ill) , (Q i mwm TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM.? JIALF-YEAULV IN ADVANCE. 5 AND FABIV1EBS' AND MECHANICS' REGISTER. iIF NOT PAID WITHIN THE YEAR, I $'2 50 WILL BE CHAHGED. -j. - " ' ' - Jl a PRINTED AND PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY JONATHAN ROW, SOMERSET, SOMERSET COUNTY, PA. New Scries. TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 1347, Vol. 5.-N o. 10. . . , - . From the New York Observer. MOONLIGHT THOUGHTS. BY PARK BENJAMIN". How coldly bright the silent moon Above yon cloudy pillar shines; How sweetly, on the trembling wave Reflected, glow her silver lines! The air is still, and from each sphere Of saphire in the distant skies, Like diamond sparkles, soft and clear, Look down a myriad starry eyes! Above, the heavens are all undimm'd: Below, save on the horizon's verge, Where one gold-tinted vapor stands, There drifts no pale and misty surge; Around, save where the forests throw Their dark, collected shadows down, The landscape's broad and smiling brow Seems not to wear a single frown. The peaceful silence of the night Into my secret soul descends, And dreams of high and holy thought This scene of love, transporting, lends. 1 would not give an hour like this, In heavenly musing sweetly passed, lor days and years ol common bliss, Or earthly joys that cannot last. In such an hour my spirit goes Beyond the narrow bounds of Time, And soars away, on tireless wing, To realms unfading and sublime: To realms where pure and perfect light Is faintly pictured in each gem That glitters on the zone of Night, Or gleams upon her diadem. 29TH CONGRESS. Second Session. Correspondence of the Baltimore Ameri can. Washington', January 7. UNITED STATES SENATE. The resolution of Mr. Cameron direc ting the Secretary of the Treasury to re port to the Senate upon what articles in the tariff of '40, the duties can be in creased bevond the existing rates, so as to augment the revenue, and to what ex tent the said duties can be increased, and what additional revenue would accrue therefrom, came up for consideration. Mr. Cameron made some remarks in support of the resolution, and quoted the articles of coal, iron, copper and sugar, among others, as those upon which he thought a large increase of revenue would arise from an increase of duty. Messrs. Brcese and Spleight made some remarks upon the position taken by Mr. Cameron. Mr. Dewis thought the rerenue could be increased by a further reduction of du ties, and suggested a modification of the resolution so as to embrace an inquiry upon what articles the duties can be re duced so as to increase the revenue. Mr. Nilcs condemned the financial pol icy of the Administration, as every way wrong, anti-democratic and inconsistant. The feeble prosecution of the war was, he thought, owing to the feeble state of the Treasury. The Government needed loans to the extent of thirty-five millions annually, and yet no provision was pro posed for meeting the interest on such loans. Under these circumstances every man could see tiiat the credit of the coun try must suffer. There was one way in which he thought we could obtain loans m the present e mcrgency, and that was by sanctioning a paper currency in the form of Treasury Notes, which would be taken by the peo ple in the course of business, though not for investment by capitalists. The resolution having been amended so as to ask also upon what articles in the free list, duties shall be laid for revenue upon what articles duties can be re duced, to produce revenue, and whether the imposition of duties upon articles now free, will increase their cost to the consu mer, how much? was adopted. ENLISTMENTS FOR THE ARMY. Mr. Benton, from the Committee on Military Affairs, reported a bill to encour age enlistments in the regular army. The bill provides that the term of the enlistment should be for the war, or for live years at the option of the recruit, and also that he shall receive a bounty of 12 one-half on enlisting and the other half upon joining regiment. Mr. B. stated that these provisions would, he thought, have the invaluable ef fect of filling up the ranks of the army which was so much needed at this time. Fhc actual force now in service was 11.500, and 5,000 more were required to '1 up the ranks. Mr. Crittenden said that as at present advised he should vote for the bill. But he desired to ask the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations what was ihe prospect of the continuance of the war? and whether any information had !een received from the' Mexican Go vernment or Congress hi reply to the pro- position of this Government for a nego tiation? Mr. Benton observed that the Chair man of the Committee on Foreign Rela tion? (Mr. Sevier) was not in his seat. Mr. Crittenden said he was there when he rose and he had not observed his de parture. He was very anxious to see an end to this war. The best mode would be to adopt such means as were now pro posed. There was anotner way, and that was to fall back upon some portion of the ter ritory which we have taken, and let the Mexicans make war upon us. But this would leave it in doubt wnen the war would be ended. He wished he could be convinced that this was the most effectual mode. But, however deplorable was the continuation of the war, he must say that in his opinion the only way to obtain peace was to carry on a vigorous war to adopt the fullest measures, and to vote for the most ample supplies of men and money. Mr. Archer said that no information had been given to the Committee on For eign Relations of any answer of the Mex ican Congress to our offers to negotiate, and he believed there were no advices from Mexico on the subject. After some further remarks from Messrs. Archer and Crittenden, the bill was passed through all its Mages and sent to the House, from which it was after wards returned with a slight amendment which was concurred in. It therefore only wants the President's signature to become a law. The rest of the day was consumed in debating a report from the Committee on Printing against printing a memorial from sugar planters in Louisiana for a repeal of the tariff of '46, in which Mr. Johnson, of Md., made some hits that told, in re ference to Mr. Polk's denunciations of treason against those who exercise tiieir right to question his course in' the incep tion of the war. IIOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Mr. Leaman, of N. Y., gave notice of a Bill (to be reported to-morrow if possi ble,) to prevent the importation of foreign pauoers and criminals into the United States. ARMY BILL. DEBATE UPON SLAVERY. Mr. Dargin, of Ala., went on to make a speech that commanded much attention. It was mainly upon the great question of Slavery, and took high ground in refer ence to it. Slavery, he said, was now the question that threatened this Union. Slavery, which was brought to us from England and from the North. The North had thought proper to get rid of tie In stitution, and the condition of master and slave yet retained with the South, but it did not follow that England and the North were free from all forms of oppression. In regard to the Missouri Compromise, Mr. D. said lie held it as most sacred, and would abide by it. But would the North would Northern men upon this floor, say they were ready to abide by this Compromise; not one of them. Mr. Vinton, of Ohio asked the gentle man to allow him to explain. He denied that the North had violated the Missouri Compromise. There had been no free territory made South of 3G 30, since the Missouri Compromise, and much of the territory beyond was not now in the U nion. Moreover the Missouri Compro mise applied to the country then in the Union, and not to the country which had been acquired from foreign countries. Mr. Dargin went on and said the coun try did not understand the Compromise, and he repeated that the Northern men were ready to abandon it. Even more than this. They would violate this com promise which had now been preserved lor twenty-seven years, and never violated by the South. And there was not one Southern man who would violate it or suffer it to be violated. Mr. Douglass. I am not willing to be misunderstood by my silence. I am wil ling to abide by the Missouri Compro mised I recognized it in the Texas Reso lutions. I recognise it now, and shall al ways recognise it. Mr. Dargin, coming to the war ques tion, said that he regretted that the Army had ever crossed the Rio Grande after the battles of the 8th and 9th. If his hand could have controlled the action of other men, they should never have crossed. And having crossed, he did not think it necessary that the Army should go to the Halls of the Montezumas. He would rather mark out a line and defend it, and thus show to the world that we had gone to war for the sake of securing peace. By thi remark he did not mean to cen sure the Administration, but only to ex press his own opinion. And now he would ask, shall we take any territory f fro in Mexico if the north will not divide it with us? Shall our sons from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and elsewhere fight battles to make free States. I desire, said Mr. DM to see this ques tion settled here, and that we may now know for what we fight, and whether for the North and South, or for the North alone. Give us the territory south of 3030 for a slave country. This, he said, to Northern men. If they refuse to do this, this Union at once must sink. ! There could be no donbt of this whatever. : The Union was instituted for our good and our common good. If the Missouri compromise was to be violated, from the day it was done we might dale the down fall of the American Union. Take this as the admonition of a man who may not address you again or repre sent his constituents hereafter upon this floor. His honest convic'ion was that the Union could not last one day after the Compromise was violated. He therefore beseeched all men to act up to this com promise, and to preserve the Union. But there were real dangers hanging over the country at this time, and it was time for men, without regard to party, to rally as one man to remove the difficulties. Mr. Seddon of Va., continued the de bate, and thanked the member for the cool, temperate and timely remarks he had made. He concurred in all that had been said. For himself he was a South ern man in birth, in feeling and in educa tion, and when he heard some of the re marks which had been made upon this floor, he found it difficult to restrain him self. Mr. S. then went on to speaii of the Slave question as a momentous one, and as one which the North had no right to interfere with. Tiie Noiili had no right to say all this territory shall be free; and the country could not carry on a war upon this aspect of the question. Mr. Grover of N. Y., continued the debate in a speech in reply to the two which had gone before. He thought thought there was no danger of dissolv ing the Union, and he believed the Union would last that even these Southern men would rally under it and enjoy it for ages to come. Mr. G. argued this ques tion with such earnestness and indepen dence as to call up Mr. Boyd of Ky., Mr. Chapman of Alabama, Mr. Sedden of Va. all of whom were disposed to put most pointed ques tions to him, but ail of which he answer ed by declaring that he was in favor of the war in favor of the acquisition of territory, but that he would demand as he believed the whole Democracy of the North would, that all territory hereafter annexed should be free territory. He would vote to put Slavery upon no soil where it did not now exist. The Compromise did not require that foreign Country, now tree should be converted into Slave territory and it was selfish to ask it. He had voted for the admission of Texas with Slavery, because the In stitution already existed here, but there was no Slavery in Mexico, barbarous as that Nation was. Correspondence of ihe Cumberland Civilian. "Washington, Jan. 7, G A. M. The unanimity of the House of Rep resentatives, on Tuesday, in adopting tha report of the Committee of Military Af fairs, asking to be discharged from so much of the late message of the Presi dent as relates to the appointment of a Lieutenant General of the Army and to lay it upon the table, was intended more to show Mr. Polk that he does not pos sess the confidence of that branch of Congress, than as an expression of opin ion upon the merits of that proposition which he had presented for their con sideration. A motion was accordingly made yes terday to reconsider the vote, which was agreed to by a majority of two yeas 80 nays 84 and the report being again before the House, a motion was made to lay it upon the table, which was nega tived yeas 93, nays 97 and the whole subject was then referred to the Committee of the Whole. Persons ignorant of the views of a ma jority of the House upon the subject, may" be apt to form a conclusion from the proceedings of yesterday, that there is a probability of the proposed measure pas sing the House but I repeat to you, what I said in my last, that, in my opin ion, it is destined to meet with a certain rejection. The reason for reviving the subject again, was that it would afford members an opportunity of presenting their views upon it. The Military Committee in the Senate (of which Col. Benton is Chairman,) will, I understand, report a bill for the appointment of a "Major General com manding in Chief" in accordance to the recommendation of the President, (who, you will have perceived, docs not desig nate the title with which he desires his "Military Embassador" to be clothed) and it is thought probable that the bill will be passed by a majority of one or two votes, not so much on account of the merits of the proposition, as from a friendly feeling towajds Col. Benton. I regret that Senators should permit per sonal feeling to influence them upon a question so important, and trust that a measure so full of injustice towards Gen. Taylor and Gen. Scott may yet fail to receive the sanction ol that body. Al though it should not, as I think it will not, beceme a law, its sanction by the highest branch of the National Legisla ture, would certainly be galling to the just pride of those gallant officers. I staged in my last that the ground upon which the President asks for the crea tion of this high office, is that the volun teers are not satisfied to be led by any officer of the regular army. This ground is not taken in the message, but it is the ground upon which the measure is urged privately, and the fact was communica ted to me by an administration member, . upon whom it was urged in soliciting his vote. The monthly statement of the balance in the Treasury has not yet been publish ed. Upon inquiry being made at the Treasury Department yesterday, the re ply was, as I am informed, that it had been published last week in the Union but on looking over a file of that paper I find that no such publication has been made. I am informed, however, that the bounce on the last week in December was about 3,200,000 dollars. This will keep the Government afloat for the bal ance of this month and a portion of next, but what is to be clone then? This is the question, and it is a question deman ding serious consideration. , Mr. Walker takes the refusal of the House to tax tea and coflec in no very : amiable spirit, and, it is said, is determin ed to submit no other proposition but to let the harmonious Locofoco majority take their own course in devising the mode of raising the Ways and Means. Ho knows full well that money caunot be raised without a repeal of the Sub Treasury end yet he doggedly refuses to ; ask for it. Necessity will bring him lo ) it, however, before Ihe month is out. j The slavery question, in connection with the Mexican war, has been again introduced in the House by some of the Northern Locolbcos, and, as the Union says, threatens "to shiver the Democratic, party to pieces." It is a topic I will net dwell upon, and regret its introduction. The "Democratic party" will be shivered without its aid. The Union must not be perinittdd to forget, however, the elation it displayed upon the re-election of Mr. Wilmot, by whom it was first introduced. Ex-Senator Young, of Illiuois, has been appointed Commissioner of the General Land office and was yesterday confirmed by the Senate. CALVERT. TIieTarlflT-Mr. Edie's Resolutions The following are the resolutions sub mitted in the House of Representatives a few days ago, by Mr. Edie, of Somer set. They embody the sentiments of Pennsylvania on this great and important question, and will meet with but little, if any opposition, Whereas, The Tariff of 1812 answer ed all the purposes of the Revenue, and yielded to American industry, the en couragement necessary to the develope ment of the great resources of the coun try: and whereas, a bill has passed the Congress of the United States and be come a law, which has injuriously affec ted the important staple productions of this Commonwealth, and retarded the great Agricultural and manufacturing in tercsts of the nation, therefore: Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, in General Assembly met, That our Senators in Congress be, and are hereby instructed, and our Rep resentatives requested to use every effort to procure the repeal of the Tariff act of 181G, and the restoration of the act of 1812. Resolved, That the Governor be re quested to transmit a copy of these reso lutions to each of our Senators and Rep resentatives in Congress. A HIT. The following resolutions, introduced into the Illinois House of Representatives by Mr. Linder, on the 21st ultimo, exci ted a loud and general laugh. "We are afraid they will hardly pass that Loco Foco body, "Whereas, as appears from the message of President Polk to the Congress of the United States, Santa Anna has been guil ty of the most black hearted treachery, in failing to perform and make good certain promises made to President Polk, (the consideration of said promise being a passport to Mexico,) one of which was that, on his arrival at Mexico, he would get up a fight with Parcdes and thereby bring the war between the United States and Mczico to a close. Therefore, Resolved by the House of Representa tives of the Slate of Illinois, the Senate concurring herein, that we deeply sympa thise with President Polk, inasmuch as his reasonable expectations have not been realised in consequence of the treachery of the aforesaid Santa Anna. And be it further resolved, That Santa Anna is unworthy the further confidence of President Polk, and that we lms! respectfully recommend to the President to place no further reliance upon the promises of Santa Anna lo bring the war to a close. And be it further resolved. That inas much as Santa Anna Ins heretofore, on all occo-ions, te2n gov3rned by a strict regaod to truth, fiedlity, and honor in his conduct, that President Polk had good reason to believe he would hold sacred his word, thus solemnly pledged, and which we still believe he would have done had he received the two millions of dollars as per contract with the President. Position of the Whigs, On the presentation to the Senate of a memorial from the State of Delaware, i praying Congress to use steady and etfi- J cient means for terminating the war and securing an honorable peace, Mr. Clayton remarked, that the memo rial was numerously signed by men of both political parties. These petitioners were not men who have any conscien tious scruples about engaging in war, when war became necessary; but they spoke merely as patriots as men having the interests of all American citizens at heart, and prayed that all proper measures might be taken for the purpose of bring ing about a speedy and honorable peace. But in the position in which he stood as one of the Senators of the United States, he felt bound to say that he did not see a ny efficient means of procuring an hon orable peace, except by fairly fighting out the war. He should therefarc, without a ny hesitation or reluctance whatever, give his support to all measures which might lie proposed bv t!io-e who ought best to know vvli.ii was iiiuifpciisuule ior carry ing on vigorously, and to a successful ter mination, the existing war. He said no thing now about furnishing the means for purchasing foreign territory, or hi any other way aggrandising the country; he spoke simply of the supplies which were necessary for carrying on the war; and. in this respect, he should not be a whit behind his colleagues in srpporting the eflorts of the Executive, lie had heard it stated, and had seen it stated in many of the public prints, that there exists in parts of the country, factions devoted to party interests and hostile to the true in terests of the nation, and ready to take part with Mexico in the existing war. lie did not believe a syllable of it. He did not believe there existed any such party. He did not mean to say that there might not be some individuals who entertain such feelinfis; but if there were any, he had no doubt they were very few. That there was any such feeling in the great party which was opposed to him in political opinions, or that there were por tions of that party prepared to take part with the enemies of the country, he did not believe ; and he rejected the suppo sition even as degrading to American character. Least of all did he believe that the great whig party of the country was ready to espouse the cause of any foreign power at war with this country. He held, and he firmly believed, that althongh there was a majority of their political op ponents at this time taking part in the councils of the nation, vet that the whig party were, and did, constitute at this mo ment a majority of the people of the country; and that they wsre capable of lending themselves in aid of a foreign power was impossible. But the charge had been made that such a party existed, and it might be true that those who made the charge desired to bring about that very result; it might be that the wish was the father to be thought; but no such accusa tion no such raillery or calumny would ever 'drive the whig party of the nation into hostility with the government of the country in prosecution of a war with a foreign nation. With regard to the means to be employed in the prosecution of the war, those who understood the subject better thon he did might devise the means of bringing about a speedy and honorable peace with Mexico; he was not prepared to speak on this subject at pre sent, but would only say generally that he was ready to co-operate with all who could produce measures aiming and cal culated, in the view of responsible men, to effect an honorable peace. But in his humble opinion, at present it appeared to be their duty to strengthen the arm of the government by every fair and honor able means in prosecuting the war so fur as in their power. ARMY REGULARS AND VOLUN TEERS. Adjutant General Jones gives the fol lowing as the amount of troops, regulars and volunteers, now in service. REftl'LARS. In the field, officers and men, including general staff, 0,615 Troops at sea, and under orders to join the army, 1,093 Recruiis en route for the seat of war, 762 Aggregate regulars in campaign, 8,115 VULI'NTEERS. In the field. 1G ,745 At sea, for California, fio Aggregate volunteers in rarnpnign, 10.314 This makes the tuial force at that tune within a fraction of 25,000. Of these, we learn from iheMJnioii, Maj. Gen. I ay lor has 18,332 under his command; Gen. Wool, 2;6G0, andGeneral Kearney, 3,992. Add to these, nine additional reigiments recently called into sen ice, it makes the whole amount to morc than thirty thousand. Correspondence of the N. O. Mercury. GCX. WOOL'S CXC.tMr JIIIXT. Parras, (Lat. 25,26.) Mexico, Dec. 7. After a most fatiguing and distressing march we have reached Parras, one of the most considerable towns in Coahuila, and long celebrated for its superior wines. We hive encamped in a beautiful valley two miles from town. From this point a very comprehensive view of the town is obtained; you trace its narrow and crook ed streets, which appear to have been planned without method and built with out meaning; you see its flat-roofed buil dings, with the long lines of water-gutters projecting from each front, having the ap pearance of guns from a fortification; you see the hospital, now going as many of its inmates have gone before it; the college, the lesser churches in ruins, and the great cathedral towering above all. if a The houses are, with few exceptions, of adobe, the walls generally plastered & of great thickness. Rude attempts at sculpture are common among the better class of houses; the doors and windows are frequently elaborately carved. Thcro seems to be no particular order of archi tecture adopted, but the houses bave 3 general resemblance, strength and dura bility being the ends principally aimed at. E ich one is a castle of itself, and capable of being strongly defended. Parapets to) the roofs are common, from behind which the most effective fire could be poured up on an enemy, without exposing the per son of the djfender. The shops of Parras have been well patronized, and the people, perhaps, have not seen such prosperous .times since tho Viceroy of Spain rehearsed in their streets the mock heroics of majesty. Our presence has been to them a jubileo rather than a devastation, and we should be hailed as deliverers rather than be re garded as enemies. The cathedral of Monclova is a building of imposing mag nitude, being nearly 100 feet in front, and about 175 feet in depth. The roof is formed by six arches, and supported by massive pillars, elaborately carved into an architectural resemblance of the compos ite order; a stone wall encloses the front, with several niches, in which crucifixes are placed. The front is plain, the door large and elaborately carved. At mass this morning the building was crowded with visitors from the camp, officer and soldier, Protestant and Catho lic, realizing for once the equality of man in the temple erected to the worship of his Creator. Here, too, the master and peon kneel side by side, murmuring the same prayers, bending their knees upon the same ground, sprinkling themselvea with the same holy water, and figuring the same crosses upon their persons. The attitudes of the females when kneel ing, with eyes bent on the images of the Saviour, arc strikingly beautiful. Some of their dresses were rich; none wore bonnets, but instead silk shawls or rebo zas, or tapolos of various but not gaudy coloring. These were thrown over the head and drawn down closely upon the brow by the hand. What was most re markable among them, the belles wore bustles of no insignificant size, the first I had seen since I left New Orleans. The costume of the males is simple and picturesque, partaking of the oriental character. It consists of white shirt and pantaloons, the latter very large and flow ing, over which leathern ones are drawn, with the exterior seam open from the knee down. Sandals are the most com mon protection to the feet, though shoes are also worn. The weather is extremely disagreeable the mornings raw, bleak and chilly the noontime hot and scorching the eve ning cold and cheerless. Winter creeps not upon us with the slow and solemn pace which precedes its advent in more northern climes. There is nothing of the mellowness of autumn, the dreary hours which the dim and hazy atmos phere of an Indian summer always cre ates; no foliage, rich in its green and gol den hues, picturing tiie struggles between the reign of youth and the deereptitude of old age. Nature, indeed, presents the look of life, but it is life-worn and hag gird. The country through which we have passed is a barren wild, immense moun tains on every side, with vallies rich only in a thousand varieties of cactus. These plants arc frequently seen bursting from the same point, rearing their horrid forms like the hydra from a single stem. Cus tom cannot "stale their infinite variety." i r... ,i .-- rrmd-itinn ail with i on nere uuu , I herbs and needles for the torture and ter ror of unn and beast and creeping tilings. Vet in tiie language of fiction, of poetry and ignorance, "this is the land where Nature Ins done so much and man so lit tle; the land of golden suns and purpla skies; the land of the olive and the vine; the land where the sublime and beautiful ara contending for the mastery, where tho plains are garnished with perpetual ver dure and cnammelled with flowers of pe renial loveliness, and the mountains arc crowned with an eternal diadem of snow,' Alas! "the enchantment is due to dis tance," and language s?cms but an un meaning mockery when I'm perverted to lnoiat a mora gr adorn a tale.'