TKHMS of publication. repobteb is published every Thursday Morn byE 0. Goodbich, at $2 per annum, in ad- exceeding fifteen lines are ited at ten cents per line for first insertion, lB "i hve cents per fine for subsequent insertions 411 ; j notices inserted before Marriages and s v ill t> e charged fifteen cent, per line for ' insertion All resolutions of Associations ; of limited or individual interest, , ~tiees of Marriages and Deaths exceeding five ft n confined exclusively to their business, with privilege of change. ?j}~ Advertising in all cases exclusive of sub scription to the paper. .iOB FEINTING of every, kind in Plain andFan v co iors, done with neatness and dispatch. Hand ,'ilis Blanks, Cards, Pamphlets, Ac., of every va fitv and style, printed at the shortest notice. The KtroßTEi: Office has just been re-fitted with Power IVssss, and every thing in the Printing line can lexecuted in the most artistic manner and at the ' ']■?,,. st rates. TERMS INVARIABLY CASH. THE WORKERS. ( link, clank, sound the hammers now ; The sturdy anvils ring ; Tue bellows roar, and the hot flames pour pheii ruddy light far over the floor ; And the brawny smiths, they sing. Whirr, whirr, go the bnsy looms In the factories dark and high, Where the timid sunbeam softly falls, Through the crusted pane, on the blackened walls From the pure and beautiful sky. stitch, stitch, go the 4 needles,bright And the silver-gleaming thread ; Women toiling early and late, While the eyelids droop with a heavy weight, To earn their daily bread. Click, click, go the slender types, As they fall from the printer's hand ; Scattering wide each burning thought, As it shaped itself in the mind that wrought, Far over the waiting land. Burr, burr, go the busy planes In the homely workshops, where The sinewy joiners all day ply Their noisy craft; and the shavings fly, And their fragrance fills the air. Ring, ring, chime the virgin coin, As the mighty lever falls On the solid bars of silver and gold By the swarthy coiners fashioned and rolled In the great mint's vaulted halls. ])e lve, delve—hear the miners at work Far down in the hidden mines, Toiling by day and toiling by night .Mid the noxious glooms where no ray of light From the warm sun ever shines. On, on, speed the sharpened ploughs As they turn the heavy soil, Where the sturdy farmer guides the share Through the last year's furrows, gleaming bare, With the horny hand of toil. These are the workers, hour by hour, With hearts that are brave and true, From dawn till dark, through the whole day's length, Each gives with an earnest will his strength To the work he finds to do. But a grander task l'or all remains Which will only end with Time : And this grand task is 'mid the ceaseless din Of the constant straggle that hems ns in To make our onr lives sublime. FAR AT_ SEA. i. Ah !" I says, " you've been a hard and a bitter mother to me ; and yet it goes again tlic grit to turn one's back upon you. I've toiled on, and lived hard, and yet you've always showed me a cold, cruel face " ; and as I said that, feeling quite heartsick, I leans my elbows on the side o' the ship, and my chin on my hands, and has a long, long look at the old country as we was leaving, -perhaps to see no more. 1 looked round, and there stood plenty, tearful-eyed and sad with all the lines of sorrow marked in their foreheads, while I mid see lips trembling and breasts w'ork ng with the pain they could hardly keep down. And then I don't know how it was, but it seemed to me that we thought to gether the same sad things, and that I kuew their thoughts and they knew mine. There was all the old life, —plain as could j be ; and then came the long, long struggle with sickness, and death, and want ; and 1 knew that people said such poor folks I should not marry, and many another bitter word, as if it was wrongful to love and try 1 t- be happy. The wind whistled through the ropes above our heads, and the clouds seemed gathering, too, in our hearts, for though the bitterness was gone, I could see plenty of sorrow and sadness all around. " Won't do, my lad," I says, rousing up, and wetting both bands as if I meant work; and then 1 goes down in the steerage to try and make things a bit comfortable, for ym see all the poor things were in a most miserable state. Some was ill, some down hearted, some drunk and foolish,some drunk and noisy, some drunk and quarrelsome. Then there was children crying, and wo lut-ii scolding, and altogether it was any thing but a cheering prospect for the night, for, as you may say we were n't shook down into shape yet. " (food time coming," I says cheerily ; and having no young ones of my own, I set to to help them as had. I got hold of a young shaver, —about two and a half, I s mid think,—aud ho was a-letting go right away as if he'd got all the trouble in the ship in his precious young bead. But he soon turned quiet, playing with my knife and all at once I finds as he'd made a ham uiock o' me, aud bad gone oil as sound as a church. During the next three days its mother was very ill, poor thing, and 1 bad to regularly mind the little oue ; and I did, too. Well, 't is n't a very pleasant lile, in the steerage of an emigrant ship bound for New Zealand, 'specially if the weather's a bit rough ; and so we found it. For the next morning, when I went on deck, there was a stiff breeze blowing, the ship was heeling over ; and as I thought the night before, so it was,—there was nothing in sight but waves all round. One sailor did point to something which he said was home, but it might huvo been a cloud. Tue fourth night had come, and as I lay i" my berth listening to the " wash wash " E. O. GOODRICH, Publisher. VOLUME XXVII. of the water past the side of the ship, the creaking and groaning of the timbers, and every now and then the heavy bump of a wave against the side, I could n't help thinking what a little there was between us and death ; and somehow or other the serious thoughts that came kept me wide awake. It was two bells, I thi ik they call it, for they don't count time as we do ashore, when all at once I could hear as there was a great bustle up on deck,where all through the watches of the night everything's most ly very quiet. Then there came a good deal of tramping about and running to and fro ; so I gets out of my berth, Blips on one or two things, and goes cautiously up the ladder and gets my head above the hatch way, and then in a moment I saw what was up, and it gave me such a shock that 1 nearly let go my hold and fell back into the steerage. There was a thick cloud of smoke issuing out from between the hatch es, right in the centre of the ship ; and al most before I could thoroughly realize it all, or make myself believe as it was true, a woman ran shrieking along the deck in her night-dress, and calling out those fear ful words on board ship " Fire ! fire ! fire Hundreds of miles from laud, standing on a few nailed-together pieces of wood, and them burning beneath your feet. 1 could n't help it : all my bittef feelings of being ill used came back, and I says to myself,— " Your usual luck, mate : would n't be you if you were n't unfortunate. But nev er mind ; you have your choice, fire or wa ter." And then I thought of the danger, and I ketches myself such a thump in the chest, and rolls up my sleeves, and goes up to the captain as was busy giving his orders. " What shall I do ?" I says. " Bump !" he shouts ; " and fetch a doz en more up." Lord bless you ! I had 'em up in no time from amongst the crying women ; and I found time, too, to get the women and chil dren up on deck in the poop, which was farthest from the hatches, where the smoke kept pouring out, besides which the wind took it away from them. There was plenty of shrieking and scream ing at first ; but they had got the right man in the right place when they chose that captain, for he runs to the poop, where all the shivering things was a-standing, and with a lew words he quiets them. Then he runs to the men as was scuffling about, here, there, and everywhere, and gets them all together ; and then at last he gets aline of fellows with buckets, a lot more at the pumps, and some more at the little engine as was there ; and then when all was ready and every man standing still at his post, he goes with some more to the hatches and drags up a couple, when up rose a regular pillar of fire and smoke, with a snaky, quiet movement, and in a moment every face was lit up, and there was quite a glare spreading far out to sea. Sails, cordage, masts, everything seemed turned into gold. For a moment I could n't help forgetting the danger, and thinking what a beautiful sight it was ; when directly after there was a regular ringing cheer, the engine and pumps went "clang-clang," and the water was teemed into the burning hold from bucket and engine-nozzle. How the water hissed and sputtered ! while volumes of smoke and steam rushed up where it had been all flame but a mo ment before, and as we saw this we cheer ed ; but we'd nothing to cheer for ; it was only the fire gathering strength ; and then, as though laughing at the water we pour ed, it came dashing, and crawling, and running up, licking the edges of the hatch way, and setting on fire the tarpaulins at the sides, and then it began to shoot and leap up as if to catch at the cordage and sails. " Pour it in, my lads," shouted the cap tain. " Don't be afraid ;we sha'n't run short of water, like they do at your London fires." " No," says a chap on my side ; " and there ain't no running away into the next street." Then I saw the captain run to the man at the wheel, and he changed the course of the ship, so that all the smoke and flame went over the side ; and then at it we went, sending in the water at a tremendous rate, but to all appearance it did no good,—not a bit. "Now, my lads," says the captain, "with a will"; and theu we cheered again; and that noble fellow stood with the engine nozzle in his hand, leaning right over the fiery hole, where the flames darted out, scorching him, and there he stood battling with them, and aiming the water where he thought best. You see I stood close aside him, so that j 1 could see all that he did, —a brave fel low, —and it was hot, too. You know I was taking the buckets as they were pass ed to me, and sending the water in with a : regular splash as far as I could every time; and the captain nodded at me every now j and then, and, " Well done 1" he says, when it wa him as ought to have had the praise. It was like lookiug down into the mouth | of a furnace ; and, as far as I could see, i we might just as well have been playing with a couple of boy's squirts ; but 1 knew I i nough of duty to feel wliat 1 ought to do; and though I'd have liked to have been aside the wife to comfort her, my duty was to stand there a pouring in that there water till I could n't do it no longer ; and the more it did n't seem no good, the more I warmed up,—obstinate like, —and meant to try, for 1 did n't see any fun in being beaten off by a few flames and sparks, | while the look as I got now and then from the captain went right through me, and in went the water. All at once a lot of the sailors stops pumping, and one shouts out, — "'T ain't no good, mates. Boats out 1" But he had n't hardly said it, be fore I saw the captain dart back ; and then there was a bright light as the copper branch of the hose-pipe flashed through the air, and then down came the sailor on the deck. " Back to your work, men," sang out the captain ; " and let a man go to the boats if Ihe dares 1" And theu they stood hanging about, muttering, and one Dutch chap pulls j out a knife. Just at the same minute, too, a couple ef the sailors as had been handing me the buckets strikes work too, a-saying they'd be hanged if they'd stop there and j be frizzled. j I felt that if the men did as they liked, TOWANDA, BRADFORD COUNTY, PA., AUGUST !), 1866. it would be all over with us ; and that meant a regular rush to the boats, while the poor women and children were left to burn ; so what did 1 do but I ups with the leather bucket I had in my hand, —I've of ten laughed since,— and brings it down like a stinguisher right on the top of number one's head ;asto t' other,—he was a little chap, and I'm six foot and pretty strong,— I gets hold of him by the scruff of the neck and strap of his trousers, snd afore he knew where he was, I had him up in the air, and over the hole where the flames were pour ing up, and so close, too, that he could feel the scorching ; and then— I ain't much given to swearing, but 1 rapped out some thing fierce, that if lie did n't work I'd hurl him in. Lord.' you should have heard what a shriek there was as the fellow twisted a bout like an eel to get away, and then I put him a little nearer; when he begged and prayed to be put down, and he'd work till he dropped ; and then up comes the captain, for he'd bolted off into the cabin, but now rushed out again with a revolver in each hand. " Well done, my inan,'' he shouts to me, j for he saw what I did ; and then he gives j me one of the pistols, and Bwore he'd shoot the first man as disobeyed, and I'm blessed if I did n't believe he would, if they'd have tried it on ; but they did n't, but began pumping away again like mad again, and we two went to work pouring in the water, while I'm sure I heard a regular groan from the captain, though his face was like a bit o' wood. This did n't take above five minutes ; but I believe it lost us the ship, though we had seemed to make such a little impression when we turned on the water. But five minutes at such a time was ruin ; the flame rose higher and higher, and the heat was awful ; so that, do what we would, we were beat back, and instead of a quiet crawling i flame now, there was a regular roar, and j the wind set towards the great fiery! tongues in a fierce draught. "Stick to it, my man," says the captain, j in a low voice. " It's our ouly chance." " And I would n't give much for it, sir," I says, in the same tone. " Hush 1" he says ; and then to the men, " Pump away, my lads !" They pumped away hearty enough, and kept trying on a cheer ; but it soon could be seeu with half au eye that the ship must go, for the flames darted up, and, almost before you knew it, ttie rigging was on fire, and the tongues like leaping from rope to rope, till the tarry things bla/.ed furiously, right up to the mainmast head, and little fiery drops of burning tar kept falling on to the deck, or hissing into the sea ; while for far enough oil", out into the dark night, the great flaky sparks went flying along for all the world like a beautiful golden snow-storm. " There," says the captain,throwing down the copper branch with which lie had play ed on the fire, and shaking his fist right iu the flames, so that they must have burnt it, —" there," be says, savagely, " I've fought it out with you, and you've beat ! Now for life saving 1" And then, quietly and coolly, lie had one boat lowered down, with the first mate in aud a crew of sailors, and the shrieking women and children lowered iu, while the quiet ones he kept back. Then there was a water-cask and a lot of biscuit-bags thrown in, and that boat, well loaded, push ed off on the calm sea, and lay to watching us. Then the second mate was ordered in to the second boat, with a crew of sailors ; water and bags of biscuit were thrust in ; and then, well loaded with women and children, and oue or two of tire men pass engers, that was carefully lowered down, unhooked, ami pushed off. The other two boats were not swung ov er the sides, but lay between the masts of the ship, right in the middle of the deck, and were full of stores and odd things put there to be out of the way ; but the cap tain and men left soon had tackling fasten ed to the boat that was right in front of the fire, and it was hauled up, swung clear, and lowered down, with a couple of men in, and they rowed it back to the hinder part of the ship, while we who had been launching it had to make a regular dash through the flames, which now extended nearly across the deck. One man, howev er, did not dare come through, but plunged overboard and swam after the boat till he was took in. " Now, then," said the captain ; and the rest of the women were slung down. I did not mean to go as long as I could help the captain ; and then half a dozen of the men passengers were lowered down, and they were just going to shove oft", when I shouts out, — " Stop 1" and the captain turns round an grily to me ; and I says, " No water !" Sure enough they had none, and a little cask that stood on the deck was slung down, and they were going to shove oil' again, when I heard a shriek as went through and through me, and saw a bright glare ; the man at the rudder leaned over, while at the same moment there was a roar and a rush of fearful light, and the great mainmast blazing from top to bottom, and covered with burning rope and canvas, top pled over towards where the boat lay, for the fire had been eating into it below deck for long enough. It was all in a moment, and like the flashing of some great sheet of lightning, as in the midst of a wild and fearful cry it fell right towards the boat, n. That was a fearful moment, that was, and we held our breath with terror ; and I—l could not help it, —I covered my face with my hands and dared not, till I heard a loud cheer, and saw the boat safely floating with in a very few yards of the half-extinct mast, which had narrowly missed falling upon the little haven of safety. And now they were going to get the last boat out, and the three others lay off at a little distance, while above the hoarse ord ers of the captain there was the crackling and roar of the Haines, now leaping up at a fearful rate. And yet it was a splendid sight, in spite of the horror ; for every now and then pieces of the copper wire rope used in the rigging regularly caught lire, and burned with a most beautiful blue light brighter than in any firework I ever saw ; while now the foremast had taken fire, and the flames were tearing along the rigging till the ropes seemed illuminated with little bgads and tongues of fire. The heat grew awful, and every now and then pieces of blazing rope, spars, and blocks fell red-hot REGARDLESS OF DENUNCIATION FROM ANY QUARTER. and glowing into the sea, to send up little columns of hissing steam. The whole ol the centre of the ship was now on fire, and the tlames rose prodigiously, floating off. and flashing amidst the clouds of smoke ; while far away, still lightly flitted and spun about the golden flaky snow, eddying amongst the smoke, and darting far on high, in the most beautiful way imaginable. I think I said before how the tremendous heat caused a regular draught to set to wards the fire, so that as you were almost scorched before, the wind came with quite a cold rush behind ; but then, bow it made the flames roar again, and burn more fierce |ly than ever ! It was a sickening sight ; for every now and then the cruel forky ton | gues seemed to keep lapping at and threat | cning us, and theu dancing and lickiug j everything up, as if in devilish joy at the prospect of soon devouring us poor sin ners. It was a horrible sight, and though I did n't show it, yet I could feel my heart sink every time 1 was idle for a few moments, when I went at it again like a savage. I did n't go down on my knees to pray ; but —I don't know—l think I prayed earnestly | iu my heart then, and though I would glad ly have been with the wife safe in the other boat, yet I could n't feel as it was suited with a fellow's duty to leave such a man as that captain had Bhowed himself all in the lurch ; so I says to myself, " Be a uiau, too, Phil "; and I did try to, anyhow. All at ODce the flames seemed to veer round, and began blowing towards us, while the position of the boats was chang ed ; and I could n't understand it, till I saw the captain ruu from helping to get the last boat—the one as was on the deck close to the mizzen-mast—over the side ; and then 1 found it was the man had left the steer ing wheel, and had run up towards the boat. " Back !" I heard the captain say ; "back, or I'll fire !" " Fire away, cap," says the man, sulkily; " one may just as well die by fire one way as another, and 1 won't stand there and be j burnt." And theu the captain's hand—the ■ one as held the pistol—fell down by his side, and be louked regularly done. " What's up ?" I says. " Can I do ?" j and I followed the captain to the wheel, j which he turned so as to put the head of the ship right once more ; aud as he did it, she just changed rouud again ; but while all this had been goiug on, the mizzeu or third mast took fire, and now was blazing away fiercely. " llold on here, my man," says the cap tain, " aud keep the wheel just as it is.— That's right ; hold the spokes firm ; and if her head swings round, call to me to come and help you." " All right," I says ; " but mind, 1 don't understand it a bit." And now my troubles seemed to begin ; for though it was bad enough to be bustling about fancying that the ship would either go down or you'd be burnt every moment, yet to stand stock still holding to the spokes ot that wheel was awful, aud do what 1 would to stop it, a regular tremble came all over me, and my knees kept on shake, shake, shake. They got the boat over the side, and then the men rushed over one another to get in, and it was only by stamping about aud hitting at them that the captain got the poor chaps to take in the things they want ed ; such as food, which he fetched out of the cabin himself ; and water, which they did sling in, but dropped oue little cask overboard. But, one way or another, he got them at last to take iu a good many things such as they'd want, aud a compass; and then, with three more men, he rushed down to the cabin again for more food, — biscuit-bags,—saying as the other boats would want more, and that we must sup ply 'em. And then up they came stagger ing and shaking, one ruau with a little wa ter-keg, and the captain with a side o' ba con, and two men with bags o' biscuit ; aud they goes to the side, and I wished my job was done as I saw 'em go. All at once one of the men gives a yell, throws down his bag, and leaps hangover board, and the others, runuing after him, did so too ; and then 1 could see that the cowardly beggars bad pushed off, —for they lay close under the side, where I could n't see 'em before, and now tliey were rowing bard to get away, and I could see that the boat was so full that the least thiug must make her fill aud sink. It was pitiful to hear the shrieks of those poor fellows as was left behind, as they swam with all their might to get up to the boat, and it was pitiful to see, for it was as light as day, aud the waves that gently rose and fell seemed waves of blood, — glowing blood, —with golden crests as they softly brokn. But though one man swam so fast that be got up to the boat, they pushed him off with the oars ; and then 1 saw him cling to them, and oue man pulled out a knife to stab at him if he came near er ; while just theu 1 saw the boat-hook rise up aud fall with a heavy thud on the poor chap's head, and lie went under, and 1 said, " God help him !" for he came up no more. There were two more swimming after them, and when the next saw all this, he just turned round, aud looked back at the ship, and paddled with bis hands a bit, aud then stretching them straight up towards the sky, he gave one wild bitter shriek, and he went under ; and this time I tried to say, " God help him 1" but it was ouly my lips that moved. There was the other, though, a fine lusty young fellow, aud as soon as lie saw what took place he turned oil' to the left aud tried to reach the nearest boat of the other three; and manfully he swam for it, raising him self well up in the water at every stroke, and gradually lessening the distance till he got up close to the stern, where I could see quite plain Borne one holding out his hands to him, and he was took aboard the boat. Now all this took place in a very few i minutes ; and, hi spite of the danger, tve, | the two last on board, could not help stop -1 ping to gaze at the terrible incident; but now the captain comes up aud takes my baud, and says,— " Brother, it was a cowardly, cruel, sel fish action ; and I don't know but what I'd ! rather die with a brave man than live with curs." I know my hand shook, but I don't think my voice did, though I thought of life be ing sweet, as I said to him,— " Is it very bard to die, captain ?" " Ycb," he says, " I believe it is, to a strong man ; and as God gave us life, and we've done our duty so far, why we must finish it by trying to save two more." " But how ?" I says, getting bold of him. " Don't leave the wheel," he says ; and then, again, " But it don't matter, —she makes no way. Lend a hand here." And I helped him, and together, roasting almost, we dragged three great towl-coops and a grating to the side, and he tied them together—lashed them, he called it—in no time ; then we shoved them overboard ; and as the vessel slowly swung round, wo were out o' sight o' the boats, which were about a quarter of a mile off. He bad a rope to the coops so that they could not float off, and as he told me, I slid down on to them and squatted there trembling, while be lowered down to me the little water-keg, some rope, the bacon, and two of the biscuit-bags. Then he pitched some loose pieces of wood-work and the cover of the cabin stairs and a hutch thing and tarpaulin into the watyjr by me ; slid down the rope, and was by my side in a few minutes ; with the coops sinking about, so that 1 was glad to lower myself into the water and hold on. " That's right," be says, opening his knife with his teeth and cutting the rope, and then getting the tarpaulin and bits of wood and things in the centre in the hand iest way possible,—same as only a sailor could do. He tells me to hold on tight,and then lowering himself into the water lie pushes oil from the burning ship aud be gins swimming and guiding our bit of raft away very slowly, but still farther and off. " I'll lash the coops and the grating together," he says, "as soon as we're out of danger." " Out of danger!" and when will that be ?" "Well," he says, " I mean when we are out of reach of being sucked down when she sinks." " Will she sink ?" I says. " Yes," he says, "and before long now"; and then he went on swimming hard, while I could do nothing but watch first the boats and then the burning ship. It was grand, though awful, to see the uoble vessel standing there like a pyra mid of fire whose heat we could yet feel on our scorched faces. From every part now the flames were rushing, even from the cabin windows beneath where I had so lately been standing, and I could hardly keep from shuddering as I thought ot the awful danger. It was hard work forcing the raft through the water on account of the breeze which set towards the ship ; but we got farther away, and were some distance off when the mizzen-mast went blaziug over the side ; but still the captain said we were not safe, and swam on till we could not feel the breeze ; and at length panting and exhaus ted he hung on motionless, and said we must risk it now. Then we were both silent, and watched the boats now farther away from us, and the blazing ship seemiug to be the centre of a glorious ring of light, on the outside of which like sparks we all lay waiting for the end we knew was soon to come. Ev erywhere else was dark as pitch, not even a star to be seen, while the waves just rose and curled a little over as they washed against our raft: excepting the dull roar and crackle of the flames, everything was as still as death. All at once I started, for the captain spoke sadly as he looked at bis vessel ; and out of the silence bis voice sounded wild and strange,— " If I'd had a crew like you, my man, I think we could have saved her " ; aud then lie spoke no more, for just then, from being quite still, the good ship seemed to roll a little towards us, and then to the other side, slowly, and as if just bending to the breeze ; and then we could almost see the water creeping up her burning sides as clouds of steam arose ; and with one calm steady dip forward she seemed to plunge right down beneath the golden waters. Then there was a rising and falling of the sea, and a deep, dense darkness, out ol which close by me came one of the bitter est, heart-tearing sobs I ever heard from the breast of man ; and I did not speak, lor I felt that it was the captain sorrowing for the loss of bis good ship. For a good piece the silence was as deep as the darkness, and then the captain was the first to break it in quite a cheei - - ful voice,— " Can you lay your baud ou the rope ?" he says ; and I passed it to him, and then I could hear him iu the dark busily at work tying and fastening ; and at last he says, "Now crawl on again; it will bear you better" ; aud faint and wearily I managed to crawl on, and lay witli my legs in the water and my head on the bag of biscuit; and directly after I felt him crawl on too, and we took hold of hands and lay there in the deep darkness while lie said that prayer out aloud in such a soft, deep voice,—that prayer as we first learnt kneeling down years ago by our mother's knee. When he came to "Deliver us from evil," he stopped short ; and soon, worn out there in the great ocean, floating ou a few pieces of wood, we both felt in whose hands we were, and slept till the warm bright sun shone upon us and tuld us that another day was here. The first thing the captain did was to stand up and look round, and then lie said be could see only one boat ; but lie hoisted up one of the pieces of wood, and wedged it in the coop with a handkerchief flying at the top, after which we made a hearty meal of the biscuit, raw bacon, and water. After this the captain got one of the coops on the other, and by binding and lashiug he made a much higher aud better raft, so that we could keep our biscuit and bacon out of the water and sit and dry ourselves. And so we lay all that day till towards evening, when we found that the boat was coming towards us, and just at dusk it was within hail ; and if ever I'd felt hopeful or joyful before in my life, it was then. They had no room for us, but tliey took us in tow, and the weather keeping calm, we all rowed and worked in turns steering accord ing to the captain's directiou for the near est land ; for when our turn came we two went into the boat, and two others came out ou to the raft, and so we toiled on for days, when one morning there was a joy ful cry,— " A sail! a sail 1" And it was, too, within a mile of us, plainer and plainer as that glorious sun per Annum, in Advance. J 10s ; and then some laughed, some cried, j and one or two seemed half mad with joy, 1 as after a while she ran down towards us, picked us up, and proved to be a British inan-of war, homeward bound. In another week I was back in tbe port I left, without clothes, without money, but with as good and true a friend in Captain Ellis as ever walked. I had life, and with it came hope ; and somehow, since then, things have prospered with me in the old country, —the old home that I once left to go far at sea. THE CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS. The question to be decided in the autumn Congressional elections of 18GG is hardly less important than that of the Presidential election of 18G4. At that time the ques tion was whether the Democratic party, whose policy had produced the war, whose Southern leaders conducted it, and which, as a party, although with conspicuous ex ceptions of certain individual Democrats, justified the rebellion and opposed the war measures of the government, should be in trusted with the control of the g vern ment. The response was prodigious. Ev ery loyal State but Kentucky,Delaware,and New Jersey sustained the Union party.— At this time the "question is whether the Democratic party, with its tendency and policy clearly understood, shall determine the conditions upon which the late rebel States shall resume their full relations in the Union. Is the Democratic view of the situation truer, is the Democratic interpre tation of the Constitution more just, is the spirit of the Democratic party more favor able to justice, equal liberty, and reverence for law, than those of the Union party.— These are the questions which must deter mine onr votes in the coming elections. It may be true—indeed for ourselves we have not hesitated to say that it is true— I that many foolish words have been spoken and some unwise measures adopted by j Congress. Nor do we care to r criminate ! and urge that this Congress has been more i fiercely vituperated than any of its prede- j cessors. We have not to deal at the elec- j lions with the politeness or tact either of 1 Congress or the Executive, nor indeed with j the uniform wisdom of the Congressional ! measures. The point is a fundamental principle. Granting that the action of Congress might have been improved in cer tain ways, is it probable that the action of the Democratic minority would have been, | either in detail or in general policy, better I for the peace and union of the country ? 1 Had the party of that minority been in the \ ascendent the test oath would have been j repealed ; Senators and Representatives j like Alexander H. Stephens and Hdrschel 1 V. Johnson would have been admitted ; the j Civil Rights Bill would have failed ; and in a word, the men who, supported by their ! States, five years ago resigned and with- ! drew from Congress, and engaged in the i rebellion, would have returned by the "con ; tiuuous right" of those States, and those ! who hail tried to destroy the Government! and still declared their right to do so, would i have voted upon every measure proposed for the future security of the Union and country against the logical consequences of their doctrines. Would this have been a wise policy or safe for the country ? Yet this is the poli cy upon which the autumn elections are to pronounce. The Democratic party holds that, having laid down their arms, the States lately in rebellion are exactly where | they were before. The consequences of 1 such a doctrine are plain. It assumes that ■ a combination of States may attempt to j destroy the Union by war, and that the people of the loyal States who defeat the j conspiracy in the tield can rightfully take no further step whatever to secure the vie- j tory they have won. The Union party j claims that loyal citizens, after so long and vital a war, have exactly the same right to secure their victory that they have to win it ; and consequently that when the at tempt of a combination of States to wrest themselves from the authority of the Un ion fails, none of those States can resume their full functions in the Union except up on such conditions as a truly sagacious pol icy shall determiue. It must be remembered that it is not a question of more or less conditions, but of any condition whatever. The Democratic orators and papers ask indeed whether the late insurgents have not complied with cer tain conditions. But neither they nor those who have been defeated acknowledge the right to impose them. Indeed, the Demo cratic theory and policy condemn the Pres ident equally with Congress, for he had no more verbal constitutional authority to re quire assent to the emancipation amend ment than Congress has to require assent to the new amendment regulating repre sentation. States with what Mr. Stephens calls " a continuous right" of equality with all other States can no more be required to adopt one amendment than another. The present co operation of the Democratic par ty with the President, therefore, does not spring from mve of him but from hate of Confess, and a very natural wish of our opposition party to divide the Executive and Legislative powers. Can a party which holds and proclaims the policy which we have described be safe ly intrusted with the government of the country and the settlement of the war ? ! Ought any thoughtful aud honest citizen, j however impatient he may be of the follies of certain men, to suffer his impatience to blind him to the fact that the elections are to decide whether the friends and the spirit of Abraham Lincoln shall reorganize the Union, or the friends and spirit of iloratio Seymour and Vallandigham. There are not two parties, there can not be. Under the circumstances a Philadelphia candidate must be as fatal to the cause of equal rights and just government and constitu tional peace in this country as a candidate of Tammany Hall. Let us improve Con gress in the ability and good sense of its members as much as possible. But let all true men beware of a sophistry which Would make Mr. " Jack Rogers " the lead er of a majority instead of a minority.— Harper's Weekly. A gentlemau at table remarked that he could not endure fish unless it was well cooked.— "This," said the waiter, as he handed him a plate of the desired dish, "is, I hope, suf-fish-ciently cooked to suit, sir." "Wed, yes," replied the gen tleman, as he tasted it, "its done a good.eel better than I anticipated it would be." TEE PRUSSIAN NEEDLE GUN. Success in warfare depends as much on the weapons of destruction employed as the strategy of generals and the number under their command. The famous long bow of the English yeoman went down be fore the musket ; the match-lock was dis placed by the flint lock, the latter by the precussion cap ; and the smooth bore or hrownbens by the rilled musket. The advan tages of a superior instrument of warfare have again been made m mifest. The over whelming success of the Prussians over the Austrians is attributed to their needle gun—not superior courage, or numbers. This weapon is a breech-loading rifled mus ket, and it derives its name from a spring needle employed to pierce a friction cart ridge. The moveable breech of this rifle slides back and forth on a guide, and when the musket is loaded, the breech is closed by the half turn of a screw by which it is fitted gas-tight into the rear of the barrel. The cartridge is what is called fixed am munition, 110 cap being required. A paper shell or case, fixed to the elongated bullet, contains the charge, which consists of com mon gunpowder with a small quantity of fine detonating powder in the rear. T/ie I needle is attached to a coiled steel spring, and is operated something like a boy's spring pop-gun, and is a substitute for the hammer of the common rifled musket. When the cartridge is secured in the barrel, and the breech closed, tire trigger of the spring is touched, when the needle darts forward in the breech chamber, pierces tin cart ridge in the centre, and the detonating powder instantly ignites. From all the NUMBER 11. accounts which we have received of the effects of this rifle, there can be no doubt but tbe Prussian infantry were abb- to fire three shots for every one of the Austrians with their mnzzle loaders. Perhaps the needle gun is more accurate than the rifle with a hammer, because tin line of the needle's motion concides with the centre of the barrel, whereas the force of the hammer striking down upon the cap or cartridge tends to throw the muzzle up wards The days of muzzle loading army rifles are numbered. Probably all the ar mies of civilized countres will be furnish' 1 with breech loaders, or what is better, "re peaters." About fourteen years ago the writer of this was introduced to the inven tor of the needle gun. lie is a German gunsmith and a native of Berlin. lie ex amined his rifle in all its details, and t drawing of its several parts. it was pat tented in the United States, and the inven tor visited this country for the purpose of inducing our government to adopt it for the army. Its cartridges were pronounced an safe for use by the officers af the Bureau to whom it was sent for examination, but the Prussins know how to use them, and they are most unsafe to those whom they are di rected. Probably we have now some breech loaders equal if not superior to the needle gun, and Wesley Richard's English breech loader which has lately been furnished to several British regiments, has a sliding breech with a screw joint nearly similiarto that of the German Zund Needle. THE MAYOR WANTS TO SEE THEE.—A young man, a nephew, had been to sea ; and on his return, he was narrating to his uncle au adventure he had met with on board a ship. "I was one night leaning over the t-'lV rail, looking down into the mighty ocean," said his nephew, whom we shall call W 1 liam, "when my goli watch fell from my fob and sank out of sight. The vessel was going ten knots an hour ; but nothing daun ted, 1 sprung over the rail, down, down, al ter a long search found it, came up cb • under the stern, and climbed back to ti .- dech ; without any one knowing I had been absent." "William, said his uncle, slightly elec - ting his broad brim, and opening his eyes to their widest capacity, "how fast did thee say the vessel was going ?" "Ten knots, uncle." "And thee dove down into the sea, and came up with the watch,and climbed up by the rudder chains ?" "Yes, uncle." "And thee expects me to believe thy sto ry ?" "Of course ! You wouldn't dream of c I ling me a liar !" "William," replied the uncle gravely, "the knows I never call anybody names ; but, William, if the mayor of the city wen to cuine to me, and say, 'Josiah, 1 want thee to find the biggest liar in all Philadel phia,' 1 would come straight to thee, and put my hand on thy shoulder, and say t. Thee, 'William, the Man >r ; ranis to see RECEIPT FOT MAKING TAT I TERS. —Take a handful of weed called Runabout, the same quantity of root called Nimble Tongue, a sprig of the herb called Back-bite, (title 1 before or after dog-days,) a tablespoouful of .Don't-you-tell-it, six drams ol Malice,;: few drops of Envy,which can be purchased in any quantities at the shop of Miss Tabitha Tea-table and Miss Nancy Night-walker. - Stir them well together and simmer them for half an hour over the fire of Discontent, kindle with a little Jealousy, then strain it thro' the rag of Misconstruction,and cork it up in the bottle of Malevolence, and hang it upon a skein of Street-yarn, shake it > c casioually for a few days, and it will be fi' for use. Let a few drops be taken before walking out, and the subject will be ena bled to speak all manner of evil and that continually.— Erpre^.t. LITTLE SINS. —In certain harbors, if you plant deep and Hi ui the mightiest timbers as foundations for your wharves, you wi! find, after a time, that a little insect lia> been at work piercing, like a tiny thrc ad of fire, the oaken pile, so that if a band touches it, it will crumble like wood burned in the llaino. Perhaps you have seen sec tions of piles, or ship's timbers, which were thus riddled through and through by these madripores. Did the sight not awaken a thought in your mind with rega.-d to your own danger in cherishing these "liit'o lux es,' widen eat tp all tbe rich fruit wh eh you sh uld bear to tin- glory of God? Be ware of little sins. As an old writer ex presses it, "a ship may be sunk by a car go of sand, as well as by a cargo of mill stones." N'EAV SYSTEM OK EMBALMING. —The French papers speak of a new system ot embalm ing, the iuvention of M. Audigier. it diff ers from the systems hitherto in use in the manner of introducting the preservative liquid. Heretofore it has been necessary to make incisions in the body for ihis pur pose, but M. Audigier introduces it by the mouth, and also rubs the skin with a vege table powder impregnated with the same liquid. The latter part of the process i not absolutely necessary, and the embalm ing may be performed after the body lias been placed in the coffin. The official re port states that after the lapse of twelve months bodies which had been submitted to the process were in a perfect state of preservation, the llesh having become as hard as wood. IF we would have the kindness of others we must endure their follies. He who cannot per snde himself to withdraw from society must be content to pay a tribute of his time to a multitude of tyrants.