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» NOTEB. \ (1) It instead of playing king d B—c 8, the Blvks ' hail played king d S—e 8. the Whites would have played queen b"4—b 5, and would have won. / (i) If the Whites had played queen b 4—b 6, the Blacks would have played rook d 7—e 7, and would have compelled the removal of the king of the Whites, for the L latter could not take the rook without suffering stale S? mate. (8) If the Blacks here, instead of playing rook c 7— ) a 7, remove their rook, you would give successive checks with your queen, and would soon obtain a double check t on king and rook. * (4) In the present position of the pieces, the Blacks are compelled to sacrifice their rook, or submit to a check mate, * (5) Ilere, for example, are three supposed positions, in which the Blacks, having the move, may, by sacrific ing the rook, procure a drawn game, by effecting a stale L mate. ’ POSITION FIRST. WHITE. BLACK. 1 King on f 3, Queen on eB. King on hl, ltook on g 2. « POSITION SECOND. !{ King on fI, Queen on f 2. King on hl, Kook on g 4. POSITION THIRD. King on b 6, Queen ondC. King on cB, Book on c7. The above and oMier analogous positions, of which there are several, should be carefully l j avoided by the party possessing the Queen. 5 SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF CHESS. » From the Book of the First American Chess Congress. ' (Continued from Field and Fireside, page 212.) . Countless fables, offspring of the ardent imagi ‘ nation of Asia, or the sterner fancy of Europe, and many of them as beautiful as they are un t true, are extant, which pretend to explain the 1 origin of chess. Some of the old chroniclers, who ) loved to invent history, tell us that the game was the product of the fertile braiu of an Indian | sage, named Sissa or Sassa. True history in forms us that this Sissa was merely a player of more than ordinary skill. Other writers ascribe ' the invention ol the game to two brothers, Ly dus and Tyrhene, who, starving in a desert, dis i covered this means of appeasing the pangs of hunger. Others again support the claims of an > imaginary Greek philosopher, styled Xerxes, whose object was to convince a despot that the interests of the monarch were inseparably con nected with those of his people. In fact, a vast deal of erudition and an immense amount of im ' agination have been expended on this matter. Palamedes and Zenobia, the Chinese, Egyptians, i Persians, Arabians, Welsh, Irish, Jew's, Scy thians, and Araucanians, have all had their zeal » ous and credulous advocates. The sober truth is, that a game, possessing all the essential sea- tures of chess, was in common use in southern Asia, some three thousand years before the com mencement of our era, and that the oldest au ' thentic books of India speak of it as a pastime which amused soldiers during a siege, and de l lighted priuces and generals in their hours of recreation. Beyond this we know nothing, i The names of its inventors, the precise time and exact locality ofits first appearance, are proba | bly problems which no study of the past, how ever acute and diligent, will ever be able to solve. The first great period in the history of chess stretches from the supposed time of its origin I down to about the sixth century of our era, com prising a space of between three and four thou i sand years. It may be called the age of the chaturanga, or primeval Indian game. This | game wus played like ou;s, upon a board of six ty-four squares; unlike ours, it was played by f four persons. Each player had a king, a rook, a knight, and a bishop, which at that time was styled a ship, and four pawns. The moves of I these men, with a single exception, were pre cisely the same at that remote day as they are 1 with us. The bishop, or ship, instead of rang ing from one angle of the checkered field to the | other, was limited to two squares at a time. Two of the players (black and green) were allied . against the other two (red and yellow). When ever it came the turn of a player, he decided what man to move by the throw of an oblong i die, marked with numbers one, two, three, four, and five. Thus, if five were thrown, the king or i one of the pawns was moved; if four, the rook; if three, the knight; if two, the bishop. Chess [ was, therefore, in its infancy a game of mingled skill and hazard. It was not until the experi , enee of successive generations had developed the resources which lay hid in those sixty-four squares and thirty-two figures, that it became a stern mental encounter, a contest of mind with mind. But even this crude and simple form of the game pleased the people of tropical Asia in the younger years of the earth’s existence. Men of the highest stations felt and confessed its en ticements. In one of the very oldest sacred , books of the Hindoos, written m the Sanscrit language, the most ancient of all our Indo-Euro pean tongues, a royal personage seeks to acquire from a wise man a knowledge of chess. “ Ex plain to me,” he says, “ explain to me, 0 thou super-eminent in virtue, the nature of the game that is played on the eight-times-eight squared | board.” The sage proceeds to give him the in formation he desires. He describes the game, f and among other counsel says, “ Let each player preserve his own forces with excessive care, and remember that the king is the most important i of all. 0 Prince, from inattention to the humble forces, the King himself may fall into disaster.”. What could be better advice either for a chess player or a prince? t During this period the game appears to have spread to the eastward to China, Siam, and Ja f pan, where, in the course of time, it took a shape somewhat different from that which it after wards assumed in Westeru Asia and Europe. I Enough of similarity, however, still remains be tween these two great branches to prove their 1 common origin. In the Celestial Empire the chief changes were a division of the board into ( two equal parts by an imaginary river, the ad dition of two pieces, with peculiar powers un f known to the Indian game, and the substitution for the queen of two pieces of very limited ac tion. This latter alteration rendered it necessa l ry, in order to place all the chief officers upon the royal or first rank, to use the intersections * of the lines instead of the squares. The moves , of the kings, rooks, bishop, and knights, are ex ( - actly the same as in the chaturanga. The Sia mese game very closely resembles the Chinese. f In Japan, instead of arranging the pieces upon the intersections of the lines, the board was en larged to nine squares on each side. We find ) here, however, no trace of the river. A portion of the men may be reversed when they arrive * at certain squares, and thereby acquire increas . ed powers, a feature resembling the queening , of the pawn in our western game. The line of division between these two great chess stocks f —the Indo-European and the East-Asiatic — seems to be very exactly defined. Eastward, along the southernmost portion of Asia, and f throughout the islands of the Asiatic seas, as far as Borneo, or wberever the influence of India > was felt, the Sanscrit form prevails. In other , lands, further north, which received their laws $ and customs from the country of Confucius, chess as known in China, is predominant. Fu . ture laborers in the historical department of chess will find here a broad and uuharvested field ready to reward their toil. ' (to be continued.) XKK SOVSXIU SPIES® Ell® IXBESZUK. FUN, FACT, AND PHILOSOPHY (Careftilly prepared for the Southern Field and Fireside) “ Master at home ?” “No sir, he's out”— “ Mistress at home ?” 11 No, sir, she’s out.” “ Then I’ll step in and sit by the fire.” “ That's out too, sir.” North Carolina appropriates SIBO,OOO for free school purposes. South Carolina contributes $74,000 for the same purpose. Let your life be such, that if a man speak evil of you, no one will believe him. “ John, spell effects.” “ F-x.” “ Right.— Next, spell seedy." “ C-d.” “ Right again. Now spell cakes.” “ K-a-x.” The inventor has just obtained a patent for a glass coffin. Bodies placed in these coffins may be preserved in their natural state for all time to come, and when placed in vaults can alwavs be accessible to the gaze of those who are left behind. Common sense can accomplish much without great talents, but ail the talents in the world can accomplish very little without common sense. A lad was boasting to his companion of the beauties of his father’s house. “It has got a cupola,” said he, “ and its going to have some thing else. “What is it?” asked the other.— “ Why I heard father tell mother this morning, that it’s going to have a mortgage on it.” The clock at the Houses ot Parliament, Lon don, now strikes the hours regularly upon the great bell, and the souud may be heard distinct ly for miles round the metropolis. Put off repentance till to-morrow, and you have a day more to repent ofj and a day less to repent in. A young tyro in declamation in a neighbor ing seminary, who had been told by his teacher that he must make gestures according to the sense, in commencing a piece with “ The comet lifts its fiery tail,” lifted his coat-tail to a horizontal position. Mr. Snow, formerly second in command of the discovery ship Prince Albert, in the course of a recent lecture, stated that there had been no less than ninety expeditions fitted out to search for Sir John Franklin, at a cost of £850,000. Let no one think that by acting a good part through life he will escape slander. There will be those even who hate them for the very qual ities that ought to procure them esteem. There are some folks in the world who are not willing that others should be better than themselves. When Bishop Leighton was one day lost in meditation in his own sequestered walk at Dum blane, a fair young widow came up to him, and told him it was ordered that he should marry her: for she had dreamed thrice that she was married to him. “ Very well,” replied the bish op, “ whenever I shall dream thrice that I am married to you, I will let you know, and we will be married immediately.”— [Mrs. Grant's Letters. Woman ought to measure from twenty-seven to twenty-nine inches round the waist, but most females do not permit themselves to grow be yond twenty-four; thousands are laced down to twenty-two ; some to less than twenty inches ; and by means of wood whalebone, and steel, the chest is often reduced to one-half its proper size. I hold it to be a fact, says Pascal, that if all persons knew what they said of each other, there would not bo four friends in the world.— This is manifested from the disputes to which in discreet reports from one to the other give rise. A man who had been elected major of militia, and who was not overburdened with brains, took it into his head, on the morning of the parade to “ exercise ” a little by himself. The field select ed for the purpose was his own apartment.— Placing himself in a military attitude, with his sword drawn, he exclaimed — “ Attention company 1 Rear rank, three paces march 1” and he tumbled down into the cellar. His wife, hearing the racket, came running in, saying: “ My dear, have you killed yourself ?” Go about your business, woman,” said the hero, “what do you know about w’ar?” A student in the University of Virginia writ ing from that institution, states that “ no vestige remains of the marble slab that designated the last resting place of the author of the Declara tion ol Independence. Visitors to his tomb, by chipping fragments, have completely demolished and carried it away, piecemeal. An uncouth granite pedestal, greatly disfigured, alone re mains to mark his grave. He who is not a better brother, neighbor, friend, because of his superior knowledge, may very well doubt whether his knowledge is really superior to the ignorance of the unlettered many around him. Mademoiselle Georges, the celebrated French actress, was starring in the provinces. One eve ning after the fall of the curtain, the beaux as sembled around to congratulate her. “Ah I gentlemen,” said she, “ to play that part well, one ought to be young and beautiful.” “Oh 1 madame,” answered one, the sharpest of the beaux, “ you have proved the contrary.” The Natural Bridge property, in Rockbridge county, Va., was disposed of a few days since by Col. J. Wooten, the proprietor, to John Lus ter, for the sum of $12,000. Upon this proper ty is situated the celebrated Natural Bridge, one of the wonders of this country. - PERSONAL. —Hon. Edward Everett is writing an arti cle on ■ Washington,’ for one of the foreign en cyclopedias. ' —Our Minister to Spain, Mr. Preston, is ex pected home by the Dext steamer. The Presi dent has given him leave of absence for six months. —M. Sartiges is expected to resume the French mission in Washington in about six weeks, he having failed to obtain an European transfer. —lt is stated that Stieglitz, the great Rus sian banker, who is about to retire, iias a capi tal of fifty-six million dollars. The house has been established fifty years, conducted all this time by father and son. —General Tom Thumb will be twenty-two years old in January next. Ho resides in Bridgeport, Conn., where he owns a fine house on Main street, valued at over $50,000. He Mrives a pony which he says will travel a mile in three minutes. Mrs. Brown, wife of Ossawatomie Brown, has denied that she ever made the remark at tributed to her in a Republican paper, that “ four of her sons had already been slain, and she would be willing all the rest of her family should be made a sacrifice, if necessary, to the cause of freedom.” In speaking of it, she said she regretted that such a remark should have been put into her mouth, “for they were un motherly words ; ” that she had “ already felt too many griefs to court any fresh sacrifices, and that sho “ could not think without pain of any new death stroke in her family. —The advices by the overland route announce the death of the celebrated pioneer and explorer, Christopher Carson, at Taos, New Mexico, where he had been residing as Indian Agent.— Mr. Carson was a native of Kentucky, having l>een bom in Madison county, at the close of 1809. His father, shortly after that period, re moved to Missouri, where Kit, when a lad of fifteen, was apprenticed to a saddler—occupying himself at that business two years, at the end of which he joined a trapping expedition, and a trapper he remained until his familiarity with the great far West rendered him invaluable as a guide to explorers of the plains. For eight years he acted as hunter at Bent’s Fort. When Col Fremont engaged in his expeditions, Carson accompanied him, and was over after his stead fast companion. In 1847 he received the rank of Lieutenant in the rifle corps U. S. Army.— His latest and most remarkable exploit on the plains was enacted in 1853, when he conducted a drove of 6000 sheep safely to California. —Louis Spoiir, the German composer, born in Brunswick, April 5, 1784, died there in Oc tober, 1859. In early life he was chamber mu sician of the Duke of Brunswick, and concert master of the Duke of Saxe Gotha. He gave concerts in different parts of Europe, and ac quired the reputation of being one of the great est violinists of his time, and at the Congress of Vienna, in 1814, eclipsed all his rivals. In 1817 he visited Italy, and after his return to Germany lie became manager of tho Frankford Opera. Here he brought out his charming op era of Zemire and Azor. In 1819 he went to London, where the symphony which he execu ted there before the Philharmonic Society has since remained very popular in England, where his music was, perhaps, more appreciated than even in his own country. After spending some time in Dresden, he was invited, in 1822, to pre side over the Chapel of the Elector of Hesse- Cassel, in whose service he has since remained. He has produced a great number of orchestral symphonies, concertos, quartettes, and other vocal pieces, which are popular throughout Ger many. To the lovers of the violin lie has left one of the most complete works of its class, en titled the “ Violin School.” Death of Washington Irving. —We pub lished, yesterday morning, a brief telegraphic dispatch announcing the death of Washington Irving, at his residence upon the banks of the Hudson, on Monday evening the 28th of Nov. The father of Washington Irving was, for many years, a merchant in the city of New York, where the great author was born on tho 3d day of April, 1783. He was four y r ears old when the Constitution of the United States was adopted; and when a boy six years old, as Griswold states in his “ Republican Court,” was one of the crowd which stood at the corner of Broadway and Maiden Lane, to witness the inauguration of the first President of the United States. He was destined for the legal profession, and after re ceiving an ordinary academic education com menced, at the age of sixteen, the study of the law. After abandoning the study once, and then resuming it, he was finally admitted to the bar at the age of twenty-three. But Miner va invito, he never practiced lis profession, hav ing early exhibited inclinations and tastes whic unfitted him for its duties and finally determin ed him to devote himself to literary pursuits. Much of his time after he attained his majority was spent in Europe, where nearly all the works which have rendered his name immortal were prepared and first published. His first visit to Europe extended from 1804 to 1806. In 1815 he again revisited Europe, and was absent for seventeen years, three of which were passed, as Secretary of Legation at the court of St. James and the rest in travel and in literary labors; and in 1842 he was appointed, by President Ty ler, without solicitation, Minister to Spain and resided at Madrid, in that capacity until the summer of 1846. Mr. Irving, though he had, according to report, but little facility in writing, accomplished during his long life, an immense amount of literary labor, and was one of the most voluminous authors, as he was the greatest, which this country has ever produced. After his last return from Eu rope in 1846, he published “ Oliver Goldsmith,” “ Mahomet and his Successors,” and “ The Life of 'Washington.” But though these and espe cially the last, are all works worthy of his ge nius, his world-wide reputation and great pop ularity as an author was not achieved by them or by any of his works published during the last two decades of his life, but by his -“ Knick erbocker’s History of New York,” “ Sketch Book,” “Bracebridge Hall,” “Tales of a Travel ler,” “ Columbus,” “ Conquest of Granada ” and by his contributions to the Knickerbocker Maga zine, all of which were published when he was comparatively a young man. His reputation as a master of genial humor, true pathos, quiet sa tire, and an unrivalled style, was established by these productions of his earlier years, and all his subsequent efforts, have but served to sus tain and strengthen this reputation, which has steadily grown w ith the lapse of years. Mr. Irving, for several years previous to his death, resided at a country seat on the banks of the Hudson, twenty-five miles from tho city of New York, which he called “Sunny-Side.” His house, built a century or more ago, but ad ded to and beautified, under his owm supervis ion, stood on ground which he has rendered classic, overlooking the great Tappaan Zee, and “ not far from the wizard region of Sleepy Hol low,” as he has himself expressed it. Willis has described it, its inmates, its surroundings and its master in one of his Letters from Idlewild, almost as delightful as Irving’s sketch of Walter Scott and Abbotsford. There, with the glorious river before liim, which he declared was his first and only love among rivers,surrounded by friends and kindred, and by the scenes of his early youth, with an assured and world-wide reputa tion, he quietly waited the summons which has called him hence, and died, honored above all men in the Union, and beloved by thousands, who have never known him, except in his works. — [Augusta •Constitutionalist. NEWS SUMMARY. Heavy Defalcations.— The Washington cor respondent of the New York Herald, under date of tho 23d, says: It is believed that Major French, late disburs ing agent for tho Treasury extension building, and who was under ten thousand dollars bonds for his appearance at the criminal court for this district to answer the charge of defalcation, has absconded to Europe. It is now reported the defalcations are very large. It is stated at the Post Office Department that it has been discovered the latePostsnaster West cott, of Philadelphia, is a defaulter to the amount of nearly twenty thousand dollars. Sackville, Nov. 26.— A steamer has returned from the steamship Indian with the remainder of the Burvivers. The steamship has so totally gone to pieces that very little of the cargo can be saved. Her sails have been saved and for warded to their places of destination. She had on board eight cabin and thirty steer- | age passengers, and most of the latter were Ger mans and Hungarians. There were seventy-seven of the crew in one boat under the third officer of the steamer, and all are believed to be lost. All the cabin passengers were saved, and it is known that twenty-seven persons are dead. New Orleans. Nov. 25.—The Legislature of Texas has ordered the troops to arrest Cortinas’ baud. The reports from Brownsville caused in tense excitement throughout Texas. The small town of Gonzales raised two hundred men in two days. Cortinas has returned Campbell, the deputy Sheriff, to Brownsville, unharmed, against the wishes of his men. Gov. Houston recommends the Legislature to authorize the raising of a regiment of mounted men to protect the frontier from the attacks of the Indians. New Orleans, Nov. 28.—We have received Brownsville dates to the 20th inst. Lieutenant Gennison, of the Revenue Cutter Dodge, reports that two hundred and ninety effective men were guarding the city, which was closely besieged, but as yet not attacked. Railroad Iron. —The ship Anna F. Schmidt arrived at Savannah Thursday, from Brisiol, with seven hundred tons of iron for tho extension of the Southwestern Railroad. Alabama Iron. —The Jackson (Ala.) Republi can learns that the “Cane Creek Ironworks,” in Shelby county, succeeded in turning out a very superior article of iron. Persons who have used it pronounce it equal to the best Swedes. The Messrs. Noble Brothers, of Rome, Ga., pro prietors of the iron foundry and steam engine works, pronounce it decidedly the very best they have ever used, manufactured in Europe or America. The Yacht Wanderer. —We are permitted to copy part of a letter to one of our citizens, from a reliable source, which throws a new light upon the supposed stealthy escape of the Wanderer, and strongly squints to the conni vance of the Government officials in such es cape. We would call the attention of the au thorities at Washington to the statements con tained in the letter, with the suggestion that some inquiry into the conduct of the commander of tho revenue cutter stationed at Savannah, and of the Federal officers of that city, may be required in the faithful and vigorous enforce ment of the laws of the land: Savannah, Monday, Nov. 7, 1859.—My Dear Sir: —I send you a few lines to let you know how things are done here. I see accounts in the Northern Press of the running away of the notorious yacht Wanderer, by Capt. Martin alias Capt. Patten. Now, in truth, this is all gam mon. I was myself a witness of all her doings before she sailed, and was on board of her sev eral times while sho was loading, or I should have said, taking in her stores. This was done openly, in broad daylight—hundreds of citizens looking on. All her stores came through the cotton press, which belongs to the owner of the yacht. It seems strange that the revenue cutter should have watched her for two months, while she was lying up, with no sails bent and no stores aboard, but, as soon as she had shipped her stores and had her sails bent, and was hauled out into the river, that the cutter should have had business which required her to put to sea, and that, upon her disappearance, the yacht should have got under weigh, and left the port. To show the openness of the whole proceed ing, I would state that the yacht was shipping hands over a week before she sailed, giving them twenty dollars a month, and four dollars a head for every negro they land safe. All the fuss they make about the Captain’s carrying off - the ship ping-master and his runner is all in my eye. The latter has a boat ffnd carries sailors down to the ships that load in the bay, and, if I am not much mistaken, he piloted the Wanderer down. It would have made you laugh to see the owner, Charley Lamar, in chase of the yacht the next day. He could sec from the top of the steeple on the Exchange when the yacht got to sea. He then got a steamer and two Custom house officers and started after her, but he was like the Irishman looking for a day’s work, and praying that he might not find it. The yacht had a crew of twenty-seven men, and plenty of arms went on board of her. What she is going to do, time only will tell. Captain Patten is an old slave trader.— [Philadelphia Journal. Completion of the Mississippi Central Railroad. —ln a short time the gap in the Mis sissippi Central Railroad will be closed up, com pleting the line of railway connection between New Orleans and the Ohio river, thus putting that city within three and a half days of New York. The Mississippi Central, after leaving Grand Junction, runs north to Jackson, Tennes see, where it connects with the Mobile and Ohio Road, which runs thence to Columbus, Ken tucky. The whole distance from New Orleans to Columbus is five hundred and twenty miles, and we believe it is tho intention of the several companies on the route to run trains through from one end to the other, which will be the longest stretch of railroad traveling without change of cars, in the United States, if not in the world. — [Kashville Union. The Great Balloon. —Prof. Lowe at last gives it up as a bad operation, and announces that he has determined not to make an ascen sion this season. His monster balloon is packed up and stowed away in a house in Fourteenth street, and the life boat, caloric engine, and the other appliances with which he was about to astonish the people of the old world, are locked up safely, to bo trotted out again next Spring, when the Professor promises to again make an attempt to make an serial trip to Europe. There is such information in Washington, as to warrant the belief that all the differences be tween the United States and Great Britain grow ing out of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, will be adjusted through the agency of Mr. Tyke, the the English Minister to Central America. A part of the arrangement was the recent settle ment of the boundary of British Honduras. Harper’s Ferry Insurrection. —Richmond, Va., Nov. 28.—The number of well armed troops stationed at Charlestown, now numbers about 2,000. It is generally believed that Gov. Wise had good reasons to warrant him in con centrating this large force at Charlestown. The Confession of Cook. —The confession of John E. Cook, one of John Brown’s accompli ces, now under sentence of death, is published in several of the Northern papers. It does not disclose any new fact of importance, nor impli cate any persons whose names have not already been mentioned in connection with the Harper’s Ferry affair. .In regard to the more prominent citizens at the North, he disclaims ail knowledge which could implicate them. The story of their journey from Kansas across the country, with a supply of Sharpe’s rifles and ammunition, halting here and there, and finally settling at Harper’s Ferry, is related, but devel ops nothing now of importance. The outsiders who had any knowledge of Brown's operations were a few radical abolitionists, such as Fred Douglas, and as Cook thinks, Gerrit Smith. All that Cook says, apparently implicating them is as follows : “He (Brown) came to Harper’s Ferry about the last of June, though I did not see him till late in July, or the early part of August; when we met on Shenandoah street, Harper’s Ferry, opposite Teamey’s store. Ido not know who were his aiders or abettors, but have heard him mention in connection with it the names of tier rit Smith, of New York, Howe of Boston, and Sanborne, and Thaddeus Hyatt of New York city. A The attack at Harper’s Ferry was made soon er than it was intended, owing to some friends in Boston writing a letter and finding fault with the management of Captain 8., and what to them seemed his unnecessary delay and expense. I do not know who those persons were, or how far they were cognizant of his (Capt. B.’s) plans.— But I do know that Dr. Howe gave Capt. Brown a breech-loading carbine and a pair of muzzle loading pistols, all of government manufacture. They were left either at the house of Capt. Brown, or at the school-house where most of the arms were conveyed. A short time before the attack on Harper's Ferry, Capt. Brown requested me to find out in some way, without creating suspicion, the num ber of male slaves on or near the roads leading from the Ferry, for a distance of eight or ten miles, and to make such memoranda that it would be unintelligible to others, but in such a manner that I could make it plain to him and the rest of the company. The remainder of the confession relates prin cipally to the abortive attack on Harper’s Ferry. Os his own participation in the fight, he says : After going down opposite the Ferry, I as cended the mountain in order to get a better view of the position/Of our opponents. I saw that our party were completely surrounded, and I saw a body of men on High street firing down upon them—they were dbout a mile and a half distant from me—l thought f "would draw their fire upon myself; I therefore raised my rifle and took the best aim I could and fired. It bad the desired effect, for the very instant the party re turned it. Several shots were exchanged. The last one they fired at me cut a small limb I had hold of just below my hand, and gave me a fall of about fifteen feet, by which I was severely bruised and my flesh somewhat lacerated. He then narrates his subsequent movements, after despairing of rescuing Brown and his con federates. With Merriam and others they slept on the side of the mountain beyond Brown’s houso, until three o'clock next morning, when they went to the top of the mountain, and in a few hours passed over to the opposite side, re mained until dark and then escaped. Those who desire to read the entire document will have to procure a pamphlet copy, as it is said to have been copyrighted and published for the benefit of one of the wounded at Har per’s Ferry. The pith of it, given above, is ta ken from what purports to be the confession, as published in the New York Tribune. Transfer of Stevens to the United States Court. — The transfer of Stevens to the United States Court, which will meet in Staunton, does not meet the gracious approval of some of the free soil journals of the North. They do not like the idea of some of their magnates being called as witnesses before a tribunal in Virginia. They affect to apprehend personal peril to those indi viduals. They need give themselves no concern on that head. The card of Mr. Sennot, one of Brown’s counsel, shows that, even in the justly excited community where Brown’s crimes were committed, his lawyers from the free States were treated with forbearance and kindness. The people of Staunton and that neighborhood are eminently quiet and law-abiding, and the witnesses will be much more secure there than those of our own people who have been exposed to abolition machinations.— Richmond Dispatch. Return of Mr. Voorhies — Conservative Senti ments. —The Indianapolis Sentinel makes the fol lowing statement touching the return of Messrs. Voorhies and McDonald, (who came to Charles town as counsel for Cook,) and their report of their treatment at Charlestown, and the proceed ings of the Court there. The Sentinel takes oc casion to express itself in some very sound opinions, to which we invite attention, the more particularly as the appearance of anything like justice or fairness to the South, in the Northern press, is so very rare: Hon. J. E. McDonald and Hon. D. W. Voor hies returned home from Chaalestown on Friday night last. The public are already advised of the conviction of young Cook upon the indict ments for murder and insurrection, and the sen tence of the Court that he should be hung upon the 16th of December. Messrs. McDonald and Voorhies desire us to state, that from the time of their arrival to their departure, they had every attention and kindness shown them by the citizens of Charlestown and vicinity, and the old fashioned Virginia hospitality, for which the people of that portion of the State are distinguished, was everywhere extended to them. They spoke of Judge Parker as a cour teous gentleman, upright and able, anil that he administers his court with great dignity and strict impartiality. The trial of the prisoners was fair, as much latitude was allowed in the defense as could be, and the Virginia lawyers allotted to the prisoners made all the defense that the cases were capable of—manifesting in their conduct of them both ability and earnest ness. The prisoners themselves admit the fair ness of their trials, and the humanity and kind ness with which they were treated. The prompt ness of the trials was accidental, the court being in session at the time of the outbreak. Tins fact, however, does not militate against the fair ness of the trials, nor is it presumable that any different result would have been reached, if they had longer been delayed. The evidence against the prisoners' was most direct and conclusive, and, with the exception of Cook, they were arrested while violating the laws and commiting the offences for which they were convicted, and arc to be punished. The prisoners can offer no justification for this wicked attempt to incite a servile insurrection. They had no personal wrongs to avenge. The act on their part was voluntary, and they vol untarily assumed all the consequences of a fail ure. They can make no appeal for sympathy which should find a response. Whatever may be the moral responsibility of those who hold and teach the “irrepressible conflict” doctrine for the acts of these misguided men, that is no apology which the prisoners can offer for their crime. There is too much morbid sensibility in the public mind for criminals, and too much willingness to relax that maintenance of law and justice, upon which rests public peace, security and good order. Our pity for those who voluntarily disregaid law, should not lead any so far as to be willing that criminals should go unpunished for their crimes. We sll owe a different duty to society. We have not a doubt but that the sober verdict of the people of the country will justify the punishment decreed to the Harper’s Ferry insurgents by the courts of Virgfhia. 221