ganzatev gutenlipar. WEDNESDAY, DEC. 30, 1868 The Last Amnesty. The President has at last issued his final amnesty proclamation and has presented, as a Christmas gift, a free pardon to all those more prominent offi- cers and soldiers of the Confederacy, who were so absurdly excepted from the . - provisions of previous proclamations; Oar Fish Laws. so that the Jeff. DaVia farce is ended. The propagation of fish by artificial The President has means is now claiming great attention, pardoned him after Chief Justice Chase had decided that both in Europe and in this country. In he could not be held for trial since New England efforts are being made to replenish the rivers with the finny In the adoption of the Constitutional habitants in which they once abound- Amendment which provides that cer ed. Salmon and shad are being largely lain classes of persons who have been hatched by artificial process, at the engaged in the Rebellion, shall here heads of the streams they once frequent after be incapable of holding office d, with the expectation that they will under the United States, unless their return there to spawn. To facilitate disability shall ba removed by a two their passage over the dams, which oc 'third vote of Congress; this being the cur at frequpnt intervals, the most im pun ishment declared by the people for proved specimens of fish ladders have their offence, they can not be subjected to any other. been introduced. But, grave doubts are expressed, by those who ought to The proclamation, therefore, merely know, whether any of the contrivances gives these prominent rebels a pardon which have been employed are likely for offences for which they could not, to prove entirely efficient. under the law, be further punished; in In Pennsylvania the. Susquehanna other words it gives them nothing; still, offers the finest natural advantages for it is well that it was issued, as it puts an the propagation of fish. The dams upon end forever to any question about the matter, and makes a public declaration it and its principal tributaries are not to the world that the Rebellion is over, nearly 56' numerous as they are upon and that all its offences have been con- the New England rivers, and their tinned. But it should have been issued height not so great. If any device can be successfully applied so as to enable long ago; everybody has long known that the trial of Davis would never take fish to ascend to their natural spawning beds they can certainly be adapted to place, and that the proceedings in' r • the hums on the Susquehanna and the regard to it were all for Bunkum. The Jd law officers of the government have u ata. i An attempt has already been made to Licen postponing the case, in the open a passage way ffir the shad which hope that the President would save still abound in the lowers waters of the them from the fiasco, in which it would Susquehanna. They once followed all surely end, if it ever came to trial, by its tributaries far up into the mountains pardoning the great I s rrit ' sed ; this and were formerly caught in abundance the President has been afraid to take the responsibility of doing, until now, in the creeks of Bedford and Hunting w lien the sentiment of all classes of the don counties, which empty lOW the Ju niata, as well as in similar localities people has been so overly ripe for the along the head waters Of the North reception of his amnesty, that its tardy , and West Branch of the Susquehan announcemeutsCarcely make: the mild- ' est sort of a sensation. The President 1 on, A fish ladder has been erected at this dam below Columbia, but lias waited until everybody, both friend and foe, has determined that it was the ; se hailer an y shad ever ascended its steps right thing to do, before he has made up , would be difficult to say, as there was a his mind to do it. But this hesitation . break in the dam through which they of ction is achronie defect in Mr. John. , could pass. That they were caught last son's character, u se out which has 1 spring as far up the Juniata as New neen fatal to the snccess and eclat of '. port, ill Peres county, and that in coii. siderable numbers, is certain. his adruinistration. He has been re-' W markable during the past three years, e notice that a decidedly important for persistently thinking right and suit has just becn concluded at Harris talking right; but forjust as persistent- burg, ny which the right of the Fish ly refusing to act upon his declared eo n_ Commissioner to enforce the act for victim's. lf be had as nobly acted as compelling the erection of fish ladders Ile nobly thought, during his Presiden- I at the different dams is to be tested. ti al carter, lie would have left that high ' Wc are ill favor of the most extended ~Mice, with a reputation, not second to piscatorial privileges, and hope the mat . that cf Jackson orally other of tin' great : ter will not be permitted to rest, until men who have preceded him in it. As that most delicate fish, the shad of the it is, he will probably only outrank that ' Susquehanna, is given free access to all . poor apology, Lincoln. its triimtaries. Another thing which inu.,: be carefully attended to is the fish Toe future will always surely vindi- dams, in the traps of which innumera cate an act or a policy that is right; and . bl e y o ungshadareannuallyslaughtere d. he only ift - Aa great statesman who sees ' Who law must be so framed as to coca in advaiMe of others what iL is right to ' . pel the owners it . these concerns either do, and who has the courage to do it, to remove them entirely, or so to re even in opposition to the violent elainor for iin , model them as to enable the young of the less far-sighted masses; peui 4 „ hu h., intrepi di ty, u „,, „ Thue i shad to pars -down without injury or exerted in a mistaken cause; ; ,,„1 they 1 hinder:llWe. But tin re is another step which we deify the man who couragotusly pt.- , hope to see the Legislature take at its sues a course, unawed by their ,1,1,,,:,i.! lion, in which the future },r,,,,,,, Pitt' t ,, coming session. (Inc of the very best h e r i g ht . Mi ...1,,h„ 50i , I , „,, t( ,„„ of th i s lidii ill this country "is theblack bass. It kind of men ; he might have made : can 10. successfully propagated in the some reputation by boldly pardoning Hu-queliani.a. About a dozen years every rebel long ago, \, Len iii:illy li r ac , a few pair were brought from the the people y. er e elmoorou , ;)i' yens head waters of the Ohio in a locomotive geance, inste,al of pardoning them tank on the Baltimore and Ohm Rail in driblets, the 'smaller offenders first, road. and put into the Potomac near in several pro[damations ; Mr th e f utu , Cumht Hand, Maryland. The result is Would have shown that he was Fight. that they now fairly swarm in that 50 lie might have made a noble reputa- ' stream and its tributaries. We have lion, if he had resisted the howl Wilii'll caught nil ill at the Great Fall, some went up from the helical pr.;: , atoll' fourteen 'Mks from Washington, anti pditieians for the murder , of Poor, ion , - away above Cumberland al the base of ' cent Mrs. Surma; instead of I,,ing, as , the Allegheny Mountains. Through now, held responsible us the finisher of , ail that length of river they abound, that great crime. ;-,,, i: lie had Pardoileil 1 furnishing the finest sport to the ,' Wirtz, another innocent victim of Rad. angler. They are among the gamest ical violence. So, if he had boldly ! fish, and the pleasure of playing a five ' k „,,,,,i,..,1 i1i t i,„1,,,,,,i till ii ,,,,,, tit 0 ; ,,, R ,1 or eight pound bass at the end of prop military commssions, of which so many. erly constructed tackle, is a sensation ut . 16s nd _ Um'. is delightful. Let the Legislature were held at lire beginning ministration, and which are now fiery'. appropriate •a few hundred dollars, to Th e y enalde the Fish Commissioner to pro v; such loathing and contempt. were " organizea to convict" by the'cure black bass to he placed in the i ,„ te St man, ttn a though in„„y 1 rivers of the State at proper points. The its pared will he a mere trifle when corn. of their victims still linger I pared with the results to be obtained. ----- prison, President Johnson has not not _ ' New York and the New England States yet found courage to release them, l are making vigorous e withstanding the illegality and injustice ! rection, and Pennsylva ff n orts ia s in this di- hould not of their confinement is known of all men. Dr. Mudd, for instance, and those hug behind' There is .no more healthy who were accused with him of compile food than fresh fish, and no more its with the Lincoln assassination, are healthy sport than angling fin. them. „ till held at the D r y Trtu ", og„,,„l,igh Let us have the shad well cared for, and tour streams thickly peopled with there is not a man livin:4wln believes or even suspects that any an - y4f own' ha." had any criminal connection - with the assassination ; told every lawyer knows l that, even if they had, a military tribm nal could not legally convict them of it. Why then, are these men still impris. i oned '.' Why, indeed' If the President had the eourage of a m,use, he would have freed them all long ago. But let u, he thankful for what we receive, and , Lot .:;pt , too much from a Pre!- . ident ', who allowed Mrs. Surratt to be hung. TLe 1a..-t rebel is at last pardoned, and the war may be considered over. Breck enridge, and the others will return ; ti,,ir per,..mai fri..nds will welcome 1 ;. , -m ; they wi:l all again become good ~ ,tiz,:, , of the [Mon, and we may hope t:.a: 1. , -;,- , ar.d g,od-will,will once more :,:.;::, ainom4 illi,ll in every section of our thing is the report of Mr. Vau Wyck, , with reference to the whiskey frauds in The ' nt" ' or the l ' e ' 3l Tender Act New York. This document is just sych Pi•onouticr.i It Unre s natutlonal. a paper as might be expected from such rit ~,u.,,. he v e ry con,eng to such , a source. The New York llcrahl, a r::-,.:• n-:t1 mi;ols us tho,e which - are... 711e wspaper which advocated the election I i:, the conduct of the smaller . of - Tilameral (;:ant, thus speaks of it: IMIEMIE t,och as the to find that the hest tuen of t71 . 1.' are tal;ing the I)entocratie of ',die(' that the Legal Teuder , Ul l eensLialtional. The N. Y. lri puldi-h,:s a klter from the author Lim bill, Judg.;- . ;patildiug, or Ohio, :. v. hick Ile I.•Xprt.-I,ly deC1111%, ,, 1.i., cun -11,111 that the lay.' in in direct conflict th, (O:l.rVFn provil.Conin of the con. Of the i/ Led states. lie soya: Asl a war Irma-nro ,hir,ng Wile, luring Lin• v.,n, and as long I I,';11 Vt. II Wll4 21 eces L., n 0,...n•-t,::',y ,arry On the and Wail li14.05:0,1 , ,11411 i 1111011a]. •e, v... ,:d ; 1 •I.halm, lri he 1.1114•Ns .1 ele, ..„11 ,11,1 pr,V,te." 1411,11 a 00 4,,,v,11,,.1:1 peat• 1, , ~ ,t ainf•d rl , l 1- 11111 ••• r hid i 11 tt! mtle 111:11 !hit !, • • rime of di , pit— il.ur the /egal tender elapse ,• '• ,ie•ruti Vs 11l °MI: ,},-arid _' • In that. nee,' all loo , e .d..;;,‘ , 1 their 1/111•III/IISII 7. or O , J I:.L , L . would have Kerr a 'hirr ir.e.isure. and would •le., I think. lor.; a the war. ~a• ,n•.,• momday of the law lipbefme :1, , • I:;.md f;;tat.ii at .;I",n. If the Court fuel los, ',died rii•ele the yueattan daring the war -7„e, ;bey would ni,t likely have li.ut the law was valid, !II:I•qt!” 1 ,h li.e.Ere, bad decided that it win, Cod proper means to med .be rebellion ; but the law has ,on'..i.oed in form so long falter the war without arty real neceshity ,irould not be much surprised //Al f; etiould now declare it linens- atii)ve extract reads rather strange• will pixxxle /mist common men, 140 /mitt lawyers, WC imagine, to tell the :raid law rixould Lie constitution al at tine time, and unconstitutional at aiictlier. Judge Spaulding still holds 1 , 9 be i./ea thus IL was proper to go be ymid the ewietitutlon during the great P-iii;- !ties created by the war. We can ltul - a whe re h e duds good legal ground fir I el) r . as But one thing is ye! . dear , He meads then egal Ten -4,oi*Pt, St new stands up the stat- THE LANCASTER WEEKL C Dr 4 " ' 1 • _ A_ e , , ute books, •as plainly unconstitutional, and, as the author of the bill, he raises his voice to encourage the Judges of the Supreme Court so to decide. He is uni• venally regarded as one of the ablest lawyers in the Republicanparty, and we can imagine the horror with which the "insignificant creatures whom God in his inscrutable Providence permits to edit Radical newspapers," will read his remarkable letter. The Radical's and Whlshey The. Radicals in Congress have wasted vast sums of money in investigations. Yet they have never given to the coun try anything else than (X p(iTiC state- ments, excusing their party for its many misdeeds. They Iltionstuntly availed themselves of this method for parading 1 before the country partizan statements, 1 praising themselves and condemning their political opponents. Thus have the channels of public information been made the vehicle for vituperation of those ts:110 disagreed with them, while money has been freely drawn from the , • national treasury to pay for getting up and circulating these electioneering .locumunts. The lutes!, t-pechnen of tbib kind' of The Congressional /2sininittee lit lte- Irenehnteot, as it is en lieu, of Which , Van Wye': is elnortnati, has made a most extraordinary report relative to the whis key frauds. In tact, it is not a report at all on these frauds, lout a tirade of a tion,eol the President and the ,/ther officers of the gov ernment Wll,t endens.ored to prove the ruts. shay til the internal revenue thieves. It i- neither 111,,101/ollt,slban alaineattetupt et whitewash the foinilsoftlie internal reve tise olli/aafs, and to throw dust in the eyes 111 . the [11•0111 , 2 by abusing the President, Ifinekley dud others. Th, Internal rove nue service in this Salo is tilled with a little ...my Wyck family ; and this , nifty account tilf the eliar.teter of the report. attire unsatisfactory—we were about to say intionsti:—ever emanated from it Congressional investigating ecm- inittee, aud ii shows to wilat a pitch of de gradation stir tiatismfi representatives have It is in.lorions !hat w I»sky and other frauds, to the amount of tells of mil li./ns of dollar , . have been and are being committed in this city aud neighborhood f upon the internal revenue, suit that by the /motivative of officers in that service; yet the esnitnittpe failed to discover any of them or to find a single delinquent official. Fur ther comment is unnee , fssary. The report speaks for itself. .S 0 candid man, who reads the re- I port, can fail to agree perfectly with the I Iltrald in opinion . , and every attempt of Radical newspapers to bolster up this lying document mint necessarily fall. 1 There Is good reason to believe that Pre- 1 ident Johnson has been anxious to se cure a complete exposure of the whiskey (rands, and there is abundant evidence to show that the Radicals in Congress were always opposed to the making of any such exhibit. It is certain that every attempt to reluth the truth has been thwarted by Rattiest influences. There are some men In Congress 'from whom honest investigation and an im partial report might be expected, but especial care uas been taken to prevent the appointment of such persons. Those who have been connected with frauds, either in their own persons, or throtigh their families and friends, have been chosen instead. If the Radicals had Mailed the country over for a man who would be sure to whitewash the whis key ring of New York, they could not have found a titter tool, a more apt and ready instrument than this same Van Wyck, 'tp, little army V whosefamily 7, is in the revenue ser vice at that City. The outcry which he makes against Andrew John n is only the old call of the rogue,w cries out "stop thief" to divert a ntion from himself. It Must be borne in mind that the Radl4l majority of two-thirds, which has proved so tyranical in all things, has assumed and exercised full control of the revenue department. The con stitutional power of the President has been reduced to a mere nullity. All con trol of officials has been taken from him. The Radicals in the Senateihave been t e real appointing power, and they, and R'at'An.dlew Johnson, are re sponsible for the disorder which prevails and the wholesale plundering which has been systematically practiced. All their attempts to shift the responsibility for existing evils from their shoulders to those -of the President •are vain. Every intelligent man In the country knows where the blame ought to rest, and the partisan report of Mr. Van VKyck cannot whitewash Congress or 1 chaps() the current of enlightened pub lic opint3. a ./ —......_. A TRIP TO THE SOUTH EDITORIAL NOTES, V On the morning after our arrival at "Black Walnut," having cut for ourselves fig - stems for our Powhatan pipes, out of Mr. Sims' garden, we sallied forth to walk across his plantation to that of tbeßev. Mr. Clark, the nearest neighbor in that direc tion, although it was more than four miles from house to house. Our railroad view of these plantations on the Staunton, had not given us too high au idea of their fertility. Mr. Clark's plantation being for sale, re ceived a thorough examination from some of our party, who reported themselves vastly pleased with it. It is indeed a mag nificent place, embracing a largo body of the productive bottom land of the river, tine uplands and elegant timber. 4000 acres is, however, rather too much territory for one man - to handle, but it would make several splendid farms for persons who would unite together to buy it. The ' price asked for it is $:2O per acre. The owner is a man advanced in years, whose family has mostly married and set tied away from him, and he desires to free himself front the responsibility of the man agement of so large an estate, and devote the remaining years of his life exclusively to the ministry. lie is a very fine old gen tleman, and we had an exceedingly inter e,ting conversation with him, after partak ing of a substantial dinner which Mrs. Clark hospitably set out for us. He has been experimenting with negroes and has made a dead !adore of it. Ilis plantatioh is now farmed on the shares in small tracts by our " colored brethren," and wretched ly farmed it is. Before the war Mr. Clark was tusking preparations to emancipate his negrnes, much to the disgust of his neighbors, and we believe, made several journeys to the North, for the purpose of arranging to ship them to Liberia, that free negrools harbor of refuge, of which we used to hoar so much, but which seems now to have (Bud out of public recollection. Their present place of shipment seems to be to the Negro Heaven, to which they are being transported far more rapidly than they ever were to the great African Repub lic; and the freight is cheaper. The wO.r, however, put all end to Mr. Clark's y)enovnlent scheme ; but since its close, he has been making great efforts to alleviate , the negro's condition and elevate his moral character, but has found it a hope. less :ask. Ile built at his own expense a nice church lig them on his plantation and dis petised the gospel to them without charge. For a while they attended his ministrations in goodly numbers, but several months ago, they suddenly all quit him to a num, and told him secretly that they did not dare to attend his church any longer. They are very utuell afraid of each other, and some th,ianing White 111311 or " boss" negro hav ing caused it to be promulgated among them that they must keep aloof from the white planters they were afraid to disobey. They titer even to be publicly seen speaking with Mr. Clark, but when they can met t him privately, many of them will talk freely to hint, and explain their doings and the tyranny they are enduring' at the hands of their fellows, but they always require from hint in strict pledge of secrecy; which pledge prevented Mtn front disclos ing to us the hurtle❑ of their tales. After they left his church, all the dark iee of the neighborhood used to assemble frequently on some !tart of his plantation, in "woods meeting. - This he permit ted until the want of efficacy of their religious exercises began to be 430 strongly manifested by the rapid and mysterious disappearance of hogs and poultry. These articles of diet would be appropriated in broad daylight, under the very eye of the tt.ttvant who might be iu charge of them: and he, when questioned, would refuse to tell who took them. "I lars'nt tell, Massa," he would say, "they'd kill me if I told:' To such an ext ent do the negroes, not only in Virginia but in the other Southern States, which we have traversed, steal all the pigs that they can lay their bands on, that the planters have. very generally been compelled to give up the raising of hogs altogether: yet they do not steal much else, except poultry. It is a comm .n practice in Southern coun try houses for the back doer of the house to be left open for the nigrctss of the servants in the month)); to make up the fires, to., and vet there is seldom anything stolen out or the house. The servants on Southern plantations do not sleep in the dwellings. The house ser vants occupy a number of huts located near the mansion, while the farm servants live at a distance from it. Another peculiarity of Southern life which Would not suit a Northern housekeeper, Is the fact that the kitchen is always at some distance from the dwelling, in a separate building, for the sake of avoiding the smell of cooking in the mansion. This arrangement suited the planters well enough tinder tho old state of affairs, When it MUSt have been quite an oljeel W find comet hi ng for the female slaves and juvenile darkies, to do; but we do not (Matt that its obvious disadvant ages under tine present system of labor will, ere lone, casino the distance between the cook-stove and the doting-table, to be greatly diminish , O. The old plantation of JOllll Randolph, of Rt smoke, lit, across the river from Mr. Clark's. and we saw the white walls of the mansion looking out from the forest sev t rat miles away. Being cn rim!, we did not cave time to gratify our anxiety to visit it. Mr. Randolph, we believe, died in Phila delphia, attended only by his favorite body serving, to whom he gave directions for Its burial 00 it particular spot immediately in front 01 his residence, desiring that a large boulder of rock which he was Wifilt to use as a washstand, should be placed upon his grave as his only monument. lli.s di rections Writ , obeyed, anti he now lies bur ied in the lawn iu front of the house, with only that rude rock over hint, inscribed with neither Milne, nor date, nor eulogy.— He never was married, although engaged a: one time to a Miss Epps, but the match for good reason was broken off by her friends. Many stories linger in that neigh borhood of Its eccentricities and his witty and sat casticsayings ; nor is the great state in which he used to drive to Congress in coach and four, forgotten. His plantation is now owned by a prominent lawyer of Richmond. After our gallant friend, the Major, had re ceived from the lipiof Mrs. Clark some solemn words of warning as to his fleeting years, and an urgent invocation to make an early demand for the ministrations of her husband at the marriage altar, advice which sank deeply into his susceptible soul, anti our, we bade farewell to our kind en tertainers and sauntered slowly hack, in the beautiful afternoon, to the residence of Mr. Ssm, where we again passed the evening, and full as pleasantly as before. On retiring to our rooms, we sat down before the blaz ing wood lire to talk a while and smoke a midnight pipe before seeking our beds. It is a universal and very pleasant custom in Southern houses to have a tire lighted at night In the chambers, by which to retire ; and beforis you arise in the morning, a ear yant enters yofl.r room and kindles it again for your comfort while dressing. Stoves are unknown in the South, and coal. The fires are always of wood, and built In the large open fire-places, which we in our coldpr cli mate, do not know. They ere exceedingly cbeerfuland pleasant to look upon ; ,and are amply sufficent to dissipate a moderate de gree of cold. But iney :would never do for our Northern winters, as the great draft would take the heated air too rapidly tiP the big throats of thp chipper, to al- low our rooms to be made comfortable. I tion of our government ! Negro Suffrage They entail too, a good deal of trouble upon I South fortunately is so great a farce, that it a housekeeper, as the rapid consumption of will not long continue to he a reality. It the wood requires constant watching of the may exist in name fora few years, but even fire and a steady replenishment of fuel. then the negro vote will be but the echo of Wood mats but littlemore than the cutting that of the white man. The freedman al here ; yet the cutting itself is expensive, the ways agrees to what a white man says; in amount consumed in every household , all our conversation with him, we were being so great. ! never able to meet anything bat the . most Southern women have not. us yet, become ready assent to every proposition which we enthusiastically fond of the Union; the 3, advanced, no matter of how contradictory were the most rebellious of rebels during : or absurd a character. the war, the termination of which they , Our route through North Carolina passed viewed with the most poignant regret ; had through the western portion of the State. they controlled its destinies, we feel quite 1 The railway from Danville to Greensboro sore it would be waging still. They made I had been built by the Confederate (iota great!persanal sacrifices for it while Blasted, went for the purpose of obtaining a ect and were ready and anxious to offer up all ! road to the south, the iron with which it they possessed upon the altar of their cause. , was laid being obtained by taking up the They would have wished the fight to con- rails on the road from Charlotte, N. C., to tinue behind every bush eili I would have 1 Staatsville, N. C.; and this road has not yet contested every inch of Southern soil. As I been rebid. it is they have suffered much, but they bear Our first stop in North Carolina was their misfortunes nobly. We know of two made at Greensboro, a flourishing and ladies, daughters of an ex-U. S. Senator , pretty town of 2or 3,000 inhabitants. Its from Virginia and a former Ambassador at ! people seem enterprising, and show evi one of the first European Courts, who were deuce of life and energy. In the adjoining the bedes•of the gay Capital to which their county on the west Is situated the Moravian father was accredited, yet who to day are town bf Salem, which is about completing uncomplainingly' earning their livelihood ' arrangements to build a railway connection in Richmond as mantua-makers. We know with Greensboro. This part of North Caro of another lady, a daughter of one of the tins is a floe fruit region ; choice apples most ancient and wealthy families of the were selling at Salem, we were told, at 75 State who is teaching school in Richmond ; cents per bushel ; when their railway is and her daughter is cheerfully filling the made, they will be able to do a fine busi position of governess. We might cite many ness, in the exportation of green and dried cases of this kind. Yet they do not repine, at fruits. This is likewise ono of the very their misfortunes nor regret the struggle best agricultural portions of North Carolina. which has thus reduced them. One lady told and we win also recommend it to the sports ni..f3that she thought their four years of lode- man. Partridges are abundant and wild pendence of Yarillee rule was an ample turkeys by no means scarce ; we saw some compensation for all their sufferings; which splendid gobblers in Greensboro, that had we thought, however was stating the case rewarded a hunter's skill. , quite as strongly as the truth would war- A very clever and pleasant gentleman of .rant, and we received it " cunt grano salis." ' our party, a native of Germany and one of They hold very dear the memory of the Sheridan's raiders, was so overcome by the ,leaders of their "lost cause," and after numerous attractions Presented to him here, their Heavenly Father, they regard with that he sought no further, but purchased a the deepest reverence and love, Jefferson farm near the town. His case illustrated Davis, and Jackson and Lee; and it may the manner ILL which our armies used to be be just as well for you not to attack the recruited. He says he arrived in New York reputation of either, if you do not wish to after dark ono evening and at eight o'clock meet a flashing eye and an indignant frown. next morning found himself, to his great It may be imagined that they are not surprise; a soldier in the United States greatly predisposed to indulge in any very Army. violent admiration of Yankees, whom they At Greensboro we strike the North may be rather inclined to liken in brain- Carolina Central Railway, which runs lessness to the geese that float upon their from Raleigh northwest to Greensboro waters and fly V-shaped above their rivers. and then southwest to Charlotte. It has Yet, through all our Southern travel, we 20,000 shares of stock the par value of found them perfectly polite and ladylike, which is $5O per share, but, they are selling and as we heartily admired the devotion at about $lO. The State of North Carolina with which they clung to their great men owns largo interests in all its Railways, of and their country, their earnestness only which, howeverthere is a strong probability lent additional interest and piquancy to our of its being soon dispossessed. A corrupt conversation with them. ring has been formed at the State Capital, On Sunday morning we attended the engineered by one Swepson, which seems Episcopal Church, some six miles dis- to own Gov. Holden and the Legislature of tint, of .which Mr. Clark is pastor, and carpet-baggers and negroes. A capital of in the afternoon our party went up the $20,000 only, it is sidd,is Deeded to secure any railway ; souse stopping on the Bannister to desired act of legislation. No stealing project look at a line farm of 400 acres, with an seems to be too gigantic for the Ring to put elegant dwelling, offered at aboßt. $27) per through. While we were in the State, it had acre, and others getting off at BOSIOTI Stir- secured an appropriation of $7,000,000 fur the ‘,e l - tion to examine • model tar in, owned by completion of the Western North Carolina Mr. Gertz, wt? was in elegant order, Railroad, in addition to a $3,000,000 appro and ikrell'enou Li fenced and kept to have priation previously made; and this out of done credit CO a Lancaster county farmer ; the Treasury of a State which does not pay $4O 'per , Nticre was the price asked for it. the interest on its bonds. As the State On Monday, Nov. 30th, we again took bonds for the $7,0e0,000 were deliverable im the cars, and passed up the beautiful valley immediately, and as it will take the Western of the Dan ; taking on board some of our North Carolina Company some years to use party at Danville, a thriving town of soy- up that sum in the construction of their eral thousand inhabitants, we were soon , road, it can be readily seen that the parties across the border of Virginia, and in the i..wo eahile handle the State Bonds, Old North State. I w h ill be enabled whit to line their purses very ' handsomely. The enterprising Swepson and his friends have likewise on foot a charming project to buy the entire interest of the State in all its railroads at a very mild price. They have got an act through the Legislature, authorizing the Governor to either sell or lease, or lease with the privilege of purchasing, the inter ests of the State in the railways thereof ; and the Governor, thus amply empowered, will be enabled to choke off all competitors in favor of his particu lar friends. Generous men live in Raleigh, and the diamond trade there is said to be brisk. As a moral capital it even takes the palm away from Harrisburg. On Tuesday morning, at the early hour ofVix o'clock, bidding farewell to our o . encl Zimmer lint] other ac quaintances at Greensboro, we took the train on the North Carolina Central R. It. for Salisbury. Travelling in the South one gets used to early rising, for we scarcely recnliiiit an instance In which we were not " li . conape, ed to take the cars at from live to sixiydlock A. M. This time we rode on a freight train, to which a passenger car was attirched. This being an enterprising road and adtick on the main line of railway South, it ran two trains a day, one passenger train, anti another the aforesaid freight. You are very fortunate in the South if you can get two chances per day to ,cave the place you are in, on the railway ; and it is very sel dom that you can do it, for the main lines generally run but one train a day, and the branch lines content themselves and get through with their business, with'ii train once in two or throe days. So that travel ing in that sunny region is: a little slow, if you wish to see anything, for every stop page will cost you on an average 24 hours of time. We were borne along very nicely behind our freight train aud had ample time to see the country ; as we were running along a ridge, it was for some time not very pre possessing. We presently came to the town of Lexington, and as our conductor told us he would stop for twenty minutes a number of us went up into the town to explore its beauties. A hasty glance showed it to be a very pretty little town, and a view from the top of the handsome Court house, which was just being rebuilt alter a recent confla gration, showed us some very handsome country surrounding it. Before our twenty minutes bad expired we made haste to our train, but what was our dismay , when we got within 300 yards of it to see it delib erately moving off. Our friends on board, however, dispatched a train hand to the engineer over the roofs of the freight cars and brought the train back to us. As we approached the Yadkin River, we got into a fine agricultural region and saw one or two very elegant farms; the locality, from a point ten miles North of the Yadkin, is called " the Jersey Settlement " and seems to be considered the crack agricultural regionof thissection. We reached Salisbury early in the afternoon, passing at the edge of the town the ruins of the fine brick build• ings and spacious shops of the Railroad which had been burned by Gen'l Stoneman in his raid, after the surrender of Lee, but before news of that event had reached this part of the world. W e stopped at the spa cious Boyden House and tinder theguirlance of our editorial friends of the Old North State drove out to survey the adjacent country and look at the notable things in the town. EDITORIAL NOTES, VI Virginia has suffered by the war, wo think more than any other of the Southern States and is recovering therefore less rapidly from its effects. More property seemed to be pressed for sale here than iu the other States; which however was doubt less owing to the fact, that it was feared that the military order staying executions until January 1, IStl9, would not be renew ed after that date; but we seo that General I Stoneman has lately extended it until mid summer. What a singular state of affairs to exist in the grand old State of Virginia; • . the property of Lks people under the sole control of one man, and he a military ofli ear ! Creditors have u hard time or it in Virginia; no one can collect the, debts doe him, and consequently no one is able to pay the debts be owes. It is not hard to see, that in this condition of affairs, the State can but slowly regain prosperity.— The Bankrupt Law alone can relieve its people from these entanglements, if indeed the military power would allow its pro visions to be carried into.etlect. The people of Richmond rebuilt very handsomely the business part of their town. destroyed by fire at the evacuation, but we doubt whether their merchants are earn big their salt, owing to the difficulty of col lecting money. Currency is scarce and rates of interest very high. The planters are making money and the State will regain its capital lost in the war, out of its agriculiural and mineral pro ducts. Bat the amount to be made up is great; $2,r.00,000 being the amount of capi tal annihilated in slaves alone. As a rule, to which there are of course exceptions, the Virginia planters are very poor farm• ers. They are, however, earnestly at work to repair their fallen fortunes, and with the limited capital at their command are striv ing like mon to regain their ancient footing. They ask only to be let alone. They talk little and care less for politics, their whole attention being absorbed by the tilling of their lauds and the management of their estates. If they are permitted to do this in peaae and quietness they will have at wined their only ambition. They accept the result of the war cheerfully as a finali ty; they essayed the wager of battle, to de fend what they sincerely believed to be their rights, and frankly confess themselves to have been beaten ; the issue has been decided against them, and they without reservation, accept the result, as a final de cision against them in the questions at stake, whether they were abstractly right or wrong in the positions, to delend which they took up arms. They are sincerely for the Union now, and if it is ever disrupted, the initial movement for its destruction will never hereafter be made by the South. Indeed, if we are not greatly mistaken, the abolition of slavery will, in the early future, make the South the most prosperous por tion of our country, and bind it to the Union by the strong tie of self-interest. The uegroes in Virginia seem to be more discontented than those of the other States that we have been in ; at least we saw more of them idle, and more complaining of rates of wages and want of work. This may have been owing to the season of the yealr during which our visit was made. The rate of wages ranges front $0 to $lO per month in all the Southern States. To this is added a ration of 3! its of bacon and a peck of meal per week, a but to live in being also furnished them ; and very little work do they do for the money. We presume, Northern farmers, who would go into the fields themselves and say to the negroes " come," might get more work out of them ; but they are constitutionally opposed to labor, and require constant driving. We were greatly astonished at the immense profundity of their ignorance; they don't really seem to have an idea above an oyster, and are, [natty of them, in intellec tual calibre but little above the beasts of the field. They are utterly improvident and unable to take care of themselves. The rags in which they are clothed would as tonish the most accomplished beggar in Italy. They are expecting the Government to do great things for them, and have got an idea into their beads that from this source they are to each get 40 acres of laud, a mule and farming implements, and pro visions enough to last them until they can make a crop off of their land. They con ceive that the government owes them this. If they get that mule, it would not live three months, but would die of starvation ; half of the negroes would be even too care less to lead their animals to water. The planters can trust very few ot „them with their stock, and they requirg constant watching. It seems incredible that any human being would let his dumb beast die for want of water, yet we are assured that It is often done by negroes who attain the ownership of a horse. John Randolph, of Roanoke, tried this experiment of fitting out freedmen with farms; by his will he freed his slaves, and directed that they should be settled in a colony in Ohio ; each to be provided with a house and. lot of ground and farming- im plements. They were, moreover, to be under the care of a superintending white man until they got fairly etartecliin their new career. It was all done as directed, - and to day, after the lapse of 20 or 30 years,not one rilihose freedmen owns the lot fhtit 4 was gFien to him. • What a mockery it is, to give thesecrea tures, withtheir present degree of education anlintelligence, a voice in the adMlnistra - l'orrempondence of the Intelllgeneer PIIILADELPIIIA, Dee. 2:3, 1868. Messrs. Editors:—Merry Christmas is again here and accompanying, is the usual joy and happiness manifested throughout the land. Although almost nineteen cen turies have elapsed since the first Christmas dawn, each succeeding one presents appar ently augmented pleasure and joy. "Notwithstanding the intensity of the cold we ventured forth last eve in witness the sights on Eighth and Chestnut streets, but there was not the usual number of maskers and mummers out, although the streets presented a lively appearance with gro tesque costumes, Indian Chiefs, &c., and more conspicuous were "The Grecian Ben ders on a bend" and "Escaped Lunatics' accompanied by an incredible number o horns, bugles, fifes and drums, it furnished frfor one and all. To convey an adequate description is al most impossible; suffice it to say that Whitsuntide, the great gala-day in old Lancaster, falls far short in comparison to a Christmas Eve in Philadelphia. It must be seen to be appreciated. The President's Amnesty Proclamation of to-day is commented favorably upon in all circles, as it concludes at once the farce of the trial of Jefferson Davis by the Radi cals. Considerable interest is manifested in the trial of Geo. S. Twitchell, indicted for the murder of Mrs. Mary Hill. It is progressing slowly; the defense opened yesterday. In the differer t branches of business there is a general stagnation, and as it Is influ enced by a tight money market, little relief can be expected for some time. The extent of the Alaska purchaSe is es timated at 869,529,600 acres. The price paid was $7200,000, or a slight fraotlop less than two cents per acre. This recalls the old; fashioned consideration of a pepper corn. Gabriel Martin and his two sisters, living in Colombia county, Ga., were' robbed and murdered on • Triursday ' night.' Their house was then burned and the bodies consumed. Some negroes are suspected of the crime. General Amnesty—The President Pm dons Everybody that Engaged in the Rebellion. By the President of U. United States of America. Whereas, The President of the United States has heretofore set forth several pro clamations, offered amnesty and pardon to persona whoi had been or were concerned in the late Rebellion against the lawful au thority of the Governmentvf the United Slates, which proclamations were severally is- , ued on the Bth day of December, 1863, on the 26th day of March, 1864, on the tit day of May, 1865, on the 7th day of September, 1667, and on the 4th day of July, in the pre sent year: Whereas, The authority of the Federal Government having been re established in all the States and Territories within the ju risdiction of the United States, it is believ ed that such prudential reservations and exceptions as, at the dates of said several proclamations were deemed necessary and proper, may now be wisely and justly re linquished, and that an universal amnesty and pardon for participation in said Rebel lion, extended to all who have borne any part therein, will tend to secure permanent peace, order, and prosperity throughout the land, and to renew and fully 'restore ehnfidenEe and fraternal feeling among the whole people, and their respect for, and at taChnient to the National Government, de signed by:his patriotic founders for the gen• eral good. Now, therefore, be it known that I, An drew Johnson, President of the United States, by virtue of the power and authoris ty in me vested by the Constitution, and in the name of the sovereign people of the United States, do hereby proclaim and de clare, unconditionally and without reserva tion, to all and to every person who direct ly or indirectly participated in the late in surrection or rebellion a full pardon and amnesty for the offense of treason against the United States or of adhering to their enemies during the late civil war, with re storation of all dents. privileges, and im munities, under the Constitution and the laws which have been made in pursuance thereof. In testimony whereof I have signed these presents with my hand and have caused the seal of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Done at the city of Washington, the twenty-fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord one'thousrud eight hundred and sixty-eight, and of the independence of the United States of America the ninety third. ANDREW JOHNSON. By the President. F. W. Si•AVARD, Acting See'y of State Christmas Day Christmas Day, so called from Christi Massa, the mass of Christ, was not cele brated on the same day by all the primitive churches. For two or three centuries the the Eastern Church kept the feast on the I 6th of January, while the Latin Church ob served it on the 25th of December. Pope Julius I, who died A. D. 351, has usually the credit of transferring the feast from January 6th to December 25th. Some au thorities, however, give the credit to Pope Telephorus, who died A. D. 138. About A. D. 527, it is known that Diony sius Exigus, a Scythian monk, fixed upon the 25th day of December, in the year of Home 733, when .Lentius and Pisu were Consuls, as the date of the birth of our Lord. and that is both the day and the year which has been followed as the date of the birth of our Lord, and that is both the day and the year which has been followed as the date of the Christian era up to the present time. In the middle ages the day was cel ebrated by the gay, fantastic dramatic spectacles of that period, the scenery repre senting an intent attended by the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the wine men, and sur rounded by cherubs, balls' heads, and other grotesque decorations, and the custom of decking houses and churches with ever greens is derived from the practices of the ancient Druids. ivy, misletoe, holly, rose mary, bays and laurel are thefavorite trim mings. The custom of Christmas gifts has its orig in in the Roman Paganalia, which was in stituted by Servius Tullius B. C. 5.50. On these festivals, celebrated at the beginning of the year, au alter was erected in every village, and to the box placed upon it every man, woman and child was expected to contribute a coin. St. Nicholas is one of the most popular Saints of Europe, being envokefl as the pa tron of sailors, travelers, captives, and as the special guardian of unmarried girlsand children. The Hollanders call him Santa Claus. Our juvenile friends are all ac quainted with his appearance, and the stock of toys ho invariably carries with him. In New England the Puritans gave no quarter to any Church festivals, and it is only within a few years past that there has been any general celebration of Christmas among their decendants. In the Southern States all the hale and hearty old English customs were duly observed from the first settlement of the country. Christmas in this State, as well as in all places south of us, is a time of rejoicing and universal mirth and festivity. A Kentucky }french or Promise Case get tied for Cam h. [From the Louisville Democrat, Dec. 15, A breach of promise case which bid fair to furnish a rare sensational dials for the columns of " enterprising" newspapers was amicably adjusted on Saturday. One of our wealthiest and most highly respected citizens, far advanced beyond the heyday of life, courted a young and beautiful girl whose circumstances are extremely mode, rate. He offered her his heart and hand in marriage and the thoughtful young lady ac cepted. The wedding ring was furnish ed, and all the preliminary arrangements for such occasions were progressing finely, when the faintly, consisting of several grdwn children, of the old gentle man got Wind of the affair. They at once resolved oh squelching the nuptials, and by, their united efforts persuaded their _aged parent to desist in his rash purpose. The kind-hearted and amiable parent desisted. But the young lady whose heart had been pierced by Cupid's arrow would not desist worth a "cuss." She was importuned by friends, and every argument, as to the dis parity between their ages and the fickle disposition of old age, brought to bear, but the maiden still persisted. When all per suasive arguments had failed the offer of ready cash was made to heat her bleeding heart. With great reluctance she loaned an ear to the golden propositions, and fi natty knocked herself down at the last bid of $5,000. The money was paid to her last Saturday, and with an aching heart and a full pocket the injured young lady calmly submitted to her cruel fate. t Nen . York Urlculayer and Ills Family Living In a Cave. [From the Nllddlotown (Ct.) :it:nth:Lel.) A singular discovery was recently made in Cromwell. It wan that a man, his wife, and two boys had taken lodgings in a cave which they had dug in the bank near what is called " Blow Hole." Quite a number have visited the place and rind him a man from thirty to thirty-live years of age, light complexion mid light hair. He says he Caine here in a boat which lies near, about the first of December, This boat is built of white oak and cedar, and is about twelve feet long, yawl built, with sail. Ha Is a man of good education, and tells the following story of himself: " I was born in England, and my father was a lord; I went through college and graduated, after which I en listed in the English army and served one year, when I deserted and came into the State of Maine; from there I went to New York and worked as a bricklayer. Last fall, while at work on a staging with two ethers, it gave way and precipitated all three to the ground, killing one and injur ing another badly, and laying me up for some weeks. When well enough to walk, I bad lost my job I took my family and started in this boat, got as tar as the fish house oa the east side of the river(opposite where they now are), when my wile was taken sick, and went there expecting to stay till spring, but the owners drove ate out, and T crossed over and built the pres ent cave." He has asked for and. obtains a jot) at chopping wood. His wife is Irish, or of Irish decent. The children are said to be very bright. People living in that neighborhood have furnished them with many needed articles of comfort. It is a singular case that a man with the education he appears to have should be under the necessity of burrowing in the ground to find a place to shelter himself and family during the coming winter. He gives his name • as Trent. '1 he Validity of Gold Contracts—lmport- ant Judicial Decision The Maryland Court of Appeals has ren dered an opinion in the celebrated "gold case," known as A. S. Abell ~t. Co., agt., Chesapeake Bank (John S. Gittings, Presi dentl, involving the liability of apeciel con tracts in coin. It appears 'that the plain tiffs made a special deposit in the bank during December, 1861, of $3,007 in gold, contracting at the same time that they were to receive coin in repayment. On the 2Sth of May, 1864, when gold was at 83 premium, the plaintiffs demanded their $3,000 in coin ; but it was refused them, and they were ten dered in its stead $3,000 in treasury notes, , on the ground that the paper had been made legal tender. The case is referred back to the court below for a new trial, on grounds set forth in the following extract tom the opinion touching the instructions of Mat court to the jury. "By It the jury were instructed that if they found the existence of the special con tract declared on, and that demand had been made, and a refusal to pay in specie, ' that then the plaintiffs are entitled to re cover a sum equal to the value of $3,000 in gold on the 28th of May, 1864, with interest thereon.' The proof was that on the 28th of May, 1864, gold was at 85 and 861 premium, and under this instruction a verdict was found for $6,159 39, upon which judgement was rendered. This is justified, we think, by no principle of law or reason." The litigation has, however, settled the I two points at issue between the plaintiffs and the defendants. A jury has found that the plaintiffs were correct In their statement that the defendant received from them a de posit to the arannt of $3,000 in gold coin, upon the express agreement that it would return thispunii on demand, in coin ; and thhighest court in Maryland has now \ xi dem ed that the Chesapeake Bank commit ted a . hof this contract, when it refused to repa is sum in coin on the demand of the plaint*, and that the tender of $3,000 in legal-teNer notes, was not a compliance with the legitLaugaggment of the Chesa peake Bank. .. . BUCHANANt The New Qrleans Times gets off the 191- lowing good tit ; balloto is. the universal specific to aure-a4l social Mei , to redress the wrongs of woman ; to afford fie curity to the negro, suppose they try It on the Plains to secure peace with the Indians. No one will deny that the Indian is more than the equal of the negro. LOVE AND ELOPEMENT IR MICHIGAN Marriage of a Youth of Seventeen and a maiden of Fourteen—Sage of the Pa rents—The Mainext Bride Sent toe Con vent. From the St. Clair (Mich.) Republican, Dec. gt. On Sunday week an elopement and mar riage took place at Marine City, the parties being a young man, aged seventeen, and a young lady, aged fourteen, both belonging to families moving in the first circles of so ciety in that place. The affair has created considerable excitement and talk at Ma rine City and also at this place, as it con tains all the elements of a domestic romance, without, however, the auspicious termination which usually accompanies these fictitious episodes of love's vicissi tudes. The young man is named Albert Graves, and is a cousin of Hon. N. S. Boyn ton, our representative elect to the State Legislature. Albert has been paying his addresses to Miss Susie Wescott, the youth ful and charming daughter of Mr. D. H. Wescott, for over a year past, and it is hard ly necessary to state they became deeply enamored of each other. The attention of the parents of both parties was directed to their wooing, and efforts were made to pre vent their meeting. In fact, a strong and determined opposition was raised, and the youthful lovers were given to understand. that they must nevermore join hearts or hands at love's trysting place, or breathe the "old, old story" into each other's will ing ear. This stern mandate was attended with its natural consequences—only mak ing them more devotedly attached and more determined and successful in finding ways and means of meeting each other. Feeling that they were cruelly treated they determined to make one bold stroke for freedom and happiness. On the after noon of Sunday, the 13th inst., without consulting their relatives, and accompanied by a male friend, they jumped into a cutter and drove over to D. Hart, whose resi dence is about two miles west of Marine City, and were there lied then united, by that gentleman, in the holy bonds of wed lock. The parents of the young lady missed her, and utter a little search got an inkling of what was going 'on. A brother of the young lady, - with a friend, D. Lester, got Into a cutter and made chase, but arrived too lute. Considering that discretion was the bettej„ course, they thought it was best to look over the affair and invite the young married couple home. Accordingly they started on ahead to see the old folks, and instructed the young couple to follow at a safe distance. They imagined that the old folks could be quited and reconciled, but in this they reckoned without their host. The father of the virgin bride had taken a posi tion where he could see the young folks come into the village, and the brother and friend did not happen to see him. When the cutter came driving up the old gentle man halted it, and after a short tussle with the briclegeoom, in which his superior size and strength gave him a decided advantage, took his daughter out of the cutter ana forced her to go home, at the same time telling the young man he might "travel." The girl, reluctant and eobbing as if her heart would break, followed her father home, while the young man,down-hearted, took for the time being another course. The parents of each were exasperated, and they jointly determined to break up the marriage. ney ascertained through legal advice that the laws of the State did not sanction marriages where the male con tracting party was under eighteen and the female under sixteen, and that under the circumstances of the present case the tie could be severed with but little difficulty. This they determined to do. Close wane] was' kept over the young lady, but she managed to escape, and made her way to a neighbor's house, where Albert, being sent for, no sooner appeared than she was again forced to return to her home. Negotiations were kept up all through Monday to bring a reconciliation of the old folks, but all to no effect. On; Tuesday morning early the young bride, under charge of her father and brother, was taken to-Detroit to be placed in a convent, there to remain until she arrived at mature age or gave up the object of her affections. The entreaties of the girl to remain with her young husband and the course pursued towards her by her relatives have created quite a sensation throughout the village and neighborhood; and while some ap prove the wisdom of the parents in thus separating persons of immature age, who cannot form any idea of the responsibilities of married life, by far thegreatest majority severely censure the old folks and warmly sympathies with the young lovers. The 9311111-Twltenell Murder ("Hee • - At the clost>af s the proceedings on Wed nesday evening in the trial of Twitcheil for the murder of his mother-in-law, Mrs. Hill, his counsel asled permission to examine prisoner's clothes. On the opening of tha Court this morning, Judge Brewster said that the defendant should have the fullest right of examination accorded to him con sistent with the preservation of the articles from accidental or intentional destruction. If the purpose is to secure a chemical analy sis, he is entitled, as a matter of right, to have such an examination made by any expert that he may select; but to guard against the possible destruction of impor tant evidence, the tests should be applied in the presence of the Court. The counsel for the defense did not accept the offer, and the case of the Commonwealth proceeded. Samuel F. Davison, an Officer of the First National Bunk of Camden, testified that the defendant kept a bank account there; that on the 20th of November his balances were $2 04; at one time his account was overdrawn $411.90. A. B. Warden, Deputy Coroner Fletcher, Dr. Sharpley, Coroner's physician, and other witnesses were called, and the Commonwealth closed il.s case, Mr. J. T.,,Piatt delivered the opening argil mept for the defense. He spoke of the' good character that had always been main ained by the defendant, and of the danger of convicting on circumstantial evidence. He undertook to show how the murder might have been. committed without the knowledge of either Mr. or Mrs. Twitchell, the dining-room door having been closed. The defense produced in the court-room a complete model of the house in which the murder was committed. Without conclud ing his argument Major Pratt acceded to the request of the Court and counsel, and the trial was adjourned over Christmas un til Saturday morning. Twitchell remains perfectly impassive, notwithstanding the chain of circumstantial evidence which the Commonwealth is welding day after day to connect 'him with the murder. He sits quietly in the dock conversing with his friend's and making suggestions to his counsel when engaged in the cross-exami nation of witnesses. Before this Mr. Pratt for the defence, closed his remarks, setting forth what was proposed to be proved : That the wounds on Mrs. Hill's head could be inflicted by other instruments than a poker; that not a dollar of the missing money had been traced to the defendant; that Mrs. Hill frequently stated that the house Tenth and P i ine was I for her daughter; that the furnitute in the house was purchased in the name of Mrs. Twitched; that the prisoner's credit was ' good ; that Joseph Gilbert was not to be be lieved; and that other persons were In the house. Mr. McNee, among other measurments, stated that the fence was 5 feet 9 inches to the top of the board, and the ornamental railing adds 20 inches. • There is a tree in the yard close to the fence, and also two ash barrels. Fran kl in Divine, Chas. Maloney, Richard Skinner, of Gloucester, Joshua Abbott, Jo seph Daniels and Andrew Gladiug testified to the good character of the prisoner. R. J. Dobbins, builder, testified that con siderab•e noise could be made in the dining room without being heard in the second story bedroom; witness was in the back bedroom and could not be heard hallooing or pounding in the dining-room. The defence called a large number of witnesses, who testified that the prisoner's character for peace, good order and human- I ity was good. These witnesses had known the prisoner for periods ranging from tour t ) twenty years, and included the time he lived in New Jersey, at Carpenter's Land ing, and while he (four years ago) did busi ness in the Dock street market. An effort was made to show, by Mr. Simes, the relation existing between Mr. Twitched and Mrs. Hill, but it was excluded as the time was nine months before the murder. The objection to the offer of the attornies for defence to give in evidence the declare , tions of Mrs. .Rill was not sustained; the Court being divided in opinion respecting its admissibility. Quite a large number of witnesses were consequently examined under this ruling of the Court. Their ex amination occupied the remainder of yes• terday's session. Au Altair of llooDour—el. Forney Fight". a It is so long since Washinz ton enjoyed the sensation of fc duel, that the recent oc currence of one here has been the theme of general conversation. , The chivalrous dev otees of the code of honor last evening were two officers of the regular army. One of them was Captain Philip Forney, on of Colonel John W. Forney, and the other an 1 , officer of the Twelfth Infantry. It appears I that the difficulty commenced in front of Willard's Hotel, and after some angry words the parties, at the suggestion of their friends, adjourned to near Lincoln Bar racks for the purpose of settling the matter in the usual way recognized by high toned gentlemen. The weapons used were pistols, and under the circumstances the thing was necessarily impromptu. Seconds, however, were chosenrand although no surgeon was present, it was known that one could be found at the barracks in the event of any unpleasant results. A few shots were ex. changed without injury to either party, after which it was agreed that the wounded honor of each of the parties was sufficiently vindicated. Captain Forney was appointed in the regular army by President Lincoln, at the instance of Colonel J. W. Forney. Owing to some difficulty he left the army some time ago, and is at present a clerk in the Agricultural Department. It is said the officer who had the shooting match with Forney, jr., and whose name is concealed, was slightly wounded. The cause of the quarrel is rather difficult to get at. Young Forney was seen about Wash ington shortly after the affair, but has been non est since. ' The Lake Shore Railroad Company have tecently introduced a new apparatus, for heating their cars. It Consists of a Series Or bipes, passing along the sides and beneath the seats of' the cars, connected with a Cylindrical tank inclosing,,,a harning bfatar and partlffilled With water, Which is gradually oonvetted into heated power, Which readily passes through the pipes, circulating through them and returning to the tank, imparting heat to all parts of the car in proportion to the temperature to, which the vapee-le raised. State Items Blair county pays about poo a year for fox scalps. Pittsburg is considering the question of erecting new water works. Judge Middieswarth, of Snyder county, recently killed a 12d pound deer. A Mr. Crouse is erecting a Methodist Church in Reading at his own expense. The Cambria Iron Company have open ed a night school for their employees, in Cambria borough A mad dog was killed near Doylestown, and two mad dogs were killed near West Chester last week. A straugeand fatal disease has broken out among the cattle in Wyalusing, Bradford county. ',malevolent newspaper at Hub accuses Pennsylvania of having nearly five liquor shops to every school teacher. Pittsburg is considering the advisability of vacating certain streets to enable the Pennsylvania Railroad Company to erect depots. By the blowing out of a mud valve at the Superior Iron Works, Pittsburg, three men were badly scalded. A meeting of the physicians of Franklin county, for the purpose of forming a medi cal society, will be held at Chambersburg, on Tuesday, the 19th day of January next. Deer are plenty in the mountains of Westmoreland; eleven were killed during the late snow in Ligonier township, includ ing a buck which weighed two hundred and forty-seven pounds. The people of Al orrison's Cove are again agitating the railroad question. It is pro posed to intersect the Prnnsyivaniarailroad at Petersburg and the Broad Top road at Piper's Run. On Thursday morning last a man named Robb was brained, disemboweled, and saw ed in twain by falling on a circular saw in a planing mill in Birmingham, near Pitts burg. Eli Lambert, of West Beaver, Snyder county, was shot and instantly honied, ro cently, by the accidental discharge of a gun in the bands of his eon William, while pre• paring to shoot a hog. Mrs. Mary N. Yarnell, the wife of one of the most respectable citizens of Chester county, was burned to death' on Sunday night, at her home Willistown. She was going to bed and bud a lighted lamp in her hand, when she tripped and fell, breaking the lamp and burning herself fatally. Several prominent iron mills. in Pitts burg have introduced a process 01 making iron without puddling. A large amount of iron is yielded front a given quantity of metal, and by dispensing with puddlers al together the cost of production is material ly reduced. • Some benevolent persons in Philadelphia are trying to establish a Young Men's Home, where young men coining troll the country for employment in the city can be provided with cheap board and lodging, baths, books and amusement, and be thus guarded from many of the temptations with which they 'night otherwise be assailed. Two gentlemen of Schuylkill county have invented a snow melting machine. or removing the snow from railroad tracks. The machine is simply an engine boiler placed in a car, down to within a taw inch es of the road bed, and extends from rail to rail, where they are perforated with small holes to permit the jets of steam to act on the snow while the machine is being push ed by a locomotive, or city railway our drawn by horses. If successful, this inven tion will prove highly valuable. The Reading Eagle says that a confi dence man, giving his name as J. W. Mc- Knight, of Columbus Lodge, I. 0, 0. F., of Columbus, Ohio, is traveling through the State, imposing upon the brethren of the Order by obtaining donations, loans, etc.— rn Easton he obtained considerable money by representing that he had been robbed. A communication has been received from I Columbus Lodge, stating that McKnight was expelled in August last, and that he is traveling through the country swindling the fraternity. Win. C. Derr, of Lewisburg, met with a terrible death, on the morning of the 113th Instant, at the lumber establishment of Messrs. Billinyer, Nogel Co. In adjust ing a belt at the end of a line shaft, for the purpose of giving motion to a grindstone, his clothing became entangled around the shaft, which drew hint up to it in such a manner as to preclude all posibility of re leasing himself. Grasping the shaft with pis arms, he preserved his head ; but his feet struck the ground so violently at each revolution that they were literally torn off. His side wan also crushed, a rib being fom ed through his lungs. He lived some six or eight hours after the occurrence, In great agony. He leaves a young wife and an in terresting child to mourn their great loss, As the down train on the Lackawanna and Bloomsburg railroad was passing from the river bridge over Pittston to West Pitts ton, in Luzerue county, on Monday, it ran over a young Welsh girl of eighteen years, named Jones, who was walking ou the track. She attempted to pass a cattle guard, and her foot slipped between the two rails of the wide and narrow gauges, and got fast between -timbers. She threw herself outside the track and fell in the cat tle yard, but could not release herlbot, and the locomotive passed over her ankle, crushing the bones. Conductor Adams and one or two assistants carried her to her home near by. The fall saved her life, perhaps, but must have broken her ankle before the train struck her. The Joint Committee of arrangments for the Semi-Centennial Anniversary Celebra tion of the Introduction of Odd-Fellowship in the United States, met on Saturday evening, ut the hall in Philadelphia. P. 0, Master John W. Stokes, presiding Creden tials for the delegates elected and appointed by the Lodges and Nncatripments tnrough out the State, were read and the represen tatives acknowledged. The Committee on Organization made a lengthy report, which was accepted, the same providing for the appointment of nineteen Principal Com mittees, with a view of dividing the labors consequent upon the occasion of a celebra tion ct the magnitude which this promises to be on the 2Uth day of April next. Over three hundred delegates were present at the session, representing very near all the counties in this vast jurisdiction, and the largest harmony and enthusiasm pervaded the large assembly. The session adjourned to meet again on Saturday, January 9. In the meantime an opportunity will be afforded the presiding officer to appoint the various committees contemplated in the action of the Commit tee on Organization, and such appointments will be announced at the next meeting. B. G• Sire, John A. Kennedy, the Chairman of the Committee from the Grand Lodge of the United States, was present, and addressed them on the subject for which they were as sembled. The most cheering reports have already been received from various parts of the United States, of entire Lodges, En campments and delegations having ex pressed a desire to come on and participate in the grand festivities which are to take place in commemoration of the important event. A Bequest for the 'South Thomas C. Moore of Brooklyn, New York, lately deceased left a large Estate. He provides as follows In a codicil to his will desiring to set apart a moderate fund for the relief of suffering and destitute wid ows and children of Southern soldiers, who died or were killed in tba late war, in the eastern parts of South Carolina, North Car olina and Georgia, he therefore bequeaths to dunes flail and Francis I. Porcher, Louis D. De Sausser and E. Henry Frost. L Charleston, S. C., and the Rev. John Burnley, bonds in trust for that purpos-, amounting to $21,600. The portion to be distributed in South Carolina to be more than one- fifth of the whole. The amount, with interest, to be distributed in the course of seven years. AlLthe residue of the bonds and mortga gea‘With few exceptions, he sets aside for the rebuilding or repairing of churches, without regard to sect or denominatiqp, injured by the late war, within the districts of the Southern States aforesaid. Stay of Exec:2(.lonm In Virginity con General Stortetnan's order to extend the laws staying executions -until the Ist of July, provides that if, on or before the day mentioned, the debtor shall pay an accrued interest, the execution shall be stayed be yond that time until further orders, If the debtor, meanwhile, shall dispose or attempt to dispose of any property to the prejudice of the creditor, the latter may apply to any circuit court or judge thereof, after ample notice to the debtor, and after a hearing of the facts, the judge may, in his discretion, dismiss the application or order the issue of the execution. For six months debtors aro protected front execution upon the payment of the accrued interest, and upon abstaining from all attempts to place their property beyond the reach of their creditors, or in other words, by preserving clean hands. They will, in addition, receive further grace from Gen. Stoneman, should the jurisdiction of a State legislature not, meanwhile, attach, and should he continuo to be our district commander, Grand Lodge 3'l eetang The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania I. 0. of 0. F., met In special session yesterday to take action in relation to the decease of the Grand Secretary. Wm. Curtis. The Grand Master, Peter B. Long, presided. A committee,consisting of Past Grand Masters Stokes, Nicholson, Lamberton, Fritz and Simpson, was appointed, which reported appropriate resolutions. 'I he resolutions were adopted, and It was ordered that they be engrossed, fortvarded to the relatives of the deceased, and pub lished in the newspapers. A committee was appointed to make the necessary arrangements for the funeral, which is to take place on Friday next at 1, o'clock. to proceed to Mount Peace. The Grand Lodge will attend In a body, the sub— ordinate lodges- being Invited to participle. The Grand EneaMPrnent also held a ses sion last evening, thirQ. Patriarch Maurice Finn presiding. A committee offered suit able resolutions in reference to the death of their Grand Scribe, Brother Wm. Curtis,. which were unanimodely adopted: After' 'the appointment of a committee to arringe for the funeral, and addresses by I. p, littekle andlirtind Rep. Stokes, the body adjinirnerl. Sti bord i rade Encampments are tnvltbd to join the' Grand Encampment in paying funeral honors to the deceased. Queen Isabella is iioW begging General ir Prim, whom once she exiled _to labor f her restoration. n ews Items Tim Cincinnati police forco have a system of rocket signals. , • • A tree near Savannah Las produced 1020 oranges this season. Some ono has erected a monument over the remains of Aaron Burr. The Lord Mayor of York, England, is editor of a local paper. TeleFraplnc reborn for the Western As sociateß:Press last year cost $150,000. - - Virginia has 1,49-1 miles of completei railroads, costing $49,305,194. Thad Stevens has no illegitimate son in the custom-house In New York, as reported. Rothschild left 2,500 francs annuity to every clerk who had been ten years in his service. The pews In Dr. Hall's church. Filth avenue, New York, hold for from $l,OOO to $4,000 each. A pumpkin pte, nine 'feet in diameter, was exhibited atareceut. fair In Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A house In Barton, Vt., is occupied by four widows; the youngest Is over sixty and three are sisters. The Atlanta, Ga., New Era, a Republican paper, opposes further congressional inter ference in the Reconstruction of Georgia. A youug man named Charles Earns bied to death at New Philadelphia, Ohio, last week, from having several teeth drawn. At a public sale in Boyle county, Ken tucky, last week, grade Alderney cows sold as high as $l3B. A one thousand dollar cipher dispatch was sent uy the British NI Mister the other day to his government. A petition to Parliament to legalize mar riage vetth a deceased wife's sister Is being numerously signed in England. Ludy Thorns and lleorge Wilkes are matched to trot In June next for the largest stake ever contested for in this country- - slo,otlo. At Rock Mills, in Itappahannoek county Va., on the Ist inst., Mrs. James Settle gave birth to three hearty boys at One in - condiment The first sewinz unwhino was math, by a German named Mnilersherger, of Vienna, in the yearlSls. St Louis manufactures 2:27 000 barrels of beer per nuptial, tains II ming 500,0 , 0 bushels of barley worth $1 000,000. The weather was cold enolmh at Charles ton, S. C.. on Christmas day, to freer the salt wmer ponds near the city. Sixteen thousand acres of mineral land in Crawford eimuty, Missouri, were ling week knocked oil at ill cents per acre. . A New York surgeon has revived thm chirurgical idea of amputating the little toe of children to prevent corns in alter life. A member of the Florida legislature has sold his orange crop, numbering :00,iinif for four thousand dollars There is pu.sitively no truth in the repot t that Elizabeth Cady Stanton wants a posi tion on Gen: Grant's stair. Whoever stain ed it does tier injustice. Ethan Allen. of Quincy, Illinois, has been sent to the penitentiary for live years, for shooting through the ,vindow of his lions at his family, who were Inside. In a new theatre in Florence, between every two boxes in the first tier (lore rises from a boquet of fresh Movers a small sparkling tountain. The deaths in Philadelphia, last week, numbered 178, a decrease of 27 as ouulpiryd with the week previous, and 71 less than during the corresponding week of lust year. General Itosccrans was received by Pres ident Juarez, on Deeember 10th, and the proposed treaties with the Dotted States welt) reported In the Memo t n Congress on, the same day. A squad of eleven negroes were brought Into Brownsville, Tennessee, clot mod with forming a ennepirucy to rob and murder General White, near the neighborhood in which they Speaker Colfax and wife were the guests of Mr. Bowles, of the Republican newspa per, at Springfield, Mass., on Christmas day. Mr. Colfax was serenaded in the evening, and acknowledged the compli ment in a brief speech. General Ayres, of General itossean's. Stall', has gone to Arkansas, to inquire bda affairs there. It is now stated that Gen.. als Babcock and Porter, of General Grum', stall, were not authorized to multi, in in vestigation In Arkansas. They hare re-. turned from Little Rock. The new aducationid system to :Ungar), will be "compulsory." Parents and guar dians not sending their children to heill)(4 will be punished by law. The schools an,. to be established and conducted by the PH - rioue religious sects to suit themselves, but are all to be under State inspeetion. The'Chicago Timex remarks : A man and a brother by the Caine of Mena•d Is nt 'Washington, with duly authenticated cre dentials as a member of Congress elect from Louisiana. He Is not admitted. Ile eats and sleeps in a nigger shanty, in a negro quarter of the town. Sumner does nut In vite him to share thellespitalities of his bed and hoard. He is not mim-fed by Chand ler to take ad rink. He isnot even in vite'A by Logan to a gam, of draw poker. IV does not take him to his arms. Butler dLar not invite his confidence or compel - Orr...hip. It is a shame—n disgrace.. Were obi Thad. Stevens alive this indignity w , ..4.1i1. not, occur. Won' erfol Dine° very of it Supposeal. Antediluvian Human hlioleton. Day before yesterday, while the quarry men employed by the Sauk Rapids Wide!. Power Company, wore engaged in quarry ing rock for the dam which Is being erected'. across the Mississippi at this place, found, imbedded In the solid granite rock, the re mains of a human being orgigantictitaturo. About seven feet below the surface of the ground and about three feet and a half ho net' h the upper stratum of the rock, the remains were found imbedded in the which bad evidently been placed iu the. quadrangular grave which had been deg, out of the solid rock to receive the last, re mains of this antideluvian giant. Thu. grave was twelve feet in length, four feet wide, and about three feet In deptli, and is to-day at least two feet below the present: level of the river. The remelt:la are com pletely petrified, and are of gigantic. di mensions. The head is tnhsaive, measures thirty. one and ono half inches In circum ference, but low in the osfrontia, and very flat on top. The femur measures twenty six and a guider inches, and the fibula twenty. five and a half, while the body is equally long In proportion. Prom the, crown of the head to the• sole of the foot, the length is ten feet nine and a half inches, The measure around the chest is liftymiosd. and a half inches. This giant must hex's. weighed at least nine hundred pouuda when cs)yered with it reasonable ume,unt of, flesh. The petrified remains, and there is nothing left but the naked bones, now weighs three hundred and four and u quartet pounds. The thumb and lingers Oh the left hand, and the left foot frot❑ the ankle to the toes are gone ; but all the tithes partty are perfect. pear the' sepulcher of the dead •es placed a large Wit limestone rock that remained perfectly separated from the surrounding granite rock. These wonder ful remains of an antldeluviam gigantic race are in the possession of a gentleman who has started with it to :his resldenee East. This gentleman, it is said, will Neat all that can be said on the subject by tie, learned men, among WhOM is General Thomas, that many more skeletons will be found during the process of excavating the •granite rocks In this place. Some seem to think that these remains were deposited in this sarcophagus prior to the formation of the present strata of rocka that now abound here; but this ie mere conjecture.—•S'uak Rapids .S'entincd, 133===! :NEW 'YORK, Dec. 29.—1 t iv anted there fa not a shadow of truth in the reported basis of agreement between America and Eni.; land on the Alabama claims. A messenger from Reverdy Johnson, with the treaty as far as agreed upon, will arrive in Waahing ington to a few days. An American gentleman who recently had a conversation with Count Bismark gives the following as Bismarkiii relations vrith the Continental powers: As regards Romania, he said he had written to Princo Charles, telling him to take the late King Leopold of Belgeum for his model, to give up hope of an extension of his territory ,imi ail administer his government with strict re gard to existing European treaties, that it , he was not inclined to do this, nothing was left for him but to go home to his lather. This letter was the cause of the change just made in the policy of that Prints Count Biamarek's representations accord ingly to the A ustrian Minister here, of this proceeding and of his position toward Hun gary, had the effect of causing the latter to express his satisfaction with the peaceful intentions of this government. Count... Bi smarck. said that the alliance with Russia was one looking to a continuance of peace, and had no reference to the state of the war as to the South German States. He said it was his intention to leave to them entirely the question of their admission to the con federation that It would not be long. From Raltlmore BALTIMORE, Dec 28.—The jury hi the case of Daniel Deckert, editor and proprietor of the Hagerstown Mail, gave him a verdict against the Hagerstown corporation for $7,500 damages,for allowing his office, tynes, etc., to be destroyed by a mob in ISP.,: Anti driving him out of town as a seeessionhit. Other cases of a similar character are pend ing. This case Is likely to be taken as a precedent for numberleas suits throughout Maryland. Willis M. White a well known citizen, was drowned on Saturday whilst skating on the the Spring Gardens. He leaves a wife and family. William Mitred° a celebrated circus rider died here on Saturday of heart disease. Two Irishmen named Patrick McGuire and Patrick Lasso have bean arrested, charged with the assassrnation of Douglas Love, recently at Lultacomlng Allegheoir coal mines. To - EtclmcK4. Here aro tsyo 6mors sent to tee N. Y, Tr:.buTic from Washington : Ist. Gen. Ortint expresses himself as list ly opposed to the extension of the Freed-' men's Bureau, and declares that K i the Re construction acts are literally carried out, all due protection will be secured te ne groes In the South. 2d, The movement for the pardoning . of, Jeft Davis meets with general' favor here' and not only'Democrattc, but Republicat Congressmen urge it as' a stirermeelis dr procuring Li permanent - pea t-
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers