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About Weekly constitutionalist. (Augusta, Ga.) 185?-1877 | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1867)
THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST •WEDNESDAY MORNING. JULY 10,1867 TO OUR SUBCRIBERS. The Weekly Constitutionalist will here after be 'mailed on Tuesday ins:ead of Wednes day morning. We make this change to accom modate many subscribers. It is oui aim and purpose to make the paper a tirst class news and family journal, and we confidently hope tjnu the influence ot our subscribers will be exerted to aid us iu doing so by extending its circu lation. THE EXECUTION OF THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN. • When, one month ago, we pointed out to our readers the probable consequences which the execution of the Emperor Maximilian would have upon the civilized world, this sad possibility appeared to us, considering Mexican character, a foregone conclusion. We are profoundly touched by the melan choly event. In our last editorial on this harrowing subject, we endeavored to show tliat it ap pearecKto us to be the imperative duty of the United States Government,.in behalf of the honor and interest of republican institu tions, as well as for the maintenance of their purity, seeking the good of all mankind, and consequently for the preservation of their influence over the civilized and reflecting world, that said Government ought to neglect . nothing that might tend to save the life of Maximilian. We also wished to call atten tion to the fact that the first responsibility, should this murder take place, would be fastened by History upon the French people and their Emperor, more particularly. We do not wisli to inquire, at present, nor has the proper time arrived for such inquiry, in how far and with what promptitude the Governments of the United States and of France have done their duty in this matter. Sonic lingering doubt there may be that in the case of our own Government, every thing tiiat has been done was carried out with the greatest possible degree of promp titude and. energy, or that all that might have been done under the circumstances, was done; but we will not now permit our judgment to lie harrassed by such doubts, and only hope that the honor of the United States has been fully cared for. But the Jime Iras come, after this useless and barba rous act of Mexican banditti, to make in some way an end of Mexican confusion and prevent further outrages against civiliza tion and humanity, as well as against the most sacred rights of individuals, honor, life and property, of whose violation the Mexicans have been guilty during nearly the whole of the present century, until their atrocities make a whole mountain of iniqui ty. When we compare Ihe moderation and soldier-like frankness with which Southern soldiers and generals were treated by the victorious Grant and Shekman, according to their captured equals ready release un der the guaranty of liquor pledged, (which honor, God be praised, lias not been viola ted by the Southern soldiery in any instance we know of,) with the ccid blooded barbari ty and malice displayed by Mexican victors toward their superiors in generalship, intel lect and bravery, we experience, despite the suffering of our poor country, a feel ing of pride that we are Americans. It must be confessed that the Northern armies, especially during the latter part of the war, were guilty of great barbarities, but when the war was ended, the North agitated with sorrow at the calamitous and execrable as sassination of their chosen President, despite this powerful reason calling forth their national Revenge against the South under the excitement of the moment, still the Government, to a large yxtent, and the great majority of the Northern peo ple held inviolate the terms of the surren der in regard to our generals and soldiers. The Mexicans win* have no such provoca tion, have, nevertheless, acted as savages ; re venge is an inherent principle of their na tional character—with them blood must flow after every .success, excesses must soil the glory of every one of their achieve • ments; to them the virtues of moderation, Christian forbearance and magnanimity are utterly nnknowu. We have not the shadow of a doubt that the cry of horror at this terrible deed will resound throughout Eu rope, as from the evidences we have as re gards the press of this country in every section (with a few shameful exceptions) the act of the Mexican Government will be viewed with disgust and condemnation by the entire American people. Though poli tical feuds are now dividihg the land, and a party holding the reins of Govern ment strives to elevate an inferior race at the expense of the whites of this country, we trust enough of national sensibility is left to make us in this question a unity. Congress, which has assembleed again, could do nothing better than to sift Mexican affairs to very bottom and come to some definite and united action in regard to the repeated slights and insults inflicted upon us by the Mexicans lately. The people of the United ‘States are held by them in such a low esti mation that not even the national eusigu h*as been respected but actually trodden under foot. Congress has perhaps no right to complain on that score* having caused these very insults by permitting ns to re main a disunited and discontented people, but it would be well for it to remember that whatever its sympathies with Mexican re publicans may be, the patience and for bearance of the people it represents may be expected to have some limits. With the lights before us we cannot see how the De partment of State canany longer entertain friendly diplomatic relations with Juarez. Something greatly redounding to the honor, the interest and unity of this whole country might be done with the Mexican question at this very juncture. How to effect this may safely be lift, we think, to the astute ness and policy of >lr. Seward. The sacrifice of Maximilian’s life will not be without its beneficial consequences to mankind. Wherever heroism, fortitude and sincerity And admirers, the name of the unfortunate Prince Jill he held in venera tion and strengthen the lot e of these noble attributes. That his Wood w.ll call I forth blossoms and fruits is, however, no consolation for the grief of the present hour, when m reflect what a man with qualities of those of Maximilian might luw e achie\ e > for himself, for the Mexicans and his own native country: The poet could pain n sadder scene than that which surtouin Maximilian’s fate—executed far from all he held dear, no kindred around him to cheer him in his supreme hour of agony, young, “ with all that power and wealth e’er gave,” no gentle hands laying him to rest among the tombs of his glorious ancestry, his body withheld and remaining in the clutches of, his murderers, the mind of his lovely com panion covered with the veil of mental an guish and darkness —what human imagina tion, we sisk, could conjure a sadder picture than all that concerns the fate of the unfor tunate regenerator of fatten Mexico i AFRAID OF HIS OWN SHADOW. • Mr. Benjamin Wade, the -Great Agra rian, has been trying to explain his Law rence speech by quibbles and subterfuges. He swears that the oration was “ garbled and purposely misunderstood.” Such was the flutter caused in the East and in the West by. Mr. Wade’s “ jump forward ” that the Cincinnati Commercial sent, at great ex pense to the management, a special corres pondent to the Vice-President, and the fol lowing jumble of platitudes was the result. Mr. W ade is reported to have said: Why, sir, if you would make an equit able distribution of all the property in the United States to-day among the people, in five years it would again be in the hands of a few men. Such a measure would not be just, nor would it be of any practicable ad vantage to the poor people if done. 1 lie editors and correspondents who have been writing about my speech know very well 1 am not in favor of such a foolish thing as the distribution of property, or of disturb ing in any way property rights.” About the Presidency he said, “ My dear sir, I do not seek that office. I never sought any ofiice, and never will. I have served the people only because they wished me to, and not of my own choosing. It is thirty years since I began public life; lam au old man, as you see, and need rest.” On the labor question he remarked, “ That system of la bor which degrades the poor man and ele vates the rich, which makes the rich richer and the poor poorer, which drags the very soul out of the poor man for a pitiful ex istence, is wrong. We must elevate the la borer, and give him a share in the proceeds of his labor. The man who successfully splves that problem will' do more for the world than any man that has lived in it since the days of Christ. I believe, how ever, that the shadow of the great struggle is upon us, and we must meet it. There is deep discontent among the masses, and they will shortly demand that their condi tion be made more comfortable, both m this country and England. There is a restless ness, a feverish excitement, a diseontented ness with their lot among the poor classes that we cannot disregard. The people want more recreation —more enjoyment. They are casting about for relief from their monotonous and* half-starved condi tion, and they will have it. If an equitable distribution of property I among the whites at the North would, in j five years, result in a return to monopolies as at present, what does the Hon. Wade mean by threatening confiscation and parti tion of Southern lands among a parcel of negroes ? If such a measure would be - un just.ami of no practical advantage, why at tempt to frighten us with universal theft and division ? We are glad to know that this representative of Radicalism has been forced to acknowledge confiscation to be merely a brutum fuhnen, and trust that ex- Gov. Brown and certain “ editors and cor respondents ” will abandon what, according to Wade, they “ know to be a foolish thing,” when they talk of the certainty, if the Military Bill be rejected, of a “ distribu tion of property or a disturbance of private rights.” If Mr. Wade is an “old man and needs rest,” foi* the love of heaven, why does he not retire from public life instead of show ing his grim visage to the people of New Orleans and the Cheyenne ludians, not to speak of the barbarians at Washington ? Rest, rest, perturbed spirit! . After slyly insinuating that he has no Presidential aspirations, that he is an old fellow and needs a good churchyard slum ber, he returns with fatal fascination to the everlasting Agrarian scheme which he so emphatically denied. How is the laborer to get a share of the proceeds of his labor, except by wages or contract with capital ? It is true that capital has been a hard task master from the beginning of the world, but unless Mr. Wade* proposes to solve the 1 vexed question by compelling Massachu setts mill-owners and Puritan Gradgrinds generally to share the profits of their busi ness with*the operatives they employ, we do not readily understand how he can hope tto “do more for the world than any man j since the days of Christ.” Mr. Wade predicts that a great struggle is imminent because the people want “ more recreation and more enjoyment.” As they cannot possibly enjoy themselves to the top of their bent without money, they should, according to Wade, help themselves libe rally from the National Banks, and the cof fers of fat bondholders. The Abolitionists, a few years since, imagined that the negro slaves were discontented and wanted “more recreation and more enjoyment.” To se | cure them these inalienable privileges a gigantic war was inaugurated which very effectually gave the negro what his philan thropic friends deemed a necessity, at the expense of toiling millions of white labor ers. Do the Northern masses ever serious ly question themselves as to their : present decrepitude, disquiet and want T Bo they not know that they have been brought to distress by Radical fanaticism in order that several millions of Africans should have “ more recreation, more 1 enjoyment ?” If not, it is time they began to reflect, just as the men whose gold, made the war a sue-! cess begin to tremble at the possibility of i being called to a moral and financial ac count by these dupes of Puritan ideas. Taking this report of the Commercial cor respondent as correct, we opine that “ honest Ben ” has made a muddle of his ease, and instead of giving hostages to his rich \ friends, has only convinced them that mis-, chief is brewing and hell’s cauldron bub bling and boiling all over. It, is discreet to hesitate about the veracity of a Cincinnati Commercial report after its special pet “Mack” has been proved a romaneist oil more than one occa sion. Having concocted an Imaginary con versation with Alexander H. . Stephens one equally fictitious could be written for Benjamin Wade. Assuming that the reported denial is true, we have it on record that the High Priest and leader of Radicalism never dreamed of the “ distribution of property or the dis turbance of private rights.” This decided utterance knocks Messrs. Brown & Cos. into what is roughly called a cocketl-hat. Assuming the report to be a fabrication, we have it on record that Radicalism, weary of spoiling the South, proposes to recreate and enjoy itself by spoiling the North. When this gay and festive experiment shall have been tried, we may know that the rule or ruin party is on its last legs ; that the chalice commended to our lips has been thrust at the lips of the North ; that’ \\ reck, tribulation and compensation are not far distant; that when thieves fall out honest men come by their own. WOMAN’S RIGHTS. The following article, from the Baltimore Gazette, is happily conceived and admirably presented: * « The Committee on Suffrage, of the Con stitutional Convention of New \ ork, has just done a most ung&llaut filing. It pro poses to give the negro the right to vote without any qualification and to deny the right to woman. That Mrs. Cady Stanton and Miss Susan B. Anthony, on hearing what th 6 committee intended to report, should liavtf considered its course very un just and should indignantly demand to be heard at the bar of the Convention, was nothing less than might have been expected of these strong-minded defenders of their sex. It would have been uncharitable to have denied them a hearing. So, oil Thurs day evening they were permitted to deliver addresses in the Assembly Chamber in vin dication of ‘ their rights.’ The field of ar gument is so very limited, and has been, gone over so often, that petticoated orators were not able to say anything espe cially new or especially interesting. Their position, briefly stated, is that when women are allowed to vote, all that is turbid in politics will speedily become purified, like a glass of muddy Mississippi water when a pinch of alum is thrown into • it. ‘Why should not women,’ they ask, ‘ be allowed the same privileges that are accorded to men ?” We are sure we do not know, except it be be cause they are women and not men. Such an answer, however, would not satisfy Mrs. Cady Stanton or her valorous supporter, Miss Anthony. They deem it inconsistent with the dignity of a woman’s nature that she should limit her influence to society and the home circle. They evidently regard it as derogatory to her womanhood that she should be invested with the charge of the household and the nurture and culture of her children. Thty indignatly repel the idea that it is the crowning privilege of a woman to be a comfort and solace to her husband, or that her highest meed of praise is the love she inspires and the respect she commands. They would not have her ten der and affectionate in manner, and gracious of speech, with a voice that is ‘ ever soft, gentle and low.’ They demand that she shall be recognized only for those qualities which least become her, and that she shall have the right of performing those duties for which she is least fitted. They insist, in short, that in all practical worldly affairs the woman shall be held to. be the equal of the man ; that the distinction of the sexes shall be done away with, and that she shall be allowed to compete with men in all pro fessional and industrial pursuits. Concede this, and the very moment a ivoman enters the arena, the bloom and fragrance of womanhood is taken from her. “ Miss Anthony, however, is a sturdy be liever not only in woman’s right to vote, but to exercise all other manly rights. During the discussion of this point— ‘Mr. Greeley wished to know if the friends of the movement had it in contemplation that jurors should be drawn indiscriminate ly from men and women. ‘ Miss Anthony answered in the affirma tive. ‘Mr. Gould, (Rep.) of Columbia, asked how it would be in case of a draft ? [Ap plause and great laughter in the male gal lery.] ‘ Miss Anthony, with great vivacity, an swered—So long as war is the order of the day. Yes, I am opposed to war; but if it must be so, let them both serve. Yes, sir, we are ready to submit to a draft. [Ap plause.’] “It was very good in Miss Anthony to say this. Except in Dahomey we do not know at this day of the existence of a corps of Amazon warriors. There, however, the ; uniform is simple. It consists merely of a , breech cloth and a bone necklace. With us j it would open a world of trouble. Think of maternity in a blue jacket and tight-fit ting pantaloons! Think of the mother be ing drafted, and sent to the war, and the father left at home to cook the meals, wash up the dishes, and coddle the baby. Think of the surgical inspection and the herding indiscriminately in camp. Think of the li centious habits, the foul speech, the loath some sights of the bivouac, the march, and then say how much of true womanhood would come out of the ordeal. But Miss Anthony, whilst she is willing to be drafted, vows and declares that she is opposed to war. Here comes in a case of conscience at once. She has no objection to the ‘ gal- j !aut cjurtle axe’ or the ‘swashingand mar tial outside,’ but, at ’the Same time, like | ‘ many other mannish cowards,’ she has the j least possible stomach for fighting. Mrs. j Cady Stanton, however, bravely advanced to j the rescue, and gave it oracularly as her opinion that wars would cease when wo-; men had the right of suffrage. Iu prompt j answer to the above the Committee on Suf frage, of which, be it noted,4le>race Gree ley is the chairman, reported the following day to allow only males to vote; and thus showed themselves shamefully callous to the ear-piercing eloquence of Miss Antho ny, and the ‘ dry, hard logic ’ of Mrs. Cady Stanton. We are always sorry when a woman cannot have her way, and we must say that Mrs. Abby Kelly Foster, Miss Su san B. Anthony, Mrs. Lucy Stone, Miss Anna Dickinson and Mrs. Cady Stanton have been very shabbily treated by the philosopher of the Tribune and his Radical friends. If such women desire to enter the trade of politics, to go to primary meet ings' at pot-houses, to’ hook-and-eye female, or button-hole mala voters for a favorite candidate, to have* their maternal ancestors occasionally alludod to in the ‘lady-lan guage ’ of Billingsgate, to carry banners and transparencies in midnight processions, tyul to unsex themselves generally, they have unquestionably just reason to com plain of the barbarous custom of a barbar ous age which prevents them from follow ing out their propensities in contempt of consequences.” KILLING VOTES. Eight Democratic Representatives from the State of Kentucky have been sent be fore the Congressional Committee on Elec tions. They will stgy before that commit tee until the odious measures now pending have been finally passed upon. They will probably be snuffed out completely, in the long run. As the State of Kentucky has been denied representation—a State that never severed its membership with the Federal Union—we lepye it to the people of Georgia to consider liow* very Radical her Representatives must be in order to secure the good graces and pleasant recog nition of the lords of misrule. Governor Brown’s prophecy alxmt “ amnesty , harmony and fraternity ” has received a fresh illustra tion. HON. B. H. HILL’S NOTES. . We reproduce, from the Chronicle & Senti nel, one of the most striking and practical of Mr. Hill’s essays. This manly utter ance should find an echo in the heart of every true Georgian. It will be seen that Mr. Hill has generously tendered his services iu defense of any person who will make a case before the District Courts on present political issues. We trust this magnani mous offer will be fervently responded to. We could wish for no more powerful cham pion than B. H. Hill, and no worthier cause than Constitutional Liberty. Pauperism and Crime—A Comparison. The concluding volume of the census of 1860, devoted to social statistics, has been issued. It affords the means of many in structive comparisons,' and, among others, of a comparison between the numbers of the dangerous and the perishing classes, and their relative proportion to the whole peo ple, in two distinct and widely apart sec tions of the Union, as follows’: NEW ENGLAND STATES. States. Population. Paupers. Criminals. Maine 628,270 8,949 1,215 Connecticut..... 426,147 4,044 1,473 New Hampshire. 326.073 4,494 795 Massachusetts.. .1,231,066 51,880 12,732 Rhode Island... 174,620 1,108 718 Vermont 315,098 3,987 52 Total 3,025,283 74,459 16,977 SAME NUMBER OF SOUTHERN STATES. States. Population. Paupers. Crimina's. Alabama 946.201 582 1 79 Virginia 1,596,318 6,027 608 Georgia 1.057.286 1 451 251 Mississippi 791,805 374 219 Tennessee 1,109,801 3,038 200 North Carolina.. 992,622 1,922 450 Total 6,493,532 14,394 1,898 From this it appears (omitting fractions) that while there is in New England a pau per to each 40 and a criminal to each 174 of the population, in the Southern States enumerated, there was only one pauper to each 451, and one criminal to each 3,421 of the population. It is evident that the much boasted superiority of New England, ou account of her great moral purity and high intelligence, tells better in rhetorical flour ishes than in statistical figures. What a story it tells for the culture of Massachu setts, with her sublime system of free schools and her innumerable churches, that she has 51,880 paupers and 12,732 criminals, while Alabama, one of the dark corners of the earth —a field of missionary labor and philanthropic efforts, with two-thirds as large a population, had only 582 paupers and 179 criminals. Hon. *H. S. Fitch.— We see by a corres pondence in the Thoraasville Entet'prise that this gentlemen, United States District At torney, resident at Savannah, will address the citizens of Thomasville on the 4th inst., on “ Reconstruction.” The Macon Journal & Messenger suggests, as a text for his discourse, the noble words with which he closes his letter, to be found in another column, to Mr. Gue. We thank him for this brave utterance, and adjure him by the memory of a past in which no stauncher defender of the right was found in all the great Northwest than, himself to stand by it. In his memorable speeches against Judge Douglass, in the State of Illinois in 1858, he painted in col ors that even now are fresh in the memory of thousands at the South who only read his speeches, the dangers and disgrace that inevitably wait upon a departure from prin ciple. Let him tell Georgians now what he told his own people then. And he could not better do it than to take, as we have suggested, for his theme these words: “ Next to usurpation of power, there is no higher grade in political crime than a timid abandonment of rights.” I From our Special Correspondent. Letter from Atlanta. Atlanta, G*v., July 4, 1867. Messrs. Editors: The glorious Fourth lias arrived and is well nigh expired. It has been a dav that will long be remember ed by the citizens of Atlanta. Such a con trast l let ween this and our old fashioned Fourths of July is calculated to suggest many reflections to the inquiring mind.— Africa Jias had full sway? It had been pre viously announced that there would be a mass meeting of the Union Republican party of Georgia held in Atlanta to-day.— About 9 o’clock, a. m., the delegates from different counties, (about 60 iu the State be ing represented either by delegation or rather individual direct, or by proxy,) as sembled at the City Hall for the purpose qf enrolling delegates, Col. A. W. Stone, {plain) formerly of Atlanta, now of Savan nah, was called to the chair, and P. M. Scheibley, of , tpitain.) requested to act as Secretary. Mr. j. L. Dunning and W. S. Bassford, both plain of Atlanta, assisted the. Secretary to enroll the names of dele- gates. The hour for speaking was fixed at 12 o’clock, m. Long*before the hour arrived throngs of colored men, women and chil dren collected around the City Hall. About half-past 11 o’clock, a. m., the different pro cessions, marching, to the strains of music, with numerous banners began to arrive at the City Hall. This presented a ludicrous and grotesque appearance. Freedmen had deserted the farms from all parts of the country around, and joined in with their more refined and informed city brethren to swell the ranks. The different processions had banners, each inscribed with what their chief head, (under the direction of the “lial league” in Atlanta,) thought to be an appropriate motto. Such, for instance, as “ The Stevens Union Club: let us be friends: vote for convention and avoid Thad. Ste vens’ Confiscation.” “Thomas Union Club. Gen. Geo. H. Thomas for President in 1868. It is to him we look for the beginning of a new era.” “ Lincoln Union Club, Ist Ward.” “Sherman Union Club. We are marching to the C,” &c., &c. There were various other inscriptions. I merely give you these as a sample. These processions were com posed entirely of colored citizens. The im macculate Dunning, the Pharisaical Mark ham, nor the hypocritical Farrow did not deign to join in the procession. Markham drove tip to the meeting with his coach and four, playing 2d fiddle to oue A. W. Tenney, who professes to hail from New York, and who was the leading plain orator of the day. Upon a permanent organization, Foster Blodgett, (very plain,) who, it is said, hails from your city, was chosen President, if 1 mistake not, to hold his office twelve months, with fourteen Vice-Presidents. The speaking began about twelve o’clock, j M. A. W. Tenney, of New York, (plain,) was J the first speaker. He was lengthy, but j said nothing pointed, and did not elicit 1 much interest. 'ln fact, lie did not retain i the attention of his nearest 'hearers, and j hacl it not been that the hopeful darkey was in expectation of something better, the audience would have dispersed before he was half through. The next speaker was Rev. James M. Simms, colored, of Savannah. He enliven ed things up some. In fact, he made a much more interesting speech, judging from the animation of feeling shown by his hearers, than Tenney. I was much struck with one of his remarks. He said that the “ Bible spoke of much greater antagonisms | being reconciled than the white and color- ' ed races becoming equal. For, said he, it | tells us that the lion and the lamb shall lie ! down together ; why not, then, the whites ! and blacks.” This will show you the quo animo of his speech, which was drank in by i Blodgett, Dunning, Markham, Farrow, et \ td, with apparently great satisfaction. The next speaker was ex-reb Col. H. P. Far- j row, of Nitre and Mining Bureau, {mixed,) \ notoriety, who boldly announced that there J was not a time during the whole war that he would not have sold out the Confederate States had it lay in his power. (This ac counts for so much worthless ammunition palmed off on the Confederate Government during the war.) His speech was a lame afiair, as always is, and under its influence several of his colored listeners fell asleep, and the roar of their nasal organs rather overdone the gallant ex-reb’s speech. The next and last speaker of the morning, was Simeon W. Beard, colored, of Augusta. He was certainly the lion of the occasion. He is in fact an intelligent American citizen of African descent. Not all African, how- j ever. He is a bright mulatto, and I should I think, about the same degree of blood as Fred. Douglass. His speecli had a telling effect on his Black Republican audience, and ; threw them almost into exstacies. • His ■ name is upon every one of their lips, and they are collected about the streets in va rious knots discussing his merits. Already he is spoken of for Governor, and lie would prove a formidable rival to either Blodgett or Markham, or both, whom, I learn, have aspirations in that direction. At the con clusion of Beard’s speech, the Hon. Presi dent adjourned the meeting until 8 o’clock this evening, when there is to be some more speaking, and also a display of fire-works in honor of the day we celebrate. There is much disappointment among the colored people present, about 4,000 men, women and children, which comprises about the whole of "the meeting, (leaving out the police, a few “lookers on in Venice” and Blodgett, Dunning, Tenney, Markham, I Farrow, et al.) They had come here from the country for miles around, expecting a j good, old fashioned barbecue, as was the old custom at political mass meetings, but j nary a barbecue was to be smelt, much less j seen and tasted. Dunning, Markham, Far row, Blodgett, et al are too sharp for that. They are willing to vote the negro if he will vote their way, and if they can pull the wool over his eyes. But he must be no expense to them. No such good thing as a barbecue will ever greet the freedman as long as he is lead by such men as these.— Cuftee will no doubt begin to smell mice after while. Pediio. Debit and Credit.—A Milwaukeean has sued a young married woman, who had re ceived his attention while engaged to some one else, for a bill of $lO4 25, the amount he had paid in her behalf in taking her to concerts, operas, *pic-nics, rides and ice cream saloons. As an offset he credited her with sundry kisses, valued at sl6 37>£; several squeezes of the hand, $3 37’^; au unreturned photograph and a ring—making a total of $37 75. He recovered the bill, the Judge allowing the plaintiff the issues at his own valuation. The case is to be carried up. The great tabernacle of the Saints of Salt Lake City is now finished. It is two hun dred and fifty feet long and one hundred and fifty wide, and furnishes comfortable sitting room for ten thousand persons. Gen. Jomini. —The celebrated General Jomini has just received from the Emperor of Russia the grand cordon of St. Andre. He is 87 years of age. ]From our Special Correspondent. Letter from Washington. Washington, July 4, 1867. * The Congress has been here long enough for me to gi vt you an idea of what they .will do. In the first pjace the more extreme men,- who wanted to .have a long session, and consider aIT questions of legislation, have been overruled. The Congress will cofitine itself to the purpose of reconstruction. Upon the subject of reconstruction, a bill will be passed vacating all the civil officers umlev the State -governments South, such vacation to lake place at a fixed and early day. The Commanding .Generals to hav e power to appoint new persons to the vacant offices, or permit the old officer to continue, or to order an election. The purpose is to pull up the. existing State governments by the roots. All the power and influence of ■ office in the South will at once be put on the side of the Republican party. Besides this,- shine additional power will be given to the Registry Boards to reject applicants for registration, to strike their names from re gistry lists, after registration, on cause shown. This programme, frqjp what 1 can learn, embraces what Congress will do. Notjiing practical will be done on the impeachment of tlie President. It* will be postponed. Many of the leaders of the Re publican party say it is not worth while to bother with impeachment, that the Presi dent is perfectly impotent and not in their way. Nothing of consequence will be done ou the subject of confiscation. Mr. Sumner and Mr. Stevens, and some others, wish to take up this subject, but they will have to practice patience, as the Congress will not go into this matter'now. The session will he very short. Some of the leading members say they will get. through in ten days. The intense hot. weather now in vogue here ravel's a short .session very much. There is a general feeling of regret among conservative men here* that the President stirred up this reconstruction question, though, in fact, he has done nothing; yet, he did that nothing in such a way as to give a pretext for calling Congress together. I heard one prominent man talking about it, and he said “it was wonderftil they could never bluuder upon a sensible thing at the White House, but must always be doing something stupid. If the President had done nothing, well; or if he had done something, well; but he seemed like he was going to do something without really doing anything, and this summoned Congress from their dread repose and gave the ultras a pretext for anew agitatiou.” The Republicans are vastly encouraged by the registration in Virginia. They claim the State confidently. They say if it is thus promising in Virginia, it must be better South, where there are more blacks. . Argus. Letter from Brazil. We have been requested, says the Now Orleans Times, to publish the following ex tract of a letter from a young lady, who, with her parents, has sought anew home in the empire of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, May 22. We arrived safely after thirty days from New Orleans, all well; no deaths, but hard living. If we had known the bill •of fare, we could have provided ourselves with pro visions for the trip. Rio v(e Janeiro! How can I describe it ? Alas! the poverty of the English language fails to furnish words to express the most magnificent sight 1 ever beheld. We were received by the Brazilians with ‘ open arms. The Government lias furnished the most magnificent places for our accom modation. The house is an extensive build ing, on an eminence—almost a mountain— that commands a full view of the city. We are furnished with rooms, bedding, etc., and fed on plain, wholesome food, free of charge, for twenty days; after that time we are to pay forty cents per day. The wrecked emigrants from Texas, un der Frank McMullen, arrived yesterdayj-a fine, healthy looking crew, lie clung to them through everything, but is almost dead from consumption. Di\ Gaston, from South Carolina, and crew, are here also.— Four hundred and fifty of us ure in this building. We will probably go into the colony started by Mr. Gunter, of Alabama. Dr. Keyes will go there, also four other fami lies. Two of Mr. Yancey’s sons go with us. We go three hundred miles north of here.— There is a regular mail line to New York ; ships leave here the 23d of each month.— Cannot yet tell you how to address us. L write in great haste, as the Emperor is to visit us in two hours. * Northern Men as Representatives op Southern Constituencies. —The fol lowing letter, addressed to the Military Governor of Louisiana, explains itself: Executive Mansion, ) Washington, Nov. 21, 1864. J Dear Sir : Dr. Kennedy, bearer of this, has some apprehension that Federal officers, not citizens of Louisiana, may be set as candidates for Congress in that State. In my view, there could be no possible object in such an election. We do not particular ly need members of Congress from those States to enable us to get along with legis lation here. What we do want is the con clusive evidence that respectable citizens of Eouisiana are willing to be members of Congress, and to swear to support the Con stitution, and that other respectable citizens there are willing to vote for them and send them. To send a parcel of Northern men here as Representatives, elected, as would be understood, (and perhaps really so,) at the point of the bayonet, would be dis graceful and outrageous, and were Ia mem ber of Congress here, I would vote against admitting any such man to a seat. Yours, very truly, A. Lincoln. Hon. G. F. Shepley. Modern “ Enterprise.” —The publica tion of dispatches concocted iu New York, but purporting to have been transmitted over the Atlantic Telegraph, is supposed by some journalists to be a cheap and effectual way of getting a reputation for enterprise, but it is attended with danger. For in stance, the Herald a few days ago, in a dis patch purporting to describe the coronation of the Austrian Emperor of King of Hun gary, said : “ The reports of the condition of the health of the Austrian Archduchess Matilda ” (who had some time before been burned by her clothes taking fire) “or of the actual danger to the life of the Emperor Maximilian, were not permitted to interfere with the ceremonies.” The character of the dispatch will be apparent when it is known that the unfortunate princess had been dead two days at the time it was written, and her fate had made a profound sensation throughout Europe.— Tribune. A Case of Conversion.— The London Court Journal says: “An English Duchess has gone over to the Roman Catholic Church within a few daysand adds the quiet ob servation : . “ It is a short and easy journey n< W-’ 4
