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whole of Holstein, which contains no Danes at
all, and some districts of Schleswig, in which the
German element prevails, should be separated
from Denmark, and made an independent State.
The difficulty now is to find a frontier lino that
will give general satisfaction. Different lines
have been proposed, one by Austria and Prussia,
another by the neutral Powers, and still another
by Denmark. No understanding on this point
had, according to the latest advices, been reach
ed ; and warlike threats are again freely made in
England, in case the wishes of the Danes should
not be completely realized.
But as the main point, a division of Schleswig,
has been adopted by all parties, it cannot be so
exceedingly difficult to come to an understand
ing as to details.
A Soldtkk.s Optnh>>t of Gkant's Campaign.
—The Middleton (N. V.) Prcs-H publishes the fol
lowing extract of a letter from a private in an
Orange county regiment in Grant's army, while
in front of Bichmond:—
"We are enjoying ourselves in the usual "way.
We have fight for breakfast, dinner and supper,
twice between meals, and three times during the
night; in short, it has become a second nature.
It is said a man who will leave his meals to
fight, loves it. In that case the Yankees rau.it
love to fight, for it is an every day occurrence to
Jump up from coffee and hard tack and give the
Jbhny'a a round or two.
"Our regiment has been under fire twenty
throo days in succession, fighting more or less
every day. It is whittled down pretty close.—
We have about eighty men left. We have nine
men in Company C, now in the front, fighting
like heroes. We have lost thousands of men
but more men come in daily than we lose. I
saw two Wisconsin regiments yesterday, the
Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth, enlisted for
one hundred days to do garrison duty. Grant
has brought them to the front, to do garrison du
ty before Bichmond.
" Grant makes the band-box soldiers fight.—
White collars and patent leather boots are "played
out." He fights his men for what they are worth.
He has the full confidence of the men ; all orders
charges, marches, and all, are cheerfull obeyed.
"Our troops can see the spires in Bichmond,
the glorious fruits of thirty-four days hard fight
ing, and we are bound to take it, take a look all
around, and go through Dixie on a double-quick.
January Ist, 1865, will seethe flag floating over
the United States, its thirty-four stars and thir
teen stripes frowning on secession as it slumbers
In the grave."
■ > m
The NewJAtlanttc Cable.—Every possible
care and attention is bestowed upon the manu
facture of the Atlantic cable so as to render its
success, if properly laid, a continued certainty.
The core consists of a strand of soven copper
wires, each covered with about half an inch of
gutta-percha composition, as an insulating me
dium. The telegraph core is then strengthened
by wrapping around it ton solid wires formed of
Messrs. Webster A Horst'all's homogenous iron,
capable of bearing a strain of eleven miles of its
length. The whole is afterwards surrounded
with yarn saturated with a chemical compound
which by its poisonous qualities, will prevent
Its destruction by marine insects, shellfish, etc.
The new cable is most perfect throughout, and
double the strength of the former one. The su
perior quality of the conducting wires and the
greater thickness will admit of an average of
eight words per minute being transmitted,
against a fourth of that number under the ar
rangement of the old cable. '
Daniel Webster's First Case.
Ebenezer Webster, father of Daniel, was a
farmer. The vegetables in hts garden suffered
considerably from the depredations of a wood
chuck, whose hole and habitation was near the
premises. Daniel, some ten or twelve years old,
and his brother Ezekiol, proposed to kill the an
imal and end at once all further trouble with
him; but Daniel looked with compassion upon
this meek, dumb captive, and offered to lot him
go free. The boys could not agree, and appealed
to their father to decide the case.
"Well, my boys," said the old gentleman, "I
will be judge. There is a prisoner, (pointing to
the woodchuck,) and you shall be the counsel,
and plead the case for and against his life and
liberty."
Ezekiel opened the case with a strong argu
ment, urging the mischievous nature of the ani
mal, the great harm ho had already done; said
that much time and labor had been spent in his
capture, and if he was suffered to live and go at
largo, he would renew his depredations, and be
cunning enough not to suffer himself to be caught
again, and that he ought now to be put to death;
that his skin was of some value, and that to make
the most of him they could, it would not repay
one half the damage ho had already done. His
argument was ready, practical, and to the point,
and of much greater length than our limits will
allow us to occupy in relating the story.
The father looked with pride upon his son,
who became a distinguished jurist in his man
hood.
"Now, Daniel, it's your turn; I'll hear what
you have to say."
It was his fi*-st case. Daniel saw that the plea
of his brother had sensibly affected his father,
the judge ; and as his large, brilliant black eyes
looked upon the soft, timid expression of the
animal, and as he saw it tremble with fear in
his narrow prison-house, his heart swelled with
pity, and he appealed Avith eloquent words that
his captive might again go free. God, he said,
had made the woodchuck ; he had made him to
live, to enjoy the bright sunshine, the pure air,
the free fields and woods. God had not made
him nor anything in vain ; the woodchuck had
as much right to live as any other living thing ;
he was not a destructive animal, as the wolf and
fox were; he simply ate a few common vege
tables, of which they had plenty and could well
spare a part; he destroyed nothing except the
little food he needed to sustain his humble life;
and that little food was as sweet to him, and as
necessary to his existence, as was to them the
food upon their mother's table. God furnished
their own food; he gave them all they possessed,
and would they not spare a little for the dumb
creature, who really had as much right to his
small share of God's bounty as they themselves
had to their portion ; yes, more: the animal had
never violated the laws of his nature, nor the
laws of his God, as man often did, but strictly
followed thesimploinstincts he had received from
the hands of the Creator of all things. Created
by God's hands, he had a right from God to
life, to food, to liberty; and they had no right to
deprive him of either. He alluded to the mute
but earnest pleadings of the animal for that life,
as sweet, as dear to him as their own was to
them ; and the first judgment they might expect,
if, in selfish cruelty and cold-heartednoss, they
took the life they could not restore again.
During this appeal, tears had started to the
old man's eyes, and were fast running down his
sunburnt cheeks; every feeling of a lather's
heart was stirred within him; he saw the futnr*
greatness of his son before his eyes ; ho felt that
God had blessed him and his children beyond
the lot of common men ; his pity and sympathy
were awakened by tie eloquent words of com
passion, and the strong appeal for mercy; and,
forgetting the judge in the man and the father,
he sprang from his chair, (while Daniel was ir;
the midst of his argument, without thinking he
had already won his case) and, turning to hip
oldest son, dashing the tears from his eyes, he
exclaimed:—" Zeke, Zeke, you let that wood
chuck go!"
— » —
A Martyr of Liberty.—The following in
scription marks a gravestone in New London,
Con.:—" On the 30th of October, 1782, four thou
sand English fell upon this town by fire and
sword. Seven hundred and nine Americans de
fended the fort for a whole day, but in the even
ing, about four o'clock, the commander of the
besieged fort delivered up his sword to an En
glishman, who immediately stabbed him. AH
his comrades were put to the sword. A line of
powder was then laid from the magazine to the
sea, there to be lighted and blow the fortress into
the air. William Hotman, who lay not far dis
tant, with three strokes of a bayonet in his body,
said to his wounded friend, who was still alive,
' We will endeavor to crawl to this line, and thus
completely wet the powder with blood, and with
the life that still remains in us save ths tort and
magazine, and perhaps a few of our comrades
who are only wounded.' He alone had strength
enough to accomplish this noble design. In his
thirtieth year, he died on the powder which he
overflowed with his blood. His friends and sev
en of his wounded companions by that means
had their lives preserved." After this narrative
are the following words in large capitals—" Here
ies William Hotman."
Fortifications.—The art of constructing
earth-works has been wonderfully developed by
our civil war. The Bichmond papers speak of
Butler's works at Bermuda Hundred as marvels
of scientific intricacy. They consist of high
earth-works defended by a ditch twelve feet
wide and a perfectly impenetrable abattis, the
trees and branches composing the latter being
thickly interwoven with wire. According to the
rebel account, had there been no garrison defend
ing this work, it would have taken the rebel
troops two hours to get into the intrenchments.
Some of Lee's works at Spottsylvania were near
ly as formidable, rendered so chiefly by the in
genuity displayed in the abattis. Grant's workp
in the siege of Vicksburg were wonders of engi
neering skill.
< ■
A Soldier's Eloquence.—Garabaldi thus
addressed his Roman soldiers, when about to
march against the enemies of their country :—
" Soldiers, what I have to offer you is fatigue,
danger, struggle and death ; the chill of the cold
night in the free air, and heat under the burning
sun ; no lodgings, no munitions, no provisions,
but forced marches, dangerous watchposts, and
the continual struggle with the bayonet against
bateries; —those who love freedom and theii
country, may follow me."
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Since the recent battle in Western Louisiana,
a boy of sixteen was lying on his cot, motionless,
from a ball that passed through his brain. The
surgeon in charge was probing the wound, when
the patient's lips opened, and while that young
life was ebbing away he sang sweetly, clearly
and strong. "Do they miss me at home !',
