Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the R.J. Taylor, Jr. Foundation in partnership with the Atlanta History Center.
About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1866)
je ttJeeklg €omtiluliomiißi BY STOCKTON & CO. OUR TERMS. The following are the rates of Subscription and Advertising in the Constitutionalist : Weekly—3 Months $1 00 G Months 2 00 Single Copies—lo cents. » "Advertisements inserted in the Weekly a $1 50 per Square for each insertion. To accommodate our p itrons we will receive in payment produce; such as Bacon, Lard, Butter, Flour and Meal, at the Market value, and it can be sent to us by Express at our ex pense. * Mexican Affairs. Washington, Jan. 4, 1866. There has just been issued from the Public Printing Bureau the message of the President, heretofore transmitted to the Senate, in re* sponse to a resolution asking for information on the subiect of a decree of the so cailed Empe ror of Mexico of the 3d of October last A copy of this decree has already been published, and now Romero, the Mexican minister, in calling the attention of Secretary Seward to it and other papers in October, says: In the usurper’s proclamation of the 2d inst the Duke supposes, coutrary to fact, that the Constitu tional President of the Mexico Republic had abandoned the national territory, and from this false hypothesis he concludes that the defend ers of independence, whom he calls bandits in obeyance to orders received from France, have no leader. It is nothing new for the usurper to call those patriots who sustain the cause of independence and the institutions of Mexican bandits, nor is it new for him to treat such with a severity which would be called excessive if applied to crimi nals of the lowest order. He showed the same determination in his proclamation of the 3d of November last. Now, Maximilian wishes to regulate thi3 system of assassination by a de cree issued on the 3d inst., creating the most infefnal military tribunal, extending their ju risdiction to every person found armed without license of the so-called government. He condems to death every armed man, who is not a French soldier as a traitor, and eveD those who will proffer information which may aid the defenders of their country, and sanctions severe penalties for the mere act of concealing a patriot or circulating alarming news ; and it has been carried out by his French directors who have been by the system of court-martial sending to the scaffold the captive patriots ca’led guerrillas, and even military officers of the national array who could not bo called so. This extraordinary severity is in open contrar vention to his military promise made in the first proclamation on landing at v era Oru*, dated May 23 i, 1864. , _ . Mr Romero, in another letter to secretary Seward, datad November 20, says this barba rous and bloody decree, the most cruel ever yet seen, has already begun to be in execution. It is now my painful duty to inform you that on the 13th of October last Generals Ortega and Salseau, and Colonels Diase Parracho Nilla Go mez and Percy Mileeuga, five lieutenants, eight commandants and a number of subordinate officers, were surprised and taken prisoners ly the French forces in the town of Santa Anna Amatan, Stale of Micherocan, as appears from the official dispatch sent, of which I inclose a oopv in French. , , . ~ These generals and col nels belonged to the regular army of the Republic, were officers of education and have fought for the independ ence of their country from the tirae'he French first landed in Mexico. They were executed in accordance with the above mentioned bkiody decree of the usurper of Mexico. I have-information of the truth, of winch, un happily, there is no doubt, that the two erals and four colonels were barbarously sac rificed in flagrant violation of the laws of war and every principle ct justice. It further appears from the discussion, that on the 28th ofJOstcber, Charge d’Affaires Cor* win informed Mr. Reward that it had been re ported at the City <»■ Mexico, for the three proceeding days, and generally believed, that on the 21st of that month Gens. Ortega and 4i\le c ar and four colonels were shot at Auru— queata, but that no official report of the exe cution had been published. Mr. Corwin also referred to this brief article of the decree, showing that all these belong ing to Ihe armies fighting for the Republic will be shot if taken prisoners by Imperial troops. The Banks Regime at New Orleans.— Among the cases now pending in the Third Justices Court is an action brought by A. Despomier, through his counsel, A. Satabola, against 11. C- Warmoth, the negro delegate elect to Congress. The ground of complaint is that Mr. Despomier wa“ employed to make the usual decorations at the Custom House, and did so to the extent of $65 Since that time Mr. Despomier has been grieved to "notice that noth.ng has been said about pay. Under this of feeling, Judge Warmoth. the party who employed him, narrowly escaped the indignity of an arrest, and had he not disappeared as suddenly as he did, would have been made to show cause why he should not have paid for the debis ue had contracted. A search was made by the constable for something tangible to “level” on; but nothing of the kind was found, and “no bones” was his official report. Warmoth's partner states that he (W.) had no domicil in this city, and tha’ he had carried all of his portable property with him. We re member hearing General , Banks’ speech last Fourth of July, in which, to do him justice, he predicted truthfully the vindictive policy of the Ropublican party at the next meeting of Con: gres3. But it never occurred to ns before that the cost of ventilating so much bitterly hostile feeling against the South had never been set tled, " This wa3 doubtless v ßry wrongi b ut Despom er is out of pocket $65, and he pro bably does not see it. Apropos of General Banks, we recently heard a photographer of this city state that the General had honored him by taking 2 080 cartes de visits, not one of which he had ever paid for.—N. O. Star. IJShockisg Accident. —On Sunday afternoon a couple of lads near the gas works were amusing themselves by throyieg unexploded sbeFs at the railroad track to sec if they could explode one. Finally one exploded, a frag ment'of vbich struck the left leg of one of the lads, anl mangled it so terribly as to render c-mpntation necessary. The lads name was Coleman. His father is a mechanic, and is employed in a planing mill near Winship’s fbundery.—Atlanta Era. AUGUSTA, PA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 17, 1866. Highly Interesting Circular from Captain M. F. Maury, late of the Confederate States Navy. The following circular of invitation to emi grants from this distinguished man appears in the New York Herald of the Ist. Captain Maury’s character and reputation is world wide, and what he says can be relied on. Most of the Mexican correspondence that we see published in the Northern papers is but a tissue of falsehood, and utterly uuworlhy of attention, but Captain Maury’s statements are those of a man of well known verity and probity. He says : The doors of the empire are wide open, and his Majesty the Emperor has, in a most liberal decree, invited emigration fronT all quarters, and without distinction as to nationality. Many people, both in the Old World and the New, having heard of this invitation, wish to change their skies and to avail themselves of its privileges. Gentlemen representing several thousand families iu Europe, and hundreds in Tennessee, Missouri. Arkansas, Texas, the Caro’inas, Alabama, Mi si3sippi and Louisiana, in the LTuited States, are now anxiously seek ing information in regard to the country, its condition nud resources, with the view of mak ing it their home. The earth here yields to the care of husband ry with a profusion that would seem incredi ble there and fabulpus in'Europe.. In some places it. crowns the labor of the husbandman regularly with two and in others with three harvests annually ; and in each one he gathers one hundred, two hundred, sometimes three hundred, and occasionally four hundred fold, and even more, according to his own skill and the kind of seed used. Cotton and corn do well in almost all parts of the empire. Bnt the cotton especially of Tamaulipas, Matahualo, Fresnillo, Durango, Mazarian, and the States north, are said to be of a better staple, save sea island, than any produced in the Uniled States. Indeed, the cotton of Yucatan is called sea’sland. Under these fine climates, which give a pu rity and transparent to the atmosphere that make existence itself an enjoyment, and inj vest the eye with the faculties of almost anew sense, the vegetable kingdom displays its wealth and its powers most gorgeously, and with the most marvellous vigor and concen tration . In chosen spots and upon a single hacienda may be seen crowded together, piled upon in steppes one above another, in perfection, fruit3, flowers and products, which in less fa vored climes require as many latitudes, cli mates and soils as can be found in the entire breadth of plain that lies between the sources of the Mississippi afcd the mouth of the Ama zon . Here, besides cotton and corn, the olivo branch and vine, we have the finest of wl eat, with pulse and all the cereals in great perfec - tion; also tobacco, coffee, sugar cane, thecoaco plant, rice, indigo, cochineal, pimento, India rubber and hennquih—a peculiar and valuable fibre that answers many of the purposes of both flax and hemp—and, last of all, and what, moreover, no other country in the world can produce—Flora’s feast and Bacchus’ boast—the lordly maguey, or pulque plant of Anahuac. I have seen gome of the very best planters from Missouri, Tennessee and the South, and I have conversed with learned men from France and other parts of Europe, all of whom happen to have traveled through the nor l hern and roost, healthy parts of Mexico. The Europeans reDort. on the one hand, an agricultural coun try superior to the best parts of France and Italy, and, also, of surpassing mineral wealth, while the Americans, on the o her pronounce it a grazing and cattle country, to which even the blue grass regions of Kentucky and Ten nessee are not to be compared. The mountains abound with minerals, the woods with game, and the forests with the finest of timber—with the most, exquisite dye Bnd ornamental woods, gums and spices, drugs and medicinal plants of rare virtues. O « * o « o The Mississippi Valley, even in its palmiest days,could not boast any platantion that could compare in baronial splendor, lordly magnifi cence and princely hospitality with your Mexi can hacienda that has escaped ihe ravagesof war. The halls of some them are large enough to entertain, and have entertained? several hundred guests for weeks at a time. On some of these you wilt find well appoint ed schools foi the educa ion of'the children of the dependents at, the expense of the proprie tor ; churches built and chapels maintained by the same munificent bounty; hospitals erected for the sick, the old servants pensioned, and all the operations of the estate carried on upon a scale and with expenditures-followed by renin nerative revenues such as but few farmers in Virginia or France can boast of. One of the finest haciendas of the wasted districts is now on sale. It wa3 abandoned some six or eight years ago, in consequence of a revolution, the proprietor died, and it has not since been restored to cultivation. It yielded a regular annua! profit of not 1e33 than $120,000. The dwelling bouse alone cost $200,000. This hacienda is large enough to accommodate forty or fifty families with farms of one thousand acres each. It can now be had for less than five dollars the acre, and after the first payment, on long time to suit purchasers. Other haciendas that are open to the choice and selection of the immigrants are much larger Two, containing each more than three thous and square miles, have been offered by the pro prietors for colonization. I know of no country in which the land is held by so few, aDd in such large tracts. This fact has produced marked effects upon Iho nation; it appears to have deprived Mexico entirely of what other countries consider their “bone aud sinew”—their noble, enterprising, energetic, hard working middle classes, o o c * * * a To those who will thus come now, with their families, and form settlements sufficient to call into play all the industrial appliances, consisting of machinery, shops and implements connected with agriculture in its_ most improved state, and calculated to serve as"so many centres of agri cultural improvement in the country, special encouragement is held out. They are hivited to send forward their assents, who will receive all the information that the Office of Colonization can give, and every fa cility that it can throw itrtheir way, as to the mo't desirable parts of the country in which to settle, tiie choicest localities and the cheapest and best lands. 4c. 1 Having made their own selections, the gov ernment will then, in case they require it, lend them pecuniary assistance sufficient to enable them to establish themselves in th.ir new homes and get fairly under way. M. F. Maury, Imperial Commissioner. Offics of Colonization, No. 13 Cade San Juan Letran, Mexico, November 18, 1865. Mr. Lincoln’s Early Life--Interesting Reminiscences—A. Visit to One His Htfinble Friends. Havana, Mason county, Illinois, Dec. 14, 1865.—Happening to be in the eastern portion of this county, a few days ago, I called to see Mrs. Wilcox, formerly ’ Mr3. Armstrong.— Years ago, when this goodly State of ours w»s comparatively new,, there came to the little village of Salem, Menard county, a tall, plain and rather awkward young man to help in the mill, tend store and make birnself generally useful. After serving in this capacity for some time, and making friends of all who came iu contact with i ira, at mill or grocery, he was appointed county surveyor, and went to live with a farmer named Armstrong, residing in the neighborhood. This Mrs. Wilcox whom I went to see was the wife of this Armstrong, and the slend'r, raw-boned shop-tender and surveyor was Abraham Lincoln. “ The first time I ever saw him,” said Mrs. W., “ I went trading. I told Armstrong as soon as I get home there was anew clerk at the store, and T liked him first rate, he was so pleas’nt and kind. A few Armstrong went to mill, and when ha came home he told me he had seen the new clerk I bragged about' so much, and he liked him too. They had got to lifting In the mill, a parcel of them, and the clerk outlifted every man there.” “Well, he lived with you, did he not, after ward ?” “Yes, as soon as he got to surveying he came to our house and made it his home. I made two pairs of deer-skin breeches fifr him—shirts, too. Armstrong used to carry chain for him. They were great cronies. Wherever Armstrong went Lincoln would go too. He was poor and had no horse ; wo had several, and he always rode one of our creatures. Sometimes they would be gone a week at a time to Jackson ville, Springfield, or somewhere else. They lied about him when he was nominated for Presi dent ; said he used to dritfk; but he never did. I never saw or heard of his drinking. The young folks thought him kind of queer. When there was a frolic, or any doings among them, he would always go, but never danced and cut up He amused himself by playing with the children, or telling some funny story to the old folks. Yes, he stayed with us till he moved to Missouri, and never saw him angry the whole time. He used to say he would never marry until he could support a wife comfort ably ; and he didn’t. “We lived in Missouri five years, and when we came back he had gone to Springfield. I went down there tradi g pretty soon, and was standing in a store door looking at the folks, when I saw him comiDg down the street. A lady was with him—his wife—and everybody was bowing and shaking hands with bim. I stood up straight in the door, a little back like, thinking maybe he would not want to see me, with his wife and all those people around ; I never could put on anv airs, and he knew it. He saw me though, before he got to me, and came up laughing and shaking hands, real glad to see mo, asked after Armstrong, and all the rest, jnst as if he was one of the family. “I tell you, Mr F., he was a kind, good hearted man, and a true gentleman. Ho de fended my son (her son was tried for homicide and acquitted), and after the trial, when I told him I had no money to pay him, he-laughed at me, and told me whenever I was in any trou ble to come to him. Everybody-told me I was foolish to write him about my son who was sick io tho army; that he had enough else to attend to now, beside looking after me and my family. But when a telegraphic dispatch dis charging my son, aud a letter to me too, came, they found out that, he had qot forgot ten his old home down in Menard.” • Chicago Republican. Disloyal Clergy. —Missouri’s greatest want at the present time is a loyal clergy. This dec laration mny occasion surprise; but no one thoroughly acquainted wi»h the history of this State for the last few year3 will pretend to controvert it. It is utterly impossible to esti mate the amount of misery and crime the Church in the disloyal States, during the pro gress of the rebellion, is responsible for. We question, however, whether, in any State of the Union, the disloyal clergy have more to an swer for than in Missouri. It was our good fortune, it is true, when the war began, to have some thoroughly loyal ministers of the Gospel in our midst, who did all in their power to hold the people hack from treason; but a decided majority of the clergy of this Brate gave ail their influence to the cause of secession, and, as the war progressed, were often the most suc cessful recruiting agents for the Confederate army. —Missouri Democrat. Death oe the Hon. Pater Cone —Wo regret to announce the demise of this estima ble citizen of Geor la, whbh oconrred at his residence, in Bulloch county, on Saturday morning last. The deceased was over seventy years of age. For forty-two years or twenty one terms, he served Bulloch county with abil ity in the State Senate, in which body he was known as the senior member. General Cone was a man of sterling integrity and ardent de votion to the welfare of his native State. For many years the Hon. Peter Cone was Major General of the First Division Georgia Militia, to which position he was elected by the Legis lature over his competitor, General Cnarles Floyd; In the last war he served under General An drew Jackson as a captain, and was in com mand of bis company at the taking of Talla hasse by the Indians. General Cone wa3 born in Bulloch county. His funeral will, take place to-day, and his re mains wiil be deposited in the family vault in that county.—Savannah Repnblie&n. New York. Jan. 5. A chess tournament is now in progress at the New York Chess Club, in the University Buildings. Eighteen players have entered- McKensic is matched against Stanley; Thompson against Terriger, Dr. Ben nett against Worrell, and Johnson against Bel cher. From the National Intelligencer. Let’er from Raphael Semmes to his Brother, Satnnel M. Seinmes. We have been furnished with the following letter written by Raphael Semmes, late com mander of the Confederate cruiser Alabama, aud now awaiting trial iu this city, written by him in August last, to his brother, Samuel M. Semmes, at Cumberland, Maryland: Mobile, Ala., August 12, 1865. My Dear Brother —The cessation of the war leaves me at liberty to' renew my corn s* pondence with you, without subjecting you to suspicion and annoyance; 'and I need not say to you bow grateful to the yearnings of my heart is this long-suspended privilege. You have been frequently in my thoughts during our unfortunate struggle, and I have often felt much solicitude on your account, lest a port of tho odium and ill will which a zealous per formance of my duty has called down upon my head from a “mad nation" should attach to you and your faraijy, and operate to your inju ry. Indeed, I have no doubt, but the prejudice against me was the srcret of the malignant and barbarous persecution of your-son, of which I only hoard a few days my wife’s friend and relation, Mrs. Judge Spencer, of Cincinnati. I have never enquired ns to your opinions and ,conduct during the war. being content to leave you the same liberty of choice and actiou that I claimed for myself. I knew that whatever you did, you would do like a man of honor, and I rested satisfied. Besides, you had been for sometime retired from ac tive life by your want of health. As for my self, I have nothing to regret save only the loss of our independence. My conscience, which is the onlv earthly tribunal of which a good man should be afraid, bears me witness of the uprightness of ray intention in choosing my course when, with many regrets, I severed my connection with the old government and hastened to the defense of mv horns and sec tion ; and now, upon reviewing the whole of my subsequent career, I can see no act with which I have to reproach myself as unbecom ing a man of honor and a gentleman. I ap provedjbe secession movement of the Southern States, though I had no agency iu it. I thought that a separation of those two sections of our Republic, which had been engaged in a deadly moral conflict, for thirtv years, would ultimate lv result to the great advantage of them both. The world was wide enough for them to live anart, and peace, I thought, would bo the fruit of their mutual independence of iach other. Although I cared very little about the insti tution of slavery, I thought that the subordi nate position of the inferior race was its proper position. I believed that the doctrine of States rights was the only doctrine which would save our Republic from the fate of all other Repub lics that had gone before us in the history of the world. I believed that this doctrine had been violated, and that it would never be sufs ficlently respected by t e controlling masses of the Northern section to prevent them from de faring with sacrilegious hands o*r national bond of Union wheresoever its letter was meant to guard the peculiar rights of the South. Believing this, there was but one course which a faithful Southern man could pursue, and maintain his self-respect. I pur sued that course. When the alternative was presented to me of adhering to the allegianco due to my State or to the United States, I chose the former. Having taken my side, I gave it zealous and earnest support. I spent four years io active nervico, and only ceased to labor for my cause when it was no longer possible. I rendered this ser vice without ever having treated a prisoner otherwise than humanely, and. I may say, often kindly; and without ever having committed an act of war at any time, or in any manner, which was not sanctioned by the laws of war; yet my name will probably go down to posterity in the untruthful histories that will be written by big oted and historians as a sort of Blno Beard or Captain Kidd., Rut lam content, my brother. My conscience is clear; my sols re spect has been preserved, and my sense rs manhood remains unimpaired. I think, too the South will lie content, notwithstanding her im mense losses and sacrifices'. Tr she had yielded to the intolerant'exactions of Northern selfish ness ftod fanaticism, without appealing to tho arbitrament of War, she would have played a craven and unworthy part. It is better to lose everything than our honor and manhood. T know you will believe mo my brother, when I tcdl you that I'should feel greatly bumbled in my own opinion, were I this day entitled to wear an admiral's flag iri the old navy, and in posses sion of all-the means and appliances of wealth, if T thought my honors and rewards had been gained by a sacrifice of creed. Tho pre servation of m v own self rtspret is infinitely preferable to all such gains. I haven me out the war po-.r, but God willing, I shall make a support for mv family. The President treats me as an ontlaw, unworthy of, anraesty. I h-ive nothing to say. If lam deemed un worthy to be a citizen T can remain in my na tive land as an alien. A magnanimous people would have parsed an act of general amnesty, it being absurd and ridiculous to talk about, rebels and. traitors in connection with sach a revolution a3 his swept over the length and breadth of this land, in which States, and not individuals merely, were the. actor3.‘ But enough of this subject. lam still in Mobile, but it is yet uncertain, where I shall go, or what I shall do. If I save five or six thousand dollars out of the wreck of ray affairs, it will be fully as much as I expect. I think of re. tiring into the country, where, upon a small farm, I can live in obscurity and peace the few years that remain to me. My children are all grown, and well educated, and will be able, if the worst comes to the worst, to take care of themselves. Remember me kindly to yonr family, my dear brother, and let me hear from you. We have become old men. We have both had our troubles, but the chain of affection which binds me to yon remains unaffected by the cares of the world, and is as bright now as when we slept in each others’ arms. Your affectionate brother, R. SSMMES. Address “ R. Semmes, Esq.” The Pope to Quit Rome.—lt i; s ated that a private letter received in London -ays that the Pope makes little secret of his intenton to leave Rome if the French troops are really with drawn altogether, and will, in ell probabil ty, accept the offer of the British gotpr :ment, late ly received, to provide for him an asylum in Malta. VOL. 24. NO. 3. An Incident op the Jamaica Insurrection. —Stewart, the negro who struck a fatal blow at Mr. Hitchins, went afterwards to Bath, where that gentleman’s lady resided and ac costed her thus: “Areyou Mrs. Hitchins ?’’— On receiving an answer in the affirmative from the trembling ladv, he cnnghthold of both her shoulders, and shaking her rudely, added : “Well, I killed your husband, and I am come to a«k you to forgive me. Do yon forgive me?” “Yea, Ido,” sbegasped with an agon izing look at her poor infant, who was hear by, wjtbin reach of tlje ruffian’s grasp. “Yon lie 1” he repled, shaking her with mere vio lence than before; “go down on yohr kneed and tell it me.” Kinking to the position he ordered, iha poor lady repeated, “I forgive you ; as God is my judge, I do. but Save m’y poor child, whose father yon have killed,”—. Half doubtful, Stewart looked once more at the prostrate form before him. His fingers clutched, as if ready to tair their prey ; his features lowered with an expression of savage hate at the sight pf which the widow toother's h. art was ready to sink within her ; bit, struck apparently by some after ilionght, he bid her arise and go away with her child, add ing, with a fig-ilieaqt look after them as they left, “If I could only believe you did not for give nae, I would kill yon both.” Avery Bhort time after this occurrence, Stewart was taken and received the traitor’s doom at the gallows. .Washington College -—This institution, which was endowed by Goneral Washington, and is situated in Lexington, Virginia, lias suf fered heavy losses during tho late war. Its trustees are, therefore, compelled to offer very inadequate salaries to the members of the facul ty. Since General Leo has become President of the institution he has manifested the greatest interest in'its welfare, and is laboring with unremitting (yiergy to increase its sphere of usefulness. He is very desirous of seeing several other professorships established, ns he believes tho students should bn offered factli* ties for the acquisition, ’in addition to that heretofore given, of such an education as will, In future years, enable them to take the.lead in developing tho mineral, apricullnral and other resources of the South. Tho friends of the institution wish to make it a first class college in every particular, and ono in which Virginians mny he as throughly educated as they could be in any school or university out of the State. But they have no means of doing anything. It is proposed, therefore, to .raißo one hundred thousand dollars as a petpetua! fund, to be called “ the R. E. L*ft Endowment," in order to perpetuate his name in connection with the college to which, it. is now believed, he intetids to devote himself for mally years, if not for lift. The Rev. K D. Stuart-is now soliciting subscriptions in this citv, and may be found for a day or two at tbo Maltby House. fßaltimoro Gazette. Gov. Wells, op Louisiana, on President Johnson. —After reviewing subjects of local interest, Gov. Wells, in his message to the Louisiana Legislature, closes by the following tribute paid to the President: Tho faithful citizen, called by an ail wfsk and omniscieot Providence to administer this pow erful government, watches with affectionate so licitude your proceedings, He lays great stress upon tho course rs Louisiana ; is anxlons she should take her true place in the Republic; has manifested by numerous kindnesses pf manner and acts his warm sympathy with us, and will be slow to.beTievo that wc will even disappoint him. The people have already given him as surance of their true appreciation of his mag** nauimity. I invite you to unite with the,execu tive authority of the State in fresh evidences of similar character, so that tho nation and the world may know that Louisiana is deferm riod to stand or fall with Andrew Johnson and his policy of reconstructing their government. Tub Civil Courts Open.—The Court of Com mon Pleas and General Sessions will hold its regular session for this district to-day. It will bo the first of the Civil Courts of the State which has assembled since the cessation of hos tilities. Wo congratulate the Commonwealth on even the partial restoration of the ancient and accustomed tribunals of justice. On ac count of tho deranged condition of tho various offices, no venires ha Vo been issued for this ler.m. and therefore there will bo no jury (rials. Wo suppose that the principal busincs* of the court will be the hearing of motions and placing the court in a position for the Iranraetioh of future business. The Courts of the State may now be said to be open. Judge A P. Aldrich, former Pp»*>ker of the House, and recently elevated by the Legislature to the bench, will preride. [Charleston Courier, Bth inst. Destruction or the Hon. Wm Izzarijßull ’ Residence —The rerih-nce of the Hon. Wm Izzard Ball, on the west bank of the Ashley river, Six and a half miles from (his city, was was entirely destroyed by fire last Friday night,. Tbe fire broke out about half past ten o'clock at night, and is attributed to incendi arism. The negroes-, on the place had left the premises long before Mr. Bull, and his two sons, who were atlrep in the house, were aroused by the flvmrs just in time to make a narrow escape from being burbt to death.— They had not time to gave even their wearing apparel, and were compelled to make ft hasty flight in their night dress. Fortunately, no ft-mdag were on the place. Mr. Bull's less is estimated at twenty-five hundred dollar*. [Charleston Courier, Bth inst. Tite Test Oath in Congress.—The follow ing is the resolution by which the House of Representatives, on Monday, determined to adhere to the tost oath. It was offered by Mr. Hill, of Indiana: Resolved, That tho act of July 2, 1862, pro scribing an oath to be taken and subscribed by persons elected of appointed to office under the government of the United Staten, before enter* ing upon the duties of such office, ie of binding force and effect in'all departments of tbe pub lic service, and should in no instance be dis pensed with. , ••’.'trtrf #' Amotion was made to lay the resolution on the table, but It was disagreed to—jeas 32, nays 125. The resolution was then passed. The upshot of it ia, that while the oath stands, no decent white ma* f:om the. South can take aseit in Congress. And that is precisely what the Raiiotls of the Puritan persuasion want. [Mobile Register.