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Tlffi -NORTH C For tbe Standard. THfi FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. Me. HoUen S WiUon: Gentlemen: Having seen a notice published that the candidates for Congress in the Fifth District would address their fellow-citizens at Patterson? Store on yesterday the 17th inst, I concluded to at- tend and hear what they -had to say. I was fully compensated for tbe loss of time and my visit. After the county candidates had announced them selves at one o'clock, Mr. Gilmer took the stand and spoke for an hour and a half, not so much upon the exploded subjects of banks aud tariffs, or the doc trines of his own cherished American principles that so much haunted his dreams last summer, nor did he venture to speak one single sentence on the subject of Know-Nothingism, or sound the alarm of danger in the ears of his hearers, that thousands of foreign paupers were flocking into the United States from Europe to take bread and meat out of the mouths of our wives and children. Having given these subjects the silent go-by, I expected to hear that the Cathoiics were burning all the Bibles North, and that there was danger of our colporteurs here being waylaid in order to destroy such as might be in their possession South ; but in this I was disappointed. He at lengh planted himself on the slavery ques tion, and complained of the agitation upon this sub ject by politicians; spoke of the compromise of 1820, and found very great fault with the alien suf frage and squatter sovereignty feature in the Kansas and Nebraska bill. After a moment's pause.and apparent deep reflec tion, as though he was hesitating whether or not to embark in the much-tried and weak cause, much like the fellow who had climbed high up in a tree and ventured far out on a limb after an opossum, ho doubted the propriety of attempting to shake the animal off, lest he might" himself fall to the ground, and hear something drop. But after somewhat recovering from the fear of that awful and most probable dilemma, he nerved himself up, and with warmth and much real advo cated the distribution of the public lands ; said it was the only question of importance that was at present agitating the public mind ; quoted Demo cratic authority to sustain his position, and eulo gised Gen. Jackson to the skies and higher, for the deposit act of 1836 ; said Mr. CHngman had jumped Jim Crow, and gone far ahead of every body else upon this subject was in favor of dividing the lands and paying over to the Slates their full share of the surplus revenue, whenever it accumulated in the Treasury, and take a clear receipt. It was very amusing, indeed, to hear John A. Gilmer applauding and praising Democrats. This did not escape the notice of Maurice Q. Wad dell, who lashed him well for the deserving merit attributed to his political foes. He did not allude to Mr. W. in any way whatever as a candidate for Con gress; but went strong for himself, first, last, and all the time. His effort was able and his argument ingenious. After concluding, our much-esteemed and gifted young friend, Stephen E. Williams, arose and enter tained us for one hour and 20 minutes in a strain of el oquence and force of reasoning that was worthy of the man who had gladdened the hearts of all unprejudc; d men (without distinction of party) who heaid him. I most heartily wish you could have been present and beard, as I did with much interest, bis able defence of Democratic principles. The scene was the more interesting and instruc tive because Gilmer's effort was as above-stated, and required much talent and skill in debate to meet and correct the many errors into which he had fallen. But the task was no sooner undertaken than accom plished for our young friend being well posted, he unveiled with much ability the argument of his ad versary, and very successfully put to the. wall every erroneous position he had taken ; and whilst he con ducted the discussion with every degree of courtesy and fairness, he handled his subjects with gloves off and with much honor and credit to himself, and to the perfect satisfaction of his friends. He gave a lucid explanation of alien suffrage and squatter sovereignty ; approved the Kansas-Nebraska bill, and showed conclusively that if these two features contained in it were wrong, that Mr. Fill more and his allied and Know Nothing friends were responsible for it, as they had been previously and first approved and incorporated in the Utah and New Mexico bills, from which they had been copied word for word into the Nebraska act. He then boldly asserted that if Mr. Gilmer was elected he would not find a single Know Nothing in Congress North of Mason & Dixon's line to co-operate with him in maintaining the rights of the South, whilst if he was elected there would be found 54 conservative Democrats to stand side by side with hira upon that subject remarked that this was a very important fact to be remembered. He next took up the subject of distribution of the public lands, very clearly drawing the distinction be tween distribution and deposit ; and showed that in '41, when the Whigs had the power and passed a bill to divide the lands, they very ingeniously and astutely added a clause that provided whenever the tariff, was raised above 20 per cent, distribution should cease, and dwelt at some length uDon the fact, which was not denied, that at the next session, when they were still in power, ihey raised the tariff and thereby stopped distribution ; not, however, un til after they had provided well for the western and northwestern States giving them great advantage by grant'ng to them very large quantities of the public domain. Mr. Williams challenged contradiction, and ap pealed to the people to say if they had not been hum bugged often enough by the American and Whig party, who had ever been ready to promise great things, but who, when in power, had always failed to grant even small things. I thought I could sec a response from the bosom of every man present say ing we hate ; and that we will drop Gilmer and make you our representative from the Fifth District. Before I proceed to speak of Mr. Waddell, let me remark that Mr. Williams is one of the readiest and ablest debaters I have heard in the District, and that he is winning golden laurels wherever he goes and is heard. I believe he is growing steadfastly and rapidly in public favor, and is just the man whom the people of the District desire and intend, if in their power, to honor with a seat in the next Con gress of the United Stater. Mr. Waddell prefaced his remarks by telling a good anecdote, which gave to him the same patient attention for nearly two hours that had been exten ded to Mr. Gilmer and Mr. Williams. He set out by complaining that Mr. Gilmer had stated there was too much agitation upon the slav ery question in the South. Mr. G. rose to explain what he did say, alleging that Mr. W. had not under stood him correctly. He then turned to Mr. Williams and said he had not correctly or fully and satisfactorily explained what was meant by alien suffrage and squatter sov ereignty , and proceeded to give his view of the sub ject ; and after speaking of Col. Fremont, and charg ing that he was a Democrat, and run for President by the black Republican party North, &c, he again turned upon Mr. Gilmer and alleged that an attempt hffd uCen made by a few of his rri-'nl8 t0 rule uira off the track by means of a Convention, that was neither properly constituted nor to reflect the public sentiment of the District. That he (Mr. W.) was the acknowledged candidate for 2 months in 5 counties composing the District, where he had made speeches and heard no complaint. He then asked the question, what had Gilmer done more than he? Was he Whig ? So was I. Was he an American or Know Nothing? So was I. Had he applied the lash to the Democrats? If he had, it had not been done with more severity than he had applied it. In short, he had been every thing that Mr. G. had, and was. equally entitled to the respect and votes of the people of the District with Mr. Gilmer, He denounced conventions, and said he was a candidate on his own hook. He declared, and strongly emphasised the language, that Mr. Gilmer was a weak man, that he had been his personal and political friend, and had defended him in Chatham county last summer when a candidate for a seat in the Legislature, where he was defeated because he was compelled to carry Mr. Gilmer, with all his un popularity, upon his back ; and as a further evi dence that he was not popular, said the first time he was a candidate for office outside of Guilford county to wit, for Governor last summer, the people of the State had striped him to the tune of twelve thou sand lashes, and remarked, is this the man to put his foot upon .my neck and choke ine off from my position as a candidate for Congress in this district; declared he would not submit to any such dictation, thereby to bring reproach and disgrace upon him self and his family. " Said Mr., Gilmer at Troy, in the county of Montgomery, a few days ago bad tried to Miea m inocd'nn ff xr&Tnnitv" Knttrnan Kim finH HlS rTriends, by challenging him to deny that he had said he would submit to a convention. If neaia ne would prove the fact, and by fifty witnesses. Mr. Waddell then charged it to be an attempt on the part of Ml. Gilmer to prove him a public liar, and said he would defend his character at all haz ards at the proper time, and at a proper place ; that he could and would not be provoked to a tight now: but if any man would dispute what he had said after the election was over, he would revenge himself by boxing his jaws ; said he was not then angry, but merely spoke with zeal, under feelings of excitement produced from causes before alluded to. Said if he had offended any one present he asked pardon, as he certainly did not intend to do so. and retired from the stand. Mr. Gilmer rose and told several anecdotes, when the discussion ended, and all passea off well. A 01EIi. The Free Suffrage Act. In another column we publish the Act passed at the last session of the Legislature to amend the Constitution of North Carolina, and also the supplementary Act to take tho sense ol the people of the State on the first Thursday in August next relative to the proposed amendment All persons qualified to vote for mem bers of the House of Commons can vote on this question. . ... , , By the supplementary act if will be seen that it was the duty of the County Courts, at their first term after the first day of April, to appoint Inspect ors for the Free Suffrage box. Certain duties are also enjoined on the Sheriffs, a failure to perform which, subjects the officer so neglecting to a forfeit ure of one thousand dollars. But we suppose all the requirements of tho law havo been and will be complied with by tho Courts and Sheriffs. Those desiring to endorse this just and equitable measure will vote a ticket with the word " Approv ed" written or printed upon it, and those opposed, a ticket with the words "Not apptoved." It is unnecessary for us, at this lute day, to enter into a discussion of the merits of the question, or to show the propriety of ratifying the Free Suffrage Act, by recurring "to the many incontrovertible ar guments that have been heretofore brought forward by the friends of the measure. The proposition is a plain and simple one, easily understood, and in capable of misconstruction except by designing pol iticians who desire to defeat the measure because it was originated and mainly supported by democrats. The fact is patent and has been demonstrated time after time that the free people of this country are capable of self-government, and can exercise the rights of suffrage without endangering the body politic. The Free Suffrage Act proposes to extend rights to a large, worthy and respcctible class of citizens who were heretofore denied them it pro poses to allow qualified persons who now only en joy the privilege of voting for niembeis of one branch of the Legislature, the House of Commons, the right to vote also for members of the other branch, the Senate it proposes to do away with the freehold qualification of fifty acres of land. Now, to say that extending the right of suffrage in this particular will subject the 1 mded interest to onerous taxation is nothing more than raisii g an objection without the least possibility of sustaining i:. For the members themselves are required to be f.-eehcldeis as they have ever been, r.nd tiiey will be pecuniarily interested ; so they w ill not be more liable to burden the lai.d with taxes because they are voted for by non freeholders than they were when elected by freeholders alone. We can see no force in the objection that the landed interest will he injured by adopting the nieasuie proposed. Four times have the people cf North-Carolina demanded that their Constitution be amended in the manner proposed by the democratic party. Through the factious opposition of our opponents in the Legislature their will has beer- defeated until recently ; and now that they have an opportunity of confirming and approving the measure at thcpolls, we hope they will do so by an overwhelming ma jority. Let not its friends be over-conlident there are those still opposed to the amendment, not from any valid reason, but from an instinctive hatred to anything originated by the democratic party. Let our friends see to it that while members of Congress and Clerks of the Courts are being voted for on the first Thursday in August, that Equal Suffrage also receives the attention its importance demands, and that a majority of twenty thousand crowns the Act with success. Char. Dem. N. C. Rail Road Machine Shop. In company with several intelligent gentlemen, we paid a visit, one day last week, to the North Carolina Rail Road Company's Machine Shop, which is situated in Ala mance count-, about two miles on this side of the sprightly little down of Graham. The main bulding is a substantial brick structure of ample dimensions, of an oblong form well covered with tin, and contains a very large amount of the most approved machinery, quite enough, bu: not too much, for all the purposes for which it was erected. The Smith-shop, Wood-shop, and other necessary appendages are equally well constructed, furnished wi'h proper implements, and kept in the very best order. On our arrrival we were politely received by Mr. Roberts, the accomplished Master Mechanic through whose courteous kindness, in pointing out the var ious matters of interest, we were enabled to compre hend the nicety and perfect regularity with which steam does its work through the seeming intricacies of flying and revolving machinery, upon which a volume might be written without conveying to the general reader any correct conception of how com plicated machinery operates; to be understood it must be seen studied closely. There are few better appointed or more efficient establishments of the kind in the United States; and from the vast amount of necessary costly materials used and the immense value of the work performed, it must be attended with heavy expense ; and yet all its conducted with the practice of the closest cal culated economy, for which the Company is indebted to the intelligent vigilance of Mr. Roberts. These works occupy a most beautiful site, on a tract of seven hundred acres owned by the Company. In and about the shops are employed about fifty workmen industriously exerting both skill and science for the Company's benefit. Sali. Banner. The Fortunes of Charles Dickens. A London correspondent writes : If booksellers drank their old wine of old out of author's skulls, authors not unfrequently now quaff effervescent beakers of something a good deal belter than hippocrene outof the pockets of booksclleis. Take Little Doritt for example. Why, the proceeds must be equal to the united salaries of half the Lords of the Treasury and all the Lords of the Admiralty land, naval and amphibious put together. Dickens, now-a-days, has as many sources of emolument from one of his works as Prince Doctor Field Marshal El der Brother Ranger Warden Albert from all his royal omnium gatherum appointments. First came the enormous direct prohts on the prodigious sale ; then the profits arising from granting privilege of translation to the various countries with which we have international copyright ; then the sale of early proof sheets to the American houses; lastly, the ad vertisements, in themselves equal to the salary of a cabinet minister; finally, ultimately, and conclusively, the continuous sale of the completed volume. The Herald of Freedom of the 27th ultimo esti mates the influx of population to Kansas the present season at 80,000, and is of the opinion that before winter sets in 100.000 will nave been added to the permanent population of the Territory. Meantime tbe human current pours on with undiminished vol ume. Many stop in Western Missouri, and others continue on to Northern Texas. There is a regular stream of emigrants flowing south through Lawrenee and other places in Kansas' (says tbe Herald) to the number of hundreds a day, looking for a warmer cli mate. We also, learn that, while there has been a large influx of population to Missouri the present season, there has been an immense emigration from it A gentleman who recently came up. from Ar kansas reports tbe roads full of moving caravans, with their slaves and cattle, from Missouri, going to Texas. The same gentleman tarried some three weeks at the thriving village of Moneka, and while there the road was daily thronged with California emigrants from Missouri. Thev were of the wealthier class, some of them havine slaves and laree herds of I i - a -. . . From Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. MINNESOTA THE GROWTH AND PROGRESS OF THE NORTHWEST. The Territory of Minnesota, as organized by an act of Congress of March 8d, 1849, and now embra cing all that vast traet lying between the Mississippi and the Sioux rivers, since ceded by the Dakota or Sioux Indians to the United States, comprises a vast area of about 1G6.000 square, wiles, or 106,000,000 acres, extending from the Mississippi and St Croix, on the east, to the Missouri, on the west, and from the British line, latitude 49 deg., on the north, to the Iowa line, on tbe south, embracing more than seven degrees of latitude, or running a distance, north and south, of over five hundred miles, com posed principally of high, rolling prairie of sandy loam, interspersed with numerous groves and belts of woodland, well watered by numerous lakes and rivers, some of them navigable. Though of recent settlement, it long ago attracted those adventurous spirits the trapper and tho tra der those peculiar geniuses, recognizing no law, untutored, save in their own peculiar craft, as the dusky Indian who so long reigned supreme over this vast region, yet who have done more towards devel oping and peopling our Western wi'derness than any other class. Here, by turns mingling with the Ojibway, Dakota, or Sissiton, sharing the smoke of their wigwams, and joining their council-fires, they pursue their avocations on the hunting grounds of their red brethren, return to civilization to tell strange and wondrous tales of the blooming prairies, the crystalline lakes, and open woodlands, stretching far away to the northwest across the great Father of Waters. As early as 1G80, Hennepin, a zealous Jesuit mis sionary of the cross, penetrated these wilds, followed by such voyageurs as La Hontan and Le Suer ; and still later, somewhere within the present century, Nicollet, Schoolcraft, and Keating explored this re gion. But it was not till the spring of 1&9 that the influx of white population may be said to have com menced, which, till the present time, has been up ward, onward, and never ceasing. Within that time its population, then composed entirely of the em ployers and attaches of the fur trade, which was then the paramount, if not the sole, business inter est of the country, has reached two hundred thou sand or more representing the bone and sinew, the energy, the intelligence, and the industry of the whole Union. Nor is it to be wondered at that at this moment this vigorous offshoot of our broad domain contin ues to attract the eager, speculative eye of our peo ple. Possessing a climate the most exhilarating, and peculiarly adapted to the nature of the soil; free from the enervating malaria arising from the decomposed mold of the bottoms of southern Illinois and the West in general ; made up of high, rolling table lands, inostl' prairie, of whose fertility and productiveness there remains no longer a doubt; watered by numereus lakes and streams, affording in their course wa!er-powcr capable of easy improve ment for all manufacturing purposes; a direct steam communication with the markets of the South and East; superior lands open for settlement at govern ment prices ; a home market for produce, and at higher prices than can be realized at any other point in the West, to subsist the various Indian tribes, and to supply the forts and government forces in the interior, as well as the thousands engaged in the pineries and lumber business of the upper country; with these advantages, and many more, beyond the scope of this short chapter to mention, it is no mat ter of surprise that Minnesota should have outstrip ped all her sisterhood in her short race, and that her prodigious strides towards power and position, as a member of this great confederacy, should stand be fore us without a paral'el. Nine years ago the rude cabins of a few half-breeds marked the spot where now stands the great north western emporium St. Paul, with its tall spires and elegant buildings ; its commodious warehouses and busy levees ; its fleet of barges and steamboats. Enthroned a queen, she sits upon the terraces of that elevated plateau, and is destined, commercially speaking, to give laws to much of that immense re gion around her. She is the grand centre of distri bution for all the upper country, as well as by the Minnesota River for the rich valley to the southwest, drained by that important tributary ; and must so remain, till the interior and southwestern tier of counties shall have been tapped by a railroad, open ing a communication with the Mississippi at a point lower down, as is contemplated. The completion of the projected line of railroad, uniting the Lake Su perior country with the Mississippi at St Paul, with no other interest than that of being the great entre pot for that section, acknowledged by all the richest mining region in the world, in future employing thousands, as she must ever remain the principal de pot for the supply of the immense agricultural dis trict to the north and west, must ever give St. Paul an important position as a place of transhipment There are also many other important towns spring ing into existence on every hand indeed, there is scarcely a town site on the Mississippi, from the boundary line of Iowa to the Sauk Rapids, more than one hundred miles above St Paul, but what is prospectively a city in the eyes of its hopeful inhab itants; and away off in the interior, following the line of the Minnesota River, which penetrates the very heart of the country, known as the rich Valley of the Minnesota, comprising the choicest lands for all agricultural purposes on the wide-spread lawns and elevated plateaus fringing the river's bank, every available site is occupied, and teeming with life and busy industry. Steamboats from St. Paul come swarming with emigrants; steam mills have been put up ; and good and substantial buildings, some of them claiming a share of elegance vicing with any to be found in the inland towns of our old homes in the East, have been erected. Many of these towns already boast some hundreds of inhabitants, and the real life, bustling activity, and energy of character everywhere displayed, are sure guaranties of the fu ture destiny that awaits them. The land grants given Minnesota by the last session of Congress for railroad purposes, will doubtless soon give this fair section a more direct outlet to the Mississippi, when its future products w ill find a ready sale in the grain markets of the East In further proof of what we have said in this short chapter concerning Minnesota, as more to the point and with as bread a margin of truth as an3'thing we can say, we give below an extract from the remarks of J. Wesley Bond, touching emigration and the character of this growing country : "Emigration to the West has heretofore been nauseously associated with the idea of low latitudes, the miasmas of flat lands, and consequent disease, and heart-sickening disappointment. It has, too, been associated with backwoods institutions, lynch law, the bowie-knife, uncertain means of education, and a gospel ministry on horseback. Minnesota presents another picture, and is truly a phenomenon in the eyes of tbe migrating world. It occupies a high latitude, has a quickly drained surface, and is the inviting home of intelligence, enterprise, good laws, schools, and churches. The high-toned character of the population, so different from that usually found upon the frontier their obedience to law the zeal manifested in tbe cause of education the disposition universally shown to make every sacrifice to place the prosperity of the future State upon a sure basis the aversion felt to all schemes which may in anywise entail embairass ment or debt and the general anxiety to maintain its character unblemished, afford a sure guaranty of the moral principles by which the people will al ways be guided, and upon which their government will be conducted. The immigration to Minnesota is composed of men who come with the well-founded assurance that in a land where nature has lavished her choicest gifts where sickness has no dwelling-place where the dread cholera has claimed no victims their toil will be amply reward ed, while their persons and property are fully pro tected by the broad shield of the law. The sun shines not upon a fairer region one more desirable as a home for the merchant and the mechanic, the farmer and the laborer, or where their industry will be more surely requited, than Minnesota." 'You havn't opened your mouth during the whole session,' complained a member of the Legislature to a representative from the same town. ' Oh yes, I have,' was the reply; ' I yawned through the whole of your speech.' Keep your conscience clear, your curiosity fresb, and embrace every opportunity of cultivating youi mind. . , The cultivation of the heart should be -like that of a garden prune and weed before you begin to plant " r" MR. MARCTS OLD AGE. . The close of Mr. Marcy's life presented his char acter in an uncommonly interesting phase. The perplexities and irritations of public service had been laid aside, and his only care was to provide for his transition to another world a period which he loresaw was not distant In the social and home pleasures, for which he was. so well fitted, in the study of his favorite authors, and in the profitable contemplation of subjects connected with his past and his future life, he was continually engaged. A uniform cheerfulness and - amenity- pervaded his manners, and "years which bring the philosophic mind," without diminishing the rugged strength of his nature, had but rendered it more genial and at tractive. ' We have' seen few instances where the matured wisdom and experience of a life of seventy years are more pleasingly manifest than in the subjoined fetter written by Mr. Marcy in reply to the proposi tion which emanated from his friends, Collector Redfield and Wilson G. Hunt, who, as a mark of esteem and affection, on his retirement from the Cabinet, bad tendered him the presidency of an in ternational bank which they proposed to establish : MR. MARCY to MR. REDFIELD. Washington, April 12th, 1857. "My Dear Sir: I owe you an apology for having so long delayed to reply to your letter of the 7th inst I cannot say that I have at any time doubted as to what should be my determination, yet I have reflected much upon the subject to which it related. The suggestion presents an opening, which at an earlier period in life and under other circumstances would have been very acceptable, but I am .quite too old to adventure upon a new pursuit, so different from those which have hitherto engaged my atten tion, unless forced into it by inducements stronger than any that now press upon me. My means for the comforts of life, it is true, would be considered rather scanty for a younger man surrounded by even an ordinary number of dependants, but much less is wanted when the journey is near its end. I have no disturbing anxieties on that, account Every considerate man should desire to place an interval between the active affairs of his life and its close. In my case, that space cannot be long. The foregoing view does not embrace another which has an equally controlling influence with me. I have been led into many different pursuits, though none so distinct from the others as the one now proposed, and I may, perhaps, be allowed to say, without the imputation of vanity, that I have suc ceeded tolerably well in each ; but it would be haz ardous to go much further in such experiments at uy time of life. The pitcher which goes very often to the well will be very likely at last to come back broken. If occasion had called for deliberation, I could not have obtained my own consent to have worn harness any longer in the situation I so lately occupied, though I thought myself pretty we'd train ed in its duties. Of such a one as is suggested in your letter, I have no experience, and I fear very little aptitude for it . In making my views known to Mr. Hunt, I desire you to assure him that I most highly appreciate the friendly sentiments from which the proposition originated. To him and others who have concurred in presenting the subject to my consideration, I feel truly grateful. It is among the most pleasing re flections which arise on reviewing my past course, that I have been able to secure the good opinion of such men. I am, yours truly, W. L. MARCY. Hon. Heman J. Redfield." Mr. Marcy's Religious Views. The Albany Eve ning Journal of the 13th contains the following testimony, from a discourse delivered last Sunday by Rev, Dr. Welsh, formeily pastor of the Baptist church which Mr. Marcy, while in Albany, was in the habit of attending : " He had distinct and singularly accurate concep tions of. the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. Nor was he ever reluctant to give utterance to these views. He admitted at once the sublimity of the teachings of Christ, and the binding force of those teachings. He looked upon religion as a matter personal to all men, as individuals; and he conceded that he himself felt the pressing chaiacter of the obligations which it imposed upon him, in common with the whole human family. But he was held back from a public profession of his faith by fear lest he should bring disrepute upon the cause of Christ ' For,' said he, ' there are palpable defects in my character which would render it difficult for me to adorn a Christian profession,' defects, said the preacher, palpable only to himself; for no man really had fewer defects of character, as no man had a nicer sense of what constituted a pure and peYfect character. " It was the preacher's fortune to be a resident of Albany during the visitation of the cholera in 1832. During that terrible summer, (incidents of which the Doctor graphically presented,) he was in con stant correspondence with the deceased. His letters were full of kindness and sympathy. While they exhorted the Doctor to a patient discharge of the duties which the calamity imposed upon him as a minister of Christ, they never failed to cover a sub stantial remittance, the expenditure of which carried joy into many an afflicted household. "It was the preacher's happiness, while pastor here, to receive application from Mrs. Marcy for ad mission into the church. While he would not ad mit the right even of a husband to interfere with the religious convictions of a wife, he deemed it proper to mention to Mr. Marcy the wishes and purposes of his companion, adding Governor, have you any objections that her request to be baptized shall be complied with?' With a promptness and feeling which showed that his heart was in the response, he said : No, no, certainly not. Far from it ; far from it. I gladly acquiesce; and only regret that I do not feel myself fit to accompany her in the or dinance.' " Hardening Iron and Steel. It is a common prac tice to harden the surface of various articles of iron and soft steel by coating them with the prussiate of potash ground into powder, and made of the consis tency of thick cream with water, then healing them up to a dull red color and plunging them into cold water. Mr. G. J. Farmer, of Birmingham, England has, according to the Scientific American, secured a patent for what is stated to be an improvement on this old method. He employs a composition of tho prussiate of potash, sal-ammoniac, and saltpetre, in equal proportions by weight, and keeps it on his forge hearth in a state of powder. He then makes up a tempering pickle, composed of two ounces of prussate of potash, the same quantity of saltpetre, and four ounces of sal-ammoniac, dissolved in each gallon of water. Having thus prepared these com pounds, the first in the form of a fine powder and the second in a bath, the operator heats the article he is operating upon in a furnace or other fire until it has attained a red heat. He then removes it from the fire, and, if it be of a size and weight suscepti ble of such handling, he rolls it in the dry powder already described until every portion of the article shall have taken up a sufficient quantity of the mix ture, or until all such portions of the articles as he may require to be hardened shall be covered with the powder, which, when in contact with the heated metal, becomes immediately fused. He then plunges the article into the bath before described where it is to he left until cold. When taken out it is stated .that it will be thoroughly hardened, and not only on the surface, as in the common case-hardening, but much deeper. Later from Kansas. Philadelphia, July 17. The St Louis Democrat has advices from Kansas stating that Gov. Walker has issued a proclamation declaring his intention to put down all opposition to territorial laws by force, and warns the citizens of Lawrence not to organize under the Topeka charter. He also censures them for advising other towns to do so. - . Rumor says that seven hundred troops were sum moned to march against Lawrence, and that Gov. Walker designs retaining the army in Kansas and breaK up the Utah expedition. A Comfortbale Income. John Jacob Aster once observed that a man with $500,000 might begin to feel comfortable. . The son of that millionaire has now an income of $3,000 a day, or one million and ninety-five thousand dollars a year ; but is not com fortable by any means, for he has tbe gout so bad, it is said, that he has to diet himself on Graham .bread. - . ;, .tz.j. , Southern Conventions What is Waited ? A meeting of citizens was held last evening to ap point delegates to the Commercial Convention, soon to assemble in the City of KnoxviHe, Tennessee. We trust that a delegation will be formed who may worthily represent our city and in part our State in the Convention. - This is desirable, not because we anticipate much profit from the assembly, but, be cause we are unwilling that so public-spirited a city should even have the appearance of abandoning or discountenancing any honest effort, "however fruit less tbe prospect, to secure the coirfuiercial indepen dence of the Southern States. We may speculate as we please in our offices and parlors, about sec-, tional peace and the return of a period of justice and moderation with the Northern States, bnt it is a truth graven upon the life and legislation of Amer ica for eighty years, that, peace, security and right we will never have, until wc can demand them with a confidence based upon a conciousness of the abil ity to enforce them if they are denied. That com mercial independence is the first and greatest step towards this desirable end, is a fact too patent to have escaped attention, and the people of the South cannot fail to appreciate any honest attempt to en sure the object. Six conventions, wc believe, have already assem bled, charged with tbe duty of devising some plan for the attainment of this end, and we ask. far, "more in sorrow than in anger," what have they done f Have they built one mile of railroad, erected one manufactory, established one new branch of trade, or freighted a single ship ? Have they advanced by the slightest degree a love for the South ? have they stimulated one useful enquiry in the South, devel oped one unknown resource for the South? Does there, for all these conventions, does there grow, now in all this fair domain a single blade of grass where nofie grew before? Let us not deceive our selves; we must answer all these questions in the negative, if we would respond truly. To disguise it is idle ; to deny it, folly. Southern Commercial Conventions are a huge failure, a humbug, a simul acrum, a shadow, a deception, a heartless cheat They have cost the South the price of twenty rrfer chantmen, and have never constructed one. They have cost her the price of fifty factories, and have never built the first. They have cost her the price of many a long mile of railroad, and have not laid a yard. Their balance sheet stands : debit every thing, credit nothing and they area folly, of which the Southern people ought to be, and we believe, are, thoroughly sick and ashamed. What then? Shall they be abandoned ? Shall we stop here, and confessing the folly of our past career, forsake this sectional sin for the future ? Nay, verily, for the time must come when, from the superabundant de clamation and fooleiy and, platitude of those bodies, the people shall come to see the uselessness of the particular acts of past conventions, and be educated then to the level of a true commercial policy. The laws of trade are as inflexible as those of dy namics. Speaking about production, resolving pro duction, recommending production, will not build up commerce, and nothing short of creating produc tion will. We are told that old channels of trade being cut, commerce cannot be diverted into new. Nonsense: the sea is no macadamized road tempting vessels in certain directions by the superiority of the track. It is no meandering turnpike in which ships acquire sentimental affections for certain shady dells and purling streams, wooing them into old familiar ways by ties of local attachment- It is a broad prairie of water which men traverse in any direction in which profit leads them, and in no other. Commerce is a terrible democrat, a leveller who knows no distinc tions. To procure an ornament for a lady's tippet it plods with sinking steps through immeasurable fields of snow that never melts. To collect the cast tusks of savage beasts it penetrates undauntedly in to the haunts of men more savage. To supply the call for a simple manure, it sends its ships to the antipodes. If, then, we can make it profitable for commerce to seek our shores, no effort of men or of the ele ments can long retard its coming, and this should be the one only object of Southern Conventions. The man who will draw some feasible plan for stim ulating the productions of manufactures in the South will solve the problem of Southern independence and safety. Let Europe seek our ports to buy and sell and the North will come to us begging our amity and proffering us the most ample securtty for our insti tutions. Commercial sovereignty is the sword of Brenus which kicks the beam. Let us not, then, mistake the means for the end the common error of those who attempt improve ments upon nature. To build a line of steamships or packets for direct trade between Europe and the Chesapeake, though it could be accomplished with out cost, would not advance the good cause a step, unless we could make it more profitable for those steamers to come here than to go elsewhere. To make it thus profitable, many things are wanting. Some of these are dependant upon State legislation ; as the removal of unequal burdens upon the com mercial community. Some of them depend upon federal assistance ; as the facilitating of business by the construction of custom houses, light houses, &c, &c, and mach depends upon that enlarged liberality of spirit which is the surest foundation, as it is the most ennobling ornament, of the mercantile charac ter. But the great need is to produce. The nation which produces a useful thing, be it gold or guano, compels' the white winged messengers of trade to seek its shores. Soulh-Side Democrat. STATEMENT. The following statement will show the operations and condition of the North-Carolina Mutual Life In surance Company to 1st June, "1 857: No. of Policies in force as, per last Report, 2,308" " " issued this year, 510 2,818 625 2,193 No. of Canceled and Expired this year, 1693 of which are slaves, 500 whites. receipts. Amount on hand as per last Report, $104,838 17 " of Premium received to June 1st, 1857, 62,202 28 " of Interest received to June 1st, 1857, 5,107 86 " overpaid by Agents, in hands of Company, 522 48 $172,670 29 Deduct amount of canceled and expired premium notes for 1855, $4,587 88 Deduct amount of canceled and expired premium notes for 1856, 4,130 53 Deduct amount of Dividend allowed in 1856, 3,693 46 12,411 87 $160,258 42 disbursements. Amount paid White Losses, $28,283 68 " " Slave Losses, 11,300 00 . $39,583 68 " " Salaries, 2,412 50 " " Expenses, 1,968 23 " " Commissions, 1,818 48 Balances paid Agents, 862 25 $46,145 14 ASSETS. Am't of Premium Notes, $88,734 99 " of Bank Stock, 1,000 00 " of Individual Bonds, 10,41135 " in hands of Agents, 7,442 14 " in hands of Treasurer, 6,524 80 114,113 28 $160,258 42 Strength and Health Restored. Mr. John Da vidson, living ten miles above Pittsburgh, on the Pennsylvania Canal, says . " When I commenced taking Boerhave's Holland Bitters,.! could hardly walk. Now, I enjoy excellent health." Headache and Debility. Mr. Silas J. Lipscomb, of Birmingham, says : "I have found in Boerhave's Holland Bitters a reme dy for Headache and Debility. My wife has - also used it with the greatest benefit" - Mr. A. S. Nicholson, of Pittsburgh, also remarks that he has experienced much relief from -its use for headache. , . . From the Charleston Courier. Southern Convention at Knoxviito TO THE PEOPLE OF THE SLAVEUor'niv STATES. AJ:,uoU)IX0 - Fellow-Citizens : A session of the Southern r venl.on will be held at Knoxville, TenneaJ" second Monday, the temh day or Angust ne 0,8 It will continue another of the series that I ken place periodically in the several South ll" Southwestern cities, attracting large and imt ""d delegations, actuated hv loft nil,:. "mit'itia to deliberate and act with infpllWn..,! .. .' .!)r.ei'ared ny. The latest of theae wna'nt Saanvti. m. few months since, delegations from ten to twelves enioved the courtesies and hnsiiii:.: . . aats l;.i a tin.. honored community, interchanged t a lil"e ings and friendly offices of brothers, advi f1" counselled together, as in the family cm. a"4 hnnoo -nA ... ... J . -""-, Oil Ml. uvpo uu unci cms (.uui cutumge ancl unite ; - -w""l'c ttiiu unite tie For SIX dava these delihoraf innul-oi. in their scope the wide field of the sochl'lif! a.CII1g stitutions of the South, its education and liter m" licy, the various and important ramificttion"170" industry, its political rights and necessities lts of them at least as rise higher than the cunni SUch often deceptive platforms of parties and ni "i"ul Upon several most important matters select r tees were appointed to meet in the rccessr"!1" Convention, to collect information and pre, e ports, hereafter to be submitted and consider "a Looking primarily to the advancement m,i ' rity of the South, ftie aims of the Conventioi 1 , T together consistent with and promotive of tl and welfare of the Union, shall it continue fMce and ours, as all Government worth preservinJ " U a shield and not a sword and shall its'fp-"" tions be preserved and obeyed obligations which it would not and could not have been f and without which and their faithful ncrr,'!""l'd' by all of the parties to the great compact i iT be and ought not to be maintained Every 'i ' purpose is of triffing importance in camriS the high moral and social objects of the convtn They are intended to spread far and wide com enlarged and decided views of our rights and 1 r gations, and to unite us together by the most si i bonds to maintain them inviolate for ourselv -s our posterity. ' L ' The citizens of Knoxville are making D parations for the reception of the Convention j. a point readily accessible from the Xouh Snmi'8 East or West, by the Rail Roads of TeimesU Vir' ginia and Georgia; and the meeting wil! tak,. ',,!" at a season when if. will be convenient and deli. In ful to visit the mountain regions of the Smith i to explore the charms of an almost vir-'in !!!! Delegates to the Savannah Convention am out further appointment, invited to Knoxville j,,,,! the Executives of the State and the .Mayors ami nth er competent officers of cities and towns, thrmH,ai of the slaveholding States, are earnestly requested to make additional appointment of delegates. The aid of the press is solicited in calling atten tion editorially to the meeting, and of rail rund ami steamboat companies, etc., in granting the usual la cilities of travel to the delegates. By order of the Convention. J. D. B. DeBOW, of Louisiana W. G. SWAN, of Tennessee. . JNO. COCHRAN, of Alahan.a WM. BOULWARE, of Virginia MITCHELL KING, of S. Carolina The Hillsboro' Recorder is mistaken in savin" that the following article on the subject of Loteiies" appeared among the editorials of this paper. VC have never said one word in the HeraM in defence of Lotteries never advised a single being to risk his money in adventures of this kind, as our lihs will show. If the article alluded to did appear among the original matter in this paper, we have no idea how it got there. We certainly did not write it, do not endorse it, and would not have pel riitted it to occupy the position alleged by the llccordtr. The following is the article alluded to: "Great Gains from Small Risks. Every man looks for gains which may be obtained hy small risks, but after all few men, comparatively, act with much wisdom. They waste too much time in look ing about and examining. A well-conducted lottery is the institution to invest in, because it takes no time of any consequence. All that need be done is to enclose, ten, live ar two dollars and a half, for a whole, half, or quarter ticket, to those correct and prompt managers, By re turn of mail the ticket will be sent, and the drawn numbers immediately after. The lotteries are drawn every Saturday, and are said to be wholly satisfacto ry to purchasers. The prizes range from twenty dollars to fifty thousand, so that there are great chances for all the purchasers." While we are upon this subject of Lotteries and Lottery advertisements, we would remark, that we are opposed to these gambling adventures ; hut that the custom of publishing these advertisements ob tains everywhere. They are published, wc suppose, in every State in the Union. And. if the Recorder, and those who agree with it, suppose that they can prevent persons in this State from investing their money in Lotteries by reason of the refusal of the North Carolina press to publish the advertisements, they are egregiously mistaken. Papers from other States containing these advertisements circulate freely throughout our own ; and circulars of "mag nificent schemes," &c, &c, are passing periodically through the post-offices. If people wish to giiinhle, gamble they will in defiance of law ; just as people will drink liquor, the laws of temperance to the con trary notwithstanding. We know that it is against the law of this State to make or draw, publicly or privately, a lottery, by whatever name, style or title the same may be denominated or known ; and it is also a violation of the law to sell lottery tickets; hut, for all this, tickets are bought, and money is invest ed in lotteries elsewhere, foolishly of course, hut none the less generally. We do not suppose that the Leg islature, by any law it might pass, could put a stop to this trade ; or that the non-appearance of lottery advertisements in the North Carolina papers would have the effect of materially diminishing, much less of destroying, the purchase of tickets in this State. If the Legislature is disposed to turn moral rf for mer it will have its hands full. It will have to say "what we shall eat, and what we shall di ink, and wherewithal Shall we be clothed." It will enter on a work more difficult that cleaning the Augean sta bles; and will end by running counter to the Consti tution, and the rights of the people. For once let it embark on this purification of man process and where will it bring up ? To be consistent it must not con fine its labors to the suppression of any one vice, hut of all. It must not only put down lotteries hut card playing, intemperance and excess of every kind. These tilings may in a manner he fettered and res trained by human legislation, but the influences of a higher power are necessary to aid in their suhjuga tion. The Gospel and not the Legislature is the agent divinely appointed to change the heart of n'!"i and cause him, to loathe those things in which he formerly delighted. If there was such a thing as preserving consisten cy in matters of moral conduct or religion, we might hope for better things. But, the world is strangely inconsistent. We have seen temperance men the most intemperate of all in speech members of te church notoriously scoundrels religious fanatics who in their zeal for their neigebor's soul fofget their own riding one hobby of .morality to death and entirely overlooking the others. Even from sinner's stand-point the view of the world as it meets his eye is a strange, mixture of practice against the ory, the outer life of the man against the inner life, the professions of the tongue against the acts of the hand and the dictates of the mind and heat. e find a vast deal of cant, of presumption, of arrosrant intermeddling, of assumed moral superiority, of Phar isaical pretence, and but precious little of that pure and undefiled religion which flows from the word or God. Your religious hypocrite is the most contemp tible of all," for he steals the livery of Heaven to serve the Devil. Wc had no idea of preaching a sermon on the sub ject when our intention was merely to place ourself right on the record; and we now leave it with the remark that the Recorder has done us injusiice in its article, to which this is a reply," and that, we know it will cheerfully correct it ' Wilmington HeraM. Wasn't it mean in Powers to chisel a poor Greek Slave out of a little-bit of marble?-