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BY JAMES (GARDNER.
Debate on the Neutrality Laws*
We copy from the Washington Unicn, of the
6tb instant, the following report of the debate'on
the resolutions offered by Mr. J. Glancy Jones,
.. and amended by Mr. Quitman and ethers. Mr.
Quitman’s resolution was as follows:
Besolced, That so much of the President’s annual
message as relates to the duties of an independent
State m its relations wun the members of the great
family of nations to restrain its people from acts
of hostile aggression against their citizens or sub
jects, and so much as relates to the present neu
trality act of 20th of April, 1818; to the fitting out
within the limits of our country of lawless expedi
tions ugaiust some of the Central American States; ’
to the instructions issued to the marshals and dis
trict attorneys, and to the appropriate army and
navy officers, together with the President’s recom
mendation that we should adopt such measures as
will be effectual in restraining our citizens from
cornmiiing such outrages, be referred to a select
committee to consist of five members, with power
to report by bill or otherwise.
Mr. Quitman said tfiat the resolution should be
submitted to a select committee because there was
no standing committee to whom it would properly
and exclusively belong. The whole country de
manded that something should be done. They
might attempt to get rid of the question, bnt as
much as they did it was forced upon them by the
country. The people were calling for a modifica
tion of the existing neutrality laws. He had come
to the conclusion that the greater portion of these
laws should be swept from the statute book, and
he believed that a large portion of the House would
come to the same conclusion, and untrammel the
citizens from the restrictions which they imposed
upon their enterprise. He would not be content
until he could bring the members to vote upon
the subject.
The proposition of the President to which he al
luded in nis resolution involved the most impor
tant considerations. It involved the consideration
of the duties independent States owe to cue anoth
er. He denied that the luw of nations required
that independent States should restrain their citi
zens from hostile aggressions upon any power.
Our government was a limited one, add there were
rights which were reserved to the citizen, and
those rights could not be invaded by the govern
ment. lie would say that no government, though
it might possess despotic power, was bound or ob
ligated by the law of nations to protect individuals
from hostility. On the contrary, a government in
its independent state, was only bouud to restrain
its authority iu such conflicts between its citizens
and those of friendly powers. It would he impos
sible to take up and make a national affair of every
little aciol hostility that might arise.
This question, which was submitted by the mes
sage ot Uie President, involved another considera
tion affecting both the character and construction
of the government and the rights of citizens. Our
government was a limited one. Ail its powers
were delegated, not granted. Unless they were
delegated, the government had no power. Where
did they find power delegated to punish crime?
The only foundation for the exercise of the powers
grunted under the act of 1818, was based upon that
short clause in the Constitution which amhonsed
Congress to punish offences against the law of na
tions. lie held that that law struck at the liberty
of citizens. In the ease specified, he would deny
that the government had any power to seize the
greatest criminal on the face of the earth outside of
the waters of the Uni’ed States.
II« hoped that the committee would report
speedily, and then let every man be heard upon
the subject. He had not made these remarks from
any unkind feelings towards the Administration.
If a majority of the members were disposed to
consider these laws—the act of 1818— as proper
and .right, he would acquiesce, bui. he would not
rest coy! Wu* action should be
‘■liaraefefistie of
Unv»i want was that it was a government of
P law—international law, statute law, uud common
law. He was in favor of refering that portion of
the message to the Committee on the Judiciary,
solely because there was no other committee to
which it properly belonged. In drawing the reso
lution, he did not mean to imply any judgment
upon the neutrality laws. He did not know that
he differed with the honorable gentleman on the
subject of the neutrality laws ; but he had choseu
a few points wh ch came under his attention.
One was, that the President, in his message, had
recommended, instead ol a repeal of the present
laws, the passage ot* more stringent laws upon this
subject. All he wnderstood was simply this: if
they expected the Preside nt to carry out these
laws, they must clothe him with more power.
Mr. Keitt, of South Carolina, was indifferent as
to whether the subject was referred to a select com
mittee or the Committee on the Judiciary. He did
not think, however, that it should go to the Com
mittee on the Judiciary if it involved the admis
sion that all the legal talent of the House was on that
committee. He too* t for granted that a ques
tion like this might very properly be made the sub
ject of investigation by a special committee, tor the
reason that the regular committee might be so en
grossed that it might uot have time to give it a pro
per investigation. A special committee, hawng
more time, would be eminently the proper‘com
mittee. The President asked to be clothed wnb
new powers to carry out existing provisions of l.»w.
Ho has asked that lie shall have the tiny and navy
of the United States to do what ? To pun sh citi
zens upon the high sea and upon foreign soil! Did
he want the army and navy to prevent the sailing
of a fleet from our shores-to prevent an expedi
tion from going from the States ? VV by, he hud
the arm v ami navy for that purpose. If he wanted
them, w hat did he want them for ? Whv, to fol
low these men upon the water and arrest them up
on foreign laud. The neutrality laws forbade that
they should he seized upon foreign soil. If the
President was allowed to seize them upon water or
foreign laud, then he had the right of a despot.
The neutrality laws were limited to three miles
from ihe shore. If, then, these men could be cap
tured, they must be taken for an offence, for which
they must be punished by the military power ot the
President. He said this in illustration of the fuel
that auy pursuit of an expedition beyond three
miles was unlawful, and auy capture upon foreign
soil vras also unlawful. He did not know the posi
tion of the administration upon this mutter. One
thing he believed was pretty well kuowu, aud that
was, that Captain Cbatard was recalled in disgrace
for not preveutiug the disembarkation of Walker
within sight of Punta Arenas, aud that Oomuiodor.-
Paulding from that very spot had sent his men ou
shore to make the arrest. By a process ot logic he
would say that if the admission of one thing was
the exclusion of another, then 'he exclusion of one
thing was the admission of another ; and if Cha
tard was recalled in disgrace for not deing it, he
was legitimately to inter that Paulding was to be
retained for doing it. ... . .
Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, said that he wished
this matter inquired into by some committee that
would report upon it. Under his understanding
of what Was called the neutrality laws, but laws
which bore n » such laws upon their face or title
laws wnbb were known as an offense against the
United Stales—he did not understand that there
had been am offense committed against the United
States any crime or even violati >n of these law s
which constituted it a crime against the United
Stales ; out if there were those who thought that
these laws had been violated in a particular ease,
he w shed mat they should be amended so jliat
-, gome committee should inquire into it, and see il
it was true that a nav»l officer ot the Uuiied >tut« 8
% had gene upon a foreign soil and arrested a citizen
of that- foreign country or an American citizen, and
deprived them of their liberty aud their property.
It was a great outrage, unjustified by law or the
i semblance of law. Such an officer needed the
reprimand of his superior officer. In his opinion,
the nefitrahty laws neither gave to the President
, nor the naval officers auy authority whatever in
interfere with citizens of the United States outside
>2 three, leagues;
Mr. B rock, of Virginia, held that the law also
' gave the President the use of the ai my and navy
J” For the purpose of preventing the carrying on ot
.[any - ii rxpediuou from the territoiic*» ot the
‘ i Uoi cd Io- lgum>t the lor: it one.- ••! air. t« i .
J gov. i> M.' v. i:’u whom we are at peace.
H|r Mr. - .- ■ resuming) s odthai mind "
|ig&giHi£Wur up 'p r : übject, and ifim\ such‘omrage h i<i
jsHffbecn c Mounted ou the coast or soil ot Nicaragua
nPiffil-f* thu s«-.zme either of American citizens <>r oilics
a officer, he had done for which he I
had no authority. Never would he recommend, 1
under the preteuee of law, to go out on the high |j
seas and judge of criminals and call men pirates <
who were just as good as he was. It did i
not come from that officer with a good grace, i
If we were to set an example to nations, let it be I
an example worthy of being followed. Restitu- <
tion should be made, and it would be an outrage i
to our government if it was not done. The men <
should oe sent back to the place from which they
had been taken. He understood that Walker had
left this country in a ship with a regular clearance,
and had given his bond. It ill became American
representatives to say that he was a fugitive from
justice. Now they were to say: Go in peace; we
have no charges against yon. If he was a villian,
he ought to be punished. It was a national dis
grace ; because he had committed no offense. *lt
was an outrage and a stigma on the nation. As
the matter now stood, and ns he understood it, he'
should be put in a ship with all his men and all
their property, and taken back to just where he
was before this outrage commenced. If the law
authorised such proceedings, it was unconstitu
tional. No citizen of the country could be punish
ed by the government except for a violation of law
passed in pursuance of Constitutional authority.
This matter should be inquired into. He proposed
to amend the resolution by striking out the words
‘‘select committee,” and inserting “Committee on
the Judiciary,” and by adding these words : “and
that ihe committee shall be required to report
upon tho expediency of a repeal or modification of
the act of November 20, 1818.”
Mr. Quitman —I will with pleasure accept the
amendment.
Mr. Bocock, of Virginia, stated that be rose to
prevent a misapprehension of his position. He
regarded the arrest of Walker as unauthorised and
altogether improper. He was in favor of having
the question inquired into. He held that these
laws gave the President unlimited power to use
the army and navy wherever they could be legiti
mately employed.
Mr. Grow, of Pennsylvania, agreed entirely with
the gentleman from Virginia, and only asked that
the rules laid down for the sea might be applied
to the land.
Mr. Quitman, of Mississippi, then stated that he
bad modified his resolution as follows :
Resolved, That so much of said message and ac
companying documents as relates to a uniform
bankrupt law, aud that so much of the President’s
annual message as relates to the duties of an inde
pendent State in its relations with the members of
the great family of nations to restrain its people
from acts of hostile aggression against their citi
zens or subjects; and so much as relates to the
prescut neutrality act of 2'Rh April, 1818; to the
lilting out within the limits of our country of law
less expeditions against some of the Central Amer
ican States; to the instructions issued to the mar
shals and district attorneys; and to the appropriate
army and navy officers, together with the Presi
dent’s recommendation that we should adopt sueh
measures as will be effectual in restraining our
citizens from commuing such outrages, be referred
to the Committee on the Judiciary, who are hereby
required to inquire into and report upon the expe
diency of a repeal or modification ot' the said act of
20th April, 1818, with power to report by bill or
otherwise.
Mr. J. Glancy Jones, of Pennsylvania, stated that
he would accept the modification.
Mr. Maynard, of Tennessee, granted that this
was a question of great and grave import, and
should be discussed upon its own merits. He ex
pressed the hope that the gentleman from Missis
sippi [Mr. Quitman] would adhere to bis amend
ment to refer this subject to a special committee.
He approved of the conduct ol the naval officers
of the country. They belonged to a noble and
and.be cWu i.
i v ‘ ~finur instruc
*u'pursuing the course w hich they had, and
’ if they were acting under instructions, he thought
they should not be condemned for it. It struck
him as a noble act, entitling him to high consider
ation, that when Walker saw the power of his
country arrayed against him, he bowed in submis
sion to that power, and yielded himself, willing
and ready to go when and where that power might
determine or assign. For that act, if for no other
of his life, he would honor him as a noble spirit.
In his opinion, supposing the facts to be stated,
the proceedings had been authorised by the act of
1818. In exclusion, he renewed the motion to
refer the subject to a select com nil t tee.
Mr. Lovejov, of Illinois, protested agaiust the
attempt to lift up a pirate who had been attempt
ing to disturb the peace of neighboring nations
for years. He protested against the idea i f mak
ing a man a martyr when he was simply a rascal.
Mr. Stan ion, of Onto, said that he had under
stood the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. Stephens]
to say tliat inasmuch as there was no special power
conferred upon the President to arrest parties
charged with a violation of the neutrality laws,
therefore no such power existed. He desired to
inquire of the gentleman if he held the doctrine
that any man charged with a violation of the
criminal laws of the United States, who escaped
beyond the three mile limits, was thereby exempt
from arrest, trial, and conviction. His construc
tion of the laws was, that every nation had the
right to pursue its criminals upon the hign sea,
and arrest them under its owu flag or the Hag of
another nation. lie waDted to know whether the
high seas were one grand sanctum where crime
was protected, and where it might not be mterfered
with without a violation of the law of nations.
Mr. Stephens asked the gentleman to tell him by
wliat law the President had a tight to arrest any
person charged with crime when he had given
bull?
r. Stanton replied that he apprehended that he
would have no difficulty if his bail-bond was
broken.
Mr. Stephens asked whether the gentleman
knew that Walker’s bond had been broken ?
Mr. Stanton replied that he did not know any
thing of it.
Mr. Stephens then inquired whether Commodore
Paulding, Captain Chatard, the President of the
United States, or any other person, had any right
to assume a man untier bail to be guilty of any of
fense ?
Mr. Stanton held that when a party forfeited his
bail they had a right to issue further process. He
asked whether the gentleman held that there was
no power to arrest a fugitive upon the high seas ?
Mr. Stephens replied that he would admit it un
der process of law. The Constitution declared
that no man should be arrested but by due process
of law—that no man should be deprived of life,
liberty, or properly, but by a violation of the laws
of the land.
After a further coloquy, the committee rose, the
Chan man reported that they had under consider
ation the President’s Message, but had come to no
conclusion thereon, aud the House resumed its
session.
Letter lrom Gen. Walker to President
Buchanan.
Washington. Jan. 4,1858.
Sir .* —On the 15th of June last, l had the honor
to address you a letter relating the manner in
which I emigrated from California to Nicaragua,
the events which followed auy presence in Central
America, and the unjust and illegal acts by which
I was forced for a time to abandon my adopted
country. , . , _ . _
In that letter l s ated facts which I defy my ene
mies to controvert; and 1 then hoped your Excel
lency would take steps tor the punishment of the
grievous offences against right, justice and public
law, commuted by United States officers, in the
seizure of a Nicaraguan vessel in a-Nicaragjmn port.
Commander Davis has, however, gone uuWboked,
so far as I am inhumed, for his violation of inter
national law, and of the Constitution of ihe United
aud it grieves me to say ti.afc 1 am again
obliged to approach you with a complaint against
another and yet higher officer of the United States
uavv. . .
In approaching you as a supplicant for justice, I
know that it is necessary for me to remove errone
ous impressions which have been made ou your
mind concerning my conduct in connection with
Nicaraguan affairs. Corrupt aud malignant per
sons have surrounded ycur Excellen v, and pourqd
into your »ars false stories concerning events iu
Central America.
And now, to you, the President of the United
States, I directly charge, and stand ready to prove
what I say, that your officers of the navy, not only I
YTT CRUSTY, Gx\., WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 1858.
by irresponsible statements through the press, but j
also in official communications, have misrepresent- 1 (
ed facts xnd falsified events. Feeling and believ-
ing, as I do, that you would net willingly wrong
any individual, no matter how humble, lam satis- $
tied that the summary judgment you pass on my }
conduct m your annual message to is I
the result of incorrect information ; and I trust and ]
confidently expect, that when“tbe truth is placed <
before you, your judgment will acquit me of the i
grave charges brougnt against me.. i
Permit ine, then, if you please, before I proceed
to call your attention to the conduct of Commodore ]
Paulding, to deny moat unetfuivocally, that I have j
ever been engaged at any time, or in any manner,
with any unlawful expedition against Nicaragua.
In your message to Congress you seem to imply
that my first departure from Ban Francisco was ,
illegal, for you say: “when it was first rendered
probable that an attempt would be made to get up
another unlawful expedition against Nicaragua. ’
With all deference I beg leave to repeat what I
said in a previous letter and to again inform you
that I left San Francisco in May, 1855, with the
sanction and approval of the federal officers of it*e
port, and that the captain of the revenue cutter
sent his sailors to bend the sails which carried ns .
from California to Central America.
Allow me, also, to suggest that the Government
of the United States recognised and legalised Hie
immediate results of the emigration from CftliffHr
nia, in the reception of Padre Vigil as Minister
from the Republic of Nicaragua. Not only was
the first expedition, as it has been called, to Nica
ragua entirely lawful in its origin, but all its con
sequences were marked by strict adherence to lsw
and justice. Some have told you, I know, that I
am a man “without faith and without money,” but
from the beginning to the end of my career in Nic
aragua, I challenge the world to produce a single
violation of public faith —a single deviation from
the great principles of public right and public jus
tice. On the contrary, the Americans in Nicaragua
have always maintained the faith and honor of
their race, in the midst of falsehood and treachery
on the part of their enemies—in the face of count
less hosts arrayed against them—no less than in
the presence of famine and of pestilence. Our con
duct in the midst of trials and of dangers is suffi
cient answer to the epithets which have been hurl
ed against us; and when the passions and preju
dices of the present have died away we calmly
await the judgment of posterity on our conduct.
But an officer of the United States navy forced
us to become exiles from Nicaragua; ana let me
remind you of the fact that from the moment we
touched our natal soil, we protested agaiust the
illegality and injustice of the act, and declared our
intention to return to the laud whence we bad been
wrongfully brought.
Everywhere—before the functionaries of the
government—in the presence of assembled multi
tudes of the sovereign people—we declared that no
effort should be unused in order to regain the
rights wrested from us by fraud and illegality.
Do you suppose that if we had been conscious
of any violation, or intended violation, of law, we
would thus have proclaimed our objects and inten
tions ? Is it the habit of offenders against public
right, or of conspirators against public justice, to
herald their acts on the corners of the streets aud
publish their wrong doings in the market place?
Would we have violated the public conscience
of this nation by calling on the people to disregard
their own enacted statutes? No, Mr. President,
let all your District Attornies exhaust their energy
and their ingenuity—let them attempt to pervert
the law to purposes for which it never was intend
ed—they cannot make good the charges which
have been made against us.
* Once the District Attorney attempted to cqnjgcj,
me of a breach of to-'
gain a
tort would be crowned with alike result.
After long effort and much patient endurance,
we at length sailed from Mobile for San Juan de
Nicaragua, on the 14th day of November last.
The vessel in which we sailed was regularly
cleared by the Collector of the port, and a special
inspector was sent aboard to examine the cargo
and the passengers. Our rights, too, as Nieara
guaos were acknowledged, for the Collector re
fused to clear the Fashion with Captain Fayssoux
commanding, on the ground that he was a citizen
of the United States.
With a regular register and clearance we sup
posed when once on the high seas we were beyond
the possible interference of any United States au
thority ; for even if we were admitted belligerents
against'a power with which the United States was
at peace, ihe owners of the neutral vessel had a
clear light to carry warlike persons as well as con
traband of war, subject only to the risk of capture
by the enemy’s cruisers. We did not for a mo
ment imagine that uaval officers would undertake
to place restraints on American commerce in the
absence of federal law and of Congressional au
thority. The deference, too, we know your Excel
lency has for the Constitution of the United States
pre iuded the supposition that any orders had been
issued to detain or Capture an American vessel
whose papers showed she was engaged in a lawful
voyage.
Satisfied as we were of the entire legality oi our
voyage, we did not hesitate to enter the port of San
Juan de Nicaragua, although we knew a U. S.
sloop-of-war was present in the harbor. But we
h«iu seal cel v landed before we were subjected to a
series of illegal and insulting acts of the command
er of the Saratoga. These acts have been detailed
in two letters addressed by me to Commodore
Paulding, and now on tile, I presume, in the Navy
Department. ~
Wnile we were being embarrassed by tbe action
of the Saratoga we had not been idle. Col. An
derson, who had served his native country through
out the Mexican war, at the head of fifty men bad
ascended the river and gained possession of the
stronghold, which in the last century had for days
defied the genius of the proudest naval name in
British annals. Not only this, but he had regained
possession of valuable American property, unlaw
fully held by Costa Rican soldiers, aud I had given
the order to restore it to the ageut claiming it for
the owners. Peimit me to ask whether it. is such
acts as these which authorise your naval officers to
applv to us the vilest epithets of the language?
Scarcely, however, had the possession of Castillo
Viego opened to us the way to Lake Nicaragua, and
to the regaining of alt we had lost by Capt. Davis’
interference, than a most grievous wrong was
again inflicted on us by Commodore Paulding.
On the Bth of December the latter officer sum
moned me to surrender to him, and the Nicara
guau flag was a second time hauled down on Ni
caraguan soil, by the orders ot the United Btates
navy.
It would be supererogatory, sir, for me to say
that the act of Commodore Paulding was without
warrant of law. Much, too, as we felt the wrong,
it was not the act itself, as much as the manner in
which it was done, that cut us to the quick. We
knew that the act was in violation of the sacred
charter—the Constitution of the United Btates.
We knew that an authority higher thau that
of any Commodore—higher, even, than the
President of the United Btates—would vindicate
the sanctity of violated law and punish the
offenders against the American Constitution.
We felt, too, that the august and most potent sov
ereign —the people of the United Btates—would ren
der justice for the injuries sustained. But far more
grievous than the surrender —far more galling than
to see our own flag lowered on our own soil—was
to be told that we were there to the dishonor of the
United States. There were men on that sandy
beach, Mr. President, who had carried your flag
aloft amidst the thickest of the foe, and one had
been promoted by a predecessor in your office for
first planting your colors upon the heights of Cerro
Gordo. Others among them had led your soldiers
across the Continent, nod alwa\s in the path of duly
and of honor. For such men o» be told tliat they dis
graced the •ouiilry hey «>n e had served so nobly
and so well, was a pang sharper than that of death,
and might have w« ting a «v'ar from men harder and
more callous than he who inflicted the irreparable
injury.
I need not tell you that I was unable to antici
pate the act of Coin. Ponding. Military necessi
ty required me to hold Puuta Arenas, and tin? idea
never entered nay mmd that an American officer,
pr< fesjiMig to execute die law, would so far f’cgt t
his duty as to infringe, uot only well established
international law, bui also the requirements nt
that instrument with which are involved the best
hopes of mankind—the Constitution of the United
Btates. Even could I have foreseen the action of
Com. Paulding, military reasons would have pre- 1
vented me from leaving the Poiitf.
But it was impossible to imagine that so violent
a step—marked as it was in its details by conduct
worthy of soldiers in the sack of a town; would have
been taken by an officer of the U. S. Navy. And.
Mr. President, in the name of the official oath
which you have taken in the presence of Almighty
God, I call npop you to punish the offender, and
to right the wrong. I presume not to direct your
wisdom in the*c«-urse it shall pursue; but, in the
name of the men whose rights your officers have
Infringed, and whose honor has been most harshly
and heedlessly trampled in the dust, I call for the
justice it is your high prerogative to bestow.
But permit me to conclude by adding that in all
events, and under all circumstances, there are du
ties and responsibilities from which I and the offi
cers and raen I represent will not, dare not, shrink.
No extreme of illegal interference—no amount of
hard words and unjust epithets, can deter us from
following the path which is before us. The func
tionaries of the government may exhaust upon me
the expletives c» the language—they may insult
the public cowsc an( l degrade their own char
acters by applying to us all the epithets their mor
bid imaginations suggest; but, conscious of the
right ana justice of our cause, we shall not relax
our efforts nor be driven into a violation of the
law.
As long as there is a Central American exiled
from his native land aud deprived of his property
and civil rights, for the services he rendered us,
in evil as well as good report, so long shall our
time and oar energies be devoted to the work of
their restoration. As long as the bones of our
companions in ar.os, murdered under a barbarous
decree of the Costa Rican government, lie bleach
ing and unburied ou the bill-sides of Nicaragua,
so long shall our brains contrive and our hands
labor for the justice which one day we will surely
obtain.
Permit your officers, if you can, to trample under
foot the Constitution and the laws ; pass unnoticed,
if you will, the most violent invasions of indi
vidual rights and public duties; treat with scorn
and contempt, if you choose, the demands for jus
tice which we humbly and deferentially place at
your feet—we will not be cast down or dismayed.
We fight for the rights of our race, w hich have been
denied us by an ungrateful and degraded aristocra
cy. We strive to Rain unsullied the device some
of our ancestors ha/e borne on many* afield—“ None
shall wound us with impunity.” And so long as
ottr faith in right endures good—our confidence in
the God of our fathers remains unshaken—so long
shall we use all just and proper means to regain
what has been wrongfully wrested from us.
I have the honor to remain,
With high respect,
Your obedient servant,
• Wm. Walker.
His Excellency, the President of the United Btates
From the Boston Post , Dec. 29.
Spicy Correspondence—A True Wife.
We are assued by a triend who is personally
cognizant of what he states, that the following pi
quuot correspondence is genuine. A gentleman
whose business calls him a good deal from home,
is accustomed to give tbe custody of his corres
pondence to his wife, an intelligent lady, who, in
obedience to instructions, opens all letters that
conueiu her husband’s absence; answers such ot
them as she can, like a confidential clerk, and for
waids the rest to her liege lord at such places as
he uiay have designed at his departure. During
a receut absence of her husband, the lady received
'Sk letter, of which th« *ottf>w»ug (omitting names,
data* and place*,}, is * true eopy i
iff JJtar Sir ; \ Sjiw > fine picture of you yes
terday and nil fin love with it, as I did with the
original in W last winter, when I saw you
more than hour, though I suppose yon did not see
uie among so many. I fear you will think me for
ward in thus addressing you ; but I trust you are
as noble and unsuspecting as you are handsome
and brilliant. Perhaps you would like to know
something about me, your ardent admirer! Well,
1 am not very good at description, but 1 will say I
am not married, (though you are, lam told). My
friends tell me I have uot a pretty face, but only a
good fignre lam rather petite, have black eyes,
black hair, and a dark complexion—that is, 1 am
what is called a brunette. I am stopping fora
few weeks, with my brother-in-law ana sister in
this town, and I dearly wish you would meet me
there before I return to W . At auy rate, do
not fail to write me at least a few words to tell me
whether I shall ever see you ugain, and know you
more intimately. Forgive boldness, and be
lieve me, “Your friend, .”
To this letter the wife, who, by the by, has not
the least knowledge of the person to whom she is
writing, made the foilowiug answer :
“ JJiolemtnselle : Your letter of the inst., ad
dressed to Mr. , was duly received. Mr. -,
who is my husband, directed me, when he left
home some days ago, to open all his letters, and to
answer any of them that 1 conveniently could. As
you seem to be rather impatient, I will answer
your letter myself. I do not think your descrip
tion of yourself will please Mr. . I hapnen to
know that he dislikes black eyes, and hates bru
netts most decidedly. It is quite true (as you seem
to suppose) that he judges of women as he does of
hor»es ; but I do not think your inventory of your
“points” is complete enough to be satisfactory to
him. You omit to mention your height, weight,
wind, speed, and there the word is illegible].
“Taking your cnarnis ai your own estimate, I
doubt whether tbev will prove sufficiently attract
ive to draw him as far as B rperely for the sat
isfaction of comparing them with the schedule.
You say you trust my husband is ‘unsuspecting.’
I think tha< is his nature, but yet he is used to draw
lug inferences, which are sometimes as unkind as
suspicious. You say you are unmarried. My ad
vice to you is, that you marry somebody a9 soon as
possible. In most cases, I would not recommend
haste; but, in vours, I am convinced there is truth
iu the proverb which speaks of tbe danger of delay.
Should you be so fortunate as to get a husband,
(which may God mercifully grant!) my opinion is
that you w'ill consider any woman, who should
write him such a letter as this of yours, imperti
nent, and perhaps immodest.
“1 will deliver your note to Mr. when he
returns, and also a copy of my reply, which I am
sure he will approve. I am, with as much respect
as you permit, Mrs.
The Leviathan.
The attempts to move this monster ship were re
newed on Tuesday, the 15th, but were again un
successful. At half past three all the chains weie
hove taut, including the great cables laid across
the river, and hydraulic presses and numerous
screw-jacks were set in motion, but not the slight
est effect was produced. W hen the strain was at
the highest, one of tbe smaller chains gave way,
and a feeder of an hydraulic engine burst. Oper
aiions were suspended, and at five P. M. arrange
uieaiß were being made to drive in piles near the
aiit-r cradle, probably with ihe view of fixing
anot » r press. . ,
On We inesday morning, after a few minuses
application of the rams, the Leviathan moved thir
iv-eight inches aft and fifteen inches forward, the
effect being to place tbe vessel straight on the rails,
and to remove all suspicion of obstruction of the
wavs. Two hydraulic cylinders then broke, and
up to half past two no further progress had been
made. Mr. Robert Stephenson was again Jpresent,
aud txpressed his approval ut the proceedings.
Further proceedings will probably be postponed
until after Christmas, when vastly increased power
i* to be employed*.
It is now said tliat the Leviathan will cost only
fr in twenty thousand to twenty-five thousand
pounds stei linir in the launching—not seventy thou
»:nd or eighty thousand ponds steriing, as re
ported. — L. Uerptwl l iltitS, DtC. 19.
Yellow Fever and Flowers.—A writer in oue
of the New Orleans journals argues that the poison
producing velhnv fever is fungi diffused through
ihe arm Sphere, just as the odoriferous particles of
;t r .se, or other fragrant flower, are diffused through
i , and known by their saluting our ol factories on
• . .actnng fln-m But neither chemical analysis
ii t, itecope is able to detect the exceediug
i tn unr<- •ailicles of matter that make such an
tin ue-sioii ft t» toe senses. Neither have they been
able to d •tect .th j subtle poison that produces yel- I
low fever. I
j From the Washington States, Jan. 5.
The Financial State of Enrope—Fail
ures, Debts, and Deaths.
The financial panic that swept over the Atlantic j,
from this country, and broke with wild fury on the ,
shores of Europe, temporarily inundating all the
western cities, has, it would appear, left them in a a
promising, even if drenched, condition. The wave l
has sped over them, and, at last accounts, it was
splashing against the eastern cities, culminating in €
the South-east, and raging in the North. (
The Niagara brought us some heavy failures in j
Leeds, London, and Mancl»ester, the suspension of ,
a batik, and the promise of contingent tailures ; but J
the general/eeling was one of increasing ease. All
the liabilities of the houses reported as having fail- J
ed, or suspended, are not given : those we have ,
amount to two hundred and fifty-five thousand ,
pounds sterling, or one million two hundred and
seventy-five thousand dollars. On the 16th De
cember there was a decided tendency towards re
laxation in the London money market; the Atlan
tic’s news and specie on the succeeding day con
tributing to make the confidence more apparent.
In Ireland they have been peculiarly fortunate.
One of the Dublin papers thus speaks of the healthy
look of financial affairs there :
“We can hardiy«be grateful enough for the high
position our own Ireland holds. Here no banks
have stopped payments; nay, by wisely assisting
trade, they are paying unheard of dividends. No
manufacturing establishments have failed, Qirow
iug out of employment numerous hands. The
storm reached us and passed over, leaving us un
; scathed. Possibly, as we are deprived of-the profits
' resulting from gigantic factories, so also are wq
free from their fluctuations. Probably the terrible
1 lessons which our country learned at so fearful a
price in former visitations wrought their effect,
and we are wiser and better men. Thanks be to
1 God, our harvests were great. What trade we
have is steady; our people have abundant work;
the necessaries of life are cheap.”
Money matters in Pari9 continue to improve;
and there is also some favorable signs in Ham
burg, which are welcome on this side of the water.
A Berlin letter dated December 1, pictures the
crisis as being at its height, and the results iu
some instances as being tragically fatal. The ca
tastrophe commenced by some great failures ot
houses in the corn trade, simultaneously in Stet
tin and Berlin, which are connected by water and
railroad, and have heavy commercial affiliations.
The fall of a noted Jew speculator and corn-dealer,
Hirscb Moses, knocked down several other houses
iu Stettin and Berlin. Tbe correspondent of the
New York Herald reports that Moses has been ar
rested for fraud—the laws of Prussia providing
that any person carrying on business for three
years without capital, is subject to imprisonment
for fraudulent purposes. His liabilities ainouut to
upwards of a million and a quarter thalers. Alex
ander Renh, of Stettin, failed for about the same
1 amount. Abraham and Elkanah Spiegee, Lesser
Brothers, and others, for smaller sums ; and from
Dantzic we learn that the greatest corn-dealer
there, S. J. Joel, had gone, with liabilities amount
ing to no less than three millions ot thalers. The
merchants and manufacturers soon followed in
, the wake of the corn-dealers. We. give the fol
lowing from the Berliu correspondent as present
’ ing a graphic view of the crisis and its results in
i his locality:
l “ The first great bankruptcy of this class was
t that of Palmie Brothers, wno carried on the drug
. business on an extensive scale, and were largely
interested in mining operations. Their liabilities
are computed at one million four hundred thou
sand thalers, the assets being quite trifling In com
parison. Thev were followed by Ehroabaum &
Co., silk manufacturers, and several other firms of
less bote. * # * Julius Coho, a shawl manu
facturer in a large way, presented a check of eigh
teen million thalers on a joint stock concern called
the Cassen-Verein, bearing the signature of one
of the first banking firms in this city, (Rothchild’s
agents), to the cashier of another monied institu
tion, (Disconts-Geselschraft), persuading him to
cash it, paid some of his creditors with the pro
ceeds, aud then shot himself.
“ The check was discovered to be a forgery. The
unfortunate man had expected to receive remit
tances from Hamburg to cover it, but being in
formed instead that his Hamburg correspondents
had stopped payment, he anticipated detection by
blowing out nis brains. Another woolen manu
facturer on an extensive scale, by the name of
Seldis, is said to have committed suicide by cut
ting his throat. A great establishment in the same
line, employing four hundred bands, in which a
well-known capitalist is chiefly or partly interest
ed, and whose engagements are stated exceed a
million of thalers, has also been obliged to suspend.
There are some hopes of its being propped up.
“ Besides the firms enumerated above, those of
Blumenthai A Kob, Hermann Schlessinger, Zoell
ner, (calico printers,) Ac., stopped payment in the
course of last week ; and yesterday, (November
SO,) the failure of twelve houses, including some
of very good standing, was reported on ’Change.
To increase the consternation, intelligence arrived
from Thore that the President of the Chamber of
Commerce, and head of the firm of Daweuon A
Cordes, one of the oldest aud most respectable
mercantile establishments in Prussia, had been
found dead in bis bed, soon after receiving a tele
graphic message announcing the suspension of
Palmie Brothers, with whom he was deeply in
volved.”
To meet the disaster, the Bank of Prussia has
announced that it is prepared to make advances
on manufactured goods, the property being pledged
to the bauk, and the owners receiving part of the
value as a loan. Discount continues at seven and
a half per cent. The government is doing all it
can to prohibit the exportation of silver, aud the
usury laws are temporarily suspended.
Tlie Burgesses of Hamburg nave authorised a
new loan, and the rate of discount has receded to
seven and nine per cent. In Sweden, the crisis
continues unabated-. Several heavy failures have
taken place; and the government has proposed lo
borrow twelve millions of thalers, to assist the
merchants. Such is the state of Europe; while
here, in the words of the Journal of Commerce ,
“the old year dies out as quietly as if it had fallen
asleep in the lap of luxury, instead of the hard bed
of adversity.”
The Banks and the People.
A w riter in the Charleston Mercury of Tuesday
la9t, over the signature of “ Mercator,” asks “what
has become of the relief which the banks were t«
afford the community, if ihe legislature should
release them from the penalty of suspension, and
authorise the non-suspeuded banks to use the cur
rency of the suspended banks ?” We intend, ere
long, to ask the same question of our banks.
Every interest in our Srate is now depressed for
the want of bank accommodations. Our planters
need them ; our merchants need them; our me
chanics need them. Will the banks respond? We
hope so, but fear the contrary. As yet, nothing
comparatively has been done to relieve the peo
ple from the pressure that is upon them; and if
this state of things is continued, we must say, as
“ Mercator” says to the Editors of the Mercury, “if
our banks pursuethis policy much longer, they
will have no friends without their parlors. Their
supporters in our legislature will beput to shame,
as the dupes of a crafty selfishness. They have on
ly to continue in this policy, and by the time our
next legislature meets, they will staud apart from
ihe people, useless and unnecessary to them, and
perhaps deemed by them injurious or dangerous in
their power to the interests of the State. The
short-sightedne-s of the New York banks seems
contagious.”— Atlanta Intelligencer, Jan. 9.
The Area op Utah.—lt may be a matter of
some interest to our readers to know something of
the comparative extent of that Territory of the
United State®, whose chief officer is bidding defi
ance -•iment. According to Colton,
ihe are** of Utah is two hundred and sixty thou
sand one hundred aud seventy square miles. To
engineers, uud.a few others, this will give a ]ust
idea of its vast extent, but the majority of people
will form a better estimate bv being told that it is
as large as the whole of the New England Stages,
New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Or-, to com
pare it with European countries, it is equal in ex
tent to Great Britain and Ireland, Switzerland,
Prussia, and Denmark, with the Islands of Guern-
I sey, Jersey, and Man, and the lonian islands j
|added.
VOL. 37—3STO. 3.
The Midjtight Son as seen by Bayard
Taylor*
The New York Tribune, of Ist inst, contains a
letter from Bayard Taylor, dated “ Steams
Gyller, Artie Ocean, July 27, 1857.” We quote
a passage which will be universally read with
keen relish:
It was now eleven o* clock, and Svaerholt glow
ed in fiery bronze lustre as we rounded it, tbe ed
dies ot returning birds that had been frightened
from their roosts by the firing of the steamer’s gun
gleaming golden in the nocturnal sun, like drifts
of beech leaves in the October air. Far to the
North the sun lay in a bed of saflron light over
the clear horizon of the Artie Ocean. A few Lara
ofdazzliDg orange cloud floated above him, and
still higher in the sky, where the saffrons melted
through delicate rose color into blue, hung light
wreaths of vapor, touched with pearly, opaline
flushes of pink and golden gray. The sea was
a web of pfaeslete color, shot through and through
with threads of orange and saffron, from the dance
of a myriad shifting aid twinkling ripples. The
air was tilled and permeated with the soft, myster*
ious glow, and even the very azure of the southern
sky seemed to shine through a net of golden
gauze. The headlands of this deeply indented
coast—the capes! the oLuxe and Porsanger Flord«,
and of Magerce—lay around us, in different de
grees of distance, but all with foreheads touched
with supernatural glory. Far to the North-east
was Nordkys, the most northern point of the
mainland in Europe, gleaming rosily and faint in
* the full beams of the sun, and just as our watches
| denoted midnight, the North Cape appeared to
: the westward long line of nurple bluff, presenting
1 a vertical front of nine hundred feet in height to
* the Polar Sea. Midway between these two mag
} nificent headlands stood the Midnight Sun,
' shining on us with subdued fires, and with the
: gorgeous coloring of an hour for which we had
m name, since it is neither sunset nor sunrise.
: but the blended loveliness of both; but shining at
the same moment in tbe heat and splendor of
noonday on the Pacific Isles.
This was the midnight Sun as I had dreamed
it—as I had hoped to see it.
Within fifteen minutes after midnight, there was
a perceptible increase of altitude, and in less than
half an hour the whole line of the sky had chang
ed, the yellow brightening into orange, and the
saffron melting into the pale of dawn.
Vet it, was neither the color, nor the same charac
ter of light as we had, half an hour before mid
night. The difference was so slight as scarcely to
be described, but it was different between evening
and morning. The faintest transfusion of one
whole expression of heaven and earth, and «o*im
prevailing tint into another, had changed the per
ceptible and miraculously that a new day was
already present to our consciousness.
Items of news from the last issue of the Ma
riana, (Florida) Patriot :
A man calling himself W. L. Hunt, small in
i stature, red face, very presumptuous and familiar
i in his actions, wearing a cocked hat, after nerpe
■ trating sundry petty thefts at the Nickles’ House,
- succeeded in makiug his escape.
t A man named Harrod was killed in Jackson
county recently, by a man named Cowart.
* A Mr. Strickland was recently shot and killed
5 in the same county, by a Mr. Dawson.
y
* Brasov that Makes Me* Howl.—The man who
was at once fort unate enough to get a drink of good
i brandy at a stage bouse betweo* Shasta and riac
r rvvmento, on presenting himself the sanctum of
the Shasta (Cal.) Pourier , will be rewarded with a
' very extensive piece of gold bearing auartz. Since
(( j the’days of *4O, wayside hotels have kept villam
ie ous stuff. Now, however, it :s said to be preler
»s naturally diabolical. It not only kills at the coun
lm ter, bnt occasionally “ fetches ” a fellow fifty feet
[Q distant, with a stream of water between. A per
feet idpa of its quality may be obtained from the
following incident, which* occurred between twe
doing business at stands five miles apart,
t . between Shasta and Red Bluffs :
j* Upper Stand Man—(Standing before the counter
J of “Lower Stand Man”) I say, oldfeHow, you don’t
sell such stuff as I do. Mine kills a hundred yards,
without rest!”
Lower Stand Man—“ Well, I don’t know wheth
er mine kills, eventually, or not; but I always no
g tice that after thev take a * suck ’of it, I can hear
4 them 4 bowl ’ all the way to your stand.”
i Unfortunate Affair.—We regret to hear that
. an unfortunate difficulty occurred at the Race
Course yesterday, between two worthy young mem
f of our city, Messrs. C. A. L. Lamar and Henry Du-
Bujnon. A ball from the pistol of the former took
i effect in the right eye or the latter, inflicting a
r most serious, and, perhaps, dangerous wound.
» Mr. Dußignon was brought to the city, and surgi
cal aid immediately called in, but at latest accounts
I they had not succeeded in ascertaining the lodg
f meat of the ball, or the exact nature and probable
, result of the wound.— Savannah Republican, Jan. 8.
Drowned.— A young man named Patrick Mur
phy, engaged at work on board the ship Old Do
minion, which is lying down the river, accidental
■ ly fell overboard Thursday night last, and wa*
drowned. His body has not been recovered.
On the 29th ult., John Miller, of Effingham
. county, and his horse, were drowned in the SatiUa
river, six miles from Waresboro’. He was intoxi
; cated when he attempted to cross the river. His
, body was found and taken out by the citizens on
; the 30th. So says the Brunswick Herald , sth inst.
Savannah Republican, Jan. 9.
, Fourteen Hundred and Seven. —We understand
j (from Mr. John M. Martin, conductor on the
. road,) that the Alabama and Florida road has
, brought us, up to the end of last month, fourteen
; hundred and seven bales o cotUn. Next season
l it will bring us thirty or forty thousand.
Montgomery Mail, Jan. 7.
i The acknowledgement of weakness which we
make in imploring ,1° be relieved from hunger
and from temptation, is surely wisely put in our
daily prayer. Think o it, you who are rich, and
lake heed how you turn a beggar away.
’ t Thackerag.
* Melancholy Casualty—Seven Men Killed I
* We learn that a terrible accident occurred on Fri
* day night last, about twelve o’clock, at the iron
’ furnace of tbe Hon. Mark A. Cooper, in Cass
3 county. By ihe destruction of a roller in one of
* the furnaces, seven men were so severely scalded
r with the molten metal, that their recovery was
* considered impossible. There was but one white
‘ man auiong the number. We shall ascertain fur
i ther particulars by our next issue.
AiiaiUti Examiner, Jan. 10.
Secretary Cobb’s Reception.—The mansion
!. consecrated by Ihe entertainments of Gov. Aiken
la>t winter, and now occupied by the equally hos
pitable Secretarv of the Treasury, was last eve
ning the scene of a brilliant “ reception.” All the
’ fashionables, notables and dignitaries of the Me
tropolis were there, and enjoyed the “gay and fes
tive scene,” which was happily concluded by a
tiue supper.— Washington States , Jan. 8.
‘ Waterbury, Conn., Jan. 4. — A large cotton fao
. tory in Asonia, owned by Coleburn & Brothers,
was destroyed by fire on Sunday morning The
fire is supposed to be the work of an incendiary.
The loss amounted to forty thousaud dollars, on
f which there is an insurance of fifteen thousand
f dollars.
i New York, Jan, 7- —The steamer New York,
from Glasgow, with dates to the 19th, has arrived.
’ Boston. Jan. 7.—Gov. Bank’s Message recom
y mends the suppression {of bank notes- nnder five
t dollars, and after three to five years, under len
e dollars. He refers the naturalization question to
s the legislature, and says that nothing bnt the di
rect intervention of the Federal influence can force
.’ the Lecompfon Constitution upon Kansas, and if
1 this be exerted it will be tbe greatest blow ever
_ 6 iven agaiust free government.
;, Frankfort, Ky,, Jun. 5.- Ex-Governor Bowel i&
i- elected United Stores Senator. The vote stood—
s To well eighty; Garrett Da vjs fifty-four; Thonip
| son one.