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THE WEEKLY CONSTITUTIONALIST
WEDNESDAY MORNING. MAY 20, 1868
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STATE DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION.
Extract from the Chronicle <£• Sentinel of
May MJth :
“ To avoid the possibility of distracted coun
sels or antagonistic action on the part of our
friends, and to harmonize, mobilize and
strengthen our own party, we are clearly of
the opinion that a convention of the party
should be called at once. We have taken the
liberty to make this suggestion after consulta
tion with some of our more distinguished
statesmen, and who fully and cordially concur
in the recommendation. We believe that the
Central Executive Committee has the right to
call such a convention, and we invite the atten
tion ot the Democratic press to the subject,
and ask for an expression of opinion from
them on th j expediency of such a call.”
Extract from the Constrtutionalist of May IsC
“ Whether we have lost or gained by the late
canvass each one can determine lor himself.—
M e trust that it has not weakened the Democ
racy North and South. We further trust that
it has not built up and compacted the Radical
party in our midst. One thing, however, we
deem to be a certainty, that never before was
there so much need of perfect organization ana
active work. Let not those who were so rabid
to enter into the recent contest grow 7 despond
ent and negligent; let them, on the contrary,
review the situation with rigid scrutiny, and
seek to repair the damage to their shields and
battle-axes. Let them pluck up ten-told spirit
for more valorous deeds. Let them assail the
enemy at all points and in all seasons. I?y per
sistent and unflagging essays, Radicalism has
won on the side of Wrong; it will be an unut
terable shame, a withering disgrace, if Democ
racy should fail to manifest an equally deter
mined vigor in the championship of Right. As
an earnest of this resolve, and for the better
understanding of all elements of success, we
propose, at the earliest practicable day, a State
Democratic Convention, which shall have the
power of issuing a declaration of principles,
as a platform, and for such other purposes of
re-organization as the occasion may demand.”
HURRYING UP RECONSTRUCTION.
Before any, or very few, members of the
House of Representatives had seen the new
constitution of Arkansas, Mr. Thaddeus
Stevens, the Old Sexton of Radicalism,
commenced his dismal chaunt “ We’ll
gather them in,” and forthwith, without
priest or candle, proceeded to dump the peo
ple of Arkansas into the charnel house of
Congress. Such indecent haste went even
beyond the ordinary atrocity of the party
of progress and was indignantly, though
vainly, rebuked by several adherents of the
dominant faction whose sense of delicacy is
not entirely dulled or debauched. Well, we
are not surprised at any infamy connected
with conspirators long since dead to honor
or justice, and, if anything, rather rejoice at
the headlong desperation of their manceuvr
ings, since precipitation will bring matters
to a crisis and end this slow torture of recon
struction with some deliberate plan for em
pire, or escape.
As Arkansas is the pioneer in the new
method of galvanizing the corpse of a Re
public ; and as the remaining Southern
anatomies are in due course of transporta
tion to the realm of Minos Stevens and
Rhadamanthvs Sumner : mournful watch
ers will be interested in perusing the con
soling obituaries or resurrecting promises
of anxious and sympathizing friends. We,
therefore, surrender a large portion of our
space to the comments of the New York
Press.
[From the New York Herald.
Arkansas has reconstructed herself, so
far as the law leaves reconstruction in the
hands of the States concerned, and is ready
to come in. She has accepted all the terms.
She lias made a government “ republican in
form,” which means a government in which
all the niggers can vote and many of the
white men cannot. She has chosen a Leg
islature that is not only “ republican in
form,” but Radical in spirit. And thus,
sure of the Legislature, sure of the nigger,
sure of the constitution of the State, the
Radicals in Congress are solemnly satisfied
that Arkansas is all right, and that she
may come in and participate in the won
derful law-making that is done in Wash
ington. Being satisfied and having the
majority, the rest followed of course.—
Thad. Stevens said it, and who should ob
ject ? Some Democrats said no, and Ste
vens graciously gave them two hours,
coupling this with a warning to his Radi
cal kennel to keep out of the discussion al
together, and significantly intimating that
any man who ventured to take up the time
of the House on the discussion would be
regarded as not quite sound on the Radical
doctrine. This is a fearful threat just now,
when Mr. Johnson is so nearly out and
Wade is so nearly in, and everybody is so
near to a new shuffle and deal of the cards
of Presidential patronage. Arkansas, there
fore, is the first State—tfie initial point of
the programme of reconstruction that the
radicals have finally taken up—the State
7J? cl ’ levc th, Y have flll >y Prepared
1 > Cy arc will >ngtotry. How suc
scen y thCy iave P rc l’ are( - 1 n is to
same om C nn‘i‘ S ’ A A ka " biU involves the
ridiculous proS^on'A^^ l ’" lß ’ Sam<i
point in the Alabama hi W “ S ll,e , mal “
withdrawn some weJks
to admit the State for '.. l n yi’ oses
“ fundamental condition ” Ti° n a " d °“ a
that the State has <luly ratifkul
teenth amendment: the conditk - l Vi four ’
State shall never change We eon
under which it is admitted so a?
of the suffrage any man now ‘entitled to 'it
-meaning the nigger, of course There is
perhaps, no man not in Congress who does
not know how absolutely ridiculous such a
condition is and cannot see the flat cons in
fliction in the main points ot the bill, < on
°tcss admits r State on fl condition, and the
moment the State is admitted the condition
ceases to be binding. Before it could pos
sibly come into operation the condition
must become a nullity. I low wise to make
it ' This condition that the superfluous
savagery of Stevens insists on imposing is
in regard to the suffrage. So soon as the
State is in it is under the Constitution of
the United States ; that fourteenth amend
ment is part of the Constitution, and that
amendment expressly leaves the whole
business of the regulation of the suffrage to
the States. Under that amendment the
States have power to regulate the suffrage
as they please. They are to be admitted
because they have ratified tiiat amendment,
but on condition that they shall not avail
themselves of its terms and shall leave the
suffrage absolutely' as it is. Could visionary
nonsense touch a w ilder extreme ?
In the case of Arkansas the reasons that
prevented the admission of Alabama do not
exist. Arkansas has a Radical Legislature
and is in Radical hands altogether, and
though the general in command out there
will not admit that the election is valid,
that matters but little to the party in power.
Arkansas will soon be in the Union, and we
hope that her advent will open the way to
the admission of all the unrepresented States
on any terms or conditions whatever. But
once in, something will, perhaps, be seen in
those States that will astonish the Radicals.
We have no doubt that every Southern State
that votes on the Presidency will go against
the Republican candidate. Every' election
shows that only' a fraction of the registered
vote is cast. More men are registered in
every State than vote ; and in Alabama
there were seventy' thousand votes legally
on the register that were not brought out
in the contest for the constitution. This is
so much unused power of the opposition ;
for all the votes not cast are against tiie
Radicals. Radicalism brings out its entire
vote everywhere, but the opposition docs
not use its strength against these constitu
tions. It waits to get in, sure that the con
stitutions can be taken care of in the future.
But a struggle that will certainly call out
all the powers of the opposition is that for
the Presidency. In the Presidential canvass
it is certain that a full vote will be thrown;
all the opposition will be brought out, all
that reserved power that appears in the dif
ference between the returns of registered
voters and the returns of votes cast -will be
employed, and the result will be the defeat
of the Republican candidate in every' South
ern State. We shall yet see this party of
fanatics put down by' the combined action
of a united South and a Northern minority.
( From the World.
The House of Representatives passed
vesterday, under the whip and spur of
Thad. Stevens, its master and its rider, the
bill for admitting Arkansas under its new
negro constitution. We insert the pream
ble and bill:
» Whereas, The people of Arkansas, in pur
suance of the provisions of an act entitled
“ An act for the more effective government of
the rebel States,” passed March 2, 1867, and
the acts supplementary thereto, have framed
and adopted a constitution of State government
which is republican in form, and the Legisla
ture of said’State has duly ratified the amend
ment to the Constitution of the United States,
proposed by the Thirty-ninth Congress, and
known as article fourteen ; therefore,
“ lie it enacted, and it is hereby enacted, That
the State of Arkansas is entitled and admitted
to representation in Congress as one of the
States of the Union, upon the following funda
mental condition: That the constitution of
Arkansas shall not be so amended or changed
as to deprive any citizen or class of citizens of
the United States of the right to vote who are
entitled to vote by the constitution herein re
cognized, except as a punishment for such
crimes as are now felonies at common law,
whereof he shall have been duly convicted.”
This will doubtless serve as a model for
all the acts of admission which are to fol
low. Mr. Stevens is said to have a similar
one in preparation for Africanized South
Carolina. The Republicans seem to sup
pose that when all the negro States are
thus admitted, the success of their recon
struction scheme will have become “a fixed
fact,” and that the ascendancy of their
party' will be insured for many years.—
Their object is to fortify' themselves
against the consequences of a revolution
in the public sentiment of the country.
If a Democratic President and a Demo
cratic House of Representatives should
be chosen next Fall, they fancy their
negro policy will nevertheless be safe
against subversion, by reason of their as
sured control of the Senate for the ensuing
four or six years. If the negro States
should all be admitted with their new con
stitutions, there will be an addition of twen
ty Radical members to a Senate in which
the party has already a majority of nearly
four to one. The Senate, at present, stands
forty-three Republicans to eleven Demo
crats. If the ten Africanized States are
admitted before this session closes, the Sen
ate will be composed of sixty-three Repub
licans to eleven Democrats ; and the great
length of the Senatorial terms will keep the
Senate Republican until after the Presi
dential election of 1872, even if all the elec
tions in every part of the country should
meanwhile be carried by the Democrats.
The Republicans are therefore planning to
make the Senate the citadel of their strength.
By' their certain control of one branch of
Congress they expect to prevent the repeal
of the partisan legislation of the last two
years, since no law can be repealed with
out the concurrence of the Senate. They
accordingly' suppose that, in spite of the
mutations of party politics, the Recon
struction laws will stand, and, if a Demo
cratic President is elected this year, the
tenure-of-office act will be kept in force,
and General Grant continue to supervise
the military orders of his Commander-in-
Chief.
The bulwark which seems to its construc
tors so solid and impregnable is really very
frail. True, the reconstruction acts cannot
be repealed without the concurrence of the
Senate, but unconstitutional laws need no
repeal. They are completely abrogated
from the moment that the Supreme Court
adjudges them repugnant to the Constitu
tion. It is well known that the Supreme
Court regards the reconstruction acts as
unconstitutional, and would have pro
nounced them so in the McArdle case, if
the decision had not been postponed until
the next term of the court. If the Demo
crats elect the new President in November,
the judges will have courage enough to
meet the question in December which they
lately evaded by postponement. A decision
on the reconstruction acts by the Supreme
Court will be even better than a repeal ol
them by Congress. The immense prepond
erance of the Republicans in the Senate will
go for nothing in support of spurious laws
which violate the Constitution. The same
remark will apply to the tenure of office
law, and the law which virtually divests
the President of the command of the army.
Both are certain to be declared void as soon
as they can be brought to tjie judicial notice
of the Supreme Court. The Republicans
are therefore acting under a hallucination
in supposing that they can prevent ol the
repeal of their partisan laws by strengthen
ing their majority in the Senate.
The conditions imposed upon Arkansas
in the bill passed yesterday, that the negroes
shall never be deprived of the suffmge, is
perfectly nugatory. Not only' are the Re
construction laws unconstitutional, and
certain to be judicially declared so, but the
condition here imposed is equally a viola
tion of the Constitution.* The people of
Arkansas and the other States will so re
gard it, and will refuse to be bound by it.
With a Democratic Senate and House, how
can the Republican Senate enforce thecondi
tion? If military coercion were removed,
the negro governments would not stand a
month in any of the States. A Republican
Senate cannot make appropriations for
maintaining armies to support the new
governments, nor has it any authority' to
compel a Democratic President to enforce
laws which the Supreme Court will have
adjudged void for repugnance to the Con
stitution. We conclude, therefore, that this
desperate attempt to secure a permanent
ascendancy in the Senate will be of no
ultimate advantage to the Republican
party.
[From the World, 2d Article.
If the text of the Arkansas bill be as we
have it reported, the Rump House perpetra
ted an absurdity yestenjay as well as a
fraud in rushing it through. The bill
reads :
“ Whereas, The people of Arkansas, in pur
suance of the provisions.of an act, entitled ‘ An
act for the more efficient government of the
rebel Slates,’ passed March 2,1867, and the acts
supplementary thereto, have framed and adopt
ed a constitution of State government which is
republican in form, and the Legislature of said
State has duly ratified the amendment to the
Constitution of the United States, proposed by
the Thirty-ninth Congress, and known as arti
cle 14 ; therefore,
“Be it enacted, &c , That the State of Arkan
sas is entitled and admitted to representation in
Congress, as one of the States of the Union,
upon the following fundamental condition :
That the constitution of Arkansas shall not be
so amended or changed as to deprive any citi
zen, or class of citizens, of the United States of
the right to vote who are entitled to vote by
the constitution therein recognized, except as
a punishment for such crimes as are now felo
nies at common law, whereof he or they shall
have been duty convicted.”
Now, read! ;g these italicized words con
tinuously, which can be done w ithout in
fringing the sense of the bill, we find that
the action of the Rump House yesterday, in
the case of Arkansas, amounts to this, that
“ Whereas, * * * * the Legislature of
said State has duly ratified the amendment
to the Constitution of the United States,
«• -x- * « known as article 14, therefore
* * * * the State of Arkansas is enti
tled and admitted to representation in Con
gress as one of the States of the Union,”
&c. Now’, can anything be more absurd
and ridiculous than this, that a State out
side of the Union can ratify a proposed
amendment to the Constitution of the United
Staten anti tt has ratiHcHTllat
amendment, be admitted into the Union as
one of the States. No fair-minded person
can say we put the case improperly, for the
allegeci ratification took place nearly two
weeks since, and the fact that it did then
take place is now made a ground for ad
mission. If a State that is not in the Union,
and needs a special act to be made
“one of the States,” can ratify a proposed
amendment to the Federal Constitution,
why cannot a Territory do the same,
and for doing it, be also admitted as
“one of the States ?” Have we really States
out of the Uiron that cannot elect within
their own borders even so much as a con
stable without the authority' of Congress,
and yet, when it comes to ratifying an
amendment of the fundamental law’ of the
, Union, can impose their will on States that
are and have been uninterruptedly in that
Union ? The very' pretension is the gross
est of chimeras. If Arkansas, on the Rad
ical hypothesis, were not out of the Union,
this bill, which proposes to admit her into
the Union, would not have been passed yes
terday’, and even now that it has passed
she is not thereby admitted, since the Sen
ate and President have yet to act, and still
this Rump House stands upon record that
a State which is not in the Union has
“duly” ratified an amendment. What is
meant here by this word “ duly ?” Does it
mean according to the requirements of the
Constitution ? Most certainly not, for the
only’ way that instrument permits of the
ratification of an amendment is by the
legislatures of “ the several States,” and if
Arkansas were, in the Rump hypothesis,
one of these “ several,” where would be the
necessity' in its case of an act of admission ?
But there is another ground assigned for
this act of admission that is equally unten
able with this of ratification by a State
that is not in the Union, to wit: That the
people of Arkansas “ have framed and
adopted” a constitution. Where is the
warrant for this assertion on the part of
the Rump? In providing for an “ election”
on the bogus Southern constitutions, the
reconstruction acts say that “ the returns
thereof shall be made to the commanding
general of the district” and “ that ” if, ac
cording to said returns, the constitution
shall be ratified, a certified copy thereof
shall be forwarded, &c. Now, Gen. Gillem
is commander of the district in which Ar
kansas has been placed, and in speaking of
the returns made him his language is, “ Had
the election been conducted in strict com
pliance with General Orders No. 7, the
adoption of the constitution would have
■been indisputable which means,of course,
that the “election” was not so conducted,
and that the adoption of the constitution
is disputable. In face of this announce
ment the Rump does not hesitate to say
that the constitution was adopted. Arkan
sas is not in the Union, say’s the Radical
doctrine, and the adoption of the “ consti
tution” is doubtful, says General Gillem,
and yet in declaring yesterday that the
State had ratified an amendment, and that
the “ constitution ” had been ratified, the
Rump eat its own words and gives the lie
to its ow n servant.
Proposed Modification of the Test
Oath in the South. —We learn from
Washington that General Grant sent to
the House of Representatives on Wednes
day a letter enclosing a communication
from General Canby on the subject of the
test oath in the South. General Canby
says—what every unprejudiced person
knows—that serious impediments are in
the way of carrying out the reconstruction
laws of Congress in consequence of this
test oath. We will say nothing here of
the unconstitutional and dangerous prece
dent of these military men ignoring the
Executive of the Republic and communi
cating officially and directly with Congress,
but will remark, apart from this, that Gen.
Canby has made a sensible argument against
the atrocious and proscriptive laws of Con
gress with regard to the test oath. We
have no idea that the Radical majority in
Congress will undo what they have done
and act upon the recommendation of Gen.
Canby to repeal or change the law ; but his
sensible communication will remain as a
standing reproach against their impracti
cable and infamous schemes of reconstruc
tion.—N. Y. Herald.
The Military Arrests.— lt was reported
yesterday that the commander of tee post had
dismissed the cases coming before him arising
in the matter of discharging Radical negroes.
It is said that many of these negroes swore to
palpable and point-blank falsehoods in the
oaths they made. It is gratifying to know that,
the military authorities have had the good
sense to dismiss the whole business. They
should never have taken any notice of it from
the very beginning. *
[Macon Journal $ Messenger.
Men and Brethren.
Our readers may probably remember that i
at the Conference of the New England
Episcopal Methodists, which was held at
Boston a week or two ago, Bishop Ames
brought upon himself quite a storm of in
dignation from his clerical brethren by ex
pressing a determination to introduce sev
eral negro preachers into Northern pulpits.
The discussion raged for some time quite
vehemently, and peace was only restored at
last by' remanding the whole matter to the
quarterly conferences, where it is destined
to sleep the sleep of the seven sleepers of
Ephesus. For some days past the quad
rennial conference of the Methodist Epis
copal Church, North, has also been holding
its session at Chicago. There are nine
Bishops present and any imaginable number
of delegates. From the very outset, how
ever, the conference has been in great tribu
lation. Two negro delegates, from the Mis
sion Conferences of Washington and Dela
ware, thinking, in the simplicity of their
hearts, that they would be received as “men
and brethren,” presented themselves at the
doors of the conference and demanded ad
mission. The result at Chicago, as well as
at Boston, has demonstrated that the love
of the Northern Methodists for the negro is
measured by the square of the distance—
the temperature of that love being in the
ratio of the remoteness of the object. For
instance, a Northern Methodist has a pro
found affection for the negro so long as he
remains in Florida or Louisiana. But as
the negro advances Northward this attach
ment grows gradually colder and colder,
until on reaching the latitude of Massachu
setts Bay or the Great Northern Lakes it
descends to somewhere about zero.
When, therefore, the negro delegates from
Washington City and from Delaware de
manded to be admitted to seats in the
quadrennial conference at Chicago, and to
share in the deliberations of that body, the
audacity' of the proposal seems to have
struck almost all the white clericals with
surprise. On the spur of the moment, some
of the members of the conference were dis
posed to admit their black brethren.—
Others, however, were determined they
should not be recognized. For two whole
days the debate on this subject was pressed,
and at last it was left to the nine Bishops
to decide what ought to be done in a case
where no less than two hundred and fifty
white ministers had agreed to disagree.—
So far then as the great body of the con
ference is concerned the question of negro
equality has been ignominiously' evaded.
There still remained one other trouble
some point. It was by no means difficult
in a hospitable, city Chicago to assign
tne white Methodist ministers to comfort
able quarters; but the difficulty was to
dispose of the two negro delegates, who re
mained unassigned, but who could not be
turned off without food or lodging. No
body seemed willing to take them, and it
must be confessed it was a piece of down
right impertinence in these negro brethren
to thrust themselves not only where they
were not wanted, but where they disturbed
the consciences of two hundred and fifty
white ministers, of whom it was intended
the conference should be exclusively com
posed.
In this dilemma, a certain Brother Hat
field, with a spirit worthy of an ancient
martyr, rose and said, “the colored brethren
would be very welcome to the hospitality'
of his bed and board during the session of
the conference.” This heroic act of self
abnegation was greeted with immense
applause, and the perplexing affair seemed
finally’ to have settled itself very pleasantly.
But Brother Hatfield is a married man, and
there are such things as “curtain lectures.”
Now, mark the sequel: “On the following,
morning” says the Chicago Times, “Bro. Hat
field put in an early' appearance. His counte
nance wore a look of discomposure, and he
looked very like a man who had not slept
well. Getting the floor, he proceeded to
state that, upon reflection, he had decided
that it would not be convenient for him to
entertain the colored brothers, and therefore
he begged permission to withdraw his
proffer of the day' before. It was a painful
matter, he said, to dwell upon ; but the
fact was, that it wasn’t exactly convenient.
At last accounts the two colored brothers
had been assigned to a cheap negro board
ing house, on Fourth avenue, and peace,
like a dove, had lighted upon the walls
of Methodist block.”— Baltimore Gazette.
M I
Banny Fern and the Rebel-
Fanny Fern has been reconstructing a
rebel. It seems that Mr. Parton (her hus
band) has an amanuensis who served in the
Confederate army; a young gentleman of
fine manners and occomplishments. Now
Fanny had heard of sundry such American
citizens refusing to walk under the Ameri
can flag. So she fastened the loyal bunting
over the door of Mr. Parton’s, writing
room, whereby the amanuensis could
neither get in nor out without passing un
der it. Appreciating the joke, the rebel
pinned on the flag a pencil slip to the effect
that “ lovely woman’s wit had done what
five years of war could not do; but that,
though his body passed under, his soul
soared above.” . Next morning Fanny
placed in the entry' by the side of the hat
rack, a bust of General Butler, so that the
gentlemanly rebel could not fail to take off
his hat to it. Whereupon the amanuensis
left on the pedestal a memorandum inti
mating that “ persons curious to see But
ler’s face as it appeared there, might have
seen his back as it appeared at Bethel.’’
During the afternoon Fanny set a.bottle of
“ Gettysburg Water” by the statue, with the
words “ Good for bad blood and secession.
Butler was not at Bethel, according to his
biographer, Jas. Parton. Therefore his back
could not have been there. But, if it had
been, he never would have covered it with
his wife’s petticoats in decamping.”
The rebel’s retort was, “ I have no fan
cy for being ‘ bottled up.’ I leave that to
the Butler. On the following day, Fanny
brought a pretty nosegay' of red, white
and blue,” to pin upon his overcoat, which
he had left in the hall. But in the act of do
ing so, she discovered that the coat was
threadbare and torn. “ I’ll mend it for
him,” said she to herself; but happening at
that moment to remember a scene which
she had witnessed during the rebellion—a
procession of Yankee prisoners on their
way from Andersonville to Fortress Mon
roe, clad in ragged, vermin-covered, bullet
ridden coats and trousers —“ No,” she ex
claimed, “ not a stitch shall I sew upon
that rebel’s coat!’,’ For she felt that, in
some way, her needle, mending a rebel’s
coat, would be wounding those gaunt and
haggard loyal heroes whom in her heart of
hearts she enshrined and worshipped. Ac
cordingly, to vent her patriotic indigna
tion, she withdrew her needle and stuck
two pins passionately through the nosegay’
and coat, and took a flagrant revenge by
thus transfixing a rebel’s breast! What
rejoinder was made to the last sally we do
not know. Our latest dispatches from up
town simply say, “Hostilities are still go
ing on between the parties.” But we don’t
suppose that Fanny’s rebel is thoroughly
reconstructed yet.— lndependent.
Parton should look out. A thrip to a
ginger cake Fanny “ is in love ” with that
rebel.
An early spring—Jumping out of bed at
live o’clock iu the morning.
The Eastern Question-
A Reliable Statement in Regard to the
Attitude of Russia— Disposition of the
European Powers —Possible Conse-
quence of Prussian Neutrality.
The following document, understood to be
from a well-informed and authentic source, has
been published, by order, in the St. Petersburg
Birjevira Vedomosti :
“An opinion has lately arisen in Russian
society that the present is a most favorable
moment for solving the Eastern question in a
way advantageous to ourselves. ‘ Now or
never’ is the watchword that may be frequently
heard. This confident belief is based on the
consideration that Austria is too weak to offer
us any serious resistance, while Prussia is sup
posed to be little interested in the Eastern
question, and ready to show us full play in
Turkey, if only we do not prevent her unifying
Germany. Os Napoleon it is assumed that,
however eager to interfere in the East, his
hands are tied by the German and Roman dif
ficulties. Let him, it is said, meddle with Tur
key, and Prussia will cross the Main, while
Italy will no longer respect the Roman fron
tier. Thus compelled to divide his strength,
and operate on three points at once, Napoleon
would run the risk of being defeated on all.—
Should he then think this too venturesome, and
keep away from Turkey altogether, England, it
is further argued, would scarcely take upon her
self to interfere single-handed. Why, our san
guine friends wind up, why not set to work with
out delay? Would it not be unpardonable to let
such an opportunity slip by unimproved ?
But is this reasoning well grounded ? Is it
true, for instance, that Prussia has no interest
in the East; that she will not, directly or in
directly, interfere, but will adopt a strict and
impartial neutrality ? We doubt it. We doubt
whether there is any power wholly unaffected
by the state of Eastern affairs, and prepared to
submit to Turkish re-arrangements with per
fect indifference. Europe has too little life left
in her to afford io dispense with the new coun
try of the Balkan peninsula. As regards Prus
sia more particularly, she now represents all
Northern Germany, and is endeavoring to de
vour Southern Germany also. Is it so very
probable, then, that she will permit the mouth
of the Danube, that South-German Volga, to
fall into foreign hands ? Such a policy, at any
rate, would not contribute to make her a fa
vorite with the Southerners. The eagerness,
moreover, with which she placed King Charles
on the Roumanian throne proves very clearly
that the question who is to rule on the Danube
is one that she has thought of. Her neutrality,
as far as we are concerned, would be a sham.
If by keeping aloof she unties the hands of
Russia, she equally frees Napoleon. For
her to abstain from action while war is
rife in Turkey means two things—not to
hinder Russia on the Danube, nor herself
to cross the Main. But by inactivity iu
tSo till ,-utlwn woulU permit Bia*
poleon to concentrate all his forces in the
southeast. Would this be neutrality to
wards ourselves ? Again, as to the Ro
man question, Austria alone will be strong
enough to hold Italy in check. It needs not
France for that. The thing was most likely
discussed as far back as the Salzburg interview,
since which Italy has begun to strengthen the
Quadrilateral. The inference to be drawn from
all this is that we ought to take up the Eastern
question—not from any confidence in the
weakness or disunion of our antagonists, but
only because we feel strong enough to encoun
ter the many difficulties in our way. If we
feel so, then, and only then, is our time. There
is no denying the fact that as soon as we ap
proach this unfortunate affair again, Europe
once more will be united against us. But it is
urged, even if Bismarck promise not to cross
the Main, while Napoleon is engaged iu tee
East, Napeleon will not believe him. All we
can say in reply is that, in our opinion, he
would be safe were he to believe him. The
unification of Germany is a mere question of
time, and will be completed, if not now, on
some future occasion. Bismarck can afford to
regard the date of this inevitable event as a
| matter of comparative indifference. It would
certainly not be much retarded were France to
weaken herself by bloodshed in the East. But
is it so very certain that France will oppose
German unity ? Is it certain that France ob
jects to the aggrandizement of Prussia if she
is offered an indemnity? Prussia and Italy
having been elevated into considerable Powers,
nothing is more natural than that France
should demand a corresponding increase of
land and men. We may depend upon it that
Napoleon will be rewarded—not, indeed, with
the ‘ left bank,’ but with Belgium, Piedmont
and a portion of Switzerland. Such will be
the consequence of Prussian neutrality.”
[From the Journal des Debats, April 20.
Europe.
THE FRENCH ARMY READY—A CHALLENGE TO
“COME ON.”
The National Garde Mobile has been organ
ized ; the whole of the army has been armed with
Chassepots, which have no reason to dread a
comparison with the Prussian needle gun.
The fortresses on the eastern frontier have been
put in a thorough state of repair ; and in order
to dispel any apprehension, it is announced
that this year five camps are to be formed si
multaneously. In short, France is prepared for
any contingency, and the power which assumes
au aggressive attitude will be very ill-advised.
[Paris (April 20) Cor. London Times.
DISQUIETUDE IN FRANCE—PRUSSIAN TROOPS
CONCENTRATING ON THE FRENCH FRONTIER.
In spite of M. Baroche and the Moniteur,
France is not tranquilized. The Bank reserve
increases—this is a sympton of the disquietude.
The National Mobile Guard is being organized
with haste, Marshal Niel refuses to adopt
the recommendations of the Budget Commis
sion for a reduction of army expenditure, and
the Presse (“ Journal de I’Empire”) speaks of
armaments being a menance to France—these
are the causes ol the disquietude. The Presse
says : “It is a matter ot doubt to no one that
the accumulation of Prussian forces on our
frontier is a danger for our Eastern provinces.
It keeps up agitation and disquiet in them
which our Government cannot be indifferent
to, and it justifies all our remonstrances. Has
the French Government replied to the Prussian
proposition for placing a certain number of
soldiers on furlough by a counter proposition
for the disarming of a certain number of strong
places the reduction of their garrisons, and a
dimunition of their war material ? We have
reason to believe it has done so.” If it has,
the proposition is, the Presse thinks, a little
tardy, but it will enable people to judge if
Prussia is sincere or not.
MARSHAL NEIL OPENLY FOR WAR.
[Paris (April 19) Correspondence of the London
Morning Advertiser.
The ministers are divided on the great ques
tion of the day. M. Rouher and four of his
colleagues are all for peace, and. Marshal Neil
is openly for war. The Marshal told his guests
at his last party, when they asked him his opin
ion of M. Baroche’s speech, “be had not seen
it; that such matters did not concern him. If
the Emperor thought it necessary to put the
country into an efficient state of armament, it
was his duty to carry out his sovereign’s orders,
regardless of any clamor.” The Marshal is
certainly having his own way, as far as the pre
parations for war are concerned ; and the enor
mous military expenditure, and the anxiety to
which it gives rise, dam up the sources of com
merce. It is expected that the Emperor will
shortly go to Orleans to attend the Joan of Arc
fetes in that city, and it is hoped that he will
make a speech there.
A Bright Idea.— A meeting of freedmen
held last week, in one of the churches in Rich
mond, has forwarded a petition to Gen. Scho
field, requesting him to stop the further natu
ralization of foreigners. Their petition sets
forth that the colored people ivant no more
white men in Virginia, and invokes the aid of
the commandant of the district to keep them
out of the State. . The petition is said to be
drawn up in a style that indicates W’hite author
ship— probably one of the carpet-bag gentry,
who desires to shut out any additional competi
tion of outsiders for the loaves and fishes.
[Baltimore Sun.
[From the New York World.
Blind Tom.
An idiot can no more be a musician than a
dumb person can be an orator, because music
is primarily the expression of those thingH
which not only spring from a healthy and har
monious nature, bujit necessitates the exist
ence of that unity in the interpreter, and is
itself one of the highest synonyms _of organ
ic health and harmony. Blind Tom is a musi
cian in the same sense that a wonderful mimic
is an eloquent preacher or orator. Nature, as
we have said, has seemingly turned the strength
of every faculty in him upon the organ of
“ tune,” and we have only to imagine the re
ceptive and retentive power of such men as
can remember and repeat the whole of a daily
newspaper at one reading, diverted from sight
to sound, to get an idea of his faculty.
The one abnormal “ organ,” as the phrenolo
gists call it, dominates the creature. That
single power of apprehending sounds circum
scribes his whole intellectual nature, and so
wonderfully active and accute is it, at the ex
pense of all the rest, that he retains with accu
racy the idea and character of sounds in their
melodic progression and harmonic combina
tion, and seizes the dynamic as well as the
rythmic peculiarities in their most subtle
changes, and reproduces them just as he heard
them. This is masterly imitation, nothing
more. Nature has lorever prevented it from
being anything more in Blind Tom.
In coming back to us after a long, and,
doubtless, a prosperous exhibition of his mim
icry over the ever curious but not always dis
criminating world, we were not surprised to
find on Monday night that his improvement
was entirely a muscular one. He is the same
perplexing, uncouth and incomprehensible cu
riosity that he was at the start, with more
strength in his arms and shoulders, a quicker
touch and more familiarity with the resources
of his instrument. But that he has developed
from an echo to an interpreter is not apparent
in any sense. His whole power is comprehend
ed in the statement that he reproduces what
he hears, whether it be the exquisite “ sonato
pathetique ” of Betbooven or a stampede of
wild asses, with astonishing accuracy ; and we
should as soon think of defying a reverberation
as to gat land this collusion of a morbid tympa
num and a pair of steel-strung wrists with the
wreath of high art. Sounds alone touch him.
Sentiment he knows nothing about. His bet
ter performances of classic music are effigies of
the thing itself, quite as remarkable, too, in
their sharp portrayal as are the grosser ele
ments of music that be seizes with the sama
avidity, but only in the semblance. As for that
breath of life which must be born of many
faculties and animate the performance as the
soul animates the living face, the critic cannot
expect it, though the public may be deceived
by the resemblance and go away with the im
pression that the wax works actually moved
and had a being.
It is but justice to the gentleman who con
ducted the performance of TTnoio tv.**.
day nigut, to say teat he apparently coincides
with our views, for he took every means to
convince the large audience that Tom’s was
purely an auditory and imitative faculty. This
he did by allowing the negro to give vocal
imitations of various things he had heard,
such as a political speech, and the noises made
by a train of cars, and upon the instrument by
imitations of a Scotch fiddler heard in Aber
deen, and of a musical box, all of which imita
tions were met with an amount and quality of
applause hardly elicited by any of the more
creditable imitations of great composers which
were more of course in the legitimate domain
of the musician. It is undeniable that the imi
tations, particularly that of a music box, on
the piano, were curiously if not startlingly
real, and evinced the power he has of adapting
his means to the expression of what he has
heard. It is also neeessarj' to sav that he
performs with a quickness, facility, and power
of touch which are encountered only in masters
of the instrument. He can modulate it to the
softest breathings of an seolean harp, or waken it
to tee full, delirium of racket, with perfect
ease. In truth, he can re-produce upon the
piano any sounds, natural or artificial, that are
brought to his ear, and this constitutes for him
the prodigy he is exhibited for, without making
him the musician people are apt to mistake him
for. What special susceptibility that is which en
ables this creature, a mere sounding gallery,
sensitive as the chemist’s testing paper to
every change in the vibrations of the air,
without any knowledge of the law of beauty,
or any obedience to the law of religion which
governs them, we leave to psychic discoverers
and post-mortem science. The ctherial thing
which we dignify by the name of art implies a
devotion not passive but strenuous, and can
only be attained, like all other divine things,
by tae most persevering labor, the most consci
entious and intelligent battle of years. It is
no congenital accident, but when the aptitude
is born in a man grows only with the growth
Os his better nature into a creative power that
uses tones only as the pigments fit to express
his itjner conceptions. Tom’s is a receptive,
not a creative faculty. He is as wonderful a
listener as he is a performer. In the alembic
of his shallow brain there is but one process
ever going on, and it is the involuntary in
stinctive action of faculties preternaturally
distended that deal with vibrations.
We are not disposed to speak unkindly of
this poor negro ; indeed it were impossible. He
can only awaken the commisseration of the in
telligent listener by his most powerful repro
ductions. But we cannot help making an at
tempt to discriminate, fo»the benefit of those
who flock to enjoy him as a curiosity, much in
the same manner as they would any’ other mal
formation, between that music which is the
language of intelligence perfected at the ex
pense of thought, and guided by feeling, and
the imitation, which, while it misses no pecu
liarity of form, is utterly devoia of she serene
aspirations, the very anima which must bo
breathed into music from a perfect human
soul.
Viewed as a curiosity, poured full by nature
of rhythm and denied all else, he is worth at
tention. His idiotic capers upon the platform,
at which we all laugh, the animal friskiness
and dull insane intervals are amusing enough,
but it is as a physiological phenomenon that
his exhibition is most instruotive, and if it
teach anew the law governing even Nature in
her freaks, that the undue and unhealthy exal
tation of one faculty is at the expense of the
rest—and that a musician must tie a man of full
moral and intellectual stature, and his art the
expression not of one but all gifts, it will in -i
some measure make amends for the avidity
with which musical people swallow his empti
ness.
Russia—Opinion of Napoleon’s Peace
Professions. -The telegraph brings us, from
Paris, the analysis of an article in the Constitu
tionnel, in which the peaceful intentions of
France are once more affirmed. However, teat
journal admits that a disarmament would con
stitute a better guarantee against war than do
the military preparations at present prosecuted
in the majority of the great States’. But, ac
cording to M. Paulin Limayrac, France is not
the first that is bound to disarm, as the initia
tive ought to be taken abroad. History records
an episode ot the battle of Fontenoy, when
Lord Hay, advancing in front of the ranks and
saluting the French officers, said, “ Gentlemen
of the French Guards, fire!” aud then Uount
d’Auterocbe, stepping forward in turn, re
plied, “ After you, Messieurs les Anglais; we
never fire first.” We are notawarc on what
grounds M. Paulin Limayrac relies to show
that France cannot disarm until after others
have done so, just as her soldiers fired in 1745.
True, the courtesy ot Count d’Auteroche cost
the army of Louis XV. the whole of its ad- ■
vanned line, which was destroyed by a formidable
volley. We do not know whether the memory
of this is what renders M. Paulin Limayrac
prudent. We shall be informed, perhaps, in -
reading his article, when the Paris journal
reaches us, and we shall at present confine our
selves to the simple observation that if it may
be dangerous not to attack first it does not
seem that there is so much peril in disarming
before others when one has no desire to attack
and is not threatened, and when glory may be
acquired by giving a great example to the
world.— Journal de St. Petersburg, April 15.
The postmortem examination of Rev. Jasoft 1 1
Whitman, brother-in-law of ex-Governor Joi J
Fairfield, of Maiae, who died of pleurisy, dis- [■
closed that his heart was on the right side. Mr. ■
Whitman was an active and efficient clergyman ■
beyond middle life.