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Ly Je constitutionalism
I GARDNER, JR.
~ ' Prayer-
BY MRS. LOUISE WORTHEST.
Prayer is th<* incense of the soul,
The odor of the flower;
And rises as the waters roll,
To God’s controlling power !
Within the so il there would not be
This in inite desire
To whisper thou-hts in prayer to Thee,
Had’st Thou not lit the fire.
Prayer is the spirit speaking truth
To Thee whose l«.ve divine,
Steals gently down like dew to soothe,
Or like the sun earns shine
For in the humblest soul that lives,
As in the lowliest flower,
The dew-d op back his image gives
The soul reflects His power !
At nignt.when all is hushed and still,
And e’eD soft echo sleeps,
A still small voice doth o’er me thrill
And to each heart throb leaps;
It is the spirit-pulse which beats,
Foreverdeeo and true!
The atom with its author meets,
As sunlight greets the dew !
God is Passing by.
Where the gentle streamiets flow,
Where the morning dew drops glow.
Where the zephyrs wing their fiight,
In the cool and welcome night;
Whispering through the fragrant grove
To the heart that‘‘God is love.”
Where the Uaht cloud skims the sky.
Worship ! -‘God is passing by !
Hoary forest lugged rock.
Pouring torrents, earthquake shock,
And when thunder rends the sky,
Tremble ! “God is passing by !
Waterloo at itfoon.
THE I»AV AFTER THE BATTLE,
On a surface ot two squ-re miles, it was as
certained that rifty thousand men and horses
were lying. The luxuries crop of ripe grain
which had covered the field of battle, was re
duced to litter, and beaten into the earth; and
the surface trodden down by the cavalry, and
furrowed deeply by the cannon wheels,strewed
► with many a relic of the fight. Helmets and
cutlasses, shattered fire arms and brok-n
•words, all the variety of military ornaments;
lancer’s caps and highland bonnets; uniforms
of every color, plume and pennon; musical
instruments, the apparatus of artillery, drums,
bugles; but good God ! why dwell on tne har
rowing picture ot foughten tie d? Each and
every ruinous display bore mute testimony to
the misery of such a battle. * * * Could
the melancholy appearance of this scene of
death he hei,hcened, it would be by witness
ing t'-e researches of the living, and 1 heir de
solation, for the objects of their love. Mothers,
wives and children, tor days were occupied in
* that mourntui duty; and the contusion of the
k corpses, triend and foe intermingled as they
were, often rend r*-d the attempt at recogmz
ing individuals difficult, and in some cases
impossible. In many cases the deal lay four
deep upon each other, marking the spot some
square had occupied, when exposed
for nours to the murderous fire o the Freacn
battery.
pggl Ou.side lancer and curassier were scattered
L thick>y on the earth. Madly attempting to
force tn« serried bayonets ot tne Brmsn, they
had fallen in the booties* essay, by the mus
kets of the inner files. Farther on you traced
spot where the cavalry of France an!
England hadT encountered. Chasseur and
fifuzaar were intermingled; and the heavy Nor-
I man horse of the Imperial Guard were inter
V" spersed With the grey chargers whi;h had car
ried A byn’s chivalry. Here the Highlander
•ad tiralleur lay side by side togeher; and the
heavy dragoon, with green Erin’s Dadge up >n
hi» helmet, was grappling in death with the
Polish lancer.
M Oo the summit of the ridge, where the
.'Vground was cumoered w.th daad and trodden
deep in mud and gore, by the frequent
rush ot rival cava'ry, the thick strewn corpses
of the Imperial Guard, pointed out tae spot
Adhere Napoleon had been defeated. Here, in
column, that favored corps on which his last
chance rested, had been annihilated; and the
advance and repulse of the Guard was tracea
ble by amass of fallen FrencUmen.
In the hollow below, the last struggle of
France had been vainly made; lor there the Old
Guard, when the middle battailions had been
forced back, attempted to meet the British,
t and afford time for their disorganized com-
to rally. Here the British left, which
had converged upon the French center, had
come up; and here the bayonet closed the con
test. — Maxwell's Victories of the British Army.
A Man and a Christian.— A poor parson
was in the habit of every Saturday, borrowing
of a friend a five dollar note, this was invaria
bly returned with wonderful punctuality,
early every Monday morning. What astonish
ed the lender m >re than all, was the eingular
fact that he was always repaid in the very same
bill he lent. Being a very curious man this
puzzled him amazingly. He felt sure that the
parson could not want the money for house
hold expenses, because the note was never
tLsr changed. After a time he resolved to seize
I the first opportunity of begging for an ex-
I planation of so unaccountable a proceeding.
pL Shortly alter the parson himself came on
; Saturday evening, and asked for the loan of a
ten dollar note. His friend seized the oppor
tunity of demanding the solution ot the mys
tery. After a pause, the borrower said :
You must know, my dear Smith, that my
income is so small that I never have, at the
end of the week, one cent that I can call my
own. No v, some cannot preach or pray on
an empty stomach; I am one who cannot do
hso on an empty pocket. When I have nothing
in them, I feel a poor miserable devil, and
afraid to look my congregation in the face,
much less to denounce their wickedness; but,
.*with a five dollar bill in my pocket, I feel a
man and a Cnr stian, and I preach with great
eldquenee and force. Now, as the President
coming to hear me to-morrow, I intend to
~ti;y the effect of tha double money power, and
feel obliged by your lending me a ten
dollar bill to put in my pocket for the occa
sion.
1 T)xvininq Hods. —A crrespondent of the
~ B ston Camnconwealth gives the following
% description of the power of peach twigs, which
may be new and interesting to many:
In July, 1850, I was travelling in Duchess
county, New York, and entering into conver
sion with an intelligent farmer, he ineident
k any alluded to tne powers of divination pos-
K aessed by the twigs of the peach tiee. I ex-
By pressed unbounded astonishment, and, being
skeptical, I expre«se i my unbelief
• '£? in the instances he advanced to support
assertion. Upon vvuicn he unhesi atingly
fflgfcroceeded to convince me by demonstration
■pceedmg to a peach tree, he cut tnerefrom
bralien, m the torm ot the letter Y,
B^K ak-m^ >he r ‘ m his hands, he ado w
one to point upwards. Grasping
■ tightly as possible, he commenced
in a circuit amu d tlls VVl , il(
of about arid, oeeas:..,n-dij
a m uncut. Presently I 00.-er.ed
ol l oil 111 toe U. 14, cau>ed .s u.e
1 to tne attraction ui the wa
gHßHpßjne tignt grasp in whicu the twig was
* "... ’ Bi’ne twio, no wever, Continued tod.s
Hf'tl a V.braung motion, unit 11 pmute .
11 in wtncri position it remained per
Bull until the mail stepped each lrc-ui
the vein, when it quickly resumed its vertical
position. This he repeated several times, each
time increasing the radius around thu well,
and making the circuit, without any move
ment in the twig, until he arrived at a parti
cular direction or line from the well. In each
spot where the twig pointed downward, I
stuck a stake, and after several trials we re
turned to the well, and found all the stakes
leading in a direct line to a high hill some dis
tance off, which he know to be the source of
his well, from the fact that another fine well
exist* d on the same line between him and the
hill, discovered, too, by means of the peach
twig.
South-Carolina. — We are often astonished
and shocked, et the abuse heaped upon this
noble State by a vernal Northern press. The
history of South-Carolina is one of which any
State might well be proud. There is no sac
rifice she has not made for the true interest
of the country ; no war in Wi_ich we have
been engaged, that her aid has not been lib
erally extended. But if we are shocked at
the vituperation of the Northern press, what
shall we say of those papers in the South,
who delight in api'ig the cant of their filthy
allies ; particularly those who deprecate agi
tation, to see the country again restored to
quietude.
In the late controversy between the two
sections of the Union, South-Carolina said,
perhaps, as little as any other Southern State.
She took no position ; she made no demands,
except such as were strictly in accordance
with our true interests and honor. It comes
with an exceedingly bad grace from those who
have proved treacherous or weak, to speak in
terms of contempt of a people whose gallant
bearing is co.emporaneous with their earliest
ancestry, and who have never permitted sel
fish considerations to deter them from pursu
ing their honest, patriotic convictions. — Texas
Republican.
Execution in the Cherokee Nation. —The
Cherokee Advocate of the 15th ult. says :
Toney Watts, one of the persons convicted
ot the murder of Crafford Fish, was reprieved
by the Executive on the Bth inst., and was set
at liberty.
Jim 00-wa-hu-skee, the other person that
was convicted at the same time, was executed
on the 9th mst. according to the sentence of
the court.
The Rev. John Fletcher Boot waited on the
prisoner, at intervals; d iring his confinement,
and administered to him the ordinance of
Baptism. A the place ot execution, very in
teresting speeches were made by the Rev.
Boot and Thos. Pegg, E-»q. Solicitor for the
District of Tahlequ in—referring very pathe
tically to the condition of the prisoner, urg.ng
his case as a warning to others, and particu
larly to the young and unwary.
The prisoner, on the gallows, said but a few
words, tie reminded the numbers who at
tended his execution, - hat life wa> short to all,
and warned them to turn from their wicked
ness and learn righteousness.
Great Triuhph. l'ue National Intelli
gencer says that the greatest speed made by
Prof. Page’s electro-magnetic locomotive on
Tuesday, in running from Washington to
Biadensburg and back, was nineteen miles an
i our. The whole distance run was ten and a
half miles*
l'he Republic gives the annexed particulars.
“The progress of the locomotive when it
started was so slow that a boy was enabled to
keep pace with it for several hundred feet.
But tne speed was soon increased, and Bia
densburg, a distance of, we believe, about five
miles and a quartet, was reached in thirty
nine minutes. When within two miles of
that place, the power of the battery being ful
ly up, the locomotive began to run, on nearly
a 'evei place, at the rate of nineteen miles
an hour, or seven miles faster than the
greatest speed heretofore attained.—This
velocity wa9 continued for a mile, when one
of the cells cracked entirely open, which
caused the acids to intermix ; and, as a conse
quence, the propelling power was partially
weakened. Two of the other cells subsequent
ly met with a similar disaster. The Proiessor
proceeded cautiously, fearing obstructions on
the way. Seven halts were made, occupying
in all forty minutes. But, notwithstanding
these hindrances and delays, the trip to and
from Biadensburg was accomplished in ona
minute lees than two hours. The cells were
made of light earthenware, for the purpose of
the experiment merely, without reference to
durability. This part of the apparatus can
therefore easily be guarded against mishap.”
The Morilb Murder—The accounts of
/the murder of Hernandez,the old Cuban cigar
manufacturer in Mobile, are fresh in the re
collection. The trial of Eugenio Arbona and
Inez Asti alia, charged with his murder, came
on in Mobile on Friday last. Great difficulty
was found in empanelling a jury. After the
special venire of one hundred men, and the
regular panel of twenty-four more had been
exhausted, the Sheriff had to go into the
street for s fresh supply.
These and other delays caused by objections
and grounds of postponement of the trial
taken by the prisoners' counsel,were at length
overcome, the case proceeded to evidence.
The jury found both prisoners guity of
murder'in the first degree,and sentenced them
to the Penitentiary tor life.— N. 0. Crescent
28lA ult.
Is a Basket a Box. —The question was a
musingly discussed in the State Convention,
which re assembled in the House of Delegates
on Saturday morning. According to an order
adopted, the names of the members were to
be drawn out of “ a box,” and seats to be se
lected, as the names came out. The old bal
lot-boxes of the House of Delegates having
been long discarded from use, no such furni
ture was conveniently to be had. The Secre
tary had resource, therefore, to a small basket,
used for carrying lawyer’s books and papers.
The tedious operation over, of course the
“ outsiders” were not very well pleased—and
one of them, Mr. Smith, of Kanawha, in a
spirit of fun, raised a constitutional point, viz :
tnat the order had not been legally carried out
—for a basket, and not a box as the resolution
prescribed, had been employed. Tne c lair
having been appealed to for legislative pre
cedents, Judge Mason, with great solemn ty ;
but at the sametime an arch smile playing on his
countenance, promptly referred to a decision
ot Congress, in a contested election from len
nes ee. At one of the precincts, a ballot-box
not be ng convenient, the ballots were deposi
ted in a g urd, a native production. The
House of K-presen atives decided that in that
case, a gourd should properly be construed as
coming witnin the term “box”—and the elec
tion was sustained. Under the influence of
this precedent, a basket was regarded as tanta
mount to a b x, and the dscussion dropped.
Still many of the “outsHds” thought they
had go ten into a bid box.— Richmond E tquirer.
Montgomery and We-t Point Hail Hoad.
—We understand that the cars passed through
from this city to West Point on Monday lan,
the 28th ult., thus still further closing the
breach in the iron road between the cities ot
Charleston, Savannah, and Montgomery. By
tne Ist of July, we are informed, there will be
bui forty milts left open, wiuen it is contem
plated to close up entirely within the succeed
ing twelve mouths. We congratulate the com
pany and the city of Montgom ry upon the
completion of tie We-t Po.nt roa being the
first road of any importance ever con* ructed
in our State. — Montgomery Gazette, Ist inst.
THE CONSTITUTIQNAHST,
3ltigttota, ©eorgia.
SUNDAY MORNING, MAY 4
Southern Rights Meeting.
The members of the Southern Rights
Party of Richmond County , are request
ed to meet at the CITY HALL, in the
city of Augusta, on TUESDAY, 6th of
MAY, at 4 o'clock, P. M., to appoint
Delegates to the Convention to nominate a
Candidate for Governor at the ensuing
election.
The Macon Regenoy
It will be very interesting to the good peo
ple of Georgia to know that they are to be
blessed hereafter with A Regency in Georgia
similar to the famous Albany liegency of New
York, projected and managed many years
with so much tact by the little magician of
Kinderhook, and his immaculate junto. Ma
con is to be the seat of government of the new
regime , and they are to manage the affairs of
our people, a la Van Buren, but without any
of the corruption of that world-renowned co
terie, the Albany Regency.
How very grateful should the good easy
people of Georgia be to those kind, pure and
disinterested patriots of Macon, who have
thus kindly volunteered to assume the trouble
some business of managing their political af
airs, ancPhave undertaken to distribute for
them the various offices in their gift. What
a world of trouble and expense it will save the
people by enabling them to dispense with the
perplexing operation of thinking for them
selves, and to avoid the cumbrous and expen
sive machinery of county meetings, and dis
trict and State conventions. All that will be
necessary in future will be for the common
folks to send to the Regency located at Macon,
that seat of political purity, and of all the pa
triotic virtues, for instructions as each election
is.at hand, and deposite their votes accordingly.
Or perhaps The Regency will send around time
ly circulars instructing their liege and loyal
subjects how to vote, and who to vote for.—
What an admirable simplification of the art of
self-government!
Some member of this new oligarchy, or’per
haps an outsider who has got hold surrep
titiously of the programme, has furnished 4 it to
tae New York Herald in a letter, the political
part of which will be found below.
The nomination of Mr. Buchanan is a smart
idea. His name is to be used to gull credu
lous democrats with a view to get their votes
next October for the Regency nominations.—
L'his purpose accomplished, Mr. Buchanan
will be laid aside, and some model Union
Compromise Whig, Fillmore probably, taken
up for the Presidency. It is a scheme to car
ry the State over to the support of a Whig
candidate next year. Mr. Buchanan’s name
is used as a decoy duck to entice Democrats.
He has openly repudiated this National Union
Party scheme, and refuses to detach him
self lrom the Nationil Democratic Party. The
latter, he asserts, is the true Union Party . —
Moreover, he is well known to have been in
favor of the division of California by the line
of 36 deg. 30 min. between the North and the
South. This was a platform of compromise
and settlement, that the Hon. A. H. Stephens,
one of the Regency leaders, declared in a pub
lic speech last November in Augusta was “the
meanest and most contemptible platform ” of all
that had been proposed for the South. (The
italics are his very words.)
Maoon, Georgia, April 11, 1851.
The Macon politicians exercise the same
weight and influence in the Empire State of
the South, as the Albany regency did in your
noble State, but without any of the corrup
tion of that world renowned voterie.
It is here that the Union movement first
commenced ;it was in Macon that the har
dest battie was fought—and it was here the
fire-eater 3 received their death-blow.
Mr. Howell Cobb will be the candidate of
the Union party for Governor, and the con
vention which nominates him will also nom
inate Mr. Buchanan .for the Presidency. A
Southern whig, probably Jones, of Tennessee,
will be placed upon the ticket with Mr. B.
Georgia will not go into a national conven
tion,but act as a “guerrilla” injthe next Presi
dential campaign. Alabama, Mississippi, and
Tennessee, will join in the movement, and by
this means, if the election should be carried
into the House, we shall control about forty
votes for Mr. Buchanan, which he could not
otherwise receive. Old patty lines, in this
State, are wiped out, and the old issues can
not bo revived. The Union party, with a ma
ority of twenty thousand votes in the State,
are opposed to a general system of internal
improvement. They are satisfied with the
tariff of 1846; but, for harmony’s sake, would
acquiesce in some slight modifications. They
are opposed to a bank, and to the annexation
of Canada or Cuba. Upon this platform we
shall rally, and, my word for it, the balance
of power will be in our hands, and w f e shall
exercise a controlling influence in the election.
Hon. A. H. Chappell, fomerly a member of
Congress from this State, will be returned
from this district (the third,) in the stead of
Mr. Owen, appointed Consul to Havana. The
first district will probably be represented by
Mr. Bartow, of Savannah. In the second,
Gen. Eli Warren, of Houston, I think will be
elected. From the fourth, Hon. Charles Mur
phy, of Dekalb, is sooked of as a candidate.
In Hackett's disiric Mr. Chastain, of Gilmer
county, will be the Union candidate, and will
be elected. Mr. Cobb's district will be repre
sented by Mr. James Jackson, of Walton, or
Mr W. H. Hull, of Athens, the first a cousin
of Mr. Cobb, and the latter his bosom friend
and law partner. Mr. Toombs will go back,
and is the only one of the old members who
wid be a candidate.
f ln Stephens' district, a contest is under
stood to be going on between Mr. Reese, of
Morgan, and Col. A. H. Kenan, of Baldwin—
I think the latter will prevail. Our whole
delegation will be thoroughgoing Union Com
promise men.
It is l un«lerßtood among the knowing ones,
that Mr. Stephens is holding back for Mr.
Berrien's seat in the Senate of the United
States; and if so, he stand j a fair chance of
ousting tue old fox. Judge Berrien is truly
an unfortunate politician, for after waiting
even longer than Stephens oid last summer
to see wh ch was the strong party, he missed
the figure and lell on the wrong side of the
fence, and is now doubted by the Fire E iters
and ( penly disclaimed by the Union men.
As things pr gress and come to hand, I will
post up, it desira de, under the signature of
Union.
The Oratorio.
A large audience of the moat respectable
and influential members of our community,
old and young, attended the Oratorio at the
Baptist Church, on Friday evening. It was
gratifying to see the character of (he patron
age extended to this pleasing entertainment.
The fine taste and effective style which marked
it, were quite worthy the place, the occasion,
and the motives which prompted it. The
music was delightful, and we are sure none
came away disappointed, unless it was agree
ably cO. The performance quite surpassed
the expectations of many present.
Where all was so well done—-where there
was so much of musical talent, and of rich
vocal gifts among the amateurs—it would be
invidious, and perhaps indelicate, to make
distinctions. But we cannot forbear specially
complimenting Mr. Shrival upon the triumph
ant success of his labors in bringing out so
many difficult pieces in Sacred Music, in so
happy a style. His two Solos, " Jephtha’s
Vow” and “ Lord remember David,” were par
ticularly admired. The latter drew an en
thusiastic encore.
The wish is very generally expressed that,
this fine Oratorio should be repeated. We
hope this gratification will be extended to
our citizens at an early day.
F. W. Bowdon. —The Washington Union
of the 30th ult., says: “ We are gratified {to
learn that this gentleman, who has been so
long confined to his bed in this city by a seri*
ours illness, is once more able to leave his
room. He will doubtless be in a condition in
a short time to return to his constituents in
Alabama, who will be glad to see him.
Hon. Terry H. Cahal, Chancellor for Mid
dle Tennessee, died at his residence near
Nashville, in that Stete, on the night of the
15th. He died in the early noon oflife and prom
ise of much usefulness. Appropriate tributes
to the occasion have been rendered by the
bench and the bar of Tennessee.
[communicated.]
Mr. Editor:— l was much pleased with the
article which appeared in your paper yester
day morning, extracted from the Savannah
Georgian, commenting on the proclamaion of
President Fillmore, relative to the projected
CtHban expedition. I certainly do think, win
the writer, that this proclamation very far ex
ceeds the necessity of the case, and contains a
vast deal of unnecessary condemnation of a
bind of men, engaged, as they are, in the
task of conferring freedom on their oppressed
fedow-beings. Sir, I know not what squeam
ishness has come over our administration, of
late, but, certainly it does seem to me as if
there had been a go d deal of wheedling
going on at Washington between the Govern
ment and our well-beloved Senor Calderon
De Li Barca, the Spanish Minister, at whose
instigation, and upon whose information, the
recent measures have been taken. I have yet
to learn, Mr. Editor, that it is a sin or a crime
to take up arms, or even to fit out an expedi
tion, with the laudable design of assisting
the oppressed and enslaved to obtain constitu -
tional freedom, even should the process re •
quire the destruction of the oppressor, or his
banishment from the soil. We proclaim our
selves to be a nation of freemen, to be the
bold, uncompromising friends of liberty in its
widest sense —we offer our country, our soil,
as a refuge to the fugitives from the iron des
potism of federal tyranny; but, at the same
time that we make these professions, and hold
out these offers, we are engaged in assisting the
despot to hold its reins—to enable tyranny, of
the most abhorrent form, to maintain its hold
upon its victims, and to bind them still faster
in the festering shackles with which they are
laden. Cast we our eyes upon the beautiful
Cuba, the Queen of the Antilles, and what
do we see r A people happy, contented, en
joying their property, under a grateful sense
of the security afforded to them by a paternal
Government, and advancing in civilization
and improvement ? No, Sir, no! On the
contrary, we behold a people, industrious, and
capable of appreciating the blessings of con
stitutional freedom, ground down to the dust
by the most arbitrary enactments, robbed of
their property under the specious guise of
legal contributions, as well as by forced taxes
—holding their possessions but at the breath of
a supreme vice-roy—-and denied the simplest
voluntary liberty of speech or action. To
those who may be sceptical on these points, I
would mention a few facts which have bon
imparted to me within the last week, by a
gendeman, a resident of New-York, of very
high standing, and of equal intelligence, who
has just returned from a sojourn in the island
of Cuba, during which he has had many
good opportunities of ascertaining the state
of the people, and of their feelings. This
gentlem in states that the whole Creole popu
lation of the island is ripe for a revolution,
and that they are willing to nuke any sacri
fice to promote it. Such is the insecurity
felt with regard to property, that one gentle
man, whose large sugar estates bring him in
an annual income of from SIOO,OOO to $125,-
000, professed his willingness to give up ons
half if he could be certain of the security of
the other; and others repeatedly said that
they would cheerfully surrender a large por
tion of their estates in order to have the same
securi y and privileges with the people of the
U. States. They are constantly narrated by
taxation, not fixed, but at the discretion of
the Governor, on the emergency reau’ring it.
And now, in the bankrupt sta e of Old Spain,
Cuba is made to replenish the treasury, and
pay ail demands. Last year, Cuba not only
paid all the expenses of her own civil and
military establishments, but remitted the sum
of twenty-eight millions of dollars to Old
Spain, draining her people of their life-blood,
to satisfy the vampyre appetite for gold of
that priest-ridden country. Every box of
sugar pays from $2 to $4, excise. Every
hhd. of molasses in proportion. Every ar
ticle impo.ted pays most exorbitant duties.
The markets are in the hands of monopolists
who farm the Government revenues, so that
the poor fisherman, even, has to pay a tax on
his fish before he can sell them. The conse
quence is, that the people haVe to pay three
and four prices fer every thing which they
consume. Not only foreigners have to pay
some eight dollars each for permission to land
on, or leave the island, but the residents, also*
with them, are obliged to have a permit from
the Government to enable them to proceed
from one place to another, which costs one
dollar and a half, and must be renewed every
15 days. Indirect contributions are levied,
too, in anotner way. The Governors of the
provincial cities will often send by a messen
ger to all the,most prominent planters within
his district, a package of tickets, say twenty
or thirty to each, for a bull-fight, a lottery, or
some such thing, politely asking a return of
the money for the tickets sent, amounting to
probably agmany doubloons. No bull-fight, or
lottery takes place,but the planters dare not to
refuse or complain, as these petty tyrants may
denounce them as disloyalists, and put them
to much trouble and expense. To this species
of annoyance, they are often subjected in
the course of a year, in addition to many
others, but from which they can have no
exemption or redress. They have no voice
whatever, in the administration of govern
ment. All is in the hands of the Governor
General and Royal Council. The Creole pop
ulation, as mentioned above, are ripe for rev
olution, but they are obliged to maintain si
lence and caution until demonstrations of
success should be positively made ; otherwise
they would lose their property, and most like
ly their lives. Since the first expedition,
arrests have been constantly going on. Per
sons have been torn from their homes and
familes, hurried to the Havana, and there,
whether immured in the Moro, or put to
death, or sent to Spain, is never known—the
only thing known being, that their property
has been confiscated to the Crown, and
their families driven into poverty and misery.
American citizens, too, have been, in many
instances, maltreated, but no redress could be
obtained,one of our consuls stating that all his
representations at Washington had been dis
regarded—thus bringing our nation into con
tempt, and lowering our dignity abroad. So far
has this been the case, that a gentleman, na
turalized in this country, about to visit Cuba
applied to one of the cabinet at Washington for
advice as to what papers ho should take for his
protection, when, altho’ a citizen of our coun
try, he was adviae i to take British passports.
This example has been followed by others,who
allege that they have found no protection in
Havana under American passports. And this
is the Government whish issues the recent
proclamation !
It is the generally expressed opinion in
Cuba, by both foreign residents and natives,
that, had Loptz maintained himself at Carde
nas for twenty-four hours longer, he would
have beeu successful. Or, that it he could
have brought his men into collision with the
Spanish troops, the same result would have
occurred. The reason given for this is, that
so strong was the disaffection of the Spanish
troops, they would have immediately joined
Lopez, who was idolized by them, for his
great liberality to them in former times ;
that all the troops having been withdrawn
from Havana, the Capital must have fallen,
and with it the island, as the Creoles would
then have joined the invaders. To show that
the Government distrusted the troops then
employed, they have exchanged them for
others, who have never known Lopez, and
who, they imagine, would be deaf to his ad
vances. It is generally thought in Cuba,
that Alvarez, Governor of Matanzas, saved
the island, by delaying purposely on his
march to Cardenas. His delay was attribu
ted to cowardice, and he was tried by court
martial, but he asserted, on his defence,
that had he carried his troops on to Cardenas
before Lopez had evacuated it, they would
have left him in a body, and the island would
have fallen. He has since fallen in a duel,
provoked by the stigma thrown on him on
this occasion.
Opinions differ as to the probability of suc
cess on another attempt. The island is better
prepared for defence, but it is conceded by
all, that five thousand men, well led, could
easily reduce the island, by landing on tho
South side. Not less than three thousand
men are mentioned by the most sanguine,
which shows that the prospects of success are
not so good as on the former occasion. The
Spanish troops are represented as being a mos t
miserable set of creatures, so deficient in ma
teriel and physique, that ten well armed ro
bust Kentuckians, or Georgians, would put a
hundred of them/wrs de combat. Large sums
of money have been raised in the island, and
more was ready to a very large amount —my
informant stating that $2,000,000 would be
ra\sed for the purpose. Even the foreign re
sidents, English and others, though not com
mitting themseives openly, signified their ac
quescence in the necessity for a change of
things. The gentleman who has furnish
ed this information, went to Cuba with
a prejudice against the expeditionists, or
“ Filibusteros ” as they are termed, and
with his sympathies excited in behalf of Spain,
thinking that the former expedition was got
ten up against the wishes of the Cubans. But
he now avows his error, and, from the excel
lent opportunities afforded to him of learning
the true State of affairs, has come to the con
clusion that never were the Cubans more
eager, than at present, for the American rule.
Tne Creoles speak their minds freely to Ame
ricans, though they can not trust each other f
so many spies are amongst them.
Now, sir, it is to such men tnat many of our
noblest spirits would carry the same blessing
which we enjoy, and are they to be stignatized
for so doing, in the language of the proclama
tion of the President ? It is all mealy mouth
edness to talk about other nations' interfer
ence. Great Britain—l suppose, is meant —
Great Britain has enough do to clear her own
skirts, before she can presume to dictate, or
call hard names in this matcer. It ill becomes
the very nation which alloweu Miranda to fit
out hia expedition of men, horses and muni
tions cf war in her ports for revolutionary pro
jects in South America about twenty-five
years ago,—which has acquired more territory
in India than this country possesses, by firs
instigating rebellion, and then, on pretense of
quashing it, taking possession of it—which
waged a most destructive war upon the poor
Chinese for endeavoring to carry out their own
laws, for preventing Englisatnen from break
ing them, on a subject which mus, be a dire
one to the pseudo-philanthropists— opium. I
say, that it ill becomes such a nation to bandy
hard words on the present occasion. The
color of the rose is easily seen. “It will not do
far Brother Jonathan to have the Key of the
Gulf of Mexico and the Carribean sea” —say
the Imperial London dictators. Great Britain
has her designs upon Central and South A
erica, and she is unwilling that we should ob
tain such a position as would inevitably
thwart all her movements in this direction. —
It is said too, that she has a pecuniary lien
upon Cuba, for money advanced to Spain, but
lam certain that no one will hare the pre
sumption to maintain the rights of Spain to
mortgage the child for the parents misdeeds,
especially when that child has been bar sole
prop and treasury for so many years. As far
as Great Britain is concerneJ then, there is
no cause for attributing anything more than
a selfish interest to her position in this mat
ter, for, I verily believe, that had it not been
fir this country, the British flag would now
be waving over the battlements of the Moro,
no matter by what means, and “ our ally” be
left to chew the bitter morsel as best she
might. As for France, and other countries,
I deem that they have neither lot nor part in
the matter. If Cuba is to change sovereignty,
it must be to come under the Stars and Stripes,
for it is my candid opinion that she would
And it impossible to mainfain a separate and
independent condition. The qnestion then
arises, how is this to be effected ? Not by
open war for the express purpose I grant, as
that is contrary to our recognized principles of
democratic government. By purchase ? No,
r'er Spain would not consent to part w.th it
in that way, if even we could afford to pay for
it; But, sir, we do not want a good—a just
—a righteous mode of acquiring Cuba—l say,
acquiring Cuba, for I do not disguise my opin
ion, that any movement for the liberation of
Cuba mu it result in her'annexation to this
country. We have it—ws have a peo
ple groaning under their oppressor’s yoke—
pining and suffering for the freedom which
we enjoy—anxious to take that position in
the world which the natural resources of their
beautiful Island entitles them to —imploring
us, as strongly as the Captive bird in its gil
ded cage can, to come over to their help—to
make them men and freemen. And shall we not
doit ? Shall we, whose forefathers bled and
suffered for freedom, who invoked and obtain
ed the assistance of a great nation in acquir
ing that freedom who have deltout the most
heart-stirring, soul-exciting strains of encour
agement to the patriots of Hungary, and the
oppressed of Ireland, shall wa, I ask, now
when an opportunity is afforded for carrying
out our loud professions into practice, meanly
hold back, under the flimsy pretext that such
an expedition as the one projected “ must be
regarded as an adventure for plunder and rob
bery, which must meet the condemnation of
the civilized world” and “ as a violation of the
laws of nations?” If, sir, a Jittle*of the spirit
and, I was going to say venom, which charac
terizes these words, and others in this procla
mation, for the maintainance of foreign rights
and privileges, had been infused mto those
respecting the extradition of fugitive slaves,
and the violation of our own national compact,
we of the South, might place a little more
value upon the animus which dictates it, and
respect it accordingly. Our own case is a
much stronger one than the “ expedition”
presents for the thunders of President Fill
more. We are robbed of our property, or, at
least it is denied to us on claiming it—cru
sades and expeditions are gotten up against
us, and our institutions—our citizens are har
assed and wearied out by quibbles and in
tri caries of State laws against Federal laws—
and all this upon our own soil —under the
same flag, and yet what do we have in redress ?
A milk and water proclama ion—a few cham
pagne and turtle speeches—but no actio n—no
anathem similar to that contained in the
“Cuba” proclamation—no detailing themmarin a
for guards—no chartering of steamboats to car
ry out the law —all tinder and no fire. “No
would be showing to our Northern brethren
that we were in earnest, which they do not
believe now. We oannot treat the Southern
States as “ a friendly power,” they are a part
of us, and in the minority—but Cuba is the
colony of pain, a friendly power, and if we do
not make some fuss, why we may get into
trouble Spain may turn “ unfriendly” and
Great Britain may help her (not much fear of
that, as she has enough to do), and we may
get some hard knocks.”
I deny, sir, that this expedition is one for
robbery and plunder—the last was so stigma
tized, but it belied the stigma , for, though the
men had many opportunities for plunder, the
Spaniards themselves testify that they be
haved themselves well, —and paid for every
thing obtained. AH soldiers are not saints
any more than all politicians honest men, and
any expedition must embrace many de perate
characters. But to brand all, as was done by
a paper of this city in its comments on the
Proclamation, as “a band of desperadoes is a
wanton insult, knowing as that paper must,
that many of the most distinguished men of
our country are in favor of the movement. I
atn glad, sir, that this did not emanate from a
Democratic journal, as I should hold it as
much a renegade to its partv, as I deem the
journal I have alluded to, to the South. lam
also pleased, sir, to find that the Democratic
press of our country, with very few excep
tions, I know of none myself, if they do not
encourage the expedition, do not condemn
and vility it. Many speak encouregingly,
and, taking this as the true index of popular
opinion, I rejoice, for whenever the Democ
racy of this country assumes a position, it
never gives it up, but sooner or later, carries
its point. Federalism smacks too much of
what the expedition wish to terminate —oli-
garchy.
Again, the whole proceeding of the admin-.
.