HENRY W. LOXGFEU.OW.
A well known burial place, (if we recollect rightly,)
in London.
1 like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls
The burial ground, “ God’s Acre !” It is just;
It consecrates each grate within its walls,
And breathes a lienison o'er the sleeping dust.
God’s-Acre ! Yes : that blessed name imparts
Comfort to those, who in the grave have sown
The seed that they had garnered in their hearts, «
Their bread of life, alas ! no more their own.
Into its farrows shall we all bo east,
In the sure faith, that we shall rise again
At the great harvest, when the Arch-angel's blast
Shall winnow, like a fan, the chaff and grain.
Then shall the good stand in perpetual bloom,
In the fair gardens of that second birth,
And each bright blossom mingle its perfume
With that of flowers, which never bloomed on
earth.
With thy rude ploughshare, Death, turn up the sod,
And spreatl the furrow from the seed we sow !
This is the field and Acre of our God,
This is the place where human harvests grow.
Green Gate of Paradise ! let in the sun !
Unclose thy portals, that we may behold
Those fields lilysian, where bright rivers run,
And waving harvests bend like seas of gold.
THE SONG OF THE WAVE.
lam free! lam free! I have slumbered long
In the winter’s icy chain ;
But the hills and the woods shall resound to my song,
As l glide to the billowy main.
I lie like a giant en wrapt in sleep,
Tilt aroused by the spring’s sweet call;
But I rise in the might of the swelling deep,
And I burst from my frozen thrall.
Onward I glance with arrowy spring,
As I bound in my frolicsome glee;
For mine is the joy of an untamed thing
The fetter-less and the free.
Oh ! mine are the sparkles of sunny gold
And mine is the loamy crest;
And the changing skies all their hues unfold,
On the mirror of my bright breast.
Oh ! mine are the showers ofgli tcring spray,
Wlnch 1 dash on the pebbly strand ;
And the music is mine of the wind's soft lay,
Like tones from the spirit land.
On my bosom careers the white-sailed bark
To the distant Indian shore;
And its crystal gleams with a crimson spark,
At the flash of the sun-lit oar.
Onward I rush, in my wild career;
Yet tempt not mine hour of wrath,
When my swollen and darkened form I rear,
On the proud ship’s ocean path.
Beware ! Beware ! when in thunder breaks
The voice of my rolling surge,
And the dismal wail of the cold wind shrieks
The mariner’s lonely dirge.
Ye are mine —ye are mine, in mine hour of pride,
Ye that sport with a thing like me,
Ye that dare your fragile barks to guide
O’er the waves of the wild blue sea !
The loved of many a hope shall sleep
In the ocean’s coral cave;
For what human might may stay the sweep
Os the untamed, unquelled Wave!
HOPE.
When Winter treads his dreary round,
And cold congeals the air,
And snows lie deep upon the ground,
And woods wave bleak and bare,
When winds in angry warfare meet,
And clouds obscure the sun,
And pining for their vital heat,
The streams forget to run,
Say, were it best, my constant friend,
Os heart unfeigned and pure!
Cowering beneath the blast to bend,
Or manfully endure 1
And still through Winter’s dreariest gloom,
And cheerful trust maintain,
That Heaven will smile, the woodlands bloom,
And Spring come round again 7
DESTINY.
Why should I feed on contumely and wrong!
To me more lofty destinies belong.
Why should 1 lavish on one thankless face,
Thought that might win the homage of my race 1
Out of ourselves, by Nature's hard decree,
Vain is our hope, our struggle to be fre'e ;
Our life is clay, spun on the potter’s wheel;
Our barren power is only not to feel.
Why then accuse the inexorable past 7
Shall I be angry at lire simoom’s blast,
Or that the marble, mocking liuinam skill,
Shaped as a statue, stands a statue still 7
Too good to be lost.
The following story was lately told
by a reformed inebriate as an apology for
much of the follyof drunkards. A mouse
ranging about a brewery, by accident
fell into one of the vats of beer, and was
in immediate danger of drowning, and
appealed to a cat to help him out: the
cat replied “ltis a foolish request, for
as soon as I get you out I shall eat you.”
The mouse piteously replied, “ that fate
would be better than to be drowned in
beer.” The cat lifted him out, but the
fumes of the beer set poor puss a sneez
ing, and dropping the mouse, be imme
diately took refuge in bis bole. The
eat, as soon as she could recover herself,
called upon the mouse to come out
“ You rascal, did not yon promise that I
should cat you?” “Oh!” replied the
mouse, “but you know 1 was in liquor
at the time !”
The aggregate value of the agri
cultural products of the state of Illinois,
according to the last census, is $22,398,-
185.
A peevish lad making himself very
disagreeable at a party, by the constant
exclamation of “Show me that ;” a |Kir
son standing near suggested that they
had better “ Shoir him l/n floor."
FOREIGN NEWS.
London, April 29.
Commercial.
The general improvement which has
of bite manifested itself in our trade, has
l>een progressing slowly but steadily,
though the price of money in the London
market continues a low ns ever. There
is no material change in the price of the
public securities, and any fractional alter
ation that may be noticed, has been the
result of mere temporary causes which
from time to time have a slight influence
on the Ixmdon market.
There has hem a good demand for most
descriptions of goods this week, although
the sales have not been very extensive.
There is a general impression that prices
will advance as the season progresses.
The export of manufactured goods has
been extensive, stimulated by the unpar
allelled lowness of prices; and, as the
accounts from America indicate that the
crop of cotton will be very large, there is
every probability of the manufacturer l>e
ing able to continue his purchases of cot
ton at low prices.
The confirmation of the failure of
Brazilian negotiations in the House of
Commons, the other evening, has given
the holders of colonial sugar increased
confidence, and will, probably, produce a
rise in price.
The price of provisions continue very
low. especially grain, which is causing
much dissatisfaction in the corn-growing
counties.
The Cotton market here has been rather
dull, though there litis been little altera
tion in prices, which may in a great de
gree be attributed to the late news from
America.
Two more private banking houses have
suspended payment. The one Messrs.
Clarke and Cos., of I .eicester; the other
Messrs. Inkersole and Goddard, of Mar
ket Harborough.
Foreign.
The foreign news with which the arri
val of the “Great Western” at N. York,
will apprise our Trans-atlantic Readers,
is unusuaily barren and unimportant. A
solemn calm seems to have stolen over
those regions, the incidents of whose dis
tracted condition it was but lately our
business to record. If the statements we
supply be not startling or interesting, they
are at least satisfactory.
India.
Contrary to our expectations, we are
enabled to supply the readers of this num
ber with late Indian news. By the extra
steamer “ Genasserin,” advices from Cal
cutta, of the date March the sth, have
been received. The steamer brought Col.
Fraser, the bearer of dispatches, supposed
to be of a most important character. The
nature and contents of them have not
transpired.
In India, matters remained compara
tively tranquil. The disturbances which
it. was expected the death of Maharajah of
Gunlior would incite, have not occurred,
and the election of his successor will be
adjusted amicably.
The Governor General had left Delhi
for Arga as soon as he was apprised'of
Maharajah’s death.
From Scinde and Cahill we have no
news by this arrival.
It is rumored that advices have been
received by the steamer, which state that
the vigour and determination of Sir
Henry Pottinger, who had positively re
fused the interference of the Co-Hongs,
were likely to secure a speedy and sat
isfactory settlement of the tariff-—the
much dreaded subterfuge of the Chinese.
Turkey.
Advices from Constantinople, of the
date April the 7th, contain the ultimatu'm
of Russia relative to Servia. The Czar
requires the voluntary abdication of
Prince Alexander, or in case of his refu
sal,, his deposition by the porte. The ac
tivity of Keamtl Pasha in the Servian
revolution induces the emperor to insist
on his immediate recall from Belgrade.
Unless these terms be complied with, the
Russian ambassador is immediately to re
turn home. The English ambassador it
is said, disapproves of the nature of these
exactions, mid of the insolent tone in
which they arc demanded.
The emperor imagines that the 80,000
troops he litis encamped on the Dnieper,
will awe the Porte into submission, and
in this opinion it is said the foreign di
plomatists concur. From present appear
ances the Turkish Government do not
seem inclined to surrender. If their re
ply be not given in a few days, the
Russian ambassador is instructed to de
mand his passports.
Belgrade letters of the date 12th April,
state that tin insurrection had broken out
in Servia, of so formidable a nature as
that it would in all likelihood, hasten the
crisis of affairs.
Greece.
The King of Greece has applied to
Russia for a loan. The Emperor replied
that he had determined to make no more
useless sacrifices for so insignificant a
government.
Russia*
In the course of the summer the Em
peror intends to visit \\ arsaw, and to ad
minister in person the government of Po
land.
'Fite Emperor has urged his claim to
the possession of the port of Kiel, an eli
gible station in the Baltic. To this, in
the event of his male issue being born
the Duke of Holstein, lie contends he
should succeed, in consequence of an act
of cession made by his ancient, Paul. It
is said the question will lie adjusted du
ring the lifetime of the reigning duke.
The tranquility which Nicholas has
hitherto contrived to preserve is. if we tire
to credit sundry rumors, threatened with
a sjteedy interruption. The Emperor has
liecome loathsomely unpopular. While
In* vents his unchecked rage alike upon
the Romanists and the Protestants, he
plunges into debaucheries compared with
which the prodigalities of the middle
ages were but trivial aberrations. F e - ;
male virtue is endangered by its vicinity
to his presence.
If a revolution, on the probability of
which men do not simply speculate, j
should occur, its incidents will I* the
most fearful and atrocious the world ever
knew.
£; ain.
The defeat which, in our last number,
wc announced the Spanish Ministry to
have sustained, is not an event of such
moment as the discomfiture of an admin
istration is ordinarily regarded to be.—
The Opposition consisted of an amalga
mation of men of all creeds, parties, and
opinions, the bond and cement of whose
union appears to have been personal ani
mosity to the candidate whom the admin
istration had resolved to dignity with the
speakership. It appears certain, that al
though the parties by whom it was orig
inally intended that certain measures
should be propounded, are “unseated
quite,” the measures themselves will be
submitted in their entirety to the Cham
ber.
A* bill for the establishment of trading
banks, whose operations it is proposed to
control by salutary restrictions, is in the
course of agitation. Its clauses author
ise the government to grant warrants for
the establishment of banks in the provin
ces and in the ad jacent Islands, to assign
to each bank a clearly defined district,
all rivals or competitors being forbidden
to entrench upon its limits ; and to em
power the royal commissioner to refuse
notes, until his written sanction should
have been obtained for the purpose.
The treasurer of the'siuking fund has
been arrested in consequence of defalca
tions in his accounts.
Among other rumors of which the
Madrid journals are prolific, there are two
which deserve mention. The one is the
organization of a council of government,
the members of which shall be chosen
from the ranks of all parties,irrespective
ly altogether of their attachment to the
ascendant function. The other is to in
duce the Court of Portugal to coalesce in
the formation of a commercial union.—
Os the benefits of this compact, extend
ing as it would the line of customs to the
Pyrennes, England would richly partici
pate. It remains to be seen whether
France will allow, or Spain can succeed
in effecting the conclusion of the projec
ted treaty.
Some delay must ocur, it is said, before
anew ministry can be formed, and of
consequence* the reply to the Regent’s
message is not completed, although a
committee has adopted it.
It is contemplated to prolong the mi
nority of the Queen, Which existing en
actments declare to he completed in
some eighteen months. The critical po
sition of affairs renders it imperative on
Espartero, if he has any loyalty in his
composition, to induct his infantine mon
arch into a peaceful reign.
Advices of the 19th, state that the
draft answer to the Regent’s speech
has been read to the senate. Its tone is
tranquil.
Portugal.
By .1 ie Liverpool Steamer, letters and
papers have been received from Lisbon
of the date April the 17th.
The negotiations for the tariff with
Great Britain, are, as it was long foreseen
they would be, at an end. :
The only remaining point in dispute
between the Powers is the imposition of
a duty of lid per pound on woollen cloth.
The exaction of which would realize
some 20,000 annually. In order to sus
tain this the wine interests, or in other
words, the national interests are sacrifi
ced. The cause stands thus in the cause
list woollens and wines. The jury,
(the Ministry) have given a verdict for
woollens, their own ears, in all likelihood,
having been stuffed with the material.
What is the result of this deception?
Why, the sale of upwards of 80,000 pipes
of wine annually, is absolutely sacrificed
in order to etfect the disposal ol 2,000
bales of cloth of such a texture and qual
ity as a Greenland fisherman would scorn
to wear.
It is confidently predicted that unless
this matter be speedily settled, a revolu
tion in the wine districts will be the in
evitable result.
It was rumored on the eve of the de
parture of the packet, that tiie Portuguese
government is so seriously alarmed at the
aspect of the indignation they have pro
voked, that they will eventually succ u mb.
A few weeks will decide the issue.
France.
The news from France is unusually
interesting. The debates in the Cham
bers, except that the results’of them con
firm the stability of the Guizot party, do
not deserve abridgement.
An order has been issued to discharge
all married seamen from the navy, and
although this measure will denude the
Mediterranean of French cruizers, it is
intended to dispatch a resppctable force
to die recently acquired or pillaged is
lands in the Pacific,
The Princess < 'lementine was married
to the Prince Augustus Saxe Cobourg
Gotha at St. Cloud, on the 20th of April,
according to the strict formalities of the
Church of Rome. His brother, Prince
Albert, some four years ago, was married
to the Queen of England, according to
the rubric of the Church of this realm.
If there be any male member of this pli
able and plausible family young enough
to be circumcirsed, we shall, perhaps lie
fated to report that Prince Frederick ]?]
Saxe Gotha is in treaty to ally himself to
the sister of the Sultan.
The news from Algiers is favorable.
Some excursions which the French have
hazarded have lieen successful.
It appears, from a statement in the Sie
clc, that the Revenue Returns declare an
exjienditure of £6,100,090 over the re
ceipts.
The sum of money which it is pro
posed to raise for the support of the
French establishments in the Pacific, 11
is suspected will not meet the require
ments of the exigency. The French
themselves seem to doubt whether their
recently acquired possession will not be
to them more costly than valuable. The
“ Pheton” steamer sailed for the Marque
sas on the 24th instant.
Perhaps the mo 4 important item in the
French intelligence which we are ena
bled to quote, is the publication of the
voluminous report of the commissioners
appointed to advise upon the most eligi
gible means to be adopted for the aboli
tion of slavery. In addition to the dis
play of their usual fondness for abstract
inquiry, the French appear to have prof
ited by the confessed blunders which
Great Britain made in the manumission
of slavery. They defer complete aboli
tion for a period of fifteen years, in order
to acclimate the slave to the atmosphere
of freedom. During the first ten years
certain privileges are to be granted to the
slaves, who at the expiration of that pe
riod, instead of being allowed to quit the
service of their employers, as was the
case in our own colonies, they are bound
to serve their masters for the next five
years.
The debates on the report will be ex
pected with some interest.
State of Trade.
Liverpool. During the past fort
night reports from some of the Manufac
turing Districts, previously but indiffer
ently off for the want of good employ
ment, are becoming more satisfactory.
Though still at low [but in some cases
rather improved] wages, most of the peo
ple are employed ; such has been the case
for some time past in the Cotton Districts,
and this continues, and indeed rather im
proves than otherwise. These must Le
received as favorable indications as to the
future ; because it is observable that this
increased business, fairly established, has
hitherto remained permanent. The home
trade appears once more good, and the
foreign demand, apparently, tho’ slowly
perhaps, on the increase. From present
appearances distress seems likely to ex
tend in the Agricultural Districts ; but
let us hope that another good harvest, of
which there is every present appearance,
may do much to relieve this important
portion of our community. A large bu
siness is going forward in our Produce
markets for .actualconsumption, but with
out excitement, or any undue eagerness
to buy.
Rochdale F annel Mark t.
Monday, April 24.
In the piece market there lias been
rather more business done, but prices
have been extremely low. There is also
a little improvement in the wool market,
and the dealers are asking rather higher
prices.
Later from Texas.
The Washington Farmer publishes a
portion of the correspondence between
the Texan Charge D’Affaires in London,
and Lord Aberdeen, in regard to the
Mexican war steamers built and fitted
out in Liverpool. Her Majesty’s Minis
ter states that permission had been asked
and refused for the vessels to arm in
British ports; that it was the intention of
the Government to observe the strictest
neutrality between Texas and Mexico,
and that no English officer holding the
Queen’s commission would be allowed
to serve in the Mexican Navy against
Texas.
The Treasury of the Republic has
been ordered by the President to be
closed for sixty-days, and no payment to
he made to any person within that time.
The anniversary of the battle of San
Jacinto, was celebrated in Galveston on
the 21st ult., with considerable spirit.
The Houston Telegraph states, that
“ a party of about thirty hostile Indians,
supposed to be Caddoes, lately appeared
in tiie vicinity of Bastrop. They were
fortunately discovered before they had
committed any depredations, and a party
of settlers was soon raised and gave pur
suit, but were unable to overtake them.”
The Civilian contradicts the report
circulated here, that President Houston
had caused it to be stated to Santa Anna
that the prisoners t iken at Mier “ had
entered the territory of Mexico contrary
to the orders of their Government.”
The collector at Galveston has received
instructions in accordance with the law,
to add five per cent to the amount of du
ties on all goods imported from the Uni
ted States, over and above the amount
levied upon merchandise introduced from
countries with which Texas has treaties.
Fi’om the N. Y. Tribune.
Tribute to Commander Mackenzie*
The following letter, signed by a very
large number of our most respected citi
zens, has just been addressed to Com
mander Mackenzie :
New York, April 18, 1843.
To Commander A. S. Mackenzie:
Sir: Your commercial and maritime
countrymen have a duty to perform to
you, in relation to your suppressing the
mutiny on board of the U. S. brig Som
ers. Your conduct has been submitted
to your superiors in the naval service,
and has been approved. You have been
tried by your equals and acquitted with
honor. That acquittal, through its high
est functionaries, has been approved by
your country.
It is now liecoming in your country
men to unite their voice with the public
decisions, and to assure you of their sym
pathy and approval.
A mutiny in a national ship is itself a
heavy public calamity, full of danger, im
mediate and remote, to the best interests
of your country. The turning of your
ship into a sea-rover would have made
the entire ocean a scene of outrage, ra
pine and murders. The land, also, would
have rung with cries of distress.
That such a mutiny should have been
organized by an officer, who had every
advantage of connections, education and
talents, to seduce the common sailor, and
to carry into effect his farther purposes,
was giving to the danger a form the most
urgent and appalling. •
The weakness of your defence, the
immature age and unsubdued, youthful,
reckless passions of your crew; the cer
tainty that to punish the ringleader would
expose you to the utmost hostility of his
friends, every way powerful, and that the
inconsiderate pity of many might em
body a formidable opposition against you,
all rendered the necessary discipline and
punishment full of peril to yourself. But
last and chiefest, the horror of an officer
being obliged to execute, without the or
dinary forms of the justice of his coun
try, a brother officer and two of his crew,
made your position painful and difficult
without a parallel. Under such circum
stances you carried into effect the au
thority of your ship, restored its discip
line, saved the honor of our Navy, the
commerce of your country, and the lives
of your associates, and rescued countless
numbers from every form of outrage and
death. By decision, energy, and lofty
courage, patting at risk your fame, honor
and life, you met such dangers.
You have thus entitled yourself to our
warmest thanks and highest praise. The
fearful example will not be without its
effect. Lawless ruffians will not dare to
seek in the naval service, the means of
consummating their crimes. Your broth
er officers will not hesitate to discharge
their duty in enforcing discipline. Well
disposed seamen will not fear the taunt
of a service where mutiny and murder
may go unpunished: and although we
cannot withhold our sympathy from the
relatives of the mutineers, yet our regret
is that the - crimes were conceived which
rendered punishment necessary had not
that punishment been inflicted.
As for us, we present our thanks to you.
We offer you our congratulations on your
honorable acquittal. We present you
our Kest wishes, that your country may
reward, and the world may acknowledge
your decision, courage and patriotism.
We remain, with great respect,
[Signed by David B. Ogden, Daniel
Lord, Jr., John Anthon, George Wood,
J. Prescott Hall, Samuel A. Foot, Hiram
Ketchum, Marcus T. Reynolds, Robert
C. Cornell, James D. P. Ogden, George
T. Tallman, the President of every Ma
rine Insurance Company, all the chief
shipping Houses, every Packet Captain
within reach, and some two hundred of
our most eminent Merchants and busi
ness men of all parties.] Com. Mac
kenzie returned the following answer:
Tarrytown, 6th May, 1843.
Gentlemen—l have read with deep in
terest and with emotions of no ordinary
sensibility, the letter which you have
done me the honor to address me. The
tesiimony you have borne to the purity
of the motives by which 1 was governed
in performing a painful act of summary
justice, under the pressure of ail overru
ling necessity, has such force and value
that I gladly receive it as a fair expres
sion of the judgment of that great pop
ular tribunal to which, in our country, all
matters of general interest are finally
submitted: and to the document which
contains it, I and my children after me
will ever attach a priceless value.
Your judgement forever sets at rest the
suspicion, if such has, indeed, been sin
cerely entertained, that my acquittal by
the Naval Court of Inquiry and Court
Martial was in any degree owing to pro
fessional sympathy of my brother offi
cers, and not wholly to the intrinsic jus
tice of my defence and the irresistible ev
idence on which it rested. When I look
at the names of those who have subscri
bed the letter before me, and reflect on
their standing and position, their capacity
of forming a sound judgment, their ad
mitted intelligence and unsullied probity,
I cannot but regard the opinions it ex
presses as conclusive evidence that the
judgment of the Navy is ratified by the
verdict of my country. This is the ver
dict best suited to sustain the conscious
ness of having acted from a sense of duty
so solemn and imperative, that had I re
| fused to obey its voice, sanctioned as it
was by the deliberate opinion of all the
officers who were associated with me, I
should have been guilty of disloyalty to
j my dountry, and treason to the cause of
| humanity.
For the kindness which has impelled
you to convey to me that invaluable ex
pression of sympathy and approbation, I
beg you to accept collectively and indi
vidually the assurance of my warm and
lasting gratitude.
I am, gentlemen, very truly and res
pectfully, your obliged and most obedi
ent,
Alex. Slidell Mackenzie,
Commander U. S. N.
Messrs. N. L. & G. Griswold and oth
ers, New York.
More of the f ollision.
One of the unfortunate men scalded
on hoard the steamboat Pulaski, on Fri
day evening last, named Michael Haw
kins, the steward of '.he boat, died at
Pittsburg on Saturday evening. Will
iam Coon, a deck-passenger, of Collins,
Erie county, (N. Y..) is not expected to
recover. The remainder of the jiersons
scalded, it is thought, will recover.
Virginia Election.
The result of the contest in this State,
returns for Congress three wings, eleven
democrats, and one Tylerite.
The House of Delegates stands,’[demo
crats seventy-five, whigs fifty nine.
The Senate stands the same ns last
year, twelve whigs, and twenty demo
crats.
Summer station.
The Ik S. Shift, North Carolina, was
towed yesterday to h<% old place oil’ the
Battery, where she will remain for the
season.
Coirepponpenca of the Baltimore Sun.
Two Unexpected Arrivals —Shipman and the
Great Western.
Philadelphia, May 12, 1843.
We had two extraordinary arrivals to
day, and although both were looked for
at some future time, both have by their
suddenness created much surprise. The
Great \\ estern has made a quick trip
and anticipated the usual passage one or
two days. The other arrival, “Jake
Shipman,” the absconding messenger, has
anticipated the time set down by many
for his coming, some twenty years. Nev
ertheless he is here. He arrived last
night, and early this morning he made
his appearance in his old walks about
Third and Chesnut street, looking as
fat and as merry as though he had not
seen trouble or privation for the past year
at least.
He was cordially greeted by his old
friends, and the pleasure at the meeting
appeared mutual all round. “Jake” went
to the office of his old friend, Johnson,
whose funds, to the amount of some
SSOOO, are still among the missing, and
before he had concluded a narration of
his trip, thecauses, and its consequences,
Mr. Johnson called ivitnesses to notice
that he arrested him. This movement,
I presume is to secure the reward to him
self, or to prevent any difficulty that may
arise by others claiming it. Shipman
says lie is now at ease, and experiences a
peace of mind he has not known withn
four years. His first deficit was in 1839,
and was then only SBOO, but has gradu
ally widened until at the time of his de
parture it reached the large sum of $12,-
500, all of which he had abstracted from
the $15,000 of gold belonging to the
Vinoii Bank, N. Y., and paid his debts
with. All other funds entrusted to him
he says, are safe with his Terre Haute
captors.
He was taken before the Mayor by Mr.
Johnson, and after a partial examination
the case was continued to 3 o’clock. He
will probably be held to bail, and there
the matter most likely will rest. No one
of the brokers or banks here evince the
slightest disposition to disturb him; on
the contrary, I believe, would gladly
screen him.
Yours, &c.
Correspondence of the Baltimore Sim.
Washington, May 12, 1843.
The whole community was thrown in
to a state of excitement yesterday, by a
rumor that several of the Clerks of the
Treasury Department had been arrested
upon a charge of embezzling the public
funds. I am gratified to inform you,
however, that, up to the present time, but
one solitary individual has been implica
ted. That individual, who has hitherto
enjoyed the highest confidence and es
teem of every one who knows him, is
charged with having attempted to circu
late a lot of cancelled Treasury notes,
without having succeeded in a single
case, so far as has been discovered. The
preliminary investigation was continued
to-day, in the office of the Register of the
Treasury, by Mr. District Attorney Fen
dell, assisted, by request of the Govern
ment, by Z. Collins Lee, Esq., U. S. Dis
trict Attorney from your city, and Mr.
Solicitor Penrose, of the Treasury De
partment, before Justice Goddard. The
defence is conducted by James Iloban,
Esq. The investigation, so far, has been
very laborious, and the testimony volum
inous : all is doubt and intense anxiety.
The accused having entered into re
cognizance to appear at the next term of
the Criminal Court, 1 deem it improper, at
present, to give any portion of the evi
dence, or even a detailed account of the
circumstances which have been devel
oped. Your readers shall be apprised of
the progress of the examination. Sub
poenas have lieen issued for other wit
nesses from Baltimore, and the examina
tion will be continued to-morrow.
Later. —Since the above was in type,
we learn from the Globe of yesterday
evening, that the individual implicated is
R. P. Dowden, a clerk in the office of the
Register of the Treasury. He is some
where from the west. The evidence is
stated to he that, a week or two age, Dow
den assisted James G. Berret in counting
the treasury notes which had been re
turned to the treasury by the collection
of the revenue, or by other persons, for
redemption. Several days afterwards,
Dowden engaged a negro man of Wash
ington city, named Robinson, to go to
Baltimore and take a letter to a Mrs. Dor
sey, residing in this city, containing five
SIOO treasury notes. The negro brought
the letter to Mrs. Dorsey on last Wed
nesday week, the 3d inst. It was signed
Benjamin Cambelle Jr., Mrs. Dorsey de
tained the negro man about an hour, un
til she went out, and tried to pass off the
notes. Finding that she could not pass
them, she returned them to Dowden, alias
Benjamin Cambelle, Jr. When the ne
gro (Robinson) returned to Washington,
Dowden gave to him two one hundred
dollar treasuiy notes to pass off prom
ising him one half, or one hundred dol
lars, if he should succeed. The negro
made several ineffectual attempts to sell
them. His having treasury notes, exci
ted the suspicion of some persons, and he
was watched. On Tuesday last, the ne
gro and Dawson met in the Centre of
Marsh market house, in Washington, and
was observed to take from his pocket a
letter, and to write on it with a pencil,
and hand it to the negro— who took it to
Mr. Spice, upon whom he waited. The
letter was written with a pencil, and
signed Benjamin Cambelle, Jr., request
ing Mr. Spice to say nothing about the
two one hundred dollar treasury notes,
which the negro had asked Mr. Spice to
exchange, and which had excited Mr.
Spice’s suspicions that there was some
thing wrong—either that the notes were
counterfeit, or that the negro had stolen
them. These circumstances led to the
arrest, and Dowden was held to bail in
the sum of $2500, for further examina
tion. It is not known that any of die