1: caster ItlttWVlutr, Evaturairovezkr. WzonraiDAT. BY COOPER. SA.NWERRO,N & CO. S. M. CoopEß, H. G EhErrir, A.LYEZD BANDEBSON Wx. A. MORTON. TERMS—Two Dollars and Flfty Cents per e:mum, payable all cases In advance. OFFICE--801.1 CORM or CENTRE SQUARE. Sa- All letters on business should be ad eased to CooPsn, 5A2713138905 & CO. Xittraq. - Unman Nature. Or the Bankrupt Merchant. BY 'C'; .. MINOT KENDALL. ( -- Raymond Wellford was considered, although a young man, one of our flour ishing merchants. He was a welcome guest in our so-called highest' ircles of fashion, while many a calculating mamma regarded him as a very desira ble son-in-law in prospective. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by peeuniary losses and embarrassment,although hiselegant mansion had to be sacrificed, there was not it debt that remained unpaid,—while Eome money-wise men, in the reviewals of his conduct, was heard to say he was x.ceedingly honest, or a most immoder tto fool. Such also was the conclusion .f the world—while it faintly applauded ds honesty, it shut all fashionable doors against him. A few months afterwards when a guest at his humble residence, lie said to me almost abruptly : "What think you of human nature Iny friend ?" " It is a philosophical enigma," I re- plied. "So it was to me, until I solved it," said he. " I found it a strange coin pound, a larger portion consists of sel fishness. For instance: when the gild ing of wealth covered my mime, I was sought after by the very men who now turn their backs upon me. I was flattered by the women, who now if my name were mentioned in their presence, would affect a forgetfulness of having heard it. After dinner we will snake some calls, during which you will perceive ample illustration of what I have said." - . Accordingly after dinner we set out. We first entered the counting room of a merchant, to whom he introduced me as a friend. I soon learned that my friend was not held in the highest esti mation from the cold formality with which we were received ; we did not even have the courtesy of chairs offer ed us. With a meaning smile, Ray mond bade the merchant a " good after noon," and we soon found ourselves in the street. "This is illustration number one," said Raymond laughing. " Is it Possible that you could ever have been intimately acquainted with that man ?" I asked. " That man has been reduced to the extremity of being obliged to beg his dinners. Time after time I have thus accommodated him. I even loaned him money to commence business, and you have just seen how graciously he has entertained me and my friend." We next paused at the door of an ele gant mansion, wherein Raymond had been a frequent and honored guest. It was the residence of a professional gentleman of large fortune, who still did Raymond the justice to regard him on all questions as his friend, and to treat him as such. His lady had even professed greater friendship for him than her husband, if not for her own, at least for her daughter's sake, to whom rumor once reported he was en gaged. Since Raymond's misfortune had been whispered to the world she no longer spoke of him as a dear friend, but endeavored to persuade her hus band " to rid the house of him," which provoked the calm reply : " He is a gentleman, and as such it is my will that you should entertain him whenever he may honor our house with his presence." On this account, I suppose, we were tolerated in the present instance, for the gentlemen were notat home. The lady received us rather coolly, which I was prepared to expect. After we were seated, Raymond inquired for Miss Richards, the daughter, to which the lady replied with an apparent shrug of the shoulders, that she was well, but at present engaged. " No, mamma, I am not," said the beautiful girl, as she lightly entered the room. "I am happy to meet an old friend, who, I am sure, is not the less welcome for being unfortunate." The lovers,—for they really were— had not met since Raymond's mis fortune, and their meeting was now so heart-felt, that I could not for a moment doubt the affection of either. I alsB saw the cloud that rested upon the brow of Mrs. Richards, nor was I surprised to hear her say : "My daughter is so pleasantly engag- ed, gentlemen, that I trust my presence is no longer required," and without ceremony she left the room. " Clara," said Raymond, taking her white hand, " are all my fondest hopes to be realized? Can the daughter of a wealtay gentleman condescend to ac knowledge her affection for a poor bankrupt merchant?" The fair girl blushed and looked doubtingly at me. " Do not fear to speak in his pres ence," said Raymond, " for Pennville, next to yourself, is my best friend." " Then listen," she said, smiling sweetly: " a few weeks since, by the consent of my parents, I solemnly pledged my love to one who has, long since, possessed my heart's best affec tions. I did not ask the weight of his money-bags, nor the depth of his coffers—for those were matters which did not form one item of consideration with me. I found him a gentleman,' and as such fgave my hand. Until I am convinced I am mistaken, why should I desire to retract my words?" ",Clara, you are an angel," said Ray mond, covering her hand with kisses, " and this treasure I value more than my existence ; for in adversity as well as in prosperity it is still true to me." " Miss Richard's," I said, " you have perplexed me. When I entered the house I thought I had solved the great problem of Human Nature, and was going to write the `sum total' selfish ness ; but I must recant—human nature is not so bad, after all." After a happy conversation on the part of the lovers, who in their earnest ness almost forgot my presence, we at length left the house. " Now," said Raymond, "one more illustration, and then we will return hoine." "No, my friend," I said, "we will make no more visits this afternoon. The last terminated too pleasantly to be marred by a fresh picture of selfish- Raymond did not urge the matter, and we therefore returned to his house. When Mr. Richards came home that evening to tea, his wife and daughter found him in a most excellent humor; something had evidentlyoccurred which pleased him. Occaaionly he indulged in a silent fit of laughter, which for him was very unusual; and once an excla mation of " capital!" escapedirom his Ups. I am glad, Mr. Richards, to Mid you - . .. , . . It . . . . . .. . 1 9 7. ,..,: ... - ~:,..... . .. -. . i. p i t . , a ;eh -z. .. . , . i. , ..!:,,,..., J ... , ........,,,.. . 7.;. ; r a l fi c r.: ' . 1 .,, i : :::: . 0 ,... ;, , .. :.. .: :, ,... 4 ., ~.., ~, i ;.::: i, .1 --1-1., ' . 19',.... f:: -i • ..; :,•;• , . ..,, . . • . . . - . . VOLUME 66. so happy," said his lady, " for I never was in a worse humor. That Wellford has again called upon us, and Clara has again honored him with a long private conference." " I have received a note from him," said Mr. Richards, " wherein he desires me to sanction his union with our daughter." " How presuming ! I declare I quite detest him ! " " And I admire him," coolly replied her husband. "Several days since I offered him the means to re-commence business, which he positively declined —to-day I have learned the reason. In his note he also informs me that his fortune has never been impaired. His mansion house has not been sold, but he allowed a friend to retain the same as the apparent owner. The fact was that he was envious of his wealth, and played the bankrupt simply to test the friendship of his acquaintances, who have generally acted according to the fashion of the world. Those who have slighted him will suffer a just mortifi cation, of which my lady, you must bear your part." " I have never disliked him as a man," said Mrs. Richards, coloring with shame, " My daughter's welfare has only governed my conduct. She who has experienced only influence, would make an ill companion to poverty. I have acted as a prudent mother." Readers, all comedies t , , , nd with mar riage, so does the majorit ly of tales ; and s instance ours shall not be out of the fashion. I have lived to see many cloudless years of happiness pass over their union. Raymond is very cautious in the selection of his friends although their number is legion, while he and myself still maintain the same opinion, that HUMAN NATURE IS :JOT SO BAD =MEM! The Three Wishes There was once a wise Emperor who made a law, that to every stranger who came to his court, a fried fish should be served. The servants were directed to notice if, when the stranger had eaten the fish to the bone on one , side, he turned it over and began on the other side. If he did, he was to be immedi ately seized, and on the third d ay - there after he was to be put to death. But by a great stretch of imperial cloniency, the culprit was permitted to utter one wish each day, which the Emperor pledged himself to grant, providing it was not to spare his life. Many had already perished in consequence of this edict, when, one day, a count and his young son presented themselves at court. The fish was served as usual, and when the count had removed the fish from one side, he turned it over, and was about to commence on the other when he was seized and thn )wn into prison, and was told of his ap proaching doom. Sorrow-stricken, the count's young son besought the Emperor to allow hi'm to die in the room of his father ; a fav or which the monarch was pleased to ac cord him. The count was accordingly released from prison, and his son was• thrown into his cell in his stead. As soon as this had been done, the young man said to the jailors—" You know I have a right to make threedemands be fore I die ; go and tell the emperor to send me his daughter, and a priest to marry us." This first demand was not much to the emperor's taste, neverthe less he felt bound to keep his word, and he therefore complied with the request, to which the princess had no objection. This occurred in the times when kings kept their'treasures in a cave, or in a tower set apart for the purpose,like the Emperor of Moscow in these days; and on the second day of his imprisonment the young man demanded the Emperor's treasures. If his first demand was a bold one, the second was not less so ; still, an Emper or's word is sacred, and having made the promise, he was forced to keep it ; and the treasures of gold and silver were placed at the disposal of the pris oner. On getting possession of them, he distributed them profusely among the courtiers, and soon he had made a host of friends by his liberality. The emperor began now to feel ex- ceedingly uncomfortable. Unable to leep, he rose early on the third morn ing and went with fear in his heart to the prison to hear what the third wish was to be. "Now," said he to his prisoner, "tell me what your third demand is, that it may be granted at once, and that you may be out of hand, for I am tired of your demands." " Sire," answered the prisoner, " I have but one more favor to request of your majesty, which when you have granted I shall die content. It is merely that you will cause the eyes of those who saw my father turn the fish over to be put out." " Very good," replied the emperor, "your demand is but natural and springs from a good heart. Let the chamber lain be seizod," he continued, turning to his guards. "I, sire!" cried the chamberlain; "I did not see anything—it was the stew ard." But the steward protested with tears in his eyes, that he had not witnessed anything of what had been reported, and said it was the butler. The butler declared that he had seen nothing of the matter and that it must have been one of the valets. But they protested that they were ut terly ignorant of what had been charged against the count; in short it turned out that nobody could be found who had seen the count commit the offense, upon which the princess said : " I appeal to you my father, as to another Solomon. If nobody saw the offense committed, the count cannot be guilty, and my husband is innocent." The emperor frowned and forthwith the courtiers began to murmur ; then, he smiled and immediately their visages became radiant. " Let it be so," said his majesty " let him live, though I have put many a man to death for a lighter offense than his. But he is not hung, he is married. Justice is done." gir At a family gathering in Dan bury, not long since, a great-great grandmother, Mrs. Irene Taylor, held in her lap, a child, a grandchild, a great grandchild, and a great-great-grand child, in all, five generations! That is not often beat. —Three thousand of the workmen at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, N. Y., are now on a strike, owing to a reduction of fifty cents per day on their wages. Heretofore they have been receiving four dollars per-day, but they are now asked to work for three dollars and a half. Parson Browniow has been inaugu rated Governor of Tennessee. A Daughter's Stratagem. Judge Rose lived in Belly - Me, on the banks of a great river in the West. Every year he went to Washington, and his - voice was often heard in the halls of Congress. Yet though he was called great, he was not good, because he was very fond of drinking wine, brandy, Sac., and frequented the gamb ling rooms, so numerous in the city. These habits gained upon him daily, until they conquered all his moral strength. His townsmen refused to send him as their delegate any longer. Judge Rose had an amiable wife and three pretty daughters. Mary, the eld est daughter, was his special pet. He thought more of her than he did of him self, and no wish of her's went unsatis fied. She was of a sweet disposition, and so obedient and respectful to her parents and kind to every one about, that she was beloved by everybody. And though her father's dwelling was the most elegant, and they had beauti ful grounds and servants, and horses and carriages, and fine clothes, she never put on airs as many do, but was modest and retiring. Mr. Rose and his wife and daughters were all membersof a Christian church. He was often suspended from its fellow ship, and on promises of repentence re ceived again. His influential position in society, and the pious conduct of his wife and daughters, caused much pity for them, and elicited much patience.— They hoped by love and forbearance to restore him wholly. But all the love of his family and of the church, could not, stop this erring man in his downward course. At last so low did he fall as to lose all self-respect, and frequent the lowest whiskey shops in town. Daily he went out unshaved, unwashed,_ ragged and almost naked, and when drunk would sing a low song which would draw around him a crowd of boys, to jeer and laugh, and scorn the once dignified Judge. In personahappearance he was now the lowest of the low. It is not to be supposed that Christian and temperance men allowed such a man to ruin himself without efforts to save him. Earnest and persevering en deavors were put forth, prayers were offered up, and his family left no avenue to his heart unentered. But all were alike useless and hopeless. His wife and daughters wept and prayed, but despaired entirely. Mary, his pet, often labored to save her father from open disgrace, if not from private sin. She became very sad, and refused to attend church or go into society. When her father was sober he had sense enough to see the sorrow ful change in his once happy Mary, and seemed to regret his course more for her sake than for his. One morning he started as usual for the drinking shop. He was a horrible object, indecent to look at, as well as filthy. His wife tried to hold him back, and get him, at least, to put on some decent clothing but he would not yield. Mary made her appearance by his side bare armed and bonnetless, with an old whiskey bottle in her hand. Taking her father's arm she said : "Come, father, I'm going too." "Going where ?" said he, starting at her if horror struck. "To the dram shop. What is good for you is good for me." Then she began to flourish her bottle and sing one of the low songs she had heard him sing in the streets. "Go back, girl, you are crazy. Moth er take her in." " But I am going, father, with you to ru in my soul and body. It is of no use to me to be good, while you are going off to bad place. You'll be lonely there wit bout your Mary." " Go away, girl, you'll drive me mad." " But you have been mad for a long time, and lam going mad too. What do I care, my father is only a poor despised drunkard, his daughter may as well drink and lie in the gutter too t " So Mary pulled away at her fatUer's arm and went on to open the gates;, He drew back ; still she dragged on.and sung th e louder. A few boys began to run towards them, and then her father broke from her hold, and went into the house. 'There he sat down, and putting his face in his hands, wept and sobbed aloud. Still Mary stayed out. " What is the matter?" asked Mrs. Rose. "Mary is crazy, and I made her so. I wish I was dead. Do go and get r in, I won't go out to-day." Mrs. Rose went out and told Mary what her father had said, and then she went in. She sat down with her bottle in her hand, and all day shekepton the old rags. Mr. Rose was in a terrible state for the want of his accustomed stimulant, and frequently would go to the door, but Mary was ready at his side on every occasion. Mrs. Rose pre pared her meals with extra care, and gave her husband two cups of coffee, and the latter part of the day he laid down to sleep. When he woke up Mary was still there in her rags, and her bottle by her side. With much trembling and shaking he put on a good suit of clothes, and asked his wife to send for a barber.— Then after tea he said, "I am going out." " Where?" 7 "To the temperance hall. Go with me and see if I don't go there." i So Mrs. Rose went with him to the i door of the hall, Mary still saying : " I must follow, for I'm afraid he will go to the whiskey shop without me." But his wife saw him go up stairs and enter the meeting room and the door close upon him. Then she and Mary went home to rejoice, in trembling, at the result of the stratagem. Surprise, joy and some distrust per vaded the minds of the assembly of temperance brothers when Mr. Rose walked in. He was invited forward and asked to speak whatever he wished. . He rose, and told the tale of the day and added, " when I saw how my angel daughter was transformed into a low, filthy creature ; when I knew how much lower she would have to descend if she went with me, I abhorred myself. She vowed to go everywhere I went, and do everything I did. Could I see her do that? Her lovliness stained, her character ruined? No, sir! if it kills I me, I will leave off, and never touch, taste or handle more, from this night henceforward and forever. And now, gentlemen, help me to be a man again." The building vibrated with the cheer ing, and stamping, and clapping, and a gush of song arose from those manly hearts which might \have been heard for miles. Oh ! " th.tre is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth,!' and should their not be joy on earth? We hope God converted the soul of 1 Mr. Rose, for he became a good man, and his family were very happy. But we hope.no other daughter will have to 1 resort to so painful a remedy to save a father, LANCASTER, PA., WEDNESDAY MORNING, APRIL 19, 1865. OfellailtOUO. A Speech from Abraham Lincoln. WASHINGTON, Tuesday, Apr. 11,1885 The Executive Departments, includ ing the President's mansion, were again illuminated to-night, and adorned with transparencies and national flags, as were also many places of business and private dwellings. Bonfires blazed in many parts of the city, and rockets were fired. Thousands of persons of both sexes repaired to the Executive Mansion, and, after several airs had been played by the band, the President, in response to the numerous calls, ap peared at an upper window. The cheering with which he was greeted having ceased, he spoke as follows: We meet this evening, not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart. The evacua tion of Petersburg and Richmond, and the surrender of the principal insurgent army, give hope of a righteous and speedy peace, whosejoyous expressions cannot be restrained. In the midst of this, however, He from whom all bless ings flow must not be forgotten, A call for a National Thanksgi'ving is being prepared, and will be duly promulgated. Nor must those whose harder part gives us the cause of rejoicing be over-looked. Their honors must not be parceled out frontothers. I, myself, was near the and had the high pleasure of trans ro,itting much of the good news to you. But no part of the honor for plan or execution is mine. To Gen. Grant, his skillful officers and brave men all be- lung. The gallant navy stood ready, but was not in reach to take active part.— By these recent successes the re-inaug uration of the national authority—re construction, which has had a large share of thought from the first—is pressed much more closely upon our at tention. It is fraught with great dif ficulty. Unlike a case of war between independent nations, there is no au thorized organ for us to treat with. No one mall has authority to give up the rebellion for any other man. We sim ply must begin with and mould from dis organized and discordant elements.— Nor is it a small additional embarrass- meta that we, the loyal people, differ among ourselves as to the mode, man ner and measure of reconstruction. As a general rule, I abstain from reading the reports of attacks upon myself, wishing not to be provoked by that to which I cannot properly offer an answer. In spite of this precaution, however, it comes to my knowledge that I am much censured for some supposed agency in setting up and seeking to sustain the new State government of Louisiana. In this I have done just so much and no more than the public knows. In the annual message of December, 1863, and the accompanying proclamation, I present ed a plan of reconstruction, as the phrase goes, which I promised, if adopt ed by any State, would be acceptable to and sustained by the Executive Gov ernment of the nation. I distinctly stated that this was not the only plan which might possibly be acceptable; and I also distinctly protested that the executive claimed no right to say who or whether members should be admitted to seats in Congress from such States. This plan was in advance submitted to • the then Cabinet and approved by every member of it. One of them suggested that I should then, and in that connection supply the emancipation proclamation to the theretofore excepted parts of Virginia and Louisiana, that I should drop the suggestion about apprenticeship for freed people, and that I should omit the pro test against my own power in regard to the admission of members of Congress. But even he approved every part and parcel of the plan which has since been employed or touched by the action of Louisiana. The new Constitution of Louisiana, declaring emancipation for the whole , State, practically applies the proclamation to the part previously excepted. It does notadopt apprentice ship for freed people, and is silent, as it could not well be otherwise, about the admission of members to Congress. So that as it applied to Louisiana, every member of the Cabinet fully approved the plan.- The message went - to Congress, and I re ceived many commendations of the plan, written and verbal,and not a single objection to it from any professed emancipationist came to my knowledge until alter the news reached Washing ton that the people of Louisiana had begun to move in accordance with it. From about July, 1852, I had corres ponded with different persons supposed to be interested in seeking a reconstruc tion of a State Government for Louisi ana. When the message of 1863 with the plan before mentioned reached New Orleans, Gen. Banks wrote me that he was cofident that the people, with his military co-operation, would reconstruct substantially on that plan. I wrote to him and some of them to try it. They tried it, and the result is known. Such has been my only agency in getting up the Louisiana Government. As to sus taining it, my promise is out, as before stated ; but as bad promises are better broken than kept, I. shall treat this as a bad promise, and break it whenever I shall be convinced that keeping it is adverse to the public interest, but I have not yet been so convinced. I have been shown a.letter on this subject (sup posed to be an able one), in which the writer expresses regret that my mind has not seemed to be definitely fixed on the question, whether the seceded states, so called, are in the Union or out of it. It would, perhaps, add astonishment to his regret were he to learn that since I have found professed Union men en deavoring to answer that question, I have purposely forborne any public ex pression upon it. As appears to me, that question has not been, nor yet is, a practically material one, and that any discussion of it, while it thus remains practically immaterial, could have no effect other than the mischievous one of dividing our friends. As yet, what ever it may become, that question is bad as the basis of a controversy, and good for nothing at all--a merely per nicious abstraction. We all agree that the seceded States, so called, are out of their proper practical relation with the Union, and that the sole object of the Government, civil and military, in re gard to those States, is to again get them into that proper practioal relation. I believe that it is not only possible but, in fact, easier, to do this without deciding or even con sidering whether those States have were blew out of the Union than with it. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be utterly immaterial whether they had been abroad. Let us all join in doing the acts necessary to restore the Sroper practical relations between these tates and the Union, and each forever after innocently indulge his own opin ion, whether in doing the acts he brought the States from without into the Union or only gave them proper assistance, they never having been out of it. The amount of constituency, so to speak, on which the Louisiana Government rests, would be more satisfactory to all if it contained 50,000 or 30,000, or even 20,000, instead of 12,000, as it does. It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elections franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent and on those who serve our cause as soldiers. Still the question is not whether the Louisiana Government, as it stands, is quite all that is desirable. I The question is, will it be wiser to take it as it is, and 'keep it, improve it, or to reject and desperse? Can Louisiana be brought into proper practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding new State Government? Some 12,000 voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana have'sworn allegiance to the Union, as . - Burned to be the rightful politicarpower of the State, held elections, orgfsplzed a State Government; adopted a Five State Constitution, giving the benefit or the public schools equally', to bbok white, and empowering the Legislature to confer' the elective , franchise upon the colored man. • This Legislature has already Voted'tb, ratify the constitutional amendinent recently passed by Congress abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union, and to per petuate freedom in the State, committed to the very things, and nearly all things the nation wants, and they ask the na tions recognition and its assistance to make good this committal. Now, if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and dis perse them. We, in fact, say to the white man. You are worthless, er worse ; we will neither help you nor be helped by you. To the blacks we say ; This cup of liberty, which these, your old masters, held to your lips, we will dash . from you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where and how. If this course, discouraging and para lyzing b6th white and black, has any tendency to bring Louisiana into pop ular practical relations with the Union, I haves° far been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we sustain and recognize the new government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is made true. We encourage the hearth and nerve the arms of 12,000 to adhere to their work and argue for it, and feed it, and grow it, and ripen it to a complete success. The colored man, too, in seeing all united for him, is inspired with vigilance and energy and daring to the same end. Grant that he desires the elective fran chise, will he not attain it sooner by saving -the already -advanced steps to ward it then by running backwark over them ? Concede that the new Govern ment of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg is to the fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by sma.shing it. [Laughter.] Again: if we reject Louisiana we also reject our vote in favor of the proposed amendment to the national Constitu tion. To meet this proposition it has been argued that no more than three fourths of those States which have not attempted secession are necessary to validly ratify the amendment. I do not commit myself against this further than to say that such a ratification would be questionable and sure to be persistently questioned, while a ratifi cation by three-fourths of all the States would he unquestioned and unquestion able. I repeat the question, can Louisiana be brought into practical relation with the Union sooner by sustaining or by discarding her new State Government? What been said of Louisiana will apply to other States. And yet so great pe culiarities pertain to each State and such important and sudden changes occur in the same State, and withal so new and unprecedented in the whole case, that no exclusive and inflexible plan can safely be prescribed as to de tails and collaterals. Such exclusive and inflexible plan would surely become a new entanglement. Important principles may and must be inflexible. In the present situation, as the phrase goes, it may be my duty to make some new announcement to the people of the South. I am consid ering and shall not fail to act when satis fied that action will be proper. Druid's Letter. We make the following extracts from the letter of Druid, the Baltimore cor- respondent of the N. V. World of yes terday. They are worth something as showing the present tone and temper of he Secessionists of Baltimore The surrender of General Lee's army, it is said, was brought about by the fact which had become clearly ascertained by that officer, before the ith instant, to the effect that in consequence of the loss of Richmond, the men composing the army, a large majority of them Vir- ginians, were unwilling to be led to any other theatre of action, because they were convinced of the futility of pro- tracting the war any longer, and because they believed that if Richmond could not be held, there was no place in the South that could be. If it had not been for this manifes emper on the part of the men compos ng his army, it is said that Gen. Lee would have conceived it to be hie duty to endeavor to retreat with the army to Atlanta, by way of Danville and Char lotte, in hopes of ultimately getting to Texas ; but his men had been deserting by hundreds every day since the 4th inst., and he became convinced that to continue his retreat would involve the necessity of another sanguinary battle, and that hundreds of his men would be slain to no purpose. Mr. Davis and his family, however, it is said, and all of the chief political leaders of the rebellion, proceeded immediately on toward the South some days ago, together with some of the officers of the army, and are now undoubtedly en route for Texas. It is pos- sible that they may yet attempttocarry out the Texas scheme. But the success of that scheme depended in a great measure upon the aid of lien. Lee's army; and it is more than likely that the loss of that aid will cause the whole scheme to be abandoned. At all events, nothing is more certain than the scheme, as ori ginally formed, is now impracticable. Thele is no 'other army, or no other military forces in any part of the South, that can be relied on by the rebel lead ers to carry out their ambitious designs. General Johnston's army, not over thirty thousand men in number, will, it is said, follow General Lee's example immediately and surrender. The only hope which General Johnston had of effectifig anything, depended upon the co-operation of General Lee's army ; and lIONV that that hope is gone, Gen. Johnston, between the armies of Grant and Sherman, is utterly powerless.—ii. There is no good evidence that there are over thirty thousandtroops in Texas and the Mississippi valley, and the offi cers commanding these received their orders and instructions direct from Gen. Lee. They will now, it is said, either disband their forces, or else the men composing the latter will desert and return to their homes. As regards Mo bile, although it might have been held if General Lee's army had held together, yet it will undoubtedly surrender as soon as the news of General Lee's sur render is received. in view of the above fact the temper and disposition of the legislatures of the respective Southern states become questions of importance. The facts are not yet accurately known in regard to any of them, not even in the case of Virginia. It may be stated, however, as a general fact, that the temper of the people of the South is such, and the desire for a settled and definite peace so strong as will require immediate meet ings o 1 the legislatures of every state. The legislatures of the states, of course, will endeavor to obtain from the gener al goverment at Washington the best terms they can. But they will be com pelled to accept any terms they can get. There appears to be some misappre hension in the public mind in regard to the attitude of the southern people to ward the government, which I am happy to be able to remove. The south ern people no longer stand in a defiant or hostile attitude toward the govern ment. They are conquered, and they know it. They do not, and will not, abandon their cherished convictions. Those they will always retain. But they have abandoned the idea of further resistance. There is not a community in the South (unless it be in Texas, Louisiana, and perhaps the southern part of Mississippi, and around Mobile) that would take any steps to return de serters to the rebel army, or that will ever again furnish recruits for thatarmy. They will never again offer any organ ized resistance to the Federal power, or to the authority of the general govern ment. They have had quite enough of the consequence of resistance. . All that they now desire (not speaking of political rights), is to be allowed to re sume the cultivation of their planta tions, andto be securedin fruits of their labor. If, in Mr. Lincoln's forthcoming proclamation, he will assure the south ern people that farmers and, planters, laboring on their estates shall be pro tected in their persons and property, he will, by that act, dim= all hostility to his government that yet remaitia at the South. It will not be necessary lo veal to them 'to stop •their resistaLcoto - the goverament, for they have already done that. He has subdued them by his arms, all that a people can only be subdued by arms. What remains to be done by kindness and conciliation. The Income Tax The New Form of Returns. A few copies of the amended form of re turns for the Income tax have been received by the assessors of internal revenue in this city ; but no sufficient supply for general distribution among taxpayers. We give below the material parts of theblank forma, which set forth a long array of questions re quiring answers. The detailed statements of the form are comprised under sixteen heads, covering all sources of income or profit for the year end ing December 31, 1864. The following questions are to be asked by the assessor: Had your wife any income last year? Did any minor child of yours, receiveany salary last year? Have you included in this return the in come of your wife, and salary received by minor children ? . . Have you any stocks, and what are they? Is your report made on the basis of gold Have you bought or sold stocks or other property ? Have you any United States securities ? Do you return the premium on gold paid you as interest on United States securities? Have you kept any book account ? Is your income estimated or taken from your book? Have not the expenses, ‘tc., claimed as deductions, already been taken outof the amount reported as profits ? Did yon estimate any portion of your pro fits in making your returns for 1863 ? Was any portion treated as worthless, and, if since paid, have you included it in this return? All incomes of 1864 less than five thousand dollars are subject to five per cent. tax ; over live thousand dollars, ten per cent.— The blank must be filled and returned to the assessor by the first of May. Personal service of the blanks is not necssary; the assessor's duty requiring him only to make public announcement in a newspaper of his district. Deductions are permitted as follows : I. Exempt by law, $6OO. All National, State and local taxes paid within the year (which includes the deduction of the income tax actually paid in 16(i-1.) 3. Losses on sales of real estate purchased within the year. . . • - - 4. Interest paid out or falling due within the year. 3. Amount actually paid for rent of home stead, store, or shop. r. Insurances, repairs, fuel consumed in in carrying on business, wages of employees, and interest -on ineumbrances. All carriages are taxed from $1 to $lO ; gold watches $1 each, if worthless than one hundred. dollars, and t''2 if worth more than two hundred dollars ; pianos $2 ; yachts from $5 to $lOO ; private billiard tables )31.0 ; gold plate 50 cents per ounce Troy, and silver plate 5 cents. The tables in the blank forms are very elaborate, but the foregoing are the principal points. Every person failing to make returns by the 15th of May next will be liable to be as 7 sessed by the assistant assessor according to the best information he can obtain, and in such case the assistant assessor will add twenty-five per cent, to the amount of the tax. - . . In case any person shall deliver to an assessor any false or fraudulent list orstate- ' ment with intent to deleat or evade the valuation or enumeration required by law, the assistant assessor will add one hundred per cent. to such duty; and in such case the list will be made out by the assessor or as sistant assessor, and from the valuationand enumeration so made their can be no appeal. The assessment list-, when completed, will be returned to the collector, who will adver tise in some public newspaper published in each county within the district, "if any there be, and by written or printed notices, to be posted up in at leastfour places within each assessment district, that the said duties have become due and payable, and state the time and place within said county at which he will attend to receive the same ;" and to any sum unpaid after the 30th day of June, and for ten days after demand, there will be an addition of ten per cent. as a penalty for such neglect. Guardians and trustees, whether such trustees are so by virtue of their office as executor, administrator, or other fiduciary capacity, are required to make returns of the income belonging to minors or other persons for whom they act as guardians or trustees, and the income tax will be assessed upon the amount returned after deducting such sums as are exempted by law; pro vided that the exemption of six hundred dollars shall not be allowed on account of any minor or other beneficiary of a trust except upon the statement of the guardian or trustee made under oath that the minor or beneficiary has no other from which the said amount of six hundred dollars may be exempted and deducted. The document contains some tables for use in the conversion of avoirdupois and troy weight. ' INCOME OF FARMERS. The following letter, from the Deputy Commissioner of Internal Revenue, may be of interest to many farmers and planters of this State : TREASURY DEPARTMENT, ) OFFICE INTERNAL REVENUE, - WASHINGTON, March 11. 1 , 6:4 ) Sir—Your letter of March 9th in regard to farmers' income returns is received. I reply that the act of July 1, 1862, under which returns were made for the annual in come taxes of 1862 and 1863, required farmers to ret urn each year the entire crop harvested. But the act of June 30, 1864, now in force, under which the returns for the special in collie tax of 1863 were made, requires farmers to return each year the amount of produce so ld . r. i , . V :!, 4 , 4 It will be found that farmers income re turns for 1864 will include some portion or the crop of 1863, and which was taxed as in come for that year. There is an apparent injustice in subjecting the same income to tax in two different years, the year when raised and the year when sold ; but a con sideration of the question will show that it is only an apparent one. For, suppose the income of a farmer to I.e the same every year, and the rate of tax the same, it is plain that the amount of tax should be also the same. Now,. the farmer does not sell the whole crop of each year within that year ; and if he is taxed in 1864 on such produce only as he raised and sold within that year, it is clear that he will not pay the full tax due on his real income. Suppose the yearly crop to be the same, the farmer will, in the last year of the tax, raise a certain amount of produce on which he will pay no tax, because unsold, and such produce will, on an average, be a fair offset a4ainst the produce raised in 1863, but sold in 1864, and which consequently pays two taxes. It is true that in particular cases hard ships will arise from the fact that the practice of farmers is not uniform in regard to selling or storing produce, and in other cases farmers will escape their just share of tax for.the same reason. But the same occasional inequality will occur under any general provision of law, an , i b lc e a e n n n t e ire u cannot be amount, therefore, therefore, of produce sold in 1864 must be returned as income by farmers, without regard to any taxes pre viously paid on any such produce. Very respectfully, E. A. ROLLINS, • Deputy Commissioner. E. F. Church, Esq., Revenue Inspector, Towsontown, Maryland. Col. David B. M'liibbin. The Union League of Philadelphia has completed its eighth regiment of volunteers organized under its auspices since the war commenced, and the ninth is about to commence. The command of the Bth, which is now full one thous and strong, and ready for marching orders, has been tendered to and accept ed by Col. David B. ArKibbin, agallant and experienced soldier. He was pro moted to a Captaincy in the regular army at the commencement of the war, and after having signalized his courage and skill as a commander on naany fields he was appointed Colonel of the drafted regiment from this county—a regiment that was conspicuous during its service for its excellent discipline and soldierly conduct in every emergency. When the term of the regiment expired, here turned to his old regiment command, and we are glad to see him again don the eagles he has so justly earned.— Chambersburg Repository. General Lee Doming North. The New York papers of yesterday say that Gen. Robert E. Lee is expected to arrive in that city to-day. Rooms have been engaged for him at oneof the fashionable hotels. His visit is an nOniced as one of a strictly' private Akaradtar. - Spa= spends WOOO =Attain for tobacco and•sB4,ootuou 'tor-lottery tick ets. A slight difference I NUMBER 15. Letter from Mexico. Impressions of Our Correspondent in ilieereVener tOshe Countri—lilsOpinion of ItiMissiiiitly, We have' received the first letter from a valued and esteemed Wend, a well-known and very , intelligent gentleman of this city, who is now in Mexico. His opinions and impreaskuis at this time are extremely apropos, and it is with pleasure that we lay them before oar readers: VERA Cyan., March 25, 1865. 46 the Editors of the Intelligencer: Hirrrriatnszi: According to promise I will give you. a inisty .sketch of my obser vations in this country. This city has been so often describedrand always as a most filthy, noisome and unhealthy place, that I will only add that I fully endorse all that has been said in reference to it. From this city to the first range of mountains, some 60 miles west of this, the country is almost one unbroken prairie, covered with stunted grass and innumerable rocks and boulders. There appears to be no party, white or Mexican, who have had sufficient courage to undertake planting in this forbidding region. After passing the first range at Sabre Pu ede, we enter a valley about 40 miles long, in which are situated the towns of Cordova, Orizaba, &v. This is a fine limestone val ley, with a vegetation and flora that realizes one's ideas of a tropical country. The land is miserably cultivated; but despite the slovenly system of agriculture, coffee, of the finest quality, sugar cane, bananas, pine apples, oranges, &a., abound. Orizaba is about 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. Of course it is the region of perpetual sum mer; but the snow-capped peak of the vol cano, which appears to be but a few miles distant, but in reality is about 40 miles, seems to cool the air to a certain extent, and makes it the freshest and most pleasant place in thelow countries. Twenty five miles west we commence ascending the Cumbras, on a most admirably laid out turnpike. In advancing 12 miles we find ourselves on the " Table Lands," and nearly 9,000 feetabove the level of the sea. Here the appearance of the country entirely changes. There are no trees of any kind, and the mountains rise bare and rugged around the fiat, sandy plain that we travel through to Puebla. The land is all cultivated in haciendas of from 1,000 to 10,000 acres. The proprietors or administrators (as the overseers are called) live in large, substantial houses, built in the usual jail-like style of Spanish architecture, with iron-barred windows, stone floors, stair-cases, etc., the whole sur rounded by a stone or Adobe wall, 10 or 12 feet high. Close by is a church, and the huts of the peons, or Indians, who work the land. The difference between a hacienda and a rancho is, that the former has a church (which is almost invariably a large, sub stantial building, that has stood for ages), whilst the latter has none. I n all parts of the country that we have yet been in, it is necessary to irrigate the land, and there has been vast labor and great ingenuity dis played in the construction of these works. But the country, from this place to the City of Mexico, has an old, worn-out appearance. What were once magnificent bridges, that generally bear the date of from 1800 to 1815, are falling to decay; massive churches and buildings are deserted and in ruins. Every thing seems to say, "there was energy and greatness here, but it has passed away. True, there are gangs of men now employed in repairing the roads and bridges, and some of the deserted buildings are being repaired. But these things are of recent date, and as yet but little has been accomplished. The land is plowed by oxen fastened by the horns to a long pole, that in turn is a aimed to the most primitive looking wooden plow, with one handle, imaginable; this plow, rude as it is, penetrates the loose, sandy soil several inches, and the Indians run furrows as straight as the best Lancas ter county plowman could do. The crops raised on the table lands are wheat, barley and corn, and the crops in general are what we would call in Pennsylvania very poor, certainly not over one-third of wheat or barley, and one-half of corn to an acre, compared with an average crop in Lancas ter county. But as they never manure the land or sow any green crops, for the pur_ pose of plowing down, the wonder is, no; that they raise such small crops, but that they raise any, as this land has been worked on this system for at least 300 years. There is a learned French Abbe at present in Mexico, do not recollect his name, who has spent the last two years in examining the mounds, ruins, pictures, writings, of Central America and this country, and he thinks he can prove, beyond a doubt, that the ancient Egyptians derived their civili zation from this country. I think his theory very probable, and I think that if Moses and the children of Israel could be resusci tated and brought to this country they would imagine they were back in the original house of bondage. The same way of plowing, making carts, threshing grain. making bricks, sandle shoes, carrying water, &c., still prevails ; and I have no doubt that if Macanley's South Sea Islander, after he concluded his study on a broken arch of the London Bridge, some 2,000 years hence, would then pay this country a visit, he would find precisely the same slate of affairs existing. I think they are unchanged and unchangable. When we were in the City of Mexico we rode out to view the battle-fields of Chapul tepee and Molino del Rey, and would you be lieve it, on the field of Molino del Rey they have erected a monument in honor of the Mexicans killed in that battle—some 34 out of the whole Mexican nation—who stood long enough to be shot before they sur rendered their city. Now, in regard to the prospects afforded to emigrants, I think they are very small indeed. The land is owned in very large tracts, and the owners are decidedly op posed to dividing their land, or in fact sell ing on any terms ; it is true that large tracts of land are sometimes offered at a' low price, and I know at least one instance where a party purchased and thought they had made a magnificent speculation—were going to raise coffee, Since I have com menced writing this letter one of the party returned, and tells me that the purchase turned out to be a magnificent mountain, an abundance of limestone, as the vendor stated, but unfortunately there was not anything else; not wood enough to make a fishing pole, or sufficient water for drink ing purposes; of coarse the party was dis gusted, andthinks that Mexican land specu lators need watching. Coffee Ls really the only truly profitable crop of the country, but as my letter is quite too long I will not go into details. Now, in regard to men who depend upon labor, I think this is the worst country, probably, in the world ; there is an abun dance of labor for every purpose. At least nine-tenths of the population own neither house or land, but depend upon hire for a living. The common wages are 25 cents per day, and the laborer finds himself—that is on farms. Near the City of Mexico they are now paying on the railroad 50 cents per day, and in this region, where at least 100 percent. of them are either foreigners or natives of thetable lands, and are sure to die, they receive from $1 to $1.25 per day. Now these are truly the inducements that are offered to laborers. There are quite a num ber of men from the States here, and the great majority of them are the most discon solate, homesick set of men you ever saw. Those who-have money generally return in the next vessel going north, and those who have not are, like Micawber, " wait ing for something to turn up." I merely give statement .for the purpose of in toning tltcee who have an attack of the . Mexican fever (a disease whleil was quite oonmaeli aq Pm : timer left the States) what they may expect if they :_allow themselves to be isa away by , theatateMents of certain New York jottraa/s, that are, possibly, •. As • .4: I: . 412' a,` - ' ifit " &"."7 47 f square of tetriinen: ten _ln ase~e for A'Pnoriintsmaid ens - - --" 161 14 1 2iii. 7 oenti•a , line for tato ffrot,lind 4 aerate for esteh,fmtesqueoo Inser . , Parnerr hint>tonna and• other dver's ,bT the colon a XlOO One column, I year Hall 'column, 1 year 80 Third column, 1 • 40 Q,narter column, , . . SO Sttentras Ctans, of ten lines"or one year, 10 Business Cards, five Onager lees, one • year, —. . --- LEGAL ANTI err= Narrow— „ „„ Executors' notices .---- A..' Administrators' notices, ....—..... 2,.. nn 00 Assignees' n0ti0e5,........—...------ . ..,..r, Auditors' natices,...— .. . ..... .....----- a... Other "Notices, ' ten lines, or less, three time 5,........ „„ 1.50 made either the willing or innocent tools of New York shippers. To sum up, this country may be said to have neither wood, water, nor a stable form of government, and rain only falls two or three months in the year. If Maximilian can make a nation of these elements com bined, with this greaser population, he will prove himself truly a great man. But I do not think he entertains any such idea. Ha looks like an honest, well-disposed man, and I think feels very much with this country as the man was said to have felt who won the elephant. But more anon. CUANDO. A Big Fraud on a " Hundred Barrel Well." We hear of a monstrous swindle per petrated near Franklin, a short time ago, involving the sum of $75,000. The circumstances attending the transaction are related as follows: Two men, who had been sinking a well near Franklin, went into the borough, and after select ing their "customers," stated that they bad struck oil, and that the well was pumping one hundred barrels per day. They desired to sell out the whole thing, and wanted $75,000 cash. The other parties immediately start ed to look at the well, and on arriving there, found everything as re presented,the machinery in perfect oper ation and the well pumping into a huge tank a very good quality of oil, at fully the rate indicated. The visitors agreed to invest, but wanted a few hours for deliberation. They accordingly re turned to Franklin and consulted some of the best " oil men," to ascertain the value of such a " supposable " invest ment, and were assured that it would be worth $300,000 at 'the least. This settled the question, and the buyers hurried back to the well owners, closed the bargain, planked the cash, and prepared to make their for tunes without delay. , The next day it was found that the old em ployees of the company had left, but others were promptly installel, and the pumping resumed. Judge theastonish ment of the purchasers upon discovering that notwithstanding the continual pumping and flow of oil it did notrise in the tank! In other words there were " surface indications" of a big leakage. The pump was stopped, and an excava tion commenced at the side of the tank. A few feet below a smaller tank was found, communicating with the upper by a small tube through which the oil was conducted. From the lower tank another tube descended diagonally to the well, about eighteen feet below the sur face, and at a still lower depth the well was plugged. This device for securing an inexhaustible well could not well be improved. You pumped and there was your oil, and you kept on pump ing, and no more tanks were required! But the victims " couldn't see it." They went back to Franklin in search of the sharpers, but the latter were non est. The police detectives of city and country have been brought into requi sition, but thus far without success. The rascals, having disposed of their oil, " greased."— Titusville Petroleum Reporter. How the Chinese Dig Coal It is always curious to know how they do things in the Celestial empire, the land of pig tails, little feet and al mond eyes. They are not a slow people ; but ingenious, foxy, patient, enduring and industrious ; they achieve wonders for an oriental nation, and a raoe hamp ered by iron conventionalities. The manner of their coal mining is well de scribed in the appended article from an Anglo-Chinese paper: " The only coal mines in China of which we have any account are located about five miles north of Kuh-shankau, and not far from the city of Pekin The editor of the Chinese Mail recently visited these mines, and makes the fol lowing report, which will be interest. ing, as showing the manner in which the Chinese carry on mining operations at home: There are but fifteen shafts open, each of their entrances being en larged into a room, where the colliers eat and sleep at times, though more comfortable dwellings have been built for overseers and contractors. We en gaged a miner to show us down the large shaft, which measured on the average 4 feet high by 5 feet wide ; it is cased with willow weeds in a secure manner,and the roof is particularly well guarded. The bottom is lined with the same to form a ladder, up and down which the miners travel in their daily labor. This shaft is about 150 feet deep, and the ladder down to the diggings is, perhaps, 600 feet long. The coal is secured on small wooden sledges, and dra t as the miner slowly crawls up along to e narrow and slippery steps by a strap passing over his forehead, each load we,ghing eighty tattles. One workman brings up six loads as his day's work. The sides of this shaft showed the width of the veins of coal, but the top and bottom were not dug out. The whole was very dry owing probably to its elevation up the hill; but some shafts had been aban doned from wet and bad air, and their mouths cloyed. The laborers are hired out by the contractors, who sell the coal to the dealers from Pekin and elsewhere; it is all carried away on the backs of camels or mules, and it is a painful sight to see the unwieldy camels coming down the rocky, uneven roads bringing their loads of coal. It is de livered at Pekin at about three piculs for a dollar, and a large partof the price is for carriage. The coal is hard, but such examination as the time afforded, disclosed not a vestige of a stump or leaf to compare with the fossils of other coal Cast a Line for Yourself. A young man stood listlessly watch ing some anglers on a bridge. He was poor and dejected. Atlength, approach ing a basket well filled with wholesome looking fish, he sighed "If now I had these I would be happy, I could sell them at a fair price and buy me food and lodging." " I will give you just as good fish," said theowner who chanced to overhear his words, "if you will do me a small favor." " And what is that?" eagerly asked the boy. " Only tend this line till I come back, I wish to go on a short errand." The proposal was gladly accepted. The old fisher man was gone so long that the young man began to be impatient. Mean while, however, the hungry fish snap ped at the baited hook, and the young man lost his depression in the excite ment of pulling them in, and when the owner of the line returned, he had caught a large number. Counting out from them as many as were in the basket, and presented them to the young man, the old fisherman said : "I fulfil my promise from the - fish' you have - caught, Ito teach you that whenever you sew • peters earning what you need, to waste no time in fruitless wishes,'but to cast a lino for yourself,"
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers