OS DOLLAR PER ANNUM, INVARIABLY IN ADVANCE.
TOWANDA :
(tljursbiiß fllormitn, Hlartl) 12. 1837.
[From the Annual Gift.]
LONGINi} FOR HOME.
Our Northern hill.-, are cold and bleak,
And chilling is the.nir,
But dear to me is every peak—
Would now that I were there.
Stern Winter crowns with glitterinc geins
The mountain's stately height;
Majestic look their diadems,
Flashing in sunbeams bright.
Our forest trees are old and grand,
And beauti.id, I ween,
When Spring comes forth with fairy hand,
And decks their limbs with green.
1 wandered o'er, when but a child,
Each bleak hill's rugged brow,
And through the forest wild—
Would 1 could wander now.
Among those hills and vales my home
Is nestling 'mid the snow,
The Mecca si tine, to which my heart
Still turns, where'er I go.
Tears have passed, and friends have flown,
And 1 have roamed afar ;
But one is there to cheer me on,
Life's own.#) ight guiding star.
My Mother ! youthful love e'er throws
A halo rounr. thy brow ;
Kind sympathizer in my woes,
Would 1 were witl thee, now.
I long to come, my mother dear,
And r.'st me by thy side,
To meet familiar faces, where
Love lights the ingleside.
This world is very lone and drear,
And sadly do 1 roam ;
Mother, thy child is weary here —
Take me, O take tue home!
And mother, fold me to thy heart,
Securely as of yore ;
And mother, say we ne'er shall part,
No ! never, nevermore! if. C. L.
3Jisttllantotts.
[ From tac report of a Prussian Engineer.]
The Crazy Engineer.
My train left Dantzic in the morning gene
rally about eight o'clock ; but once a week wc
had to wait the arrival of the steamer from
Stockholm. It was the morning of the steam
ers arrival that I came down from the hotel
rial found that my engineer had been so seri
ously injured that he could not run. A rail
way carriage had run over him and broken
one of his legs. 1 went immediately to the
engine house to procure another engineer, for
i knew there were three or four in reserve
there, but I was disappointed. I enquired for
Westplial, but was informed that lie had gone
to isteegeu to see his mother. Goudolpho had
gone to Kouigsberg, on the road. But where
was Mayne ? lie had leave of absence for
two days, and had gone no one knew whither.
Here was a fix. I heard the puffing of the
steamer in the Xcufahrwasser, and the passen
gers would be 011 hand in fifteen minutes. I
ran to the guards and asked them it they knew
where there was an engineer, but they did not.
1 then went to the firemen and asked them if
any one of them felt competent to run the en
gine to Brora berg. X'o one dared to attempt
it The distance was nearly one hundred miles
What was to be done ?
The steamer stopped at the wharf, and those
who were going on by rail came flocking up to
the station. They had eaten breakfast on
hoard the boat, and were all ready for a fresh
-tart. The baggage was cheeked and register
ed, the tickets bought, the different carriages
pointed to the various classes of passengers,
and the passengers themselves seated. The
train was in readiness in the long station house,
and the engine was steaming and pit fling away
impatiently in the distant firing house.
It was past nine o'clock.
"Come, why don't we start?" growled an
old fat Swede, who had been watching me
narrowly for the last fifteen minutes.
And upon this there was a general chorus
of anxious inquiry, which soon settled to down
right murmuring. At this juncture some one
touched me on the elbow. I turned and saw a
stranger by my side. I expected that lie was
going to remonstrate with me for mv back
wardness. In fact, I began to have strong
temptations to pull oil' my uniform, for every
anxious eye was fixed on the glaring badges
which marked me as the chief officer of the
train.
However, this stranger was a middle-aged
man, tall and stout, with a face of great ener
gy and intelligence. JI is eye was black and
brilliant—so brilliant that 1 could not for the
life of me gaze steadily into it ; and his lips
which were thin, seemed more like polished
nimble than human flesh. Ilis aress was
black throughout, and not only set with exact
iii• etv, but was scrupulously clean and neat.
" Von want an engineer, I understand," lie
said, in a low, cautious tone, at the same time
gazing quietly about him as though he wanted
no one to hear what lie said.
"1 do," I replied. "My train is all ready,
and we have no engineer within twenty miles
of this place."
"Well sir, I am going to Bromberg—l
must go, and I will run the engine for you."
"Ha !" I uttered, "you arc an engineer ?
' 1 ain, sir—one of the oldest in the coun
tr.v; and am now on my way to make arrange
ments for a great improvement I have invented
''T the application of steam to a locomotive,
byname is Martin Kroller. If you wish I
will run as far as Bromberg ; and I will show
I'ou running that is ruuning."
IVa> 1 not fortunate? I determined to ac
"pt the man's offer at once, and so I told him.
He received my answer with a nod and a smile.
' went with him to the house, where we found
'iic iron horse in the charge of the fireman,
:i l all ready for the start. Kroller got upon
!;i c platform, and I followed him. I had ncv
"' ii a man betray that peculiar aptness amid
'< -i'h'ncry, that he dt\l. He let on the
THE BRADFORD REPORTER.
steam in an instant, and yet with care and
judgment, and he backed up to the baggage
carriage with the most exact uicety. I had
seen enough to assure mi that he was thor
oughly acquainted with the business, and 1 felt
composed once more. I gave my engine up to
the new man, and then hastened away to the
office. Word was passed for all the officers to
take their seats, and soon lfterward I waved
my hand to the engineer, There was a puff—
a groaning of the heavy axel trees —a trembling
of the building—and the
ed its place, although
the forms of free government may remain for
a season, the substance has departed forever.
Our present financial condition is without a
paralell in history. No nation has ever before
been em harassed by too large a surplus in its
Treasury. This almost necessarily gives birth
to extravagant legislation. It begets wild
schemes of expenditures and produces a set of
speculators anil jobbers, whose ingenuity is ex
erted in contriving and promoting expedients
to obtain the public money. The party, thro'
its official agents, whether rightfully or wrong
fully, is suspected, and the Government suffers
iu the estimation of the people. This is iu
itself a very great evil. The natural mode of
relief from this embarassraent is to appropri
ate the surplus fund in the Treasury to great
natioual objects for which a clear warrant can
be found in the constitution. Among these I
might mention the extinguishment of the pub
lic debt, a reasonable increase of the Navy,
which is at present inadequate to the protec
tion of our vast tonnage afloat—now greater
than that of any other nation, as well as the
defense of our extended sea coast. It is be
yond all question the true principle that no
more revenue ought to be collected from the
people than the amount necessary to defray
the expenses of a wise economical and efficient
Administration of the Government. To reach
this point it was necessary to resort to a mod
ification of the tariff, and this has been ac
complished in sncli a manner as to do as little
injury as may have been practicable to our do
mestic manufactures, especially those necessa
ry for the defense of the country. Any dis
crimination against a particular branch for the
purpose of benefiting favored corporations, in
dividuals, or interests, would have been unjust
to the rest of the community and inconsistent
with that spirit of fairness and equality, which
ought to govern in the adjustment of a reven
ue-tariff—but the squandering of the public
money sinks into comparative insignificance, as
temptation to corruption, when compared with
the squandering of the public lands.
No nation in the tide of time has ever been
blessed with so rich and noble an inheritance
as that we enjoy in the public lunds. In
administering this important trust, while it
may be wise to grant portions of them for the
improvement of the remainder, yet we should
never forget that it is our cardinal policy to
reserve these lands as much- as may be for ac
tual settlers, and this at moderate prices. We
shall thus not only best promote the prosperi
ty of the new States, by furnishing them a
hardy and independent race of honest and in
dustrious citizens, but shall secure homes for
our children and our children's children, as well
as for those exiles from foreign shores who
may seek in this country to improve their con
dition and to enjoy the blessings of civil and
religious liberty. Such emigrants have done
much to promote the growth and prosperity of
the country. They have proved faithful both
in peace and in war. After becoming citizens,
they are entitled, under the Constitution and
laws, to lie placed oti perfect equality with na
tive born citizens, and in this character they
should over he kindly recognized.
The Federal Constitution is a grant from
the States to Congress to certain specific pow
ers. ami the question whether this grant shall
be liberally or strictly construed, has, more or
less, divided political parties from the begin
ning. Without entering into the argument, 1
desire to state at the commencement of my
administration, that long experience and ob
servation have convinced me that a strict con
struction of the powers of the Government is
the only true as well as the only safe theory
of the Constitution. Whenever, in our past
history, doubtful powers have been exercised
by Congress, they have never failed to produce
injurious and unhappy consequences. Many
such instances might be adduced if this were
the proper occasion. Neither is it necessary
for the public service to strain the language of
the Constitution, because all the great and use
ful powers required for a successful administra
tion of the Government, both in peace and in
war, have been granted either iu express terms
or by the plainest implication. While deeply
convinced of these truths, I yet consider it
clear that under the war-making power Con
gress may appropriate money toward the con
struction of a military road when this is abso
lutely necessary for'the defense of any State
or Territory of the Union against foreign in
vasion. Under the Constitution Congress has
power to declare war, to raise and support ar
mies, to provide and maintain a navy, and to
call forth the militia to repel invasion. Thus
endowed in an ample manner with the war-
VOL. XVII. —NO. 40.
making |>ovver, the corresponding doty is re
quired that the United States shall protect
each of them (the States) against invasion.—
llovv is it possible to afford this protection to
California and our Pacific possessions except
by means of a military road through the terri
tory of the United States, over which men and
munitions of war may be speedily transported
from the Atlantic States to meet and repel tho
invader I In case of a war with a naval pow
!er much stronger than our own, we should
then have no other available access to the Pa
cific coast, because such a power would instant
ly close the route acoss the Isthmus of Cen
tral America. It is impossible to conccivo
that while the Constitution has expressly re
quired Congress to defend all the States, it
should yet deny to tliera by any fair construc
tion the only possible means by which one of
these States can be defended. Beside, tho
Government, ever since its origin, has been la
the constant practice of coustructiug military
roads. It might also be wise to consider whe
ther the love for the Union which now ani
mates our fellow-citizens on the Pacific Coast
may not be impaired by our neglect or refusal
to provide for them, in their remote and isol
ated condition, the only means by which tho
power of the States ou this side of the Rocky
Mountains can reach them in sufficient time to
protect them against invasion.
I forbear, for the present, from expressing
an opinion as to the wisest and most economi
cal mode in which the Government can lend
its aid in accomplishing this great and neces
sary work. I believe that many difficulties in
the way, which now appear formidable, will,
in a great degree, vanish as soon as the near
est and best route shall have beeu satisfactori
ly ascertained.
It may be right that, on this occasion, I
should make some brief remarks as to our
rights and duties as a member of the great
Family of Nations. In our intercourse with
them, there are some plain principles approved
by our own experience from which we should
never depart. We ought to cultivate peace,
commerce and friendship with all nations, aud
this not merely as the best means of promot
ing our own national interest, but in a spirit
or Christian benevolence toward fellowmen,
wherever their lot may be cast. Our diploma
cy should Ire direct and frank, neither seeking
to obtain more nor accepting less than is our
due. We ought to cherish a sacred regard for
the independence of all nations, and never at
tempt to interfere in the domestic concerns of
any, unless this shall be imperatively required
by the great law of self-preservation. To avoid
entangling alliances has been a maxim of our
policy ever since the days of Washiugton, and
its wisdom no one will attempt to dispute. In
short, we ought to do justice in a kindly spirit
to all nations, and require justice from them
in return. It is our glory that while other na
tions have extended their dominions by the
sword, we have never acquired any territory
except by fair purchase, or, as in the case of
Texas, by the voluntary determination of a
brave kindred, and independent people to blend
their destinies with our own. Even our acqui
sitions from Mexico form no exception. Un
willing to take advantage of the fortune of
war against a sister Republic, we purchased
these possessions under the treaty of peace for
a sum which was considered at the time a fair
equivalent. Our past history forbids that wo
shall in the future acquire territory unless this
be sanctioned by the laws of justice and honor.
Acting 0:1 this principle, no nation will have a
right to interfere or to complain if in the pro
gress of events we shall still further extend
our jKJsscssioi.s. Hitherto, in all our acquisi
tions, the people under the protection of the
American Hag have enjoyed civil and religious
liberty, as well as equal and just laws, and
have been contented, prosperous and happy.—
Their trade with the rest of the world has
rapidly increased, and thus every commercial
nation has shared largely in their successful
progress. I shall now proceed to take the
oath j r • cribed by the C ms i ut on, while hnm
bly invoking the blessing of Divine I'rovidenco
on this great people.
JAMES BUCHANAN.
A SIN-UUI.AU FASCINATION. —An English pa
per relates the following unaccountable occur
rence :—" One of th t- most singular instances in
connection with material thiugs, exists in tbo
case of u young man, who not very long ago
visited a large iron manufactory. He stood op
posite a large hammer,'and watched with great
intercstjits regular strokes. At first it was beat
ing immense lumps of crimson metal into thick
black sheets ; the supply becoming exhausted,
at length it only descended on a polished anvil,
still the young man gazed intently on its motion,
then he followed its stroke with a corresponding
motion of his head ; tlieu his left arm moved to
the same tunc ; and finally, he deliberately plac
ed his fist übou the anvil, and in a second it
was smitten to a jelly. The only explanation ho
made, was that he felt an impulse to do it, that
that lie knew lie should be disabled, that ho
saw all the consequence in a misty kind of man
ner, but that lie still felt the power within
above sense and reason—a morbid impulse in
fact, to which be succumbed, and by which ho
lost a good right hand."
fitln Memphis, Tennessee, tbo other day,
a countryman stood gazing in Mansfield's wiii
dows, where two skeletons luing suspended—
one being that of a man, the other a boy. A
stranger coming up—
" Whose skeleton is that ?" asked the coun
tryman pointing to the larger.
" That is Shakspcare's" said the stranger.
" And whose is that ?" continued tho coun
tryman, pointing to tho smaller.
" That is Shakspcare's, too," answered the
wag.
" How can It be ?"
" Why, that's him when he was a boy !'
was tho rejoinder.
" Oil ! I never thought of that."
And our country friend walked away, won
dering how them " queer cusses," the doctors,
got the bones out of Shakspcare's body when
he was alive !