Daily national era. [volume], February 24, 1854, Image 2

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LITERARY MISCELLANY.
For th? National Era
BELL SMITH ABROAD.
No. XIV.
LA MORUUE.
Djcam Friend: One thing distinguishes Paris
f.oui all oilieo in the world. You will not tiud
thin in the beautiful exhibition*! uf art, or bin
torical associations. Other place* havo their
Oinlury-Htaincd cathedrals; other cities li.iv
palaces equalling Versailles and Fontaine
bleau; other countries have galleries wonder- j
ful a? the Louvre or the Luxembourg. But to
know in what Paris differs from all the world,
one must seei a low, dark, ugly building, on the
banks of the Seine, and almost under the shadow
of Notre Dame. This in the Morgue?the dead
house of Paris. Here, on marble tables, tiov- j
erty, misery, insanity, and despair, take their j
last look at the living?hold a last grand levee, j
where couto uU, old and young, delieato and ,
brutal, to gaze, laugh, or ory, and then forget. I
French fieople commit suicide. With them,
it is the great remedy lor all life's evils. The
paugs of despised love ore drowned or smother
ed ; the debtor wipes out all scores: the vexed
husband or wife finds here the only divoroe; the
young, too full of hope, one would think, seek
it eagerly; the aged veterans of a thousand ills,
and near the house of death by the oourte of
nature, impatiently hasten the end. The very
children, dreading punishment or having lot-t
a bun, take flying leaps from bridges. It is
^ ? *- < ? ? r?u lo ?
French passion?a French belief. An Ameri
can would consider it about the worst arrange
ment he could make?about the absurdest
compromise with his troubles. But the French,
who have no clear ideas of life hereafter, grow 1
disgusted with this, and no process of reason
ing can convince them that another may bo
worse. A French writer has ingeniously put
forth the doctrine, lately, that the schooling
the nation has for ages received from wars and
revolutions has,created a national peculiarity?
a constitutional trait, born with more or less
fopoe in each person. Well, it may be so; but
it sounds to me like the reason given by Mrs
Nicholby, who remarked, you rememlier, on
seeing three different accounts of shoemakers
in Paris committing suioide, " 1 declare, all the
shoemakers committing suioide. YVell, it must
be something in the leather." The truth is,
the viotims of suicide are persons without homes
and without religion?causes enough for insan
ity, Heaven knows.
Reading the daily papers in the oolumn de
voted to such eveuts, one sometimes laughs and
sometimes sighs. I could fill a docen letters with
the strange, amusing, and horrible instances 1
have clipped from the journals.
Strangers mounting to the top of the many
columns or heights at Paris, such as Vendome
Arch of Triumph, and Notre Dame, will be
surprised to find themselves closely followed by
a gen d'arme, who never for a moment removes
his eye from the person so pursued. Such os
pionage is disagreeable in the extreme; but.
has its origin in the fact, that for a long time
it was the favorite mode of suioide, to throw
one's self from these monuments. This foratime
seemed to supersede the insidious chafing-dish,
or the waters of the Seine. Having climbed
to the top,-tbey had an opportunity of taking
a last lingering look at beloved Paris, before
launching so abruptly into the other world,
where Parle's are not. The guards on the mon
uraent exhibit quite a knowledge of physiogno
mv?pursuing some much more closely than
others. A friend of mine, with lantern-jawed
desponding countenance, one in fact that has
auMide written upon it was terribly annoyed
oj tneee watchful guardians ; and he has told
mo privately that he is actually tempted to
commit suicide, if only to escape from their
eurvmllanoe There is quite a method in these
suicides?they diminish after the opera opons
?nd ebarcoal takes the place of drowning, af
ter the oold weather sets in.
Quite a singular story appears among tho I
journals to which I have alluded, of a man
^ **2? casting himself from the
Arch of Triumph, was caught by the guard
*?n duty, and lor a moment held suspended
above the fearful abyss, when the guard re
marked to the unfortunate, that he oould not
bold him any longer. ? Then, let go," said tho
nun, which the guard did, from neoemitv.
Whereupon the unfortunate, shouting " gare''
(look out) to the passers below, was dashed to i
pieces on the pavement. The poor fellow
probably remembered an instanoe. published !
in the papers a few days previous, of a woman
who threw bersell from the same place, but i
<a mg upon the backs of two workmen, nearly i
killed them, herself escaping.
Hare is an item that will come under the
head of amusing: A oonple of Parisians, un
happy in thsir domestic relatioos, determined
to break up housekeeping, have an auction,
divide the proceeds, and separate. After the
sole, up.? counting the money, they found it
puiT" ^aD, 7 bad reason to anticipate.
Filled with despair, their seoopd remedy was
quite u, keeping with the lirst?tbey resolved
to coMut suicide, by drowning. Arriving at
the banks ol the Seme, the wife feeling timid
the husband, after tenderly embracing her set
* ?ow?g*?>?s example, by plunging boldly in.
Quite accustomed to water, he dived to the boU
tons, and remained some time for his wife to
join hue. As sLo did not oome, however, be
surface, and tbore saw his
bsttwr hdf still on the bank, watching, with
SSliS? t?? P1*? whftr* ^ had
disafifMMUsd. Y\ hy do you not jump in'''
Jtosried. ' Ah! Alphonse,' she responded,
you swim so well, and I oannot swim at aiir* J
Whereupon, the devoted husband came on
T hi* both
^WMrerted by the police, and the above facts
Soma uf these instances are pitiable in the
extreme, as the following, the length of which
jam aost excuse, from the fact that the death
occurred in oar neighborhood, and I can vouch
to simm extent for its tuith
*jL?Thine 8 tb* of t*?o daugh.
ton of a poos. (wintryman in the valley of
A?*_The cabin of the good Piedmontais 1*.
'1,1^ U?0!!? ^ nf the route
which led from Switzerland to Italy, the two
man, as soon as spring came, placed then . 1
U22- "'?I?*1- off6rinJC flowers and fruits
eldest of the two girls was
sstj beautiful, and aitraoted the attention and
^ , 'fetich lady, retnrniog to Paris.
Who, Mining the ooosent of her father, carried
MrbooM m chamber maid.
The young Juaephine, from that event, bad
of pleasing some rich trav
mthr' *???* also, as her aster, taken into
^ing 41had * PSS2T
Ming tot engaging. She was afflicted with
the terrible malady, so common to monntainous
'T"? r th* '>"*>" by which
grsisslly her intellect was being weakened.
Ymm passsd away without the dream of
mphba being realised, and Utters from her
jjWWw arriving from time to time, and always
aeeoapanied with presents, only mereswd the
,d~> the
? * of attempting the
Wjngfr with its mks and psrilv, alone to,
wwawtBI end of September last, she aban
*nd "t&rUd ^ France,
oaiVj'Bg^ her clothes, a very little money, bnt
efto* h*Tlng tr***Hpd
. Switisrland and France, sho
?rrhMl at Paris, worn down with fatigue, with
******* and without a sous. But she was
b*r ^wres. Seareely
f1'*! * *** ifcn barrier, she asked the
?walHiy or her "i^er the addrms of whi< l>
?? ViKPi *?k'?g tiase to reet, cov
ered with dubt, ttbe arrived before one of the
most beautiful hotels of the Faubourg St.
Honor*. At the night of thin sumptuous dwell
ing, the poor girl believed herself naved, and
hastily demanded to apeak to her winter; but
judge of her despair in learning that her meter
wax in England with her mistress, and would
not return before spring. Josephine, broken
hearted, wandered at haxard.
The night coming on, she seated herself at
the foot of a tree on the Chumps Klynees,
where she sat until day. The following morn
ing, not knowing whero to go, and pressed by
hunger, she offered herself as servant at sever
al houses. But, as I have said before,, her
appoaranoe did not speak in her favor, and for
a long time her services were refused. Finally,
a restaurateur had compassion, admitted her
into his establishment as dishwasher. In ooo
day, the honest traitonr perceived it would be
difficult to keep the poor girl, as her awkward
ness was oonstautly resulting in soma catastro
phe. At the end of a month, he thanked her,
paid her double wages, and gave her a certifi
cate. Thanks to this benevolent friend, she
soon found another plaee ; but, in a few days,
they, too, dismissed her, and so with others,
and until she found it impossible to retain a
situation.
In this sad extremity, she rented a little gar
ret under the roof of a house behind the old
-churoh of St. Sulpice. Having no furniture to
guaranty the rent, she had to pay it in ad
vance, which diminished her little savings to a
j mere pittance. She installed herself in her
| new abode with her clothes, whioh composed
j all liei And from the time of lier on
trainee they saw her no more. During the first
: days, the concierge thought that his lodger had
j occupations which prevented her from leaving
her room; but one morning, while sweeping
the stairs, he gratified his curiosity by a look
through the key holo. Ho saw the little win
dow-covered with an apron, and thought he
could distinguish a body lying on the floor.
Rushing to the commissary of police, he told
his suspicions. In a few moments the police
had buret the door open, and theoonoierge was
found oorrect in his suspicions. It was not
only a body, but a corpse, whioh lay upon the
the naked, stone floor; for Bhe had not even a
bundle of Btraw to lie upon. She was smoth
ered by obarooal, and, not having a furnace,
had lit the deadly combustible in a corner of
her poor retreat
| Privateering.?In our opinion, it makes no
differenoe whether Russia has, or has not, made
as yet any direot attempt to prooure privateers
to be fitted out in our ports. If Bhe goes to
war with England and France, she will do so,
to a certainty, for the simple reason that it
would be one of this most effective means she
could find of inflicting injury upon their com
merce. And so long as vowwls are built, fitted
out, equipped, and provisioned, in American
ports, as they are in New York, for the slave
trade, we must be excused for believing that
there is a very large class of persons here who
would be tempted, by the promised profit of
the adventure, to accept letters of marque from
the Russian Government, and oruise against the
oommerce of her foes.
An act of Congress, passed in 1818, prohibits
American citizens from accepting, within the
jurisdiction of the United States, a commission,
or for any person not transiently within the
United States to consent to be retained or en
listed to serve a foreign State in war against a
Government in amity with us It likewise pro
hibits American oitlxens from being concerned,
without the limits of the United States, in fit
ting out, or otherwise assisting, any private
I vessel of war, to oruise against the subjeots of
friendly Powers. Besides this, we have a treaty
with Great Britain, as well as with all the other
leading Powers of Europe, in whioh it ie ex
pressly stipulated that no subject or citizen of
either nation shall accept a commission or letter
of mart/ue to amist an enemy in hostilities
against the other, under pain of being treated
[ as a pirate.
Wo trust that the attention of the Govern
ment will l?e directed to the subject
New York Daily Times.
fcOERESPONDRIICE OF THE N. Y. COM. ADVKRTISKS.)
Rome, January 24, 1854.
We were again saluted this morning with
news of a military execution. At six o'clock,
a troop of soldiers acoompanied through the
city three unhappy men, who had boen impris
oned since the revolution, on a charge of being
oonoerned in the murder of a priest. They
were conveyed to the plaoe of execution in
carta, in each of whioh was a bo a drummer
constantly at work to drown the voioes of the
condemned. A friend of mine, who was aroused
by the noise, paw the procession from his win
dow. Two of the men were shouting Vive la
ReptMique.' and deolaring that they died mar
tyre to the oause of freedom On the merits of
the case, I can, of course, say nothing, except
that there is something very strange in a three
years' delay of sentence for a capital crime ; a
delay whioh, however, is only illustrative of the
course of justioe in the Papal States.
The cooooume of strangers diminishes ju*t
now for a little while; as many are leaving for
Naples, to return before the Carnival, or to
remain till Easter week. Among the Ameri
cans now in town is the Hon. Martin Van Bu
ren, who has been here, with his son, for two
or three months. Mr. Folsom, our late charge
d'affaires at the Hague, is also spending the
winter at Rome. Mr. Kinney, late of Turin, is
still in Florenoe, as well as Mr. Marsh, of Con
Mtantinople ; both of whom are looked lor here.
Among the subjeots of conversation just now,
is the conversion of an American gentleman, a
live Vankee, to the Romish faith. The step
was a very sudden one, and so unexpected that
I hardly know how to give or edit to the rumor,
though well authenticated. Rome certainly is
the last pi-ice where an American Protestant
might be thought in danger of forsaking his
own faith.
I have interesting accounts of the progress
of the Protestant movement in Piedmont A
priest, who has just arrived theooe, told me to
day that the religions views of the people wsre
completely shaken, and that the Romish Churoh
was in very bad odor. The Waldensss are act
ive in their missionary labors. Their beauti
ful church at Turin has been dedicated, and is
well attended They have found a large oon
gregation at Genoa also, and have purchased a
churoh from the Roman Catholios, whioh they
mean to repair and fit up for their religious
servioes. '
The Pope ha* been pleased to express bis
satisfaction at the boom** of an English com
pany, in lighting this city with gas. It seems
almos* incredible, that up to the beginning of
the year 1854, gas-light was altogether un
known in Rome. Three or four of the chief
streets have now been illuminated, and further
progress is oon tem plated. Permission, how
ever, to introduce the improvement was oh
1 tained from the Government by this company
only on the>e terms: That the streets referred |
to were to be lighted at the expense of the
eompany, whose reward is to be the privilege
of contracting for the lighting of shops, tio.
Negotiation is in progress far the lighting of
St. Peter's. It is not a little oarasing to see
the crowd that collect around every lamp-post,
as it is lit in the evening, wondering at this
new fashion of burning air, instead of oil. If
only something oon Id Ixi attempted in the way
of cleaning the streets and laying ride-walks,
K<>me woeld quite oome up in the soole of civ
iliefttion As it is, the filthiness of the streets
is inconceivable, and there ie bat one street
with side walks, for any distanos, in the eity. .
Q7" The Daily Era can bo bad every morning
at the Periodical Stand of Mr. J. T. Batik, Ex
change. Philadelphia; alto, the Weekly Era.
ay~ Mr. Jamkk Elliott ii authorised to receive
aud rooeipt Tor aubacriptiuiu aud advertisement* for
the Daily and the Weekly Nalioiia/ Era, in Cincin
aatl 1)4 vjsiatty* ? ?./
WASHINGTON, D. C.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24^ 1854.
COHQ&X88
In the Senate, to-day, Mr. Hunker made a
speech in support of the Nebraska Bill, and we
are inulined to the opiniou that it oontains more
that it* worthy of commendation than ia oon
tained in any other speech that has beeu made
on that aide of the question. In style, in tem
per, aud in subject matter, it id an excellent
spcecli. There in, indeed, muoh good reason
ing in it?or would be, if the primary proposi
tions had been well based. As it is, however,
the assumption that the Constitution of the
United States carries Slavery wherever it goes?
for this appears to be essential to the argu
ment?will hardly reoeive the assent of any
unbiased mind. Mr. Butler suooeeded Mr.
Hunter, and was for a time lively and faoetious
in his remarks. He, however, opened upon the
nubjeot, by the advancement of opinions alto
gether consistent with himself. He takes no
medium oourse. He will no doubt resume the
subject on Monday next.
In the House, nothing definite was done, be
yond tho adoption of a resolution declaring the
Hon. Mr. Gallegos eutitled to his seat as the
Delegate from New Mexioo, his title having
been contested by General Lane.
THE WHIG PARTY- THE PABTY OF FREEDOM
Mr. Campbell, the independent member from
Ohio, is set down in onr classification of Con
gress as an Independent Demoorat. This is
not strictly oorrect. He oares little about
names, aots pretty muoh aooordiug to his own
convictions, ''spits upon platforms-' when they I
do not suit him, and takes his stand among the
1 opponents of Slavery; but he has usually aoted
with the Whig Party, and some of his tender
footed friends would not like to see him called
by any other name than that of " Whig."
After all, the title, " Independent Demoorat,''
is a very good one for every man who considers
the Slavery Question as the great isBue before
the People, and has made up his mind to be
an uncompromising supporter of Freedom. The
so-oalled Democratic Party is a Slavery Party. I
It is a gross abuse of language to designate as
Democratic a political organisation, ruled by ?
Class Interest, and laboring under its dictation
for the extension of a system which makes h?
mau beings articles of merchandise, and subjects
labor to the absolute oontrol of capital. Whtt
fellowship can honest men, anxious for the wel
fare of the masses, have with such an organi
sation t
As to the Whig Party, where is it? Why
cherish a name whose meaning has beoome
simply traditional ? The organisation once de
fined by it exists no longer. Its great repre
sentatives hare gone down to the grave; the
issues that gave it vitality have been disposed
of; there is no Whig Party, although there are
hundreds of thousands of honest-minded voters
who once rallied under its banners. The slave
holders who used to act with it gave it a death
blow at Baltimore, in 1852, and have at last
abandoned it. The Nebraska movement has
revealed their true character, and demonstra
ted the impossibility of their co-operation with
any Party at the North, true to the Principle
of Freedom. The advent of Mr. Toombs in
the Senate seems to have heralded a new era,
and we find Messrs. Clayton, Badger, Bell,
Pearoe, Jones, hitherto supposed to be rather
National in their policy, now the allies of a so
oalled Democratic Administration, in the work
of Slavery Propagandist!).
A few extraots from our exchanges will servo
to confirm these views..
u Badger's and Jones's speeches, in the Sen
ate, (says the New York Kiprru.) may be con
sidered the dissolution of ths Whig Party of
any further allianoe with the Northern Aboli
tion wing of the Party. The Nebraska Bill, in
point of fact, is finishing that breaking up of
all parties, which began at Baltimore when the
Whig and Democratic Conventions made their
nominations.''
The Richmond (Va.) Whig thereupon re
marks:
u Very well?if the union of the party, or
any other sort of union, can only be preserved
by trampling on the equality of the States, lot
itoease. We for one are unwilling to be parties
to it on any other terms than those of perfect
equality. We know the burdens the Union
imposes upon the South?that it oondemns us
to tn everlasting commercial inferiority, but
that we were content to endure as best we
might; but wben it is proposed to deny us equal
pohtioal rights, further endurance oeases to be
a virtue."
The Albany Evening Journal says:
" In the hope and belief that the solemn as
suranoss of 1850, of repose from Slavery agi
tation, would restore harmony to the National
Whig Party, we a few days sinoe avowed our
readiness to go oordially for any distinguished
Whig, be be from the North or the South, in
dicated by popular sentiment as the next Pres
idential candidate.
" We did not then foresee?who oould have
foreseen??that the whole Slavery issue was
so soon to be reopened by those who pro
nounoed the 1 Compromise a finality.' It is but
a year sine* Senator Atchison, the acting Vioe
President, repudiated the attempt or even the
thought of repealing or dieturbing the ' Mis
souri Compromise.' We have been taught to
rely at least upon the vaith and honox of the
South. However exacting and aggressive, none
has heretofore questioned the trutnor impugned
the iNTaoaiTT of the South.
" But she stands ready now to violate a sol
emn compact?to fly from a bargain?end that,
too, after she has enjoyed the advantages of
that bargain for thirty years.
" And Senator Jones, of Tennessee, becomes
a voluntary advocate and party to this national
perfidy. He stands oonspiouons among the
champions of the bill, which ' repeals the Mis
souri Compromise,' and roopens, most unneces
sarily, the well-nigh smothered fires of Slavery
agitation. This course, while it pains, vet re
lieves many friends from any further solioitude
about his future."
The New York Tribune says:
14 Not only will there be no more Whig Na
tienal Conventions, bat far the greater part of
the Northern Democrats will equally forswear
their old allegiance, and fling themselves into
ths new party of Freedom. And for inflaming
this great sectional controversy, the Southern
Whig Senators most be held eminently reepoa
sihle. It is true that Douglas and Pierce orig
nated the wrong, but Badger and hit) asso
oiates havedone even worse, fur of them integrity
was expected. They it u who never the boo da
of affaotioa and tear up and deetroy the roots
of friendly oonfidenoe, which, through every
vicissitude and every ntruggle, and in spite of
individual and exceptional antagonisms, have
united the bimh or Southern and Northern
voters These Senators may not believe this
now. They will bitterly believe it hereafter.
As Ions ae they remained faithful, there wan
still a South that the North oould trust, in
whose promisee and pledgee it oould oontide.
With their defection that South disappears,
and between the two great divisions of the
Union, and its two great systems of labor and
of morals, there suddenly opens a profound
and all-embraoing conflict. It is not provoked
by the party of Freedom, but since the other
side desire it, and urge it on, why, let it come!"
" The partLof Freedom !" Cannot the
Whigs and Democrat** forget their old contro
versies and antipathies? The slaveholders
seem anxious for a sectional struggle. Amen
to that?let it come. The non-slaveholders of
the oountry will never know their strength till
they test it, on a direct issue with the slave
holders. Let them unite for onoe, and give
suoh a lesson to those gentlemen as shall ad
monish them of their weakness, and strip them
of their arrogant pretensions. They talk with
great ooolness of a dissolution of the Union.
Very well?there are a good many at the
North who feel the ooolness they only affect;
and if the sectional policy of these slaveholders
be persisted i?, the number indisposed to main
tain the Union by degrading concession* to
suoh seotiooalism will beoome legion. The
fact is, it naeds but one manly effort on the
part of the millions of non-slaveholders to ex
pose the real insignificance of these men who
are sternally threatening a dissolution of the
Union. The sooner the a9s is stripped of the
lion'i skin, the better for the quiet of the coun
try-/ '
PUBLIC OPINION.
It now seems probable that time will be ae
ourod for a full expression of publio opinion in
refetion to the repeal the Missouri Compro
mise. After the speeoh of Mr. Toombs jester
Jay, Mr. Hunter obtained the floor, and on his
motion the subject was postponed till Monday,
f hen be will deliver his views.*. How many
?ore speeches are proposed, we do not know,
hut the powerful opposition to the measure has
alarmed its friends, and compelled tbem to put
forth their strongest efforts to carry it. They
find that they can no longer rely upon the
power of a silent vote.
Meantime, the People are indeed moving.
The Administration is beginning to be appre
hensive even about New Hampshire. The
People there are deeply excited, and the Ne
braska Question will enter into the approach
ing election. On that election will depend the
composition of the Legislature, on ^ioh will
devolve the choice of a United States Senator.
There is a large portion of the Democracy of
New Hampshire that can hardly be roconoilod
by any sophistry to tbo repeal of the Missouri
i Compromise, or to the oonductof the Admini*.
| tration in making this pro-slavery policy its
I leading measure.
Pennsylvania is not so " reliable" Aa this
crisis for Slavery as was expected. The Ger
man population of that State is hard to be
moved, bat it is beginning to grow restive un
der this new dispensation of Slavery. Pitts-i
burgh and the adjacent region are pretty thor
oughly aroused. Indignation meetings, oalled
to condemn Douglas's Nebraska bill, are an
nounced in various sections of the State. We
should not be surprised to see resolutions
againet the measure pass through the House of
Representatives.
A telegraphic despatch from Hartford pro
claims that the Democratic State Convention,
which met there on the 22d, and nominated a
full State ticket, passed resolutions, by nearly
a unanimous vote, sustaining the Ordinance of
1787 and the Compromises of 1820 and 18.50,
and opposing the repeal of the Missouri Com
promise.
At a Publio Dinner given at the seat of Gov
ernment of Kentucky, to the Hon. John J. Crit
tenden, by the Whig members of the Legisla
ture, some of the Democratic members, by per
sonal friend*, and many private citizens, the
toast-master announocd that he had a letter
from a distinguished Whig of Mason county,
the venerable Adam Reatty, in which he urged
the country to stand by the Missouri Compro
mise. The report says that the announcement
was reoeived with great applause.
From what we can learn, there are Demo
cratic Senators from the North who would he
ftlad to reoeive instructions from their State
Legislatures to vote against the Bill. Let tbem
be gratified as soon as possible.
It is often said hers, and we doubt not with
truth, that General Cass would have rejoiced
had no such measure been brought forward,
but that the position be took in his Nicholson
Letter imposes upon him now the obligation of
supporting it The General lacks courage It
seems to us that even he conld oppose the Bill,
for very satisfeotory reasons Suppose he
should say?" It is true that, as an original
proposition, I should have opposed the Missouri
(Compromise act, on the ground of a want of
power in Congress to peas such an act; but
the oiroumstanees under which it been me a
law were peouliar and exceptional, investing it
with the oharaoter of a oompact between the
North and the South, and this oompact has ac
quired a oertain force and obligation from the
universal aoqoieeoenoe in it of the People of
the United Stales for a whole generation.
So far as it secured advantages to one sec
tion, it is an aooootpliahed fact; to repeal it
now, when the other section is to receive its
equivalent, would be to violate at least an
honorary obligation.
With these views, I am unwilling to give my
?ote for any bill whieb shall unssttle a settle
ment so long considered by the People of all
motions as conclusive and final." We submit
that the defence would be a good one?and
that the oonsoieooe of the General would safer
as little as his ocesistency. But moral courage
and individualism are not characteristics gen
?"?Uy of American statesmen. The majority
of them at the North are in bondage to Party,
at the South, to the esprit dt corps of the slave
holding olass; everywhere and always, subject
to the Slave Power.
* sines leaned that Mr. Huntsr deliver
ed his apeseh to-day.
MB COAMK AMD TUX PBOPLS OF OHIO.
Ohio has had no more faithful servant in
Coogrees than Mr. Chase. Devoted M he is
to the oaune of Freedom, and the great inter
ests involved in it, he uegleota none of the sub
ordinate duties of a Legislator.
The following brief statement of hie action
on a measure of speoial interest to the People
of his State, will be as satisfactory to them, as
it in oredi table to himeelf:
At the session of 1851-'2, he introduced a
bill oeding to the State of Ohio all the Publio
Lands within her limits, exoept thoee embraced
in the Virginia military district, whioh were
held in trust by the United States to satisfy
Virginia military warrants. He oolleotod from
the General Land Offioe a mass of facts illus
trating the Bubjeot, which he laid before the
Committee on Public Lands, and obtained a
favorable report, lu April, he made a speech
in its favor, and after some disoussion, the bill
passed, upon yeas and nays. The vote stood,
28 to 13. The bill, from eome oause, failed in
the House. In the oouree of the same session,
he embraced an opportunity of getting rid of
. tbe Virginia olaim to the lands in the military
distriot by prupoeing an amendment to Mr.
Hunter's bill for issuing of scrip to Virginia
claimants, requiring Virginia to relinquish to
the United States all her right and title to
these lands. This amendment was adopted,
and Virginia accordingly relinquished.
At the next (the short) session, Mr. Chase
brought in another bill, embracing all the un
sold lands in Ohio. Some difficulties in tho
committee delayed the report; which, however,
when made, was favorable, but no actiui^pf
the Senate was obtained.
At the present session, Mr. Chaae again in
troduced his bill, whioh was again referred,
and favorably acted on; aud on his motion,
was, on Wednesday last, taken up and passed.
The People of Ohio will expeot a different
fate for it in the House than that of the former
bill, especially as one of her own Representa
tives is at the head of the Committee on Publio
Lands.
THE GADSDEN THE AT Y.
This Treaty is before the Senate, with cer
tain amendments reoommended by the Preai
dent of the United States. Of the substance of
it* provisions our readers have been advised
It strikes a new boundary, securing to us
enough additional territory on our Southwest
ern border for two or three States, whioh, we
are informed by the Richmond (Va.) Enquirer,
are to be elaveholding.
The eighth article stipulates for the faithful
co-operation of the two Governments in endeav
ors to prevent unlawfiil invasions of the terri
tory of one by the citizens of the other; and
impose! on each Government the duty of pur
suing, seising, and punishing, persons guilty of
suoh invasion, it being understood that in all
cases of successful pursuit and capture the do
linquento so captured shall be judged and pun
ished by the Government of that nation to
whioh the vessel oapturing them may belong,
conformably to the laws of eaoh nation. The
President recommends the striking out of the
clause imposing this duty, so as to leave no
other obligation on either Government than
that of preventing unlawful invasion. That is
to say, he is willing that the Government of
this oountry should be bound by treaty to pre
vent if possible, filibustering expedition* from
being fitted out in the United States, but he is
not willing, should they elude the vigilance of
the Government, a. did Captain Walker's buc
caneering movement, to make %>ir pursuit,
capture, and punishment, a matter of treaty
regulation.
One of the amendments recommended de
serves special attention, inwmuoh as it is an
insidious attempt to involve Mexico in an en
gagement to surrender fugitive slaves. Article
seoond provide* ** follows:
" With the like desire to maintain the most
perfect peace and friendly relations between
both countries, it has been agreed that, to re
move all oooasion of dispute on aooount of rec
lamations to the present date, founded on al
lied Indian incursions, and to avoid all eon
te?t upon the true spirit and intention of the
obligations stipulated in the eleventh article of
the treaty of Guadalupe, the same is hereby
abolished and annulled. The Government of
the United States agrees, notwithstanding this
abrogation and annulment, to provide such ad
ditional regulations as the subiect may in good
States, or the Territories thereof, to purchase
or receive horses, mules, cattle, or property of
any kind, knowing the same to have been
Irn Within the limits of Mexican territory, hj
Ike Indian*, or by any other person. "d fvnr
thermore agrees to return on demand to their
legitimate owners what may have been thus
stolen so soon as the same shall have been re
covered by the authorities of the United Stales
Aud in the event of any perwn or persons cap
tured upon Mexican ground betng carried with
STS. Oulant, oftk, V?** &?<?. ">? '*"?
eminent of the latter engages to nee every fair
and honorable means that the nature and c?r
oumstanoe of the case will admit, to secure
and return sooh captives to their own country,
or deliver them to the agent or representative
of the Mexican Government, requiring amply
the repayment to the officer or agent of the
United States who may so deliver or return
them the expenses incurred in the maintenance
and transmission of the rescued ?"
nally, the Government of the United States
promises that, on any oooasion she may have
to remove the Indians from any point of her
territory and settle thereupon her own oitiisns
especial care shall be taken not to i.laoo said
Indians under the neoeesity of seeking now
homes in the Mexioan territory "
In order, says the President, to make the do
ties and obligations stipulated in the seoond
article reciprocal, it is proposed to add to it the
following:
" And the Government of Mexioo agrees that
the stipulations contained in this article to be
performed by the United States shall be recipro
cal, and Mrxita shall be under like obligation*
to the United State* and the citizens thereof, as
those ht rein above imposed upon the latter in fa
vor of the Republic of Mexico and Mexican citi
tens.''
Look at the portions of the article and of the
proposed amendment which we have plaoed in
italios, and it will be seen that they will be
oonstrued by our Government to cover the
oaee of slavee who may eeoape or be oarried
into Mexican territory. It is but fair to stipu
late for reciprocity, but the amendment goes
beyond this Mexioo dose not reoognise hu
man beings as property, and oontains no slaves
Should the amendment beoome a part of the
Treaty, and the Treaty be ratified, the Mexi
can Government, in any demand made upon it
in relation to slaves, might urge that the term
" property," used in the article, wan intended
to define that only whioh is regarded property
by the laws of nations; hut it is easy to fore
nee what would be the response and course ol
procedure of a Slav^bolding Administration on
such reasoning. Or, it is quite possible that,
were slaves conveyed into Mexioan territory,
they might be demanded us persons carried off
in violation of the Treaty.
We have no doubt that the amendment sug
gested was carefully considered by the Admin
istration, and that one of its principal object*
is, to secure a claim upon the Mexioan Govern
ment for the surrender of slaves from this coun
try found within her borders.
KXTBACTS FHOM LKTTKR8 WRITTEN IK
WASHINGTON.
What is desired by the friends of partioular
measures in Congress can in general he more
correctly ascertained from the letters they
oauBe to be written abroad, than from any other
souroe of information; and henoe we shall
often quote the opinions and predictions of oer
tain well-recognised correspondents.
[CORRESPONDENCE OF THK BALTIMORE SUN.J
Washington, Feb. 23, 1854.
The speech of Mr. Toombs in favor of the
Nebraska bill was very forcible. It is now
pretty well understood that the opponents of
the bill have done speaking, and an effort will
be made by the friends of the bill to bring it
to a vote on Wednesday next. The bill will
pass the Senate by a three-fourths vote. The
usoortained majority in the House is from thir
ty to thirty-tive, and it is confidently expected
that the vote will bo had in that body Wore
the second Tuesday in March, the day on
whioh the eleotions are held in the State of
New Hampshire.
In addition to the Territory of Nebraska,
there are the Indian Territories, Chel-o-kee,
(Cherokee,) Muscogee, (Creek,) and Chap-ta
(Chootaw,) lying west of Arkansas, south of
Kansas, north of Texas, and east of New Mex
ico, to be organised for the purpose of extend
ing the benefits of civilisation and republican
self-government to those gallant but unfortu
nate sons of the soil, who, without such an ef
fort mi the part of their natural protectors,
must necessarily soon oome in oonfliot with
tho white race, and perish. One of the tribea
is now here, urging the measure whioh has
been embodied in a bill introduced by Mr.
Johnson, of Arkansas, in the Senate.
The bill, if parsed, will constitute an era
in the history of the red man, and prove better
than all abstract philosophy or romance, his
oapaoity for a higher stage of humanity than
has yet been occupied by him. If these Terri
tories are organized, with the Indians' oonsent,
and republican!zed, white men will intermarry
with the "red republicans/' and regenerate
them in the only way in whioh old nations
have ever been regenerated since the Hood
by an infusion of uew and better blood into
their veins. How much Roman blood is then*
now in Home? How much Greek blood iu
Athens? X.
Mr. Sumner's Speech on the Nebraska
Bill.?The New York Tribune says of thin
admirable production:
"Mr. Sumner's speech contains the mont
comprehensive, complete, and convincing re
view of the early policy of the Republic toward
Slavery that has ever been presented to Con
grats, within our recolleotion. The truth that,
for nearly half a century of the nation's ex
istence, the Government steadily made the ex
tension of Freedom and the limitation of bond
age the ohjeot and the rule of its action, is
demonstrated in this speech, by a maap of his
torical evidenco which precludes oontradiction.
The fathers of our Independence are shown to
have boen unanimous in their hostility to the
pernioious institution; and while marking the
gradual departure from that primitive oourse,
Mr. Sumner dearly shows that the Missouri
Compromise was not only the invention of
Southern statesmen, but that, when the ardu
ous struggle of that time had resulted in it*
adoption, they regarded it as a great advantage
gained for the South, and as a compact irrev- I
ooable in its nature. ? The argument of thin 1
speech is everywhere marked by eminent logi- I
cal power, and passages of it, particularly that I
contrasting the qniversal abolition and rostric i
tion of Slavery and serfdom in other ooimtriw, ;
with its attempted aggrandwmcnt and perpet
uation in democratic ^.mcrioa, and that de
scribing the Northern raau with Southern
principles are touched with sincere and ad
mirable eloquence. It will be widely read, and
will add its full quota to that determined feci- <
ing of resistanco to the Nebraska fraud, which
is now gathering and swelling in the bosoma
of the Northern People.
A men Children ok American Parents.?
The editor of the American Law llegtsirr, an
excellent legal journal puhli*h<d in Philadel
phia, says:
"It does not, proltahly, oocur to the Ameri
can families who are visiting F.urope in great
numbers, and remaining there, frequently, for
a yoar or more, that all their childron born in
a foreign country are alien*, and when they re
tarn home, will return under all the disability s
of aliens. Vet this is indisputably the case; for
it is not worth while to coosider the only ex
ception to this rule that exists under tho lawn
of the United States, vis: the osse of a ohild s..
born, Whow parents were citixens of the Uui 1
ted States on or before the Nth April, 1802.''
The first movement in the New York Legists
ture in favor of extending the elective franchise
to women, was made in both Houses on Mon
day, by the presentation of a petition in both
bodies, signed ia the aggregate .bJ 10,000 per
sons of both sexes. In both Houses a select
oommittee was raided to consider the subjeot.
The Comard Stsamkrh?The Baltic has
brought intelligence that several of Cnnard'*
steamers had been taken up by the English
Government to transport troops to Constantino
[>le. The New York Journal of Comtneru
earns that, aside Irom this statement, no iofiw '
raation respecting the matter has been received
at the agency in that city, though it is presnm
ed that some of Canard's screw steamers in the
Mediterranean may have been taken.
The Nebraska Resoi.utiossThe Boston
Commonwealth says: " The resolutions against
Douglas's Nebraska bill reoeived their final
passage in the State Senate on Saturday. They
were passed by the unanimout vote of th<
Senate of Massachusetts. Every Democratic
Senator present (one only being absent) vutrd
for the resolutions Yet the Pod would have
it that none but ' Free-Soil Abolitionist* and
Whigs' are opposed to the Nebraska bill."
A writer in the Linden Times expresses a
fear that Russia intends the oapture of Aus
tralian gold-freighted vessels, there being a
report that Russian vessels of war had been 1
seen in Australian waters.
The clergy of Worcester county, of all de
nominations have signe t a protest against the
Nebraska bill, which is t?? be forwarded to
Congren.
Tarkvtown, Pa., Feb. 18,1854.
To the Editor uj the National Era :
I have jutit bad a word with Judge Wilinot
in relation to the Nebraska oonK|iir<icy. The
Judge ia alive upon the subject, and ih doing
much to arouse the neople to a renae of thoir
duty to Freedom and to God in this evil day
whiob in upon us, in the proposed legislation of
Congress. I am happy to find Mr. Wiiuiot au
Independent Democrat, and be says, if the Ne
braska bill paused with the olaiuc repealing
the Missouri Compromise, " the old Democratic
party will l>e sponged out."
Yours, &o. Geo. L. Hokton.
P. S. Congress will hear from thiB District.
Mr. Wilmot's speech on Tuesday evening was
a most noble tribute to Freedom.
St. Louis Co, Mo,, Feb. 18, 1854.
To the Editor of the National Era :
Though both a native and a citizen of a
slaveholding State, I most solemnly protest
agaiiibt theItill of Messrs. Douglas & Co.
? 1.1 protest against it as a deliberate attempt
to violate solemn compacts made and entered
into as adjustments of diflioultios in days past.
2. I protest against it as a deliberate attempt
to bring on a more violent and dangerous ex
citement than the nation has ever yet known.
3. 1 protest against it, just at Hub orisis in
the world's history, as a deliberate siding with
the despots of thq Old World, in thoir orusade
against human rights, as treason to humanity
the world over.
4. I most solemnly protect against the Sena
tor from Illinois making Imseouri a groat slave
breeding and slave-keeping pen for the great
country west of us. One or Many.
Baltimore, February 22, 1854.
To the Editor of Ike National Era:
Sih : Can you send us some printed forms of
petition against the Nebraska Bill ? A num
ber of persons in this city are anxious lo sign
suoh a paper. Perhaps, if you were to publish
a form in the Era, it would answer our purpose,
and might induce others to go and do likewise.
Perhaps the following form will answer the
purpose:
To the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United Stales:
We, the undersigned, oitizens of Baltimore,
devoted to the Union of these States, anxious
for the prevalence of fraternal feelings between
different sootions of the Union, and apprecia
ting the obligations of good faith imposed by
what is commonly called the Missouri Com
promise, would respectfully and earnestly re
monstrate against the passage of auy bill for
the organization of Nebraska, providing, di
reotly or indirectly, for the repeal of said Com
promise, or any part thereof.
Princeton, III., Feb. 15, 1854.
To the Editor of the Natiimal Era :
Having circulated a remonstrance in this
community against the repeal of the Missouri
Compromise, to which some three hundred sig
natures were obtained, I met with but two in
dividuals who were unwilling to sign, and I
met with' no ono who was disposed to justify
the measure. Mr. Douglas is politically dead
in Northern Illinois; and any party sustaining
his measuros will die with bun.
We take the libetty of copying a paragraph
from a letter of Judge Wilmot, just received
by ua.?Ed. Era.
" Be assured, that Bradford county and this
Congressional district is fully prepared for the
coming oonfliot with the Slave Power and its
profligate allies. The patuage of the bill of
Douglas, should tbo conspiracy so far succeed,
will be but the commencement of the struggle;
the end of which, in my judgmont, will be the
final and signal overthrow of the Slave Power.
Some outrage like this could alone arouse the
People of the free States to a full realisation
of the overwhelming power of Slavery in this
Government, and to (be enormity of its de
mands."
A Change of Sentiment.?'Tbo New York
Tnbttme says:
"Senator Pettit, of Indiana, in 1848-0, de
clared, (I am devoted to Free Soil and Free
Labor, and no voje of mine shall, knowingly,
ever be given to pollute the one or oppress the
other with Slavery. That Congress has the
power to prohibit the introduction of Slavery
into the Territories, where it does not exist,
must be clear to every one who has investiga
ted the suVjeot and ia oapable of reasoning.'
" Pat Senator Pettit was not then Senator?
he only vaultd to be. Now be is, with a long
leaso of oQoe ahead, and a knowledge that lor
any farther advancement he must look to Vir
ginia more than to Indiana?so be declares in
favor of Douglas's bill, and against the right
of Congress which was so ' clear1 to his view a
few years ago. Suoh is the consistency of dem
agogues?such the integrity of self seeking pol
iticians.
The Diplomatic Dress.?Mr. John M.
Daniel, the American Charge at Turin, does
not oonform to the prescribed court dress. The
Tribune has an extract from a letter written
by Mr. Daniel, dated January 27, .which thus
defines bis position in that country :
" I have put myself to a great deal of trouble
about this very thing, because I wished to es
tablish the 1 freedom of the dress' here for all
future Charges, and after a delay of sevoral
months, I was the other day presented to the
King of thia oountry in a suit of plain bla^k,
whioh I have often worn in Richmond. 1 at
tended the first court ball of this Nonson in the
same dress, and these are the only time* I have
appeared at oourt at all. Since then I have
received an intimation, that it would be esteem
ed the civil thing if I would hereafter adopt a
unifoim ; and ae I do not wish either to do so
or to appear uncivil, the probability is that 1
shall keep away from the palace hereafter as
much as etiquette will allow me."
The Destiny or China.?Dr.' Bowring, tbe
eminent Eastern traveller, in a lecture lately
delivered in Loudon, on tbe eve of his departure
for the Fast, took occasion to say that, in his
opinion, tbe empire of China was destined to
fulfil a great mission, by the emigration that
was now going on from thenoe through all the
Ksstern nations. Such was the population of
China, that there was not a loot of it scarcely
but what was cultivated. Suoh was the over
population, in fact, that, notwithstanding the
most violent interdicts against emigration, its
surplus streams war* overflowing tbe oountrics
of the Fast. In the Island of Java he found
25 000; in the Islands of the Indian Archipela
go, there were nut lexe than 70.000 Cbinew,
whilst in San Franoinoo, there bad been settled
25,000 more; and great numbers were emi
grating to Australia, and the Islands of Poly
nesia, or wherever there was a field of labor
open to them It appeared to be a law of
Providence, that the superior raoes of mankind
should supplant tbe inferior. and we aaw in
the progress of time, the inhabitant* of tbe
West India Islands swept away?that tbe
Anglo-Saxon population was invading and re
moving (he would not say destroying) the red
Indian tribes of Amerioa. So the Chinese race
was setting aside the Malay, hi the name way
that they (the Malays) had set aside the Dyak*.
It is stated that the daily reoeipts on the
Great W? tern (Canada) Railroad are aver
$5,000. Mora freight is offered than the oom
pany ia able to transport.