'the E.rtraordiotary alessage. l Pltiladvlphia Ledger," an Independent paper, processeilly, but hav ing, 34 tve thick, a strong leaning towards Luculocoism, has the lollowimi. remarks upon the (;overnor's last extraordinary Message 'CITE cow. ANt) THE LUMBER MERCHANTS.' The Governor's messa.,s'e is a curiosity. Ile expresses great indigni.tion at being suspected of any participation in " con tracts for lumber," and yet takes the very step best fitted to involve himself in sus picion. If he be innocent, nothing can show it so thoroughly, if at all, as a full investigation, and a publication of the whole case; and to this he is too intelli gent to be blind. The Legislature was attempting such investigation, and to ac complish it, make a witness of one of the parties accused, and for the purpose of procuring his testimony, promise him im munity. The Governor, upon an intima tion that his name, has been used by the accused as a party concerned with them, tells the Legislature that their promise of immunity to the State witness shall not avail him, hut that lie shall be prosecuted like the rest of the guilty. The obvious ellect of this message will be to stop the mouth of the witness; and the obvious I interpretation of the Governor's wish to I stop his mouth, is fear of his telling too I much! If the Governor wishes to meet i the charge boldly, his mode of operation is singular. If the Governor be desirous of conceal- I any thing connected with these scan- • (kiwis transactions, his message is very artfully drawn. Ile says lie has reason to believe that certain letters are in the hands of persons amenable to legal pro cess, tending to prove a !conspiracy to procure corrupt legislation during; the sessirin Of 846 ; that - these letters contain false references to himself, of a character wicked enough to call for the immediate prosecution of all parties concerned, i in order that the Executive may be punished if the charges be true, and the authors be punished if the charges he false. Ile adds that the recent resolution of the I.egisia- I ture, directing a nolle prosequi, upon any criminal prosecution against George Ilan ily,is subject to a condition, with which he may or may not comply ; if he has fully complied with it, he can plead it against any pros , :cutiorr, if he has not, he is not ' entitled to protection ; that lie has directed prosecution to be istituted against Handy, and those implicated with him. Ile then ' recommends that all original letters, or any vouchers, in possession of any coin• mittee, or either House, be preserved as an essential part of the trial. Let us examine all this. The Legislas ture promises immunity to Mindy, upon condition of his telling the whole truth.— 'the investigation is pending, and Handy is testifying under the promise. Yet in the very midst of this investigation, the Governor assumes that he has nut com• plied with the condition, and directs a prosecution against him. Upon what right does the Governor assume this, before the witness has told his whole story 1 How can the Governor know, before the testimony is finished, what parts of the case the witness intended to suppress, or whether he means suppress any? It the testimony be not closed, this prosecution will effectually restrain the witness from telling any thing more. If lie is to be prosecuted, lie will sooner trust big chance for acquittal upon the portion of the tale already told, than upon pleading the resolution aga inst promise of iminuity after lie has told the whole.— Besides, after telling the whole story, and pleading the promise in bar to the prose. cution, lie will be obliged to prove that he has told all ; for as, in such a plea, lie offers affirmative matter, he takes the burden of proving it. And how can he prove that lie has told all i The nature of the case renders this impossible, unless by the tes timony of some other party implicated ; soil such other party cannot testify with out " turning State's evidence," for which the permission of the Attorney General is necessary. And if the Attorney General should nut grant such permissi,m, Handy cannot prove that he has told all, and consequently cannot sustain his plea of the legislative promise. The Governor, a shrewd lawyer, sees all this, and Ilandy's counsel sees it, 'therefore Handy will be apprised of his danger, and advised to hold his tongue. And thus upon the ex traordinary assumption of the Governor, before the investigation is closed, that the State's witness will nut disclose all the, facts, and by the extraordinary prosecus Lion founded on that assumption, is the investigation virtually suppressed. The Governor says that certain letters, iii possession of the parties implicated, refer impioperly to himself, and that, for the purpose of eliciting a full disclosure,. he has directed all the parties to be prose. cuted. How, in the name of law ands common acme, can a full disclosure be elicited by such a step? All the parties being prosecuted, not one of them can be a witness, without the permission of the Attorney General ; and as that officer has not granted die permission to Handy, liel will not prebably grant to any of the rest. As a transaction of such a character would have no witnesses who were not parties, its details cannot be known beyond these parties implicated ; and as these, being prosecuted, are not allowed to testify in their own favor, and cannot be compelled to criminate themselves, we cannot ima gine how the transaction is to be proved. the wily testimony that can be procurcil,l will be the disclosures already made by dandy ; and as these may not be sufficient, and as lie i s restrained from saying ally more, the prosecution must fail for want of evidence. Thus the Gevernor, by this very step, will have prevented that very !disclosure for which he professes to be so !solicitous. The Governor mentions letters in pos session of the parties implicated, as im plicating himself. Dues he expect to procure them by prosecution of the hold • ers ? If the letters implicate such holsters, as are thus mentioned by the Governor as part of the testimony to be offered against then,, these holders must be dull indeed to deliver them to the Attorney General,' or any other person, for the purpose of being produced. They are not fools enough to accuse themselves, or furnish testimony for the prosecution; and they will therefore be especially careful to conceal all letters and other documents still within their cantrol. The Governor knows this ; and whatever were his inten• tion, he has virtually told them, in this message, to keep their letters out of sight If they choose to do this, how can the Attorney General reach such letters 'f— ile can issue no process to obtain them which they are bound to obey ; and if he call for them, they wilt tett him to prove that any such letters exist, and it• they exist, that he has any right to them. As he cannot prove the Erst, eXcepting by themselves, nor the second at all, they are perfectly safe. And as a last resort, they can say that the letters tend to criminate themselves, and therefore that he has no r'glit to them. If the letters are in the possession of the holders, and are not, upon this proceeding of the Governor, put entirely beyond the reach of the law, we shall give these holders Very little credit for common prudence. The Governor directs arty committee of the Legislature to preserve any letters or documents already furnished. They are riot obliged to obey this, arid it will cer tainly stimulate the owners, or witnesses who have furnished them, to regain them without delay. Arid if the committee, or ,other present keepers, should surrender them, where is the Governor's prosecution? The message virtually tells all whd have furnished letters or other documents to the committees to withdraw them without Let this affair be thoroughly probed, and let all the guilty be brought to light and, punished, whether they be public servants' or private citizens. The people of this State have been cheated enough by knaves in office and knaves in private life. No dodging now! Unmitigated Rascality. As one instance among thousands of the Governor's dishonesty, we refer the reader to the following put forth in his last organ: " Had net the currency of the State been corrupted and debased by the Fede ral ' tinkers' of last year, and had the tolls accruing froth our public, works consisted, as before, in par funds, there might have been a show of common sense in the protocol Of these complaining dignitaries; but, it will be recollected, that by the pro. visions of the " inatehless eanalive," alias relict-law, of last session; the 4th of May issue was made receivable in payment of public dues. Consequently, by far the largest portion of the tolls arc paid in this, depreciated trash--the product Of a FED. EI?AL legislation- —it having been COnsti ' toted by that Federal legislattlre a legat tender." The villany of this extract will only appear its full tocce, when it is known that by far the most depreciated and worthless of these " Relief Notes" are those of the Towanda and Earie Banks, each of which the Governor authorized to issue 9100,000 more than the law allowed; or rather, he authorized the Towanda Bank to issue this sum, and the Erie Bank THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS more than the law allowed Was ever such barefaced impudence before exhibited t--Ifurrisburg Chronicle. Death of the lion. Joseph Lawrence. The sad duty devolves upon us of an-I flouncing the decease of another Member of the House of Representatives, than whom that body possesses few whose death would be more lamented than his will be by those who true enjoyed the opportunity of knowing and appreciating his many ti tles to respect and esteem. The Ron. JOSEPH LAWRENCE, one of the Representatives front the State of Pennsylvania, expired at his lodgings in this city yesterday morning, at a little after 11 o'clock. His illness had been of some two weeks' duration, and is suppo• sed to have been induced by fatigue and anxiety of mind consequent upon his lat, painful attendance upon the death-bed of his eldest son and son's wife, and upon the illness of other members of his family, from a protracted visit to whom he had but recently returned. Mr. LAWRENCE %vas fifty-four years of age. For many years he had been in pub he service. Nine years, first and last, he served in the Legislature of his own State, during four years of which he occupied the post of Speaker of the !louse of Rep resentatives. For four years, in the nine- Wendt and twentieth Congresses, lie was a Member of the house of Representa tives of the United States. (Inc year lie was Treasurer of the tale of Pennsylva nia; soon after retiring from which station upon a change of parties, be was again elected a Representative to Congress, and took his seat at the opening of the late Extra Session. His public itiities he dis charged with faithfulness, ability, and as siduity. Uniting with great amenity of manners and kindness of heart, much experience in public affairs, and the most inflexible integrity, his influence was alwaya great and salutary, and his death will be felt as a loss to his State and to the Public. To the family of which he was the af fectionate and beloved head, his death is an affliction which no earthly power can relieve. But to them it will be some con. solation to know that he died the peaceful and happy death of a faithful follower of that religion of which he had fur a long time been an earnest proreisor.— • Adtional Neiligencer. From Rhode Island. The Alexandria Gazette says —" We are gratified to see it stated that the Rhode Island case, havinr , been laid before the Executive by both r 'parites. from that State the President and Cabinet decided with entire unanimity in favour of the legally constituted authorities, and will, if neces %dry, exercise the power granted by the Constitution, to preserve the state trom be ing wilawfu!ly revolutionized by the de signing demagogues who have misled and deceived a large portion of the people there, and who seem bent on exciting civil war." A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT.-- The Providence Journal of Thursday con tains a Postscript, embracing a letter from President Tyler, in reply to a letter from the Governor of Rhode Island.—The Na tional Executive says: It will be my duty to respect the requisitions of that Government which has been recognised as the Existing Gov ernment of the state in all time past, until I shall be advised in a regular manner that it has been altered and abolished, and another substituted in its place by Legal and Peacible Proceedings adopted and framed by the Authorities and people of the State." The Providence Chronicle of Thursday evening has a postscript stating that the revolutionary party are determined not to change their cour s e in consequence of the President's letter, but will persist in holding their elections nutter the preten ded new constitution, this day. That election will of course tie illegal, and the parties acting/therein will subject themselves to condign punishment under, the laws of the State. What will be the 1 1 result will now soon be known. flow TIIE ACCIDENT TO TILE MEDORA Ocetline.— nSome facts have come to knowledge of the disaster to the Medora. Joseph Craig has confessed that Ite camp ed the explosion, by removing the weight on the lever of tile salety-valve to its further extremity, and then putting on additional weight; and that ..am;ay Ferguson were cognizant of his doing so —that it was in fact the act of all three by agreement, though actually done by him—and that they did nut intend to do mischief, but had intended, as conjectu red by Mr. Watchman, to display the qualities of the boat to the best advan tage. These confessions, if established as true, will go to confirm the testimony of Mr. Brown and others, taken at the inquest, touching the great strength of the boiler. 714 If oidled.—Capt. Sutton it in al fair waj of recovery. John Samuel' Mitchell, brother ofJames Thomas Mitch ell, is also doing well and expected to re cover. Daniel Stevens, from the Eastern Shore, Dorchester county, who was badly scalded in the face, though suffering much, is well attended to, and expected to sur• vice. Joseph Graig, is also slowly im proving.— United States. AND LOSS Or LIFE,- Ne copy the following letter, .giving informa tionof the lost of the American ship Majes ty, with thegreater portion of her crew, Isom the N. 'V Commercial Advertiser of last evening. IfAvnt, March 13th, 1842. Sir—l have just received a letter from my Vice Consul, at Boulogne, informing ine of the loss of the American ship Majestic, Capt. Morrison. wind' took place on the 10th of January, on the coast of Merlincour, six leagues to the (westward of Boulogne. It appears that this ship lately sailed from Antwerp, bound to Apalachicola, and out of 16 persons which formed the crew, only 5 were saved, the captain, as well as the two mates, being amongst the number who unfortunately perished. The ship, which went to pieces, was to be sold this day by the Marine for what she would produce, as it would otherwise prove a total loss. A bag containing 1500 francs was found in the wreck. It is not known whether Capt. Morrison had the proceeds of his outward freight on board or not. The weather has lately been most boisterous, and several accidents have happened near this place. 1 have not, however, heard of any other American vessel having been lost during its continu ance. I am, very repectfully, sir, your obedient servant, for It. G. Heasley, Mows TAYLOR. Walter R. Jones, Esq., New York. Le2,irgsse Not [Ong since a fellow thus talking to himself, and imagining all right, and hav ing arranged every thing to his satisfac- Coo, said as he staggered along. "Well if I owe any body any thing, I'm willing I to forgive 'cm the debt. Yea that will do. Anil %%hat I owe the landlord I'll stay and board it out•—/linootitt, j•.ATF.ST FROM MEXlOo.—Advices from 'Matamoras to the 3d instant were recev ed atNew Orleans by an arrival on the 9th inst.: at that time every thing was quiet, nor was there any talk ot army movemeots. Gen. Arista was at Monterrey, 400 miles from the frontier of Texas. Monterrey papers to the list have been received, from which the following items are ex tracted:— !A letter from Gen. Rafael Vasquez, commander of the expedition to Bexar, land dated on the banks of the Rio Grande, !March 11th, gives art account of his re treat, which was affected without hindrance or molestation on the part of the Texans. lle adds, that on his arrival near the Great River, so exhausted were the horses of his men, that had they been attacked not more than forty of them would have been able to juin in the charge. A letter from Pedro de Ampulla relates ,how he captured Goliad with only 120 men. By the bye, General Vasquez says that the Texans were 26G strong at Bexar before they abandoned the place. A letter from General Arista, after expres sing his satisfacion that no outrage on the rights of individuals or property had at tended the occupation of Bexar, by the Mexican troops, repeats the assurance that the promise held out in his proclama tion of the 9th of January, will be strict ly fulfilled. LATER FROM TEXAS.- 1111 C Ne.v Or leans Picayune ot the 7th, reports the arrival of the steamship Neptune, bringing Houston papers ot the 2J, and Galveston papers of the 4th inst. Nothirg very important relative to the war with Mexico' was found its them. In tact, nothing to' corroborate or justify the exaggerated rumors circulated here respecting the immense Mexican invasion. POLITICAL AND MORAL STATISTIcB. Rhode Island which has lived in war and peace for nearly two hundred years under . a Charter, has suddenly wakened up to, the want of a Constitution, which they arei determined to have, alter one half the pro pie kills tuff dm other half. They will have it, "be daw-derned if they don't"— unl!ss the charter Governor loads his mus kets with lead. In Virginia, the people have taken up rails" against the sheriff, on which they intend to ride hint and his bidders at sale; and the members of the legislature are go in g home from Richmond with their pock ets full of—coffee—see Star. Pennsylvania compels the banks and all others, to pay up instanter, and then repu diates her own debts. Delaware is the most perfect Yankee 'state in the Union. She enjoys all the benefit of the rail roads and canals of Pennsylvania and Maryland, without ex pending the first red cent, and has money to lend both of these big fat states, at a usurous interest—if they can give iier se curity. Illinois and Indiana are both covered over so thick with irredeemable bank paper, and irretrievable bad debt, that the rich soil under these incumbtan ces cannot be conic at. It took all the last cotton crop of Mississippi to snake certificates of state stock, which has left that state minus more millions titan she has negroes to pay. Uncle Sam had so much surplus money in store a few years since that it all spoiled on his hands.— Like wheat overkept, the weasel got into it, and he is now suffering a famine.— Pittsburg Visiter. BRILLIANT blEnsoa.--The Buftalo l Commercial Advertiser of the 11th inst. says : —About half past two o'clock this! morning, a most brilliant meteor shot athwart the sky a little to the south and west of this city. When first seen, it was at an elevation of about 45 deg. nearly in the south-west, and thence moved rapidly to the northward till it reached a point to the northwest of the city, when it burst with a loud explosion resembling the ,blasting of rocks, succeeded by a heavy rumbling sound for sonic moments. The meteor was very large and its light was like that of day. The sky was perfectly cloudless at the time. In the fore part of the evening there was quite a brilliant display of the aurora borealis. SHAMEFUL NEGLECT.- The New York authorities have refused to keep Hogan in limbo, or to make even a big dog, much less a lion, out of such a whelp. The Courier and Enquirer says : "J. S. Hogan has been discharged by the magistrate before whom he was brought at Rochester; there being no sufficient testimony against hint. It is difficult to decide upon the relative claims to ridicule in this case. Whether the loafing vaga bonds who caused him to be arrested, or the bowhiskered puppy who was the sub• ject of the farce, have earned the best title to contempt is exceedingly doubtful. DISASTROUS FIRE IN COL , PORIA, S. C. —The town of Columbia was visited by a destructive fire on the morning of the 12th inst. which consumed the most beau ' Wel part of the city including the buisness poi tion of the place. Twenty-nine stores and dwellings, besides numerous nut-buil dings were consumed, comprising the most valuable houses. The loss is estimated at about $200,000 a portion of which is covered by polices. WINNING YOUNG LADIES.—The Pic ayune says: " Young ladies R ho read the newspapers are always observed to pos sess winning ways, most amiable disposi, lions, and invariably make good house. wives." - THE JOURNAL. One country,one conatifutiononedeetrny lluntingdon, April 27 : 1842• The Case of our Sheriff: In to•day's paper may be found another extraordinary document, which emanat ed from the wiley brain of that "outraged innocent," the Governor of Pennsylvania. We publish it entire, and as we have no Pennsylvania coat•of.aims quite as neat as the oae in the original, we insert the "emblem," which answers just as good a ptrpose in this particutnr case. The said document is not a matter of as great importance to any one as the "LUMBER CONCERN," nor is it the subject of much astonishment here, where its au thor is perfectly well known. It is simply a piece of parchment bearing the name of David R. Porter and the '•great seal" of the Commonwealth, purporting to be a revocation or anpersedcas of the Commis sion of John Shaver as Sheriff of Hunting don county. We wish our readers to see the contents of the parchment, and dig• cover the mean and contemptible subter fuge used therein ; and the bold assump tion of power and authority by the Gover nor, not vested in him by the Constitution, and Laws of the State. His Excellency sets out with a recital of the Commission of the Sherifr. The conviction and sentence are next recited it: order. Now, what arc the conviction and the sentence ? From the records of the Court, it appears that on the Bth of September• 1841, before the election of John Shaver, he, together with several others, commit ted an offence against a positive statute— against the election laws of this Common wealth. After the election, on the lot day of November, a prosecution was commen ced against him—at the November Ses• sions a " true bill" was found--at the January Sessions 184S1, he was tried and convicted. There was then no Coroner in commission in the county, and there being no officer to carry the sentence of Ore Court into execution, the Court eon tinged the matter over until the April Court. In the mean titne a Coroner was appointed and commissioned, and we be lieve the commission was recorded at the expense of that loyal subject, the deputy Attorney General ; and at the April Ses sions John Shaver was sentenced, as set forth in the pretended supersedeas. On the trial it was plainly shown that John Shaver had been entrapped by de signing politicians—that he had been per suaded and drawn into a compliance to a scheme which was devised by others, in order to withdraw one candidate from the field, and deteat another thereby. The scheme, it is known, was successful, and John Shaver was elected. On the trial of the indictment it was made perfectly man ifest that although John Shaver had In fringed the letter of the law, yet he was not such a subject as the spirit of the law contemplated to punish. It was on this account that the Court passed the rninznum sentence upon him. The law left it iM the discretion of the Court to fine in any' sum, teat less than one hundred dollars, nor exceeding one thousand dollars; and to imprison for any time, not less than one month, nor ►nore than twelve months. It will be perceived that the Court passed the lightest sentence upon him that it was possible, under the law, for them to pass. It was because that degrading guilt which was intended by the law to be severely punished and suppressed, was not found in John Shaver. And it must be evident to all who have paid attention to the whole matter from beginning to end, that it is a persecution, got up against John Shaver, prompted by the malignant and revengeful spirit of disappointed politicians. His persecutors no doubt thought, and still think, that as they had contributed greatly towards his election, and laid the very scheme for him, to secure his election, (for which he is now prosecuted, and persecuted and pursued with savage vindict‘veness,) that he should have done as they expected him to do— that is, to be made a pliant TOOL in their hands, to accomplish selfish purposes.-- This we are led to believe, from seeing the course they have latterly taken in re• yard to the matter. But to return to the "public document" [ tinder consideration. At . ler reciting the offence, by the Governor himself , but a misdemeanor, which the law defines to be a "petty offence," an "ill behaviour,") and the conviction and sentence, his Ea , celleney proceeds thus : Now know you, that by virtue of the POWER and A ITIIOIII - "EY vestal in me by the CoNsTri rt lox and LAWS of this COnmonwealth, and for the !CAUSES ABOVE STATED, it fully appearing to me that you hare NOT 11 EWA VED YOURSELF WELL. IN said office," &c. Now, mind you—" FOR THE CAUSES ABOVE STATED," (the petty offence) and it fully appearing to Governor Porter that John Shaver has not behaved himself well IN said ofice of Sheriff'--for these reasons David K. Pm ter, Governor &c., ?evokes, annuls and suprrsedes the Com mission of the said Sheriff Shaver. It is needless for us to add that his Ex cellency's" Greeting" bears a bold and pal pable LIE upon its very face. The al leged misdeameanor to office is stated on the face of the parchment to have been committed before IIE WAS COMMF.- SIONED—BEFORE III': WAS ELE("P ED. Then too, the "1111:11 AC I%I.ATE" talks of the power and authority vested in him by the Constitution! There is no stick power given to the Governor either by the " old" or the new Constitution!! That must be an error of the " transcribing clerk"!!! Or perhaps his Excellency got hold of the new Constitution of Rhode and that may confer such power and authority upon him. The pretended supersedeas or the "su percilious" as we have heard it called, was attempted to be entered and tiled of record in the Court of Common Pleas, but as the Judges were divided in opinion it was not done. John Shayer still acts as Sheriff of this county, and will continue to do so. His persecutors will no doubt resort to other measures to harrass him, arid endear vor to disturb still further the due admin istration of Justice. It is their vocation ; but it will avail them nothing—it will not succeed. Oz, — Governor Porter has appointed and commissioned Joey sim,sorq, of this Bor ough, Corcner of Iluntingdon county— neither of the two persons elected within the last three years having taken out eon, missions. Ct:r. r. IRA HOADLEY, late assistant at the Washington Hotel in Harrisburg, has become proprietor of the well know Amer ican House in Hollidaysburg, which he conducts on temperance principles. Mr. !loadley is a gentleman highly spoken or by all who are acquainted with him. Kr In another column will be found an account of the death of the Hon. JOSEM LAWRENCE, member of Congress trout Washington county. Since the election of 1840, Pennsylvania has lost five of her delegation in Congress: namely, William S. Ramsey, Charles Ole, Henry Black, Davis Dimock, Jr. arid Joseph Lawrence. OYJAmr.s M. KlNlcn,th has been ap pointed Post Master at Yellow Springs, in this county. 0:7 - As was expected, Senator Ptivit taAN and all others who go in for investi gating the charges of bribery and corrup tion, are denounced as " hired slanderer," by the whole posse of Loco Focu presses. 0:7" Governor Porter'sprnsioned editors 'are reviving the old " hue and cry"against Biddle and the Bank. But it wont do— they cannot so easily divert public atten tion from Kickapoo, Winnebago & Messrs. Editors, the veil is entirely too thin—the cloven toot " sticks out a feet." Try something else than Biddle arid the Bank. That " dog has had its day." & It is stated that JOSEPH Pi.axixt,. TON, Esq. late county Treasurer of Phila. delphia, is a defaulter to the amount of fifty or sixty thousand dollars. It is al 4. stated that the county and the state ate fully secured by the official bonds given by him. Mr. P. has resigned his office, and JAMES H. PAGE, Esq. has been appointed in his place. Wonders. Wonder how many "mint drops" it took to resuscitate a certain sickly locotoed print, located in" these 'ere diggins 1" Wonder how many feet of " Winneba go scantling" it takes to keep said print propped up Wonder how many " min! juleps" Its Editor has been treated to for his sttvi•` ces - -
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers