(fhoie No. 2445. MESSAGE ON THE gANSAS QUESTION. received from General Calhoun, the 1 have na Constitutional Conven - • COpi, ■!•>> OCHificd I.J ** ?r ,f the Constitution framed by that l - the expression of a hope that I il,; the same to the consideration fS'ii,r.hcvie.v u f SF c„ri„ s ,hea,l. r r Kansas into tlie I nion as an m -0* u | In compliance with this n en i herewith transmit to Congress, for * rim the Constitution of Kansas, with 15 finance respecting the public lands, as the letter of Gen Calhoun, dated Jiwpton, 14th ultimo, hy which they hut a single copy of the restitution and ordinance, I send this to delusion seems to pervade the Ui Blind in relation to the condition of P in Kansas. This arises from the Sv of inducing the American people to •Km the fact thafuiiy portion of them II be in a state of rebellion against the iwt un,U-r wliicl. .he, live. When * sneak of affairs in Kansas, we are apt to Lrmerely to the existence of two violent litical parties in that Territory, divided on Question of slavery, just as we speak of ,|, par ies in the States. This presents no Senuite idea of the true state of the case.— 5,7 dividing line there is not between two slitiral parties, both acknowledging the t*ful existence of the Government, but ' rwn those who are loyal to the Govern nt and tlo'se who have endeavored to de for its existence by force and usurpation ; tjcen those who"sustain and those who ,*> dune all in their power to overthrow L Territorial Government established by ><rr ess. This Government they would ■„g since have subverted had it not been notwted from their assaults by the troops | the United States. Such has been the edition of affairs since my inauguration. i.(r since that period a large portion of the pple of Kansas have been in a state of re gion against the Government, with a mil- C rv leader at their head, of the most turbu st'.and dangerous character. Thev have never acknowledged, but have sistantly denounced and defied, the Gov nment to which they owe allegiencc, and sre been all th time in a state of resi-t --re against its authority. They have alt fetime been endeavoring to subvert it and sibiish a revolutionary Government, under k su.eeilod Topeka Constitution in its bul. Even at this very moment the To- Legislature is in session. Whoever a read the correspondence of Gov. Walker o the State Department, recently com i.aicated to the Senate, will be convinced m this picture is not overdrawn. He al ms protested against the withdrawal of any ri ui of the military forces of the United w- fr..m the Territory, deeming its pres ses absolutely necessary for the preserva in .f the regular Government, and the cx wion of the laws. In his very first bpiitch to the Secretary of State, dated .** 2, 1857, he says : The most alarming movement, however, (weeds from the assembling of the so-call itTupeka Legislature, with the view to the simuent of an entire code of laws. Of w-e. it will be my endeavor to prevent acis a result a* would l-nd to an inevitable, itt'trous collision, and, in fact renew civil B in Kan-as." This was with difficulty w-nced by the efforts of Gov. Walker, but k a General Harney was required to fur whim a regiment of dragoons to proceed '■ir city of Lawrence ; and this, for reason fel he had received authentic intelligence vsiSetl by his own actual observation, tfiat aJfercrtis rebellion bad occurred, " involv- 'pen defiance of the laws, and the es ttisbment of au insurgent Government in sreity." it the Governor's despatch of July loth, * inform- the Secretary of State " that the at l.awrence was the beginning 'ilplan originating in that city: to organize ■ insurrection throughout the Territory, *ispecially in all towns, cities, andcoun **iiere the Republicans have a majority. lrtnce is the hot-bed of all tlie Abolition Mments in this Territory. It is the town *tijiishe<l by the Abolition societies of the bland whilst there are respectable people few, it is filled byr considerable number ; mercenaries who are paid J>y the Aboli ■Jisoeieties to perpetuate and diffuse agita throughout Kansa, and prevent tlie ftttful settlement of this question. Having kiW in inducing their own—the so'called tyski State Legislature—to organize this "•nrrection, Lawrence has commenced it and If not arrested, the rebellion *i ; l extend throughout the Territory." And again : "In order to send this cora •**tion immediately by mail I must close firing you that a spirit of rebellion per the great mass of the Republicans of Territory instigated, as I entertain no thoy are, by Eastern societies, having fiew results most disastrous to the Gov ®*ait and the Union, and that the con presence of General Harney is indis i*®ut>le ag originally stipulated by me with * body of dragoons and several bat tenes." G® the 20th of July, 1857, General Lane, ' G ' w the authority of the Topeka Conven undertook, as General Walker says, the whole so called free-State r '- T into volunteers, and take the names of . 'refuse enrolment. The professed ob * 1 was to protect the poles at the election Sou ? ÜB ' new ,Bur g ent Topeka Legislature." The object of taking .nameg of all who refuse the enrolment , the free State conservatives into This i 8 prove-, by the recent committtcd on such men by the v odt '^ e B P ee(J y location of large regular troops here with two bat • is necessary. The Lawrence insur ftr.i - await developement of this new uttobary military organization." Uth j JoVernor Walker's despatch of July bfcn. Lane and his staff everywhere deny nrs 1 WWEWB&W&v IMSW3IS , ekSWSJ9 (EWDOTrjrffg SPA® the authority of the Territorial laws, and counsel a total disregard of these enactments. Without making further quotations of simi lar character from other despatches of Gov* I Walker, it appear- by a reference to acting Governor Staunton's communication to Sec. retary Cass, under date of the 9th of Decern, ber last, that the important step of calling the Legislature together was taken after . Governor Walker had become satisfied that the election ordered by the Convention on the 21st inst., could not be conducted with out collision or bloodshed. So'intense was the disloyal feeling among the enemies of the Government established by Congress, that an election which afforded them an op portunity, if in the majority, of making Kansas a free State, according to their own professed desire, cnuld not be conducted without collision and bloodshed. The truth is, that until the present moment the enemies of the existing Government still adhero to their l'opeka revolutionary Constitution and | Government. The very first paragraph of the message of Governor llobinson, dated j 7th of Dec .in ber, to the Topeka Legislature no>r assembled in Lawrence, contains an open defiance of the Constitution and laws I of tne United States. The Governor says: " The Convention which framed the Constitution at Topeka originated with the people of Kansas Terri j tory. They have adopted and ratified the ; same twice by a direct vote, and also indi rectly through two elections of State officers and members of the State Legislature.. Vet I it has pleased the Administration to regard the whole proceeding as revolutionary." , ; This Topeka Government, adhered to with i such treasonable pertinacity, is a Govorn j meat in direct opposition to the existing i Government, as prescribed and recognized j by Congress, ft is an usurpation of the same f character as it would be for a portion of the people of any State to uudertake to establish a seperate Government within its limits, for ; j the purpose of redressing any grievance, real j or imaginary, of which they utight complain, against the legitimate State Government, i Such a principle, if carried into execution, 1 would destroy all lawful authority and pro ! duee universal anarchy. From this statement of facts, the reason becomes palpable why the enemies of the | Government authorized by Congress have re* j fused to vote for delegates to the Kansas Constitutional Convention, and also after wards on the question of slavery, submitted by it to the people. It is because they have ' ever refused to sanction or recognize any j other Constitution than that framed at To peka. Jfad the whole Lccompton Constitu ' tion been submitted t< the people the adhei ' reuts of this organization w.uld doubtless have voted against it, because, if successful they would thus have removed an obstacle ! out of the way of their own revolutionary | Constitution. They would have done tiiis : not upon consideration of the merits of the whole or part of the Lecompton Constitution but simply because they have ever resisted the Government authorized by Congress, I from wli'ch it emanated. Such being the unfortunate condition of affairs of the Territory, what was the right as well its the duty of law-abiding people.' Were they silently and patiently to submit to the Topeka usurpation, or adopt some ne cessary incasuie to establish a Constitution under the organic law <>f Congress? That this law recognized the right of the people of the Territory, without the enabling act of Congress, to form a State Constitution, is too clear for argument. For Congress "to leave the people of the Territory perfectly free," J in framing their Constitution, " to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their i own way, subject only to the Constitution I of the United States," and then to say they i shall not be permitted to proceed and frame a Constitution in their own way, without the express authority of Congress, appears to be almost a contradiction of terms. It would be much more plausible that the peo ple of a Territory might be kept out of the Union for an indefinite period, and until it mi"ht please Congress to permit them to ex : ercTse the right of self-government. This would he to ado t, not their own way, 'but the way which Congress might pre scribe.' It is impossible that any people i could have proceeded with more regularity in the formation of a Constitution than the people of Kansas have done. It was neces ! sarv first, to ascertain whether it was the de sire of the people, to be relieved from a ! Territorial dependence and establish a State Governm nt. For this purpose, the Territo ! rial Legislature, in 1855, passed a law for 'taking the sense of toe people of this Terri tory upon the expediency of calling a Con vention to form a State Constitution,' at the general election to be held in October, 185fi. The 'sense of the people' was accordingly taken, and they decided in favor of a Con vention. It is true, that at the election the enemies of the Territorial Government did not vote, because they were then engaged at Topeka, without the slightest pretext of law ful authority, in framing a Constitution of their own, for the purpose of subverting the Territorial Government. In pursuance of the decision of the people in favor of a Convention, the Territorial Legislature, on the 27th of February, 1857, passed an act for the election of delegates on the third Monday of June, 1857, to frame a State Constitution. This law is as fair in its provisions as any that passed a legislative body for a similar purpose. The right of suffrage at this election is clearly and justly defined. 'Every bona fide inhabitant of Kan sas,' on the third Monday of June, the day of the election, who was a citizen of the United States above the age of twenty-one, and had resided therein for three months previous to that date, was entitled to vote.— in order to avoid all interference from neighboring States or Territories with the freedom and fairness of the election, a pro vision was made for the registry of qualified voters, and pursuant thereof, nine thousand and fifty-two voters were registered. Gov. Walker did his whole duty in urging all the qualified citizens of Kansas to vote at this election. . t In his inaugural address, on the -7tn ot May, he informed them that'under our prac: tice the preliminary act of framing a State THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1858. Constitution is uniformly performed through the ins rumentality of a Convention of dele gates chosen by the people themselves ; that the Convention is now about to be elected by you, under a call of the Territorial Legis. lature, created, and still recognised by the authority of Congress and clothed by it, in the comprehensive language of the organic law with full power to make such an enact ment. The 'territorial legislature then in assembling this Convention, were fully sus , ta'med by the act of Congress, and the au thority of the Convention is distinctly reoog j nised in my instructions from the President of the United States.' The Governor also clearly and distinctly warns them what would be the consent en- , ces if they did not participate in the elections. 'The people of Kansas,' then he, says, 'are invited by the highest authority known to the Constitution to participate freely and fairly in the election of delegates to frame a Constitution and Suite Government. The law has performed its entire and appropri ; ate function when it extends to the people the right of suffrage, but it cannot compel ; the performance of that duty throughout the whole Union, however, and wherever free j government prevails, those who abstain from the escercise of the right of suffrage author : ize those who do vote to act fur them in that i contingency, and absentees are as much bound, by the law and Constitution, where there is no fraud or violence, by the act of the majority of .those who do vote, as if all had participated in the i lection. O.hcrwise, as voting must be voluntary, self-government would be impracticable, and monarchy or despotism would remain the only alternative.' j It may also be observed at this period, any hope, if such had existed, that the -Topeka j Constitution would ever be recognised by j i Congress, must have been abandoned. Con gress had adjourned on the 3d of March previous, having recognised the legal exist i ence of the Territorial Legislature in a , variety of forms, which I need not enumer- i I ate. Indeed, the delegate elected to the j House of Representatives, under a Territorial i law, had been admitted to his seat, and had ! first completed his term of service the day previous to my inauguration. This was a ; propitious moment fur settling all the diffi | cullies in Kansas. This was the time for ; abandoning the revolutionary Topeka organ ization, and for the enemies of the existing Government to conform to the laws and unite with its friends in framing a State Constitu tion. Uut they refused to do, and the con i sequences of their refusal to submit to law ful authority, and vote at the election of delegates, may yet prove to be of the most j deplorable character. Would that the re spect for the laws of the land, which so eminently distinguished the men of the past generation, could be revived. It is a disre* i gard and violation of the law which have for ! years kept the Territory of Kansas in a state j of almost open rebellion against the Govern uieut; it is the same spirit which has pro duced actual rebellion in Utah. Our only ; safety consists in obedience and conformity to the law. Should a general spirit against 1 its enforcement prevail, this will prove fatal to us as a nation. Wo acknowledge no master but the law ; and should we cut loose ; from its restraints, and every one do what seemcth good in their own eyes, our case is indeed hopeless. The enemies of the Territorial Government are determined still to resist tho authority of Congress. They refused to vote for delegates to tiic Convention, not because, from circum stances which 1 need not detail, there was an omission to register comparatively few voters who were inhabitants of certain coun. ties in Kansas, in the early spring of 1837, but because they had predetermined, at all hazards, to adhere to their revolutionary organization, and defeat the establishment i of any other Constitution than that which they had framed at Topeka; the election, therefore, was suffered to pass in default.— liut of this result the qualified electors who refused to vote can never justly complain. From this review, it is manifest that the Lecompton Convention, according to every principle of constitutional law, was legally constituted and invested with the power to frame a Constitution. The sacred principle of popular sovereign ty has been invoked in favor of the enemies of law and order in Kansas. But in what manner is popular sovereignty to be exer cised in this country, if not through the in. strumentality of established laws. In certain small Republics of ancient times peoplo did assemble in primary jneetings, passed laws, and directed public affairs. In our country this is manifestly impossible. Popular sov< ereignty can be exercised here only through the ballot'box, and if people will refuse to exercise it in this manner, as they have done in Kansas at the election of delegates, it is not for them to complain that their rights have been violated. The Kansas Convention, thus lawfully constituted, proceeded to frame a Constitu tion, and, having completed the work finally adjourned on the 7th of November last.— They did not think proper to submit the whole of tiiis Constitution to the popular vote, but did submit the question whether Kansas should be a free or a slave State to the peo ple. This was the question which had con vulsed the Union and shaken its very centre. This was the question that had lighted the fiamcs of civil war in Kansas, and produced dangerous sectional [parties throughout the Confederacy. It was of a character so para mount, in respect to the condition of Kansas as to rivet the anxious attention of the peo ple of the whole country upon it alone. No person thought of any other question, l'or my own part, when 1 instructed Gov. Walk crt in general terms, in favor of submitting the Constitution to the people, I had no ob ject in view, except the all-absorbing ques tion of slavery. In what manner the peoplo might regulate their own concerns was not the subject which attracted any attention. — In fact the general provisions of the recent State Constitutions, after an experience of eighty years, arc so similar and excellent, that it would be difficult to go so far wrong, at the present day, in framing a new Con stitution. I then believed and still believe, that un der the organic act the Kansas Convention were bound to submit this all-important ' question of shivery to the people. It was never, however, my opinion that independ ' ently of this act., they would have been bound | ti submit any portion of the (J institution to the popular vote in order to give it validity, i Had 1 entertained such an opinion, tlii j would have been in opposition to many prei ; cedents in our history, commencing in the , very best age of the Republic. It would I have been in opposition to the principle which pervades our institutions, and is every I day carried into practice, that the people { have the right to delegate to representatives j chosen by themselves, their sovereign power to frame Constitutions, enact laws, and per i form any other important acts, without re | quiring that these should lie subjected to their subsequent approbation. It would be a most inconvenient limitation of their own power, imposed by the people j I upon themselves, to exclude them from exer cising their sovereignty, in any lawful man ner they may think proper. It is true the j i people of Kansas might, if they had pleased, j have required the Cenvention to submit the j Constitution to a popular vote, but this they j have not done. The only remedy, therefore, . in this case, is that which exists in all other ; similar cases. If the delegates who framed i the Kansas Constitution have, in any man- j ner, violated the will of their constituents, ' the people always possess the power to j change their Constitution or laws, according ; t. their own pleasure. The question id' slavery was submitted to i the election of the people of Kansas on the Hist of December last, in obedience to the [ mandate of the Constitution. Here, again, a fair opportunity was presented to the ad herents of the Topeka Constitution, if they were in the majority, to decide this exciting question, 'in their own way,' and thus re store peace to the distracted Territory, liut they again refused the right of popular sov ereignty, and again suffered the election to i ! pass in default. I heartily rejoice that a wiser and better spirit prevailed among a large majority of i , these people on the first Monday of January, and that they did that day vote under the , L compton Constitution, for (lovernor and j ' other State officers, men.her of Congress, and members of the Legislature. This election was warmly contested by parties, and a larger vote was polled than at any previous election in the Territory. We may now i reasonably hope that the revolutionary To peka organisation may be speedily and finally abandoned, and this will go far to. wards the final settlement of the unhappy dif ferences in Kansas. If frauds have been committed at this election, by one or both parties, the Legislature and the people of Kansas, under their Constitution, know how to redress themselves, and punish these detestable, but too common crimes, without outside interference. The people of Kansas have, then, "in their own way," and in strict accordance with the organic act, framed a Constitution and State Government, have submitted tlie a!! important question of slavery to the peo ple, and have elected a governor, member of Congress, members of the State Legislature, and other State officers. They now ask for admission into the Union, under this Consti tution, which is republican in its form. It is for Congress to decide whether they will admit or reject the State which lias thus been created. For my own part, lam decidedly in favor of its admission, and thus termina ting the Kansas question. This will carry out the great principle of non-intervention recognized and sanctioned by the organic act which declares, in express language, in favor of the " con-intervention of Congress with slavery in the States aud Territories," leav ing " the people perfectly free to form and regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States." In this manner, by lo calizing the question of slavery, and confin ing it to the people who are immediately con cerned, every patriot expected this question to be banished from the halls of Congress, where it has always exerted a baleful influ ence throughout the country. It is proper that I should refer to the elec tion held under the act of the Territorial Legislature, on the first Monday in January, on the Leeompton Constitution. This elec tion, held after the Territory had been pre pared for admission into the Union as a sov ereign State, and when no authority existed in the Territorial Legislature which could possibly destroy its existence, or change its character, the election, which was peacefully conducted under my instructions, involved a strange inconsistency. A large majority of the persons who voted against the Leeomp ton Constitution were at the same time and place recognizing its valid existence in the most solemn and authentic manner, by vo ting under its provisions. I have, as yet, received no official information of the result of this election. As a question of expediency, after the right has been maintained, it may bo wise to reflect upon the benefits to Kansas and the whole Union which would result from its im mediate admission into the Union, as well as the disaster which may follow its rejection. Domestic peace will bo the happy conse quenco of its admission, and that fine Terri. Tory, hitherto torn by dissensions, will rapid ly increase in population and wealth, and realize the blessings and comfort which fol low agricultural and mechanical industry. The people then will be sovereign and can regulate their own affairs in their own way. If the majority of them desire to abolish domestic slavery within the State, there is no other possible mode by which it can be ef fected so speedily as by its prompt admis sion. The will of the majority is supreme and irresistible, when expressed orderly and in a lawful manner. It can unmake Consti tutions at pleasure. It would be absurd to say they cau impose fetters upon their owti power which they cannot afterwards remove. If they could do this, they might tie their own hands for a hundred as well as tor ten years. Those are the fundamental princi ples of American freedom, and recognized in somo form by every State Constitution; and if Congress, in the act of admission, should think proper to recognize them, I can perceive no objection. This has been stone emphatically in the Constitution of Kansas. It declares, in the hill of rights, that, "all po litical power is inherent in the people, and air free Governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their benefit, and 1 therefore they have at all times the inalienn hie and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish their form of Government, in such manner as they may think proper." The great State of New York is at this moment governed under a Constitution framed in dii rect opposition to the mode prescribed by the previous Constitution. If, therefore, the pro vision changing the -Kansas Constitution, after 1801, could by any possibility be con strued iuto the prohibition to make such change previous to the period of prohibition it would be wholly unavailing. The Legis lature already elected, may .at its first session submit the question to a vote of the people, j whether they will or not have a Convention to amend their Constitution, and adopt all necessary means lor giving effect to the pop ular will. Ic has been solemnly adjudged by the high | est judicial tribunal that slavery exists in Kansas by virtue of the Constitution of the j United States. Kansas is therefore at this j , moment as much a slave State as Georgia or 'j South Carolina. Without this, the equality j i of the sovereign States composing the Union j would be violated, and the use and enjoy- : ment of trrritory acquired by the common ; treasure of all the States would be closed | against the people and property of nearly half the'members of the Confederacy. Sla very can, therefore, never Le prohibited in Kansas except by means of a constitutional provision, and in no other manner can tins be obtained so promptly, if tire majority of the people desire it, as by admitting it into the Union under the present Constitution. On the other hand, should Congress reject the Constitution, under the idea of affording , the disaffected in Kansas a third opportunity to prohibit slavery in a State which they might have done twice before, if in the ma jority, no man can foretell the consequences. If Congress, for the sake of those men who refused to vote for delegates to the Conven tion, when they might have excluded slavery from the Constitution, and who afterwards refused to vote on the 21st of December, when they might, hs they claim, have strick* en slavery from the Constitution, it is manifest that the agitation upon this important sub ject will be renewed in a more alarming form than it has ever asswued. Every patriot in the country had indulged j the hope that the Kansas-Nebraska act wo"d j nut a final end to the slavery agitation, at least in Congress which had for more than twenty years eonvulsed the country and en dangered the Union. This act involved great and fundamental principles* and, if fairly : carried into effect, will settle the question. — Should the agitation-be again revived, should the people of the sister States be again es tranged from each other with more than their former bitterness, this will arise from a cause, so far as the interests of Kansas are concerned, more trifling and insignificant than has ever stirred the elements ot a great people into eommotion. To the people of Kansas, the only practi cal differenve between the admission or re jection depends simply upon the fact, wheth er they can themsslves more speedily change the present Constitution, if it does not ac cord with the will of the majority, or frame a second Constitution, to be submitted to Congress hereafter. Even if this were a question of mere expediency and not of right the small differences of time, one way or the other, is not of the least importance when contrasted with the evils which must neces sarily result to the whole country, from the revival of tfie slavery agitation. If consid ering this question, it should never be for gotten, that in proportion to its insignificance let the decision be what it may, so far as may affet ctho few thousand inhabitants of Kan sas, who have from the beginning resisted the Constitution and the laws, for this very reason the rejection of the Constitution will be so much more keenly felt by the people of fourteen States of tlie Union where slav erey is recognized under the Constitution of the United States. Again : the speedy .-admission Kansas into the Union would restore peaee and quiet to the whole country. Already the affairs of the Territory have engrossed an undue pro portion of the public attention, have sadly affected the friendly relations of the people with each other, and alarmed the fears of patriots for the safety of the Union. Kansas once admitted, the excitement becomes local ized, and will soon die away for want of out side aliment; then every difficulty would be settled at the ballot-box. Besides—and this is no trifling consideration—l shall then be enabled to withdraw the troops from Kansas and employ their service where they are much needed. They have been kept there on the earnest importunity of Gov. Walker to maintain the existence of tho Territorial Government, and secure the execution of the laws. He considered at least two thousand troops under the command of Gen. liarney necessary. Acting upon his reliable information, I have been obliged in some degree to interfere with the expedition to Utah, in order to keep down the rebellion in Kansas, which has in volved a very heavy expense to the Govern ment. Kanas once admitted, it is believed there will no longer be any occasion there for the troops of the United States. I have thus performed my duty on this in> portant question under a deep sense of my resposibility to God and to my country. My public life" will teriuinato within a brief pe> riod, and I havo no other object of earthly ambition than to leave my country in a peace ful, prosperous condition, and livo in the aff ections and respect of my countrymen. The dark and ominous clouds now impending over the Union, I conscientiously believe, will bo dissipated with honor to every por tion of it by the admission of Kansas during the present scsTion of Congress, whereas, if it should be rejected, I greatly fear that these clouds will become more ominous than auy that have ever yet threatened tho Con stitution and the Union. JAMES BUCHANAN. evil with good. New Series—Vol. HI, No. 13. EARTHQUAKE AT NAPLES. The correspondent of the London Times, under date of January 2, says: [ proceed to give further details from the provinces regarding the all absorbing subject of the earthquake. The official Journal of Wednesday night enumerates ' sixty-one other places which had suffered in their building's, and many in their pop ulation. Under the name of each place is given a description of the disaster, and this last report alone gives the number of sev eral—say 4,000 or 5,000 additional known to have suffered. Then are described the other casualties—people maimed, crushed; others drawn put alive after a fearful sep ulture of eight days, reminding us of how many more might have been saved, had proper exertions been made. The latest ! accounts, too, awaken considerable appre hensions of further disaster. The whole district of Sala is agitated by continual movements of the earth, stronger by night i than by day, and these are preceded by ' fearful detonations. Moreover, about 9 o'clock, p. m. of the 28th ult., and 6 and 71 p. m. of the 29tli ult., three strong shocks, lasting ten or twelve seconds, were felt, followed by others less intense. In Potenza, too, on the evening of the 29th, about a quarter to 7 p. in., a strong undulatory shock was felt, and other light ones during the night. No injur}' was done, but the population all rushed out : into some open space. Here in Naples it is said that since the 10th ult., we have had, up to Christmas eve, 49 shocks, and may readily be believ ed. Almost every one finds some trace of them in his house; the shocks, too, which were felt in Potenza on the evening of the 29th, were felt in Naples, and in some cases, created great alarm. However, every one looks to Vesuvius for safety, and on that night it was in violent movement. People who reside at Resina tell me that during the whole night the shocks from the nioun ! tain.s were of a most violent and continu ous character. Every three minutes it ap peared as if a desperate man were trying to wrench open the doors and windows. — Nothing, however, took place. I have also reports to give you from private persons who have visited the scene of ruin. They describe the country in many places as crossed with fissures, which, at first had been very wide, but now had much closed. During the whole time of their visit the ground was heaving beneath them. There was universal panic and grief, and no light part of it arose from the fact that there was no one to seareb beneath the ruins or to bury the dead- I tosak of the 21st and 22d' ult., —that is to say, of six days after the date of the disaster. Letters from Brienza of the 31st ult., say that no relief Kid been as yet received. My infor mants, in wandoriag through Polla, could get no food, and even bread was wanting in many places. Those who were dug out alive —some after six or eight days of liv ing burial —awoke to famine death. The details whicft 1 receive are more horrible than can be easily conceived. Since writing the above, other and more 1 afflicting details have arrived of the deso lation occasioned by the earthquake. Lau ren zana, Tito, Brienza, hlarsieanuovo have almost entirely disappeared. The King himself says that upwards of 15,000 have / perished, and from what I heard, says my very sensible informant, the real number must be nearly double. People who have come from the spot report that the groans of the sufferers were heard from beneath the ruins several days after the disaster, and that, horrible to relate, on some bodies being taken out, it was found that they had devoured a portion of their arms. There were none to aid them, none to extricate the dying, none to bury the dead, none to give bread to tlic famishing, 'thousands of soldiers arc maintained at the expense of the State to support 'order,' but they could not be sent to save thousands from perishing. Many steamers were lying in harbor, the expensive toys of the sovereign, but with one or two tardy exceptions, they have remained snug in port. People can not refrain from comparing the tardiness displayed on the present melancholy occa sion with the promptitude displayed in the month of June last, When rebels landed in Sapri. Murder of a Husband to Obtain a Hi/c. —A German named Shroedcr, residing at New Orleans, who had been missing sever al days, was recently found murdered on the bank of a canal in Jefferson Parish.— The body was found lying face down, with a gunshot wound in the back, and the gfound around was scratched and clawed up, evidently by the deceased, whilst try ing to rise in his dying struggles. When he left home, he had a gold watch, a breast pin and a considerable sum of money, all of which had been taken from his person by the murderer. A German barber, na med R. Nolte, with whom Shroeder and his wife boarded, was arrested as the per petrator. It appeared that for some time past, Noltc had been endeavoring to induce Mrs. Shroeder to leave her husband and run away with him, and there is little doubt that he had murdered the husband in order to remove the chief obstacle to his design. The money and jewelry taken from the murdered man wore found in the posses sion of the accused.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers