The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume], September 23, 1859, Image 3

About The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
jjwrotr & gnwcrat
SAINT PAUL.
Friday Mornlng_September 35, 1850.
PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY,
at the “ Pioneer Buildingscomer Third and Jackson
Streets, bg
The Pioneer Printing Company.
TERMS OF THE
WEEKLY PIONEER AND DEMOCRAT.
TO BE SENT TO ONE ADDRESS :
One copy, one year $ 2 00
Three copies, one year 5 00
Fire copies, one year 8 00
Ten copies, one year 15 00
Twenty copies, one year, to one address... 20 00
Twenty copies, where each copy is direct
ed, (SI 20 each) 24 00
And a larger number, at the same rate of SI 00 per
year, with a copy gratis to the person getting up the Club
or each copy directed $l2O.
All subscriptions must be paid in advance. No
paper sent until the money is received.
Address PIONEER PRINTING COMPANY, St. Paul.
The Authorship of the Homestead
Bill—The Game of Lying to Cower
up Theft.
It is a fortunate arrangement in the dis
pensations of Providence, that neither all
the virtues, nor all the vices, are ever com
bined in the persons of single men. Were
the rule otherwise, we should have some
characters quite too angelic for human
appreciation, and others quite too devilish
for human endurance. The thing is better,
distributed as it is; with a sprinkling of
good and ill together in every character.
This is especially so with regard to men
essentially vicious—as we will illustrate.
The Thief is, per se, a most dangerous and
detestable character. But the Thief is less
dangerous and detestable, in himself, than
he would be, if, excelling in that, he should
also be accomplished as a Liar. But Prov
idence, in His beneficence, rarely permits
any one man to excel supremely in these
two characteristics of vice. The greatest
Thief is rarely the greatest Liar. Some
lying, of course, the Thief must perpetrate,
as an incident to his pursuits; but as a
general rule, the Thief who steals most
felicitously, plumes himself the most upon
his veracious virtues. This is very
curious; but that it is equally true,
and universal, is verified by the old
saying that “Every Thief has his Liar.”
But, while we thus assent to the truth
and universality of this saying, we must, at
the same time, be permitted to doubt its le
gitimate corollary, that “ Every Grow has
his Foster.” For, we don’t believe that
every Grow could find such a Foster. We
don’t believe that even a majority of the
Grows could. We doubt, even, that this
Grow ever came across such a Foster be
fore, or that he will ever be likely to come
across such an one again. Such Fosters
are scarce. There may be large numbers of
them born, but they rarely live to reach the
full maturity of years, or of supreme excel
lence as Liars.
We demonstrated, the other day, from the
official records of Congress, that Hon. John
Kelly, Democratic Congressman from
New York, was the author of the Home'
stead bill which passed the House of Rep
resentatives during the last session of the
last Congress; and that the claim of author
ship made by the Hon. Galusha A. Grow,
and on his behalf, was false and piratical.
We convicted him, from those records, of
theft, in as clear a case as was ever perpe
trated in that line of larceny. We convict
ed him by all the classes of proof known to
the law —by positive evidence and by evi
dence circumstantial. There was no doubt
of the fact. Grow himself wouldn’t have
dared to doubt it. Grow had the audacity
to steal the reputation which was attached
to a beneficent measure, but he had not the
nerve to perpetrate the shameless lying ne
cessary to conceal or deny the theft. But
just what Grow lacked, Foster supplied.
We clearly proved that the Homestead
bill which Kelly introduced, and which,
on his motion, was referred to the Com
mittee on Agriculture, was the iden
tical bill, in all its essential features,
with that which was reported back by that
Committee to the House, and which passed
that body without amendment; while Grow’s
bill, which was referred to the Committee on
Public Lands, lay dead in the hands of that
Committee until the adjournment of Con
gress. These facts furnished a clear solu
tion of the question of authorship: With
Grow they must have been decisive; with
Foster they merely furnished occasion for
the display of his talents in mendacity—and
in a manner to excite Grow’s astonishment
no less than his admiration. Foster re
solves the point this way :
The facts are, that Mr. Grow was the author
of both bills—both of the bill which was re
ferred to the Committee on Public Lands, as of
the bill offered by Mr. Kelley and referred to
the Committee on Agriculture 1
To persons acquainted with the two men,
the absurdity of Foster’s statement will
strike them stronger than its falsehood.
Probably no two men in the Thirty-Fifth
Congress, had less in common with each
other. They were not only political op
ponents, but all their tastes, habits, associa
tions, were such as to render them not mere
ly indifferent, but repulsive to each other.
And that this repulsiveness was acted on,
& b well as felt, we have actual knowledge.
But the peculiar absudityot the matter lies
in the implication that John Kelly —who
had made this question a speciality in his
canvass, who intended to make its passage
the feature of his Congressional life, and
who was the superior of Mr. Grow in
ability, and renowned for his self-reliance—
should consent to play second fiddle in re
gard to his own pet measure, and to an
inferior man. Why, Grow himself, would
protest against such an absurd transposi
tion. The above, however, is mere baga
telle, compared with what follows :
This duplication of the same bill was done
we have understood, simply to obtain two
chances to secure the Homestead Act being re-
Sorted back to the House, and not killed in the
ommittees—packed on purpose by the South
ern speaker, Orr, to kill the Homestead meas
ure—especially in the Committee on Public
Lands. The Committee on Public Lands did
accordingly smother the bill offered by Mr. Grow
and referred to them, and the Agricultural
Committee came near doing the same thing. It
was finally manoeuvred, however, through Mr.
Kelsey, a Republican member from the State
of New York, acting in conjunction with Mr.
Grow, so as to get it reported back to the
House without, however, any recommendation
in its favor.
The absurdity of the “manoeuvring” feat,
which Foster Alleges to have been accom
plished, will be realized by a reference to the
composition of the Committee on Agricul
culture. Of the nine members of the Com
mittee, but three were Republicans, and the
official record of the report of the bill from
the Committee to the House, shows that it
was made without opposition, and that it
must therefore be taken as the unanimous re
port of such Committee. If Mr. Grow really
“ manoeuvred ” five Democrats and one
American—comprising two thirds of the
committee—into a report of the Homestead
bill to the House, against either their
knowledge or consent, we will acknowledge
that he deserves a higher reputation' for
skill than he has heretofore enjoyed. But,
with a nice sense of propriety, Foster re
serves the climax of his lying until he
reaches the climax of his sentence, where
in he says the bill was “ reported back
to the House, without, however, any re
commendation in its favor.” This is lying
for the love of lying. It is lying without
the poor excuse of ignorance; for in our
article, which was the subject of the criti
cism we are now reviewing, we copied at
length, with reference to the volume and
page of the Congressional Globe, from which
it was taken, the following notice of the
introduction of the Homestead bill;
and which we now reproduce by way
of exposing Foster’s mendacity when he says
it was “ reported back to the House, without,
however, any recommendation in its favor.”
We extract from the proceedings of the
House on the 26th of January, 1859, as
printed on page 612, of Part I. of the Con
gressional Globe, for the last session of the
last Congress:
Mr. KELSEY, from the Committee on Agri
culture. reported back, with a recommendation
that it do pass, a bill (H. R. No. 72,) to secure
homesteads to actual settlers on the public do
main ; which was referred to the Committee
of the Whole on the state of the Union, and
ordered to be printed.
We dont think this subject requires any
further comment. It is clearly a case of de
liberate stealing on the part of Grow, and of
deliberate lying on thepart of Foster. We
are not disposed to give the palm to either
over the other. Each has acquitted himself
with the highest distinction in his special line.
We cannot, however, help wondering what
a pair of monstrosities they would make, if
Grow could lie as well as he can steal, and
Foster could steal as well as he can lie. j
Declaration of Independence Monument
The committee on plans of the National
Monument Association—having in charge
the erection, by the thirteen original States,
of a grand monument in Independence
square, Philadelphia, commemorative of
the enactment of the Declaration of Inde
pendence, met in New York, on the 7th.
Architects and artists were invited to sub
mit designs and the structure. |
The monument and iron railing to enclose it
may occupy a base or diameter of sixty feet.
The monument is to have thirteen sides or
faces, to be united by an entablure on which
the Declaration of Independence, with the
names of its signers, will be graven, and
which may constitute the base of the work,
to be surmounted by a shaft, column, or
other superstructure. A panel, tablet or
niche will be left in each face, devoted to
each of the States, and to be filled up here
after with such inscriptions and devices, in
harmony with the whole design, as they may
respectively and determinately propose.
The materials of the monument will be
marble, granite, or other stone, and the cost
is limited to $150,000 for the structure and
iron railing around it. All designs must be
on paper two feet wide, and drawn on a
scale of four feet to the inch. A premium
of S3OO will be given for the plan that may
be selected by the trustees, and one of S2OO
for the second best in merit. All plans sent
in will be the property of the committee,
and will be retained.
On Tuesday, October 11, State elections
wiil be held in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana,
lowa, and Minnesota. New York, Wiscon
sin, and some of the Southern States vote
in November.
THE WEEKLY PIONEER AND DEMOCRAT
Mendacity and Ignorance-
The (Winona) Democrat falls into another
blunder, viz: that Mr. Rice voted for Mr.
Grow’s bill. We can’t see how that can be,
when Grow’s bill did not reach the Senate and
was only voted on in the House, where it was
defeated by the Democrats. Is it ignorance or
wilfulness on the part of the Democrat to thus
seek to mislead— Timet.
We quote the above to refer to the dif
ference between the two Republican jour
nals of this city. If the paragraph had
appeared in the Minnesotian, we should have
set it down as a deliberate falsehood ; but
appearing in the Times, it merely serves to
illustrate the habitual blundering and
chronic stupidity of that sheet.
The Times says, “Grow’s bill did not
reach the Senate, and was only voted on in
the House, where it was defeated by the
Democrats.” The facts are that Grow’s,
or rather John Kelly’s, homestead bill
passed the House of Representatives, Feb
ruary 1,1859, yeas 120, nays 76. As the
House was strongly Democratic, it could
only have passed by the aid of Democratic
votes. On the 17th of February, in the
U. S. Senate, the same bill being under
consideration, Mr. Hunter, chairman of the
Finance Committee, moved to postpone it
and take up the appropriation bills. This
was the last test vote on the Homestead
bill in the Senate. We find recorded with
the friends of the bill, and against Mr.
Hunter’s motion, the name of Senator
Rice. Gen. Shields paired off with Sena
tor Chestnut, an enemy of the bill.
“Is it ignorance or wilfullness on the
part of the Times thus to seek to mislead ?”
We incline to the opinion that it is igno
rance.
Tile Difference of a Tear.
At the Black Republican State Conven
tion of New York, held at Syracuse, in Sep
tember, 1858, the following resolution was
unanimously adopted as part of the creed of
the party: 7
That the principle embodied in our present
State Constitution, of requiring some time to
intervene between the act of naturalization and
consequent exercise of the right of suffrage, is
sound and just; and we reeommend such an
extension of that intervening time as will pre
clude the future naturalization of voters under
the auspices of partisan committees, with a
view to using the votes so procured in a pend
ing election.
It was generally understood and admitted
that this intervening time was to be one
year, and not two as it was made in Massa
chusetts. At their Convention ai the same
place last week, they adopted the following
resolution, the latter part of which is in
strong contrast with that of last year :
That American citizens all over the world,
as such, are entitled to the prompt, perpetual,
efficient and fearless protection of the Federal
Government; that, consequently, we abhor and
reprobate the doctrine of the present Federal
Administration, which abandons the adopted
citizen who may be sojourning in foreign coun
tries, either for purposes of busines or pleasure,
to the tender mercies of French drill sergeants
and Austrian jailers; and that, rejecting, as we
do. all class or discriminating legislation as un
equal and unjust, we adhere to the principle of
the Philadelphia platform of 185 G, which pro
claims that the spirit of our institutions, as well
as our fundamental constitution, guarantees
liberty of conscience and equality cf rights to
all citizens.
Here the Black Republicans say that they
reject all class or discriminating legislation
as unequal and unjust, and yet we see that
it was only one year ago that the very same
men in the very same place unanimously re*
solved to adopt that very kind of discriminat
ing legislation which above all others is
most offensive to foreign-born citizens, as we
saw when it was made by the same party in
Massachusetts. We all know why this is
now denounced as unequal and unjust. The
foreign-born citizens all know the reason. It
is mere clap-trap to catch their votes, which
are very essential to the welfare of the party
in New York. Were it not so, were their
votes as scarce there as they are in Massa
chusetts, we should see the party in New
York stick to and re-affirm their principles
of last year and not denounce them as un
equal and unjust.
As to the protection of naturalized citi
zens abroad, no Federal Administration has
ever taken as high ground as that of Mr.
Buchanan.
The Iteaent Abuse of the Franking
Privilege. .
When, the other day, the Postmaster at
Washington, pursuant to law and the in
structions of the Post Office Department,
declined to forward to Minnesota some two
ior three tons of electioneering documents
franked in the handwriting of other persons
than the Black Republican member of Con
gress whose name was used, the Black Re
publican newspapers alleged that this was
the first case of interference with the prac
tice, and that up to that date the practice
had been indulged by Democrats for the
benefit of the Democratic party. Whereat
thjese Black Republican newspapers howled
vigorously. Their allegation was false, and
their howling will have gone for naught.
The Washington correspondent of the New
York Times writes:
postmaster-General Holt did not begin his re
form movement on Republican documents.
Some months ago fifteen thousand Democratic
documents, bearing the frank of Senator Brown,
ofl Missisfippi, were refused transmission
through the mails, the frank not having been
written by the Senator himself. The law will
be rigidly and impartially enforced.
We presume this testimony will not be
disputed, since the Times is an opposition,
or ‘independent,” journal. However, no
Buch l testimony was really needed, ior no
sensible person could be made to believe
that the Post Office Department would ob
serve one rule for Democrats and another
for Black Republicans.
A Reponae to Judge Douglas' Essay on
Potmlar Sovereignty.
The Washington Constitution of the 10th
published a reply to Senator Douglas’
views on Popular Sovereignty,—filling six
columns of that paper, and understood to be
from the pen of the Attorney General,
Judge Black. The position presented in
this article as that of the Democratic party,
is that slaves are recognized by the Federal
Constitution as property in States where
the local law so treats them; —that they
remain property when taken into any State
of which the local law does not forbid their
being so regarded;—that Congress has no
right to deprive their owners of this prop
erty, in the territories or other places under
its jurisdiction;—and that, as it cannot del
egate a power which it does not possess,
neither the Legislature nor the people of a
Territory have any authority to prohibit
Slavery within its borders. It concedes,
however, that when they come to form a
State Constitution, they may establish or
prohibit Slavery as they see fit. Until then
they have no power whatever over the sub
ject.
The Washington correspondent of the
Philadelphia Press, commenting upon the
article in the Constitution, says that its doc
trine when briefly expressed amounts to
this:—
“ That inasmuch as the Constitution per
mits slavery in the Territories, the common
law affords a sufficient protection for it, and
therefore that its existence is secured until
the people at the time of the forming a
State Constitution, acquire a right to ex
clude it.
But this doctrine is contrary to the expe
rience of every slaveholding community, for
they all possess and absolutely require a va
riety of local statutes for the protection of
slave property; even the history of Kansas
affords a proof of this, for one of the first
acts ol the Legislature, when it was under
the control of the pro-slavery party, was to
pas 3 a series of laws for the protection of
slavery.
Now, since the Free State party has be
come dominant there, these laws have been
repealed, and although Kansas has not yet
been admitted into the Union, the contest
as to her future character is decided, and no
slaveholder has the slightest disposition to
remove there with his slaves. Notwith
standing the violence which has at all times
disgraced the history of Kansas, and the
great miseries which have been inflicted up
on her people from a peculiar combination
of causes, which in all human probability
will never operate upon another Territory,
the great fact remains that the people of
Kansas during the continuance of her Ter
ritorial condition have virtually decided that
she should be a non-slaveholding political
community.
The people of Nebraska have done the
same thing. The people of New Mexico
have chosen to declare, by the action of their
Territorial legislature, that local laws for
the protcctiou of slave property should
exist among them, and if a pro-slavery sen
timent continues to prevail, she will, doubt
less, eventually become a slave State.
Thus the practical illustration furnished
by our history since the passage of the
Kansas Nebraska act, clearly indicates not
only that the interpretation put upon it by
its distinguished author, is the correct one,
but that the people of our territories are
carrying it out precisely as he contemplated,
and making territories free or slaveholding
according to their own good will and plea
sure.
No close observer of events can doubt
that a similar privilege will be exercised by
the people of all our territories in future,
and that, too, without waiting for the
moment when State Constitutions are
adopted. The people of the territories will
be acting as their interests seem to require,
and those who clamor for Congressional
slave codes or Wilmot Provisos, will find
themselves served like the lawyer, who,
while arguing a motion for a new trial fora
rogue who had been convicted of larceny,
accidentally discovered that his client was
at the very moment being whipped in the
jail yard as a punishment for the offense.
The Opinion of an Independent Press.
In an able article on the next Presidency,
and on Senator Douglas’ position and pros
pects, the New York Times says:—“ Upon
one point we have no doubt whatever—Mr.
Douglas will represent at Charleston the
settled sentiment of the Northern Democra
cy. He will claim, with perfect justice,
that not a single Northern State can be
carried by the Democrats upon any plat
form which shall be more Pro-Slavery than
his. There is not a single free State in the
Union which will vote for Congressional
intervention in favor of Slavery in the Ter
ritories, or for the abrogation of the Fede
ral laws against the African Slave Trade.
Any politician, with his eyes half open, can
see that the Democrats of the North have
yielded all the ground on this subject which
they intend to yield. They have conceded,
one after another, all the demands of the
South upon them—and, as the canvass of
1856 convinced them, their excessive libe
rality has brought them to the very verge
of political bankruptcy. Another step in
that direction ruins them forever. If they
nominate Wise, Hunter, Stephens, or any
such man, upon the Southern platform. Mr.
Seward, or any other man the Republicans
may nominate, will carry every Northern
State. There are some of the Southern
politicians who seek that result, as the most
direct route to their coveted haven—Disun
ion. There are others who do not believe
it possible, and who do not feel bound,
therefore, to take any steps to avoid it.
But there is a very large number of saga
cious, patriotic and influential public men
in the Southern States who do apprehend
such an issue, and who are open advocates
of the nomination of Mr. Douglas as the
surest means of averting it, and it is not at
all unlikely that their numbers will steadily
increase.” •
Emancipation in Jamaica,
The American Missionary says, respecting
the Jamaica mission:
Letters from the missionaries contain but lit
tle that is encouraging, and not a little that is
trying. One of them writes that crime is on
the increase in that island, the only exception to
this being found among the people that are under
the direct influence of the missionaries. In the
mission church at Elliot, there had been some
painful defections, and it had been found neces
sary to cut off four of the members. Another
missionary writes that all the churches through
out the island seem to be suffering from a reac
tion that his been going on ever since the time
of special zeal that marked the first few years
succeeding emancipation.
Reluctant as the philanthropist may be to
admit the fact, the scheme of emancipation
adopted by the British Government at so
great a cost, in her West India colonies, has
proved a disastrous failure, pecuinarily and
morally. The evidence on this point is of
too positive a character to be rejected any
longer. Certainly, whatever may be thought
of the increased acknowledgments of the
London limes in relation to this matter,
testimony like that quoted above, can neither
be si sheeted nor misconstrued. Alter such
an experiment, commenced under auspices
the most favorble, and with objects the most
inciting to earnest endeavor, the honest
abolitionist may well inquire if, after all, be
is not laboring under a delusion; whether
he has not greatly misconceived the facts,
and whether the condition of servitvde pre
vailing throughout the Southern States is
not, all things considered, better fitted to
raise the negro in the scale of mental, mor
al, and physical endowment, than a promis
cuous emancipation. To be sure, the pro
cess of culture and development is often
protracted through several generations ;
but when at length the imported African
has passed through the various chrysalis
changes, and emerges from the deep degrada
tion of his condition when in Africa, to the
character of an intelligent Christian free
man, —perhaps on the shores on of the Liber
ian Republic, or at the northern terminus of
the U. G. Railroad, —it is apparent that his
period of tutelage was not one of unmiti
gated evil. However much the abolitionist
may detest the “ institution,” his fondness
for its graduates is unequivocal; though it
might be quickly changed to loathing were
the object of his regard presented in its
primitive squalor, degradation, and savage
ferocity.
As to the advantages of the system to the
master, that is quite another matter.— N. Y
Jour. Com.
A new kind of bread, known as aerated
bread, is now made in London, in the man
ufacture of which no fermentation is used.
The process consists in forcing ready pre
pared carbonic acid, by means of suitable
machinery, into the water with which the
dough is prepared, then mixing the flour,
water and salt together in a highly condensed
atmosphere. From the mixing apparatus
the dough is received into the baking pans,
and passed into the ovens without being
touched by the hands. By this means the
constituency of the flour is left both un
changed and uncontaminated—the loaf be
ing accordingly absolutely pure bread. If
the attempt succeeds, it will supply a great
desideratum, as the medical profession have
pronounced fermented bread injurious to a
large class of individuals.
Telegraphic Lines to California and
Salt Lake.— Contracts have been executed
in New York by the Western Union Tele
graph Company, the Missouri River Tele
graph Company, and the Missouri, Kansas
and Utah Telegraph Company, by which
the former company have become the con
trollers of all the telegraphic lines west of
St. Louis ; and arrangements are now m
progress and ample means provided to ex
tend the lines of the two latter companies,
under the general superintendance of
Charles M. Stebbins, Esq-i from St.
Louis to Fort Smith—soo miles on the
route of the Butterfield Overland Mail, and
from St. Louis to Atehison and Utah. The
latter is now in successful operation a dis
tance of about 400 miles west of St. Louis,
and the line to California, via Fort Smith,
is in good working order about 300 miles
west of St. Louis. By the latter line, which
will soon open another section of about 200
miles, the Associated Press will receiva
very full reports of California news, three or
four days in advance of the arrival of the
Overland Mail at St. Louis.
There was lately on exhibition at Sid
ney, Australia, a set of horse shoes made of
native gold, weighing twenty-four ounces,
and worth about SSOO. They were made
for a favorite pony in New South Wales.
All Sorts of Items.
Utah papers furnish an account of a mas
sacre of emigrants on a raft, on the river
Oregon, July 24, by the Bannock and Sho
shone Indians. Six men and one woman
killed, six men and one woman wounded
some of the men mortally. The Indians
robbed the wagons of 81700, and drove off
a large quantity of stock.
A tremeendous conflagration occured in
Halifax, on the 10th. Five whole blocks
on Granvill street, numbering fifty buldings
and including thirteen extensive dry goods
establishments were totally consumed. The
damage is not estimated, but it must neces
sarily be very large. It is reported that
three men were killed at the fire.
The city government of Portland, Me.,
made special arrangements to honor the
arrival of the steamship Great Eastern.
The programme includes a public dinner, a
grand ball and military display, and other
manifestations of rejoicings.
Some idea may be formed of the enor
mous sums of money which are sunk in the
purchase of pictures by the wealthier classes
in England, from the collection of the late
Lord North wick has produced no less than
£95,725. The late sale extended over eigh
teen days, and was attended by dealers from
all parts of the world. The picture of the
“ Birth of Jupiter,” which cost his lordship
£BO, was knocked down at £I,OOO. The
picture of “ St. John,” by Carlo Dolci,
from the Lucien Bonaparte gallery, was
knocked down for 2,010 guineas. This is
the highest price realized for a single picture
throughout the sale.
Horace Greeeey addressed a letter to
his political friends in California, urging
them to vote for McKibben, anti-Lecomp
ton candidate for Congress. Also advoc at
ing fusion of all opposition parties by com
bining on the best candidates of each, which
he believed would render it practicable to
carry the election to the total defeat of the
Administration Democracy.
Thh Rochester Union says : We have a
private dispatch from Niagara Falls, an
nouncing that Shields, the man who was to
jump from White’s Grounds into the river, is
drowned. have no particulars, but pre
sume he has fallen a victim to his experi
ments in jumping, which he was doubtless
making. He has never made a jump in
public, although he announced himself as
the renowned jumper.
At the Merchants’ Exchange, at Nor
folk, Va., on the 14th, a resolution was
adopted appointing a committee to invite
the steamer Great Eastern to visit that
port. The authorities of Norfolk, as well
as those at Portsmouth, Richmond, and
Petersburg, will no doubt co-operate in this
movement.
We have news from Japan dated on the
sth of June. The Emperor had ordered
that the cities of Jeddo, Nagasaki, Simoda,
and Hakodadi, should be united by tele
graph, and a line was being built from Jed
do to his summer residence. All the vessels
in the Imperial fleet were to be turned into
steam propellers, and one of them, the Niph
on, had already left on a voyage of discovery,
manned by a native crew and native engi
neers. An American, having discovered a
copper mine, was permitted to work it on
promising to divide the proceeds with the
government.
Official information has been received
at Portland that the Great Eastern leaves
Holyhead for Portland on the 15th inst.
The St. Louis Democrat censures the citi
zens for their general apathy in the matter
of erecting a suitable monument to the
memory of Benton —an enterprise in which
some steps were taken shortly after his death,
since when nothing has been done.
It is stated in the annual report of the
Commissioners in Lunacy that the number
of insane persons confined in county and
borough asylums, hospitals, and licensed
houses in Great Britain, on the Ist of Jan
uary, 1859, was 22,911, and that of this
number only 2773 are deemed curable.
Therb is a decided mania for committing
suicides just now prevailing in New York,
j. H.’Kearney poisoned himself at French’s
Hotel, Henry F. Wood put an end to his
life by taking laudanum, Edward Cassen
brock, keeper of a dancehouse, committed
suicide by shooting himself with a heavily
loaded pistol; all on Sunday. Moreover,
John Jackson, a-desperate colored man,
stabbed fatally his father-in-law while the
old gentleman was unprepared for an assault.
A family “ difference ” existed between
them. j
The auroral phenomena which illuminated
the skies in this latitude a few weeks since,
seems to have extended over a very wide area
They were seen from Montreal to New Or
leans, and from St Louis to Cuba and Ber
muda.
The New York Times learns that Mr. J.
Scott Russell, the builder of the Great
Eastern, is to come out on her first trip to
America. Great numbers of tickets have
been sold, and for her trial trip to Cher
bourg, which was to take place on the Bth,
an immeuse number of places had been
taken.