M GEO. W. BOW WAX.
NEW SERIES.
Select PoCtrtj.
I:VI:\.
DY S. W. HVZKLTIVE.
0. | love lo stray at even,
When the day has gone to sleep;
When upon the brow of heaven
their nightly vigils keep;
When the pale moon looks down calmly
O'er the meadow ami the lea;
For the quiet, pleasant night-time
(lath a plea-ing charm for me.
0, I leve to stray at even,
In the du<ky shades of night,
To think ofthe cherished blossoms
That have failed from my sight;
Ofthe ones who grew a weary-
On the toilsome march of life,
And imtd the grave departed,
Where there comes no cares or strife.
Then the breezes seem to whisper,
And the bright stars seem to say,
"Your departed friends are near you
All the night and all the day.
They are near you, though you see not
The bright gleaming of their eyes;
They are near to lead you upward
To a lioiits in Paradise!"
""TBDBESS
OF TIIK
STATE CENTRAL COMMITTEE, No, 3.
To the People of Pennsylvania:
FELLOW-CITIZEN; —The manner of organiz
ing tile territories of Nebraska and Kansas, you j
will agree with us, is not necessarily an issue J
in this contest —it is not a subject connected with \
the duties of a State Executive. It is scarcely
pass, de that the election of a Governor, who- 1
ever may succeed, is to have any practical bear
ing upon the future policy of those territories— -
ami surelv no man will be so unreasonable as to !
hold the Governor of Pennsylvania accountable
in an official sense for what Congress has alrea- ,
liy done on this subject. It is a subject with
which that officer has bad, arid can have, offici
ally, nothing whatever to do. As a member of
the Democratic party it must he presumed that
he lakes an interest in public affairs, and has
not been an inattentive observer that there has
existed, a diversity of opinion in relation to cer
tain features of this measure. *
Since the origin of our government, with oc- :
rasiuna! intervals, the question of slavery in :
vime of its phases, has been a subject of violent
a:,. at thin s dangerous controversy in Congress,
n.i i-acing the peace of tne people and the exis
tence ofthe national confederacy. Its adjust
ment within ttie territories has led to the most
threatening struggles. These were invariably
renewed bv every new acquisition of territory.
In 1820, the act of Congress fixing the Missouri
line was adopted interdicting the extension of
slavery north of 36 deg, 30 min. as a means of
settling the controversy growing out ofthe ac
quisition of Louisiana from France in 1803.
In 1845 this line was extended over Texas,
which had just been annexed to the 1 nited
States and Seemed to answer the purpose of an
adjustment. In 1848, however, when it was
proposed to extend this parallel of 36 deg. 30
min. from the Rio del Norte to the Pacific, it
was defeated inthe House of Representatives,
after having passed the Senate, by a majority of
ten votes. The agitation in the country soon
became general, and hv 18n0 it hail assumed an
alarming aspect. The good and great men of
ail parties, forgetting former differences and
constrained by a nobler spirit of patriotism, uni
ted in a common effort to allay the inigtity
surging ofan excifed public sentiment. Fore
iir s! in this great work was the eloquent and
patriotic Clav, sustained bv Cass, Webster. King
and others. A series of acts were passed, lami
liarlv known a> the Compromise Measures,
which were acceptable to the people and were
ardently maintained.
One of th-se acts organized th< territories of
New Mexico snd Utah, on the principle of non- ]
intervention—on the plan of allowing the people
to decide for themselves whether It hey would
have the institution of slavery or not. Ihe
whole country Seemed satisfied with the doctrine
•of'non-intervention by Congress, in the regula
tion ofthe domestic institutions ofthe territories,
including that Of slavery. Without stopping to
inquire into tht* constitutional power of Congress
to legislate on the subject or to what extent
that power might be exercised, the people re
garded it as wise and politic to remove this topic,
of angry and dangerous controversy out of Con
gress, and confide it to those who may occupy
the territories. We may, however, remark,
that the question of authority in the passage of
the Ordinance of 1787 under the old Confedera
tion, is a very different one from the passage of
the Missouri Compromise or an v slavery restric
tion whatever, under our present Constitution.
Fnder the Confederation the institution of slave
ry was not recognized—under the Constitution,
it is, in three sevetal particulars :
Ist. In fixing the basis of representation and
direct taxation.
2d. In tolerating the foreign slave trade un
til 1808.
3d. In providing for the rendition of fugi
tives from labor.
If it even bp clear that Congress is possessed
of ample power to legislate on the subject (and
this is denied by Gen. Cass and other eminent
men of the country) it was proper to forego its
exercise. The resort to this mode of adjustment
in ISSO, seemed most auspicious for the honor,
the dignity and peace of the Slates—for the hap-
Pin ess and prosperity of the people, and above
ail, for the stability of our National Union.
And is not this policy right and just in itself
according to all our theories of government ?
Indeed we should never allow ourselves to tear
the consequences of trusting any question of po
litics or morals with the people, whether they
be iesidents of a State or territory. This mode of
adjustment rests on great principles, which in
their application will he co-extensive with all
the territory we now have or ever can have,
and which are as enduring as the race of man.
It is a principle in beautiful harmony with our
republican institutions—the principle of self
government—the basis of our entire system. It
was for this doctrine that our forefathers peril
led th' ir lives, their fortunes and their sacred
honor in the Declaration of Independence—that
they struggled ami bled, and left their bones to
bleach on the battle fields of the Revolution. It
was for this principle of sell-government, that
that they invoked the interposition of heaven
and accepted the proferred aid of the generous
stranger. For seven long years did they labor
to impress upon Lord North and George 111, the
virtue and power of this great fundamental
truth in the science of government. The at
tempt of that monarch "to bind the Colonies in
all things whatsover," and to impose taxes with
out representation, gave this principle growth
and vigor, and cost him armies and an empire.
Since that day to the present time it has been
gaining strength in all civilized countries. Amer
cian experience has fully solved and settled the
problem of man's ability for self-government.
Where can be found the instance in which gov
ernmental affairs have been submitted to, or in
trusted with the people, that the results have
not been salutary ? Who will then at this day
doubt the fitness of the American people
to dispose of anv question of governmental
policv found within the limits of the Con
stitution ? Who will contend for the absurd
idea, that a man loses his capacity for self-gov
ernment by emigrating from a State to a terri
tory ? Who will say that a man residing in
Massachusetts should, through his representa
tives in Congress, be permitted to adopt and
regulate institutions of local government for
his fellow man in Utah, New Mexico, Minne
sota, Nebraska or Kansas? Will our Whig or
Abolition friends agree that when they shall
have emigrated to any ofthese territeries, their
Democratic fellow-citizens whom they leave
behind, shall decide tor them what kind of lo
cal institutions they shall have?—that their
judgement and not that of the emigrants them
selves shall control as to the institution ofj
Slavery? Or who will contend that the people
will be careless of their own true interests?—
that their government will be feeble or injudi
cious ? Whoever says these things doubts all
the principles of otir republican institutions, and
disregards the lessons of experience and the
teachings of the sages of the revolution.
We have already intimated, that we will not
discuss the abstract and somewhat difficult
| questions of Congressional power, which ha ve
| grown out of the slavery controversy in the
< Halls of the National Legislature. We care
| not to decide, where so many eminent men have
I differed, whether Congress has the power to es
tablish or abolish the institution in the t'-rritor
ies. Be that as it may, we assert that it was
wise in 1850, as in 1854-, to refer the whole
i question to the sovereign will ofthe people, to
i be settled through the action of the local gnv
; ernments, asallothei questions of domestic poli—
;cv are settled. The right of property, the re
-1 lations between husband and wife, parent and
child, guardian and ward, are so confided, and
;we can conceive none more sacred and impor
| taut in the social slate; and we see of no good
I reason why the question of domestic slavery,
: the relation of master and servant, should alone
i be withheld from the action of the people.
It must not be forgotten, that we have not
! the creation of circumstances for ours-lves, but
that we must deal with existing facts. The
same difficulty occurred in the early history of
the country. We had the institution of s'ave
| rv entailed upon us, and the only matter ot en
-1 quirv has long been, how it was to be managed
to the greatest advantage ot both the white and
| black races. The latter number several mil
lions, and UP are forced to the dilemma ot re
taining a large portion of them in bond
age, or make them our companions and equals,
j and permit them to share the honors ofthe State,
and intermarry with our daughters and fiends.
In the forcible language of Mr. Jefferson, "we
have the wolf by the ears, and we can neither
I hold him nor safely let him go."
AYid yet much has been done in a legal and
constitutional way for the amelioration of this
unfortunate race of people. The men of the
! revolution had to deal with the institution ol
slavery as they found it, and they so acted inthe
formation of the government. When these
i States were colonies of Great Britain every one
i was a slave-holding province. At the time
the Constitution was framed, twelve out of the
i thirteen were slave-holding States. Six ot the
; original thirteen have now become free, not by
aliolition agitation in Congress, but by the ac
tion ofthe people of the several States in their
sovereign capacity at home.
This leaving the question to the people was
fir adopted by Congress in 1850, and was in
tended to be general in its application toallter
ritories thereafter to be organized—that it was
' ! to be a finality as to the principle to be invok
, led, but not a finality as to- its application—for
I that would imply that no more territories wen
|to be organized. This position is sustained by
the fact, that in forming the boundaries of Utah
land New Mexico, no respect seems to havt
- bpen paid to the act 1820, fixing what is term
led the Missouri line, nor the act of 184.) ex
-1 tending that line to the Rio Del Nortp. Tin
I larger potion of territory included in the act!
t of organization was taken from the Mexican ac
s quisition, but they include also a portion of the
t ! Texas territory north of 36 deg. 30 min. and i
, part of the Louisana purchase, which was cov
-ieredbythat line. This territory was taker
? 1 from under the act of 1820, interdicting sla
BEDFORD, PA. FRIDAY MORNING, SEPT. 1, 1854.
J very north of 36 deg. 30 min., and subjected to
the action of the principles ofthe Compromise
of 1850, that the territory thus embraced should
lie admitted into the Union as States with or
without slavery as the people thereof might de
termine. These facts are claimed as a prece
dent for the act organizing Nebraska and Kan
sas. It is lor these reasons, and in this sense
also, claimed that the principles of non-inter
vention as adopted in 1850 should be regarded
as a finality.
As Pennsylvania-OS we are not the advocates
of the extension of slavery, and we deny that
the principles of the Nebraska and Kansas bill
produce that effect. It merely leaves it to the
people to determine this question for themselves.
But the soil, climate and productions of that re- j
gion are not adapted to slave labor. It is our
firm belief that slavery will not enter those ter
ritories. Those who are sensitive on this point
should not close their eyes to the evidence that
surrounds them. The indications are all oppo
sed to its extension to that country. Such is
the belief of the ablest men in the nation, those
who advocated and voted for the Nebraska and
Kansas bill, as well as those who voted against
it.
Mr. Douglas said :
"I do not believe there is a man in Congress
who thinks it would be permanently a slave
holding country; I have no idea that it could."
Mr. Badger said;
"I have no more idea of seeing a slave pop
ulation in either of them (Nebraska or Kansas)
than I have of seeing it in Massachusetts."
Mr. Edward Everett said :
"I am quite sure that everybody admits that
this is not to be a slave-holding region."
Mr. Hunter said ;
"Does any man believe that you will have a
slave-holding State in Kansas or Nebraska? 1
confess that for a moment, T permitted such an
illusion to rest upon my mind."
Mr. Bell said, that as respects the South, "it
was a contest for a mere abstraction."
Mr. Benton said in his first speech against
the bill:
" The question of slavery in these territories,
if thrown open to territorial action, will be a
question of numbers—a question of the majori
ty for or against slavery; and what chance
would the slave-holders have in such a contest 1
No chance at all. The slave emigrants will be
out numbered and compelled to play at a most
unequal game, not only in point of numbers,
but also in point of, Slates."
In his second speech, Mr. Benton again said :
"I believe in the futilitv of this bill—its abso
lute futility ir. the slaveholding States, and that
not a single slave will ever be held in Kansas
or Nebraska under it, even admitting it to be
pase(l."
Gen. Houston said : '
"There is no more probability of slavery be
ing introduced into these territories than into
Illinois."
Even Mr.Seward, w ho is astute on this sub
ject, thus expressed himself :
"I feel quite sure that slavery at most can
get nothing more than Kansas; while Nebraska
the wilder region will escape, for the reason
that its soil and climate are uncongenial with
the staples of slave culture—rice, sugar, cotton
and tobacco. Moreover, since the public atten
tion lias been so well and so effectually direct
ed towards the subject, I cherish a hope that
slavery will not be able to gain a foothold even
in Kansas."
But to render assurance doubly sure, we have
even a stronger opinion from Judge Pollock
hiinse If, the Whig candidate for Governor, who
says in a letter dated June 19th, 18r>4. "Sla
very can have no legal existence in those terri
tories, either by act of Congress, or under the
false pretence of popular sovereignty."
It may in fact he safely said that of all the
acquis;!ions of territory from Mexico, there
' will not be a slave state affiled to the 1 nion,
I and that the territory embraced in the Louisana
■ purchase not already admitted, wall come in as
• free States.
I It should also be borne in mind, that any ter-
I ritorv that the United States may hereafter ac
quire must lie south of 36d. 30m., arid that this
principle of popular sovereignty may drive the
institution farther south than any positive act ol
Congress could do. Nor should it be forgotten
that the interdiction ot'flavery north of 36d.
30m., is a virtual dedication of the territory
south of that line for slave purposes. This has
r been the moral influence of such legislation,
and it would no doubt continue to have that ef
• feet. It would in all probability have been a
s happy event for the country, had this doctrine
J of popular sovereignty in the territories been
f adopted in IS2O. We should most likely
J bad a larger proportion of free States than we
J now have.
The Missouri line was never a favorite mea
sure with the old Democratic statesmen. Ii
f suited a temporary purpose, and quieted ngita
e (ion for a time, but it was manifestly wrong ir
principle, and legislation of a dangerous charac
• ter, calculated to divide the country into geo
r graphical sections, and create dissensions am
divisions among the States and the people.
s Thomas Jefferson once said :
"This Missouri question, by a geographies
.. line of division, is the most portentous one tha
s I have ever contemplated."
In 1820 he wrote to John Holmes :
r "A geographical line coinciding with a mark
~ ed principle, moral and political, once conceiv
y ed and held up to the angry passions of men
| t will never be obliterated."
e James Madison said :
"I must own that I have always leaned b
_ the belief that the restriction was not withii
e the true scope of the Constitution."
t s James Monroe said;
"The proposed restriction as to the territo
e ries which are to be admitted into thp Lnion, i
a not in direct violation ofthe Constitution, is re
•_ pugnant to its principles."
n We might swell the list of authorities onthi
i- same point, fiom eminent American statesmer
Freedom of Thought and Opinion.
living and dead.
It is difficult to forcp from flip mind the be
lief that the -whole subject of slavery ir. the ter
ritories is greatly magnified. The right of a
sovereign State to control this subject is not dis
puted even by abolitionists. The right to es
tablish or abolish the institution is admitted.
The only effect that the legislation of Congress
can possibly have, must be confined to the ter
ritorial probation of a State, during which time
it can exercise but a limited influence ujion the
social or political affairs of the country. When
once admitted into the Union with slavery, a
State can abolish it—or admitted without it, she
can establish it. Should the people north of
36d 30m in Nebraska become numerous enough
to be admitted as a free State, they could after
wards establish the institution, even if the Mis
souri Hue or the actof JS2O had not been disturb
ed. Suppose, for example, that any ofthe States
covered by the ordinance of 1787, were at this
time to establish slavery, where would be the
remedy ? There would be none. If the peo
ple of a territory should desire to have the in
stitution, but perceiving that Congress might ob
ject to their admission into the Union, they
could forbear to establish it until after their
admission, and then do as they might deem best.
Hence the wisdom of allowing that power to
control in the beginning, that w ill most cer
tainly control in the end, or at a subsequent
period.
It is not to be denied that there is a most vi
olent and unwarrantable spirit evoked by this
slavery conflict, that should be discountenanced
by the good mrn of all parties. It is one ofthe
enigmas of human nature, that it can become so
unreasonable in some of its manifestations. Our
Anti-Nebraska friends should take care lest the
mania of a wild and ungovernable fanaticism
should possess :hem as it possessed
many others. The inflammatory and treasona
ble proceedings of an abolition convention in
the City of New York, not long since, calls far
the earnest condemnation of every lover of our
national Uniin.
Wendell Piillips said ;
"The Uniot sentiment is the great vortex
which swaljov up the great minds, and they
have power tfiough for the time being to influ
ence the perple. The only remedy for the
slave is the (fistruction of the government. I
challenge anj man to tell me what the Union
has done for is."
Wm. Lqvij Garrison proposed the following
resolution j | . - ;
"Resol'Atf, That the one grand vital issue to
he made \th the slave power, is the dissolu- I
tion of thtfoxisting American Union."
Henry p. Wright spoke to the resolution
and .said ;
"I like that resolution very much. This
country <)e fi-s God, or if it believes in God, 1
do riot. Tie Christian CjOil is tile most accursed
of demons. No man's right, can he ascertained
I by referenceto a Bible, a law, or a Constitu
tion. I dont care that [snapping his fingers]
for any suchbook or Constitution, when the
question of fberty and slavery is to he. consid
ered. The inly thing of importance is that the
mass of the aeople venerate the Constitution.
We shoi Id inifi avor to do away with this. I
thank Gad t.at T am a traitor to that Constitu
tion. I iha k God also that lam an infidel to
the popular eligion of this country and of all
Christencpr "
The Hn Edmund Quincv said that ; "The
Constitutor displayed the ingenuity ofthe ve
ry devil, ad that the Union ought to be dis
solved."
This waduring the pendency of the Ne
braska nndkansas bill before Congress. At the
j same tune ie leading Abolition journals were
loud in the denunciations of the bill itself:
and treasorble in their opposition toDie action
;of the goveiment. Horace Greeley, through
the New Yrk Tribune, said in reference to
the contemated passage ofthe bill :
"Better tat confusion should ensue—better
that discordhould reign in the National Coun
cils—betterlhat Congress should break up in
wild disordy nav, better that the capital itself
should Mazifiv the torch ofthe incendiary, or
fall and ,'mr all its inmates beneath its crumb
ling ruins, ttvn that this perfidy and wrong be
finally sccmplished."
There wej> manv treasonable exhibitions al
so, bv tv snv class of men, during the recent
Annivi/saryof American Independence. At
some pices tie bells were tolled, as if mourn
ing for-'ome ;r-at National calamity. At Far
ming!)!!), Massachusetts, treasonable speeches
were elivernl, after which Catrison, above
j name! burned the Constitution of the United
Statejand tlie Fugitive Slave Law, amid the
appltfe of men ot as little patriotism as Bene
j diet rnofil or himself.
Sifi are the incendiary and inflammatory
i sentfents with which despicable fanatics are
j endowing to indoctrinate the minds of the
NprFrii people. Such sentiments are the fit
pressors of the recent riots and murder in
Bust, trampling the Constitution and Laws
| undjthe foot of violence.
I, us, therefore, fellow-citizens, discard the
j docfies of the Abolitionists and anti-slavery
: ngittrs, and look upon the opinions which
[ : thevhve promulgated and are now promulgat
ing", the false lights thrown nut by the an
! cienfederalists, during the Missouri contro
vprsjto mystify the people and regain lost
' I P° VV J ' • . . "
Vlhave great confidence in the doctrine of
, popir sovereignty, and in the justice and wis
; donl the people. They have saved the coun
try many important criseses in our affairs.
) It \i the people that settled the government
i upche republican platform alter the Feder
: alis>f 1798 were driven from power. It was
; theople who sustained Jackson against the
-' maioth bank. It was the mass of the people
f wl'iave always upheld the country in time of
- wa It is to the people that we must look for
prrtion against the miserable treason and
s ! detable wiles of the enemies of the republic.
Tlpeople of Pennsylvania will be true to
their constitutional obligations, and their tri
umph in 1851 and 1852, are evidences that
they are riot only willing to be so, but also that
they have the power to be so. The day of
wild fanaticism and stolid bigotry on the ques
tion of slavery, has passed by in this State, and
her Democracy and her people generally have 1
planted themselves upon the principle's of the 1
Compromise of 1850. and there they will con
tinue to stand, whether victory or defeat awaits
them. They are willing to see the citizens of
the territories determine in their primary as
semblages the question of domestic slavery for
themselves, without the control or dictation of
the Central Government, which may, by aj
usurpation of power, pretend to define the lines;
of freedom and slavery by degrees of latitude j
and longitude, or by geographical boundaries.
The Democracy of Pennsylvania, guarding the •
destinies of the great central Commonwealth ol :
this Union, will adhere faithfully to the princi- |
pips ofthe Constitution, the sovereignty of the!
States-and of the people, and the stability and j
repose of the nation. The people of Pennsyl-I
vania are unselfish and unambitious, but they j
are jnst-rthey are modest and unpretending, j
and slow at arriving at conclusions, but they j
are powerful for good. The people of Ifiun- j
svlvania are patriotic by instinct, and will crush ;
to atoms all the feeble barriers to a healthy flow j
of public sentiment. Pennsylvania has always;
been a patriotic, union-loving State. She has
always stood by the flag of our common, coun- j
try. She is the Keystone of the Federal Arch,'
and standing midway between the North and
South, she constitutes the great break-water,
against which the waves of northern fanaticism
and southern folly have long surged and will
continue to surge in vain.
J. ELLIS BONHAM,
GEORGE C. WELKER, Chairman.
Secretary.
Letter from Rev. John Chambers.
The following letter from Rev. JOHN CHAM
BERS is characteristic of the man. He defends
himself from the attacks ofthe opposition with a
battle axe that hews its own path. We com
mend it to the many friends of the Rev. gentle
man in this County.
,L=j? from the Penusytvan i an.
LETTER OF THE REV. .!01L\ CHAMBERS.
Messrs. EDITORS. —During a recent visit to
the Bedford Springs I was called upon by some
ofthe most ardent friends of Temperance in the
State, and invited to address the people of Bed
ford on the importance of inducing every friend
' of humanity to vote for a prohibitory liquor law
at the ensuing election. I most cheerfully com
plied with the request of these gentlemen, and
I had hoped that I had discharged the duty im
posed up,n- me to the satisfaction of all.
Mv recollection is, that I urged upon the
people present on that occasion the importance
of the temperance reform generally, and exhor
ted to vote for a prohibitory law at the nexte
lection. I expressed the belief that the whole
question was involved in the resolutions allow
ing the people to vote for and against a prohib
itory law and that the real frjends of temper
ance should direct their attention to that point
and that only. I declared my belief that if the j
law was demanded in this way by the voice of j
the people it mattered but iittle who tilled the!
office ot Governor—the law would be sanction- I
ed—that no man would set himself against the j
will of the people. 1 said then as I repeat now j
that I believe either of the distinguished gen-!
tlemen would carry out that will if put in aj
form consistent with the terms of the Con- !
stitution.
I did say that Governor Bigler was too good j
a Democrat to resist ibe will of the people, and j
that Iliad every confidence beside in bis desire
to do any reasonable and proper thing to arrest
th- vice of intemperance; that I knew irom cor
respondence and personal intercourse wifli him,
that he held the doctrine that the will of the
people should be binding so far as related to the j
policy of the measure, but that he would not!
yield his right to judge ofthe constitutionality 1
and justice of a law when it came before him
he would not so far forget the dignity of his I
station or the obligation of his oath. But Gov- j
ernon Biglertias written to me no letter incon
sistent with his manly letter to the temperance j
Convention.
I felt more at liberty to say what I did of,
Governor Bigler, because I believe an attempt j
had been made to prostitute the sacred cause of
temperance to mere partizan ends, and to turn
its influence against his re-election. 1 did not j
hesitate, as I shall not, to rubuke this attempt, i
and I intend so to do whenever and wherever I ;
meet it, and this is the true and real cause of the
complaints which have been preferred against '
my Bedford address.
I also, at the same meeting in Bedford, refer
red to a secret sworn political organization,
whose object, so far as is made known, is tos dis
franchise every adopted citizens of thi glori
ous country, and that too, in the face of the
guaranties of the Constitution of the United ;
States, as well as of our own beloved ('•mnion- ;
wealth, both of which recognize the adopted
citizen on the same broad platform of civil and <
religious liberty, with the native born. Doubt- .
less then "the head and front of my offending" i
in the eyes of some of the unknown and un- I
knowing ones, is my strong and uncompromis- I
ing opposition to Jesuitism whether Protestant .
or Papal, and with these men the same objection
rests against Governor Bigler, because of his j <
fixed determination not to violate the Constitu- j i
tion and laws ofthe land, by disfranchising adop- i i
ted citizens either on account of their religion i I
or the place of their birth. j I
There are in my own church, and in every I I
other church in this "Land ofthe free and home j i
ofthe brave," men of foreign birth, as pure pa- j i
triots and as good men as ever breathed the air: '
of freedom—men, who to the letter obey the j <
Constitution and laws of the country of their , I
adoption. Are these men to be stricken down j <
TERHS, 99 PER YEAR.
j like felons, by the iron hand of a secret sworn
j band of petty despots ? Every true hearted,
Constitution and law-loving and law-abiding
I American Christian and patriot will answer
no ! But if the men who have emigrated from
i Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, Germany,
France and elsewhere, and made this the land
of their adoption, citizens by choice and not by
accident, and among whom are to be found our
j best citizens, are to be turned out of polrticni
society and treated like serfs, solely because
they were born out of the United States, let
i those who are secretly sworn thus to treat
them, follow the example of the MavorofPbil
| adelphia. and boldly avow their purpose, and
i not hide themselves or their actions from the
i light of day. It will be much more in accord
ance with the true American character.
So far as regards the bald and weak inven
tion that I was slumping the State for Govern-
I or Bigler, and the vulgar and childish clamor
! for "that Letter," 1 can afford, so far as I am
concerned myself, to treat them with merited
contempt, and to let them pass me as the idle
winds. I have a higher, holier, better object
in view, the psssage of a Prohibitory Law, and
am therefore not alarmed by these Tempests of
Penny Teapots, neither will they prevent me
• from urging upon every friend of humanity in
i the State to vote for a Prohibitory Liquor Law
I without fail, anil for Governor for whomsoever
tiley please.
As regards my own vote, I will say that Go
vernor Bigler, nor no other man shall have mv
I vote for the otiice of Governor, unless he is will
: ing to submit to the will of the people on this
: great and all-important question—nor will I
j vote for a member of either branch of the Le
gislature on any other ground. Nor will I
ever vote for a member of ariv Jesuit Associa
tion, Protestant or Catholic, having good reason
to believe him such. How could I vote for
| men who are sworn to disfranchise my father,
my uncle, my brother, and some of the best
neighbors and dearest friends that I have, and
some of the very best men in my church?
JOHN CHAMBERS.
Frightful Railroad Acrithut.
At half-past eight o'clock cn Thursday morn
ing, Mr. Vandusen's pass* nger train, which
left Cincinnati at 6 A. M., met with a most
serious accident when some three miles west of
this place. The train was passing around n
curve in an excavation, beyond which was a
heavy embankment, and just as it grt within
viewoftbe terminus of the excavation, a cow
; appeared on the track, and before the cars
could be stopped she was under the wheels.—
The most frightful result was the consequence?
The engineer was so much alarmed that he was
about jumping heedlessly into the trestle bridge,
through which he would have inevitably fallen
dead, had not the fireman, with great presence
of mind, caught hirn and held him secure.—
The locomotive jumped over the cow, at the
same time breaking, locse from the tender,
alighting square on the track, ran safely on.
The baggage car was thrown down an em
bankment of about forty feet, turning twice
over before reaching level ground. In this car
were some half a dozen persons, excepting two
of whom, strange to relate, all escaped with but
I slight scratches. Two of them were seriously
! injured. Mr. Hartwell Locke, the express
; messenger, was, by several physicians, who
i soon arrived, pronounced in a dying condition,
and such intelligence Was borne throughout the
| country by the passengers who left on the train.
He was insensible, and up to eight o'clock this
; morning has remained in that condition. His
■ injuries are not flesh wounds nor broken bones,
| but what is worse, they are internal, and per
; haps chiefl vin his head. Mr. Kenan, the mail
agent, was the other person who was badlv
hurt.
The newsboy, a lad of some fifteen years of
age, was extricated from beneath the top of the
baggage car, which had slid off, with scarcely a
scratch upon him. The baggage master, Mr.
Gardiner, escaped with slight injuries to an an
cle end a few cuts on his forehead, and George,
the colored "train boy," came out yet better,
for he complains of nothing but a little stiffness.
That all who were in this car were not killed
outright, is the greatest wonder of all who
have seen the wreck, which is the most com
plete smash-op that ever occurred in this region
ofcountry.
The first passenger car was next to go off.—
It pitched endwise down the hill, and was
completely riddled by the trucks, which passed
through the floor, tearing the seats loose, and
throwing them, together with thirty or fortv
passengers, into one great heap.
Such a sight of bloody noses and limping peo
ple were perhaps never seen in one company
before. One man had a shoulder joint displaced,
another had a severe gash cut in his face; one
had his finger smashed, another a foot scraped,
but of the whole number, not one was seriously
injured.— Cincinnati Times, Aug 19.
FATAL EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING.—A corre
spondent of the Detroit Free Press, writing from
Pecatonica, Winnebago county, 111., on the
14-th ult., says:—l witnessed, yesterday, one
of the most melancholy scenes I ever beheld.
In the town of Lysander, one mile of Pe
catonica depot, there lay enshrined in five cof
fins a Mr. Merchant, two sons and two daugh
ters, all of whom u ere struck with lightning
during a thunder shower, about two o'clock, A.
M.— leaving in the family only the wife ami
one son about eight years old : they both being
much injured by the shock, tin- woman remain
ing mentally deianged, continually bemoaning
the loss of her family. The circumstances of
their deaths ought to be a caution to the public
to manage differently from what they did. The
night being very warm, they took off their beds
and placed them on the floor in a cool room,
where stood a stove, and the lightning, coming
down the stove pipe, divided on the stove
hearth, and struck the whole family of seven,
of whom only two survived.
VOL XXIII, NO. 4.