The press. (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1857-1880, February 24, 1862, Image 2

us a hope of a better reunion, Now, in (1w day of
our tribulation, the people have proved that they
are inspired with life by the grandest spectacle the
world ever witnessed, in their uprising in the majesty of
undivided c mvictlon, concentrated power, and deter
mined purpose; in their uttrepining resignation to suffer
ing and privation, tbs it sublime patience under strange
diteerntitriree, and weaey dela.a and long-continued in
selitity, from inability and perplexity, or from jndg.
ment and choice ; in their outspoken joy When the spell
was broken of the seeming paralysis of their gigantic
preparations ; in the heartiness of their response to Major
General Grunt when he proposed "to morn immediately
on the enemy's works." Now, the rulers of the earth
will corns to know that, under the Constitution which
n akes us rue people, there exists no authority that can
alienate a single inch of the territory of the United
Stateei that, while we claim for each the right
of 'migration, there is no possible conspiracy, combina
tion, or convention that can di-charge any one citizen
from his allegiance so long as lie remains on our soil,
though each one may for himself dissolve that allegiance
by self. exile and flight. These many and ever-increaling
United btates are one, now and for coming ages.
PIINOIVLEV OV THE GOVERNMENT
. 'The only ground of hope, the perpetuity of our Union,
you will find, men of New York, in the words of Wash
ington, spoken iu this city. When, in the presence of
your fathers. Washington, standing under the canopy of
of the sky. took the oath to support the Constitution, he
returned into the Senate chamber, to interpret to the
First Congress the principles of uur great charter, and
the fit polies for the nation to pursue. Then it was that
he laid down as their rule . 1 the pure and immutable
principles of private morality," and " the eternal rules
or order and right which Heaven itself has ordained."
And the House of Representatives, using the pen of
Madison to frame its answer, accepted his enlightened
nikkiniS„ and owned the obligation to 4.‘ adoro the Invisi
ble band which has led the American people through so
many difficulties, to cherish a conscious responsibility for
the destiny of republican liberty." Ott thus - principles
the Government which makes us one people was nut in
motion, while the fonudations of monarchy in Franco
Mere crumbling away, and the beams that upheld the
sit - Mention of the middle ages wore falling in. During
the half century which suceeedtd, France underwent
more revolutkna than I can readily count up; Spain bad
many forms of government in rapid succession;.the dy
natty of Portugal was driven for refuge to South Ame
rica; the empire of Germany went down in the whirlpool
of revolution; Russia has been convulsed by a fearful
plot for insurrection ; Italy was many times reconstruct
ed ; the Pope lost and won temporal power, and has been
ofireost elmru of it egains the institutions of Gre4 Britain
have been thrice essennaly modified, by the annexation
of Ireland, by the reform of Parliament—which was, in
fact, a resolution—and by opening the doors of its two.
Houses to no it of all creeds.
PROGRESS OF CORRUPT INFLUENCES
During all these convulsions the United States stood
uncbenred, admitting none but the slightest nualiflca-
Eons in its charter, and proving itself the most stable
Government of the civilized world. But at last "we
have fallen on evil days." " The propitious smiles of
Heaven"—such are the words of Washiugton--"can
Lever be xpected on a nation that disregards the eter
nal rules of order and right." During eleven years of
perverse government those rules were disregarded, and
it came to pate that men who *hoot.] firmly avow the
aeritiments of Washington, and Jefferson, and Franklin;
end Chancellor Livingston were disfranchised for the
public H 43 vice, that the spotless Chief Justice whom
Washington placed at the head of our Supreme Court
could by no posshility have been nominated for
that office, or confirmed. Nay, the corrupt in
t, invaded even ltrs very hosts of justice.
The final decree of the Supreme Court, in its decision
on a particular case, must be respected and obeyed ;
the present Chief Justice has. on one memorable appeal,
accompanied his decision with an impasahmed declama
tion, wherein with profound immorality which no one
has as yet fully laid bare, treating the people of the
- United States as a shrew to he tamed by an open scorn
of the taste of history, with a dreary industry colleothig
evidences of cases where justice may have slumbered Cr
weakness been oppressed, compensating fur want of evi
dence by confidence of assertion. with a partiality that
would have disgraced an advocate neglecting humane
decisions of colonial courts and the enduring memorials
of colonial statute hooks, in his party zeal to prove that
the fathers at our country held the negro to have "no
rights which the white man was bound to respect," he
has not only denied the rights of man and the liberties of
mankind, but has not lett a foothold for the liberty of the
white man to rest upon.
CHIEF JUSTICE TANEY
That ill-starred disquisition of Taney, who, I trust,
did not hitend to hang out the flag of disunion, is the
fountain head of this rebellion ; that offence to the con
scions memory of the mPlione convulsed our country with
the excitement which swept over those of us who vainly
hoped to preserve a Grow; and sufficient, though nar
row, isthmus, that might stand between the conflicting
floods. No natiou can adopt that judgment as its rule and
live the judgment has in it no element of political vita
lity; / will not say it is an invocation of the dead past;
there never was a pond that accepted such opinions. If we
want the opinion", to 'ecelved to the dais when our Consti
tution wee framed, we will not take them second. hand
horn our Chiet Justice: we will let the men of that day
speak for themselves Ho* will our American magistrate
sink when arraigned, as he will be, before the tribunal
of humanity; haw terrible will be the verdict against
him, when lie is put in comparison with Washington's
political teacher, the great Montesquieu, the en
,
lightened magistrate of
mace, in what are es
teemed the worst days of her monarchy. The ar
gument from the difference of race, which Taney
thrusts forward with passionate confidence, as a
proof of complete disqualification, is brought forward
by Montesquieu as a scathing satire on all the brood
of despots who were supposed to uphold slivery as
tolerable lit Gulf. The rights et mankind—that precious
word which has nu equivalent in the language of Hindos
tan, or Judea, or Greece, or Rome, or any anti-Christian
tongue—found its tap sorter in Washington and Hamil
ton ; in Franklin and Livingstone; in Otis, George Ma
son and Caladen ; in all the greatest men of our early
history. The one rule from which the makers of and first
Confederacy and then of our National Constitution never
swerved, is thie: to fix no constitationaldilabitity on any
one; whatever might stand In the way of any man from
opinion, ancestry, weakness of -mind, inferiority, e' in
convenience of any kind, was itself not formed into a
permanent disfranchisement. The Constitution of the
United States was made under the recnguized influence
of "the-eternal rule of order and rieht." so that as far as
its jurisdiction extended it raised at once the numerous
elase - wbo bad been chetvas to the condition of Damns ;
it neither originates nor perpetuates ha quality.
'lt. nuBLIC SERVICE AND PRIVATE GAIN
It is another trait in Washington's character which
may particularly interest this opulent city, where enter
prise and skill and Industry are forever producing and
Amassing wealth, that while he held "the aCithiSitiOn of
fortune by honest ways a proper object of desire, he drew
a careful distinction between the puri• nits of business and
the service of his country. Be held that evory man must
be ready to devote to the good of his country ms outlay,
his wealth, and his life; and he never suffered the public
fiai vice to become to him a source of gain. It is rumored
that men alllots MI hays known how to obtain from the
Government. for a moderate and incidental and essen
tially irresponsible use of little else than their julginent,
sums of money which exceed the whole direct tax levied
upon one of our smaller States. If this be so, while it
implies a shameful want of patriotism in individttalS, it
i mattes also a blamable want of sagacity in the ex
ecutive departnisnts, which must have made selections
perversely or Wire - Vold. In the name of thin city,
I declare the great body of its people to have
a patriotism without blemish of selfishness. In the
name of the Chamber of Commerce, may I not venture to
say of our merchants, as a class, that the pretence of a ne
cessity of resorting to extravagant compensation for
simple ordinary service is a calumny on a body of gene
roue and drvotvtily patriotic wen In tho name of tho
mechanics I repel the insinuation; and it is known to all
that the conduct or the poor of our city, during this war,
has, for disinterestedness, and exalted feeling, and arm
receive, and courageous resignation, gone beyond all
praise.
IYASHIIVRTON 7 S CHARACTER
The disinterestedness of Washington's conduct beams
forth in still greater beauty,when, for the benefit of this
age, we recall Ms conduct toward his generals. He took
care of their honor even snore carefully than if it had
been his own. It was his delight to give them opportu
nities for distinction, and when danger menaced alike
himeelf and a general in another department, he would
cheerfully tend to his subordinate the best port of hi 4
force, and suffer no one to risk a defeat so soon as him
self.
Nor should we forget that Washington was always
vigilant; that he never was taken by surprise; that with
all his caution, he never missed an opportnnity of strik
ing a blow ; that be never sent hie army forward except
with himself - as its leader that tic never exposed them to
deep roads and ban weather except when they could de
rive encouragement from his own presence and example;
that he was Biwa) s undi r flre witn his men, and com
mitted no error in the field but from excess f personal
courage.
We must not forgot that in the war of the Revolutioi
Weabiegion, among other great übjette, bote arms for
the maritime rights of neutrals. When so many' officers
in our navy showed signs of disaffection, the first im
pulse of public feeling might approve a bold act which
Broke for the fidelit: of a gallant comtnander. The just
indignation which is felt at the conspirators who struck at
our life as a nation neigh; exult when several of" the least
worthy of them fell itto our baud& Ent this excitement
only shed 'a brighter lustre on the moderation of the
people, and their perfect mastery over thoir passions.
With one voice nll have agreed that due respect must be
shown to the neutral flag A ship at sea is a portion of
the territory of the rower whose flag she may-rightly
bear. No naval officer of another nation "may exercise
judicialn.wer on her deck ; • the free ship frees the cargo .;
a neutral phip io a ve ) age between neutral port§ la pro
tected by her flag; the passenger woo, in a neutral port,
steps on board a neutral ship honestly bound for another
neutral port, is as safe against seizure as if be were a
guest et the Tuileries, or a barrister before a court in
Weetmit ster Ball. These good rules will gain renewed
strength from their recognition by the American people
in the very moment of a just indignation against men
who were guilty of the darken 'ream, and had fallen
into their hands.
MW ' rrM==n=l!T ' ,l!Mil==M
Washington not only upheld the liberty of the ocean.
He was a thorough republican. And how has our his
tory justified hie preference? How has this very rebel
lion borne testimony to the virtue and durability of ma.
lee institutions ? The rebellion which we aro putting
down was the conspiracy of the rich, of opulent men, who
count laborers as their capital. Our wide-extended suf
frage is not only utterly innocent of it—it is the power
which will not fail to crush It. The people prove their
right to a portlier government; they have chosen it, and
have kept it in healthy motion; they will midair' it now,
and hand it down in its glory and its power to their pos
terity. And this is true not only of men who were born
on our eoil, but of foreign-horn citizens. Let the Euro
pean skeptic about the large extension of the suffrage
come among us, and we will show him a spectacle won
derful in his eyes, grand beyond his power of conception.
That which in this contest is marked above all, has ap
peared in the oneness of heart and purpose with which
all the less wealthy classes of our people, of all nationali
ties, are devoted to the Hag of the Union. The foreigners
whom we have taken to
our hearts and received as our
fellow-citizens have' been true to the country that bad
adopted them, have been sincere, earnest, and ready for
every sacrifice. Slavery is the slow poison which has
wrought all the evil i end a proud and selfish oligarchy
are the authors of the conspiracy.
A rumor reaches us, let us hope it it unfounded, that
three rowerain Iturope have combined to force a monar
chical Government upon the neighboring commonwealth
of Mexico, at a time when she seem,, if left to herself,
better able to govern Lenoir than ever heretofore. I
confess I am unable to devise what material or w oat po
lineal interest of England can be promoted by this unto
*ma 'pretension. Besides, America has never been a pro.
pagan dist ; our people, even in the days of our Revolution,
made no war on monarchy, and did not even ask or seem
to wish that their example might sway nations under dif
ferent circumstances from our own. They left each he.
misphere to take care of itself A junction
of three mo
narchs to put kingly power on our flank has an import
ance 'which cannot escape attention. The royal families
of Europe would be justly- incensed if the republican
powers of America were to join together to attempt to
force a republic on one of th'm. Is it right to attempt
to force a monarchy on Americans Is it wise to pro
voke a collision between the systems'? or to try experi
ments on the myilerions sympathies of the millions
If the opinions of Washington on slavery and on the
slave trade had been steadily respected the country
would have escaped all the calamity of the present civil
war. The famous Fairfax meeting, at which Washington
presided, on the 18th of July, 1774 led public opinion in
declaring that it was most I meat wish of Affiael6a
to see an entire stop forever pot to the wicked, cruel,
and unnatural trade in slaves." The traffic wee then
condemned as an immorality and a crime. The senti
ment was thoroughly American, and became the tradi
tion—the living faith of the people.
The centuriee clasp hands and repeat it to one another.
Yesterday, the sentiment of Jefferson, that the slave
trade is a piratical warfare upon mankind, was reaf
firmed, by carrying into effect the sentence of a high tri
bunal of justice; and, to save the lives and protect the
happiness of thousands, a slave-trader was executed as a
pirate and en enemy of the human race.
This day furnishes a spectacle of still more terrible
retriVettra illetige, The raotident af the pretended Con;
federate States of America is compelled to do public pe
nance in his robes of office for: foolishly and wickedly
aspiring to power that does not and cannot exist, that
dissolves and disappears as be draws near to grasp it.
Iffiesourf, whiCh he has invaded, rises against him; Ken
tucky where he desired to usurp authority, throws him
off with indignant scorn; Restarts Tennessee, where An.
drew Johnson must now be speaking for Union with cla
rion notes of patriotism, starts to her feet in time to pro
test against the usurper; the people of Virginia, in their
hearts, are against him; perhaps even the majority of
the inhabitants of Richmond may be weary of his aspi
rations; and as he goes forth to-day to ar r ay himaeif in
the unreal state for which he 'panted, his consideration
drops away from him in the presence of his worshippers,
irretrievably and forever, hie conscience stings him with
remorse for his crime, and the course of events convicts
him of arrogance and folly. His elevation is but to a
pillory, where he stands the derision of the world. Rich
mond, which he thought to make his capital, will soon be
in possession of one of our generals or of another, and
nothing.can save him from the just wrath of his country
but a hasty exile.
FROMBITION OF F. LAVERY.
If the views o Washington with regard to the slave
trade commend themselves to our approbation after the
lapse of nearly ninety years, his opinions on slavery are
so temperate and so clear that if they had been followed,
they would have established peace amongst us forever.
On the 12th of April,liB6, he wrote to Robert Morris:
"There is not a Mee living who wishes more sincerely
than I do to see n plan adapted For the abolition of slave
ry." This avos his fixed opinion; so that in the following
month be declared to Lafayette: t , By degrees the aboli
tion of slavery certainly might, and assuredly ought to,
hs
enacted, and that, too by legislative authority." On the
Oth of September of the same year ho avowed his resolu
tion "never to possess another slave by purchase;'
adding, "it being aiming my first wishes to see some plan
adopted by Which slavery in title country may bo abo
lished by law."
In conformity with these views the old Confederation
of the United States, at a time when the Conventon for
framing our Constitution was in session, by a unamous
vote prohibited slavery forever in all ie ni
territory that
then belonged to the United States; and One Or the very
first acts of Washington as President was to approve a
law by which that ordinance might "continuo to huo
lull t fleet."
On the 6th of May, 1794, in the midst of his carol as
President, he devised a plan for the sale of lauds in
Western Virginia and Western Pennsylvania, awl alter
giving other reasons fur his purpose he adds: "1 have
another motive which makes me earnestly wish for the
acCoMplisbnient of these things; it It, indeed, more PoW9C
fill than all the rest—namely, to. Monate a certain spa.
cies of property which I possess, very repugnantly to
my own feelings."
And in less than three months after he wrote that
Farewell Address to which we this day have listened, he
felt himself justified in announcing to Europe his hopes
for the future in these words: " Nothing is more cer
tain than that - Maryland and Virginia must have laws
for the gradual abolition of slavery, and at a period not
remote. "
But though Virginia and Maryland have not been
wise enough to realize the confident prediction of the
Father of his Country—though• slavery is still permitted
in the District of Columbia, from which Madison desired
to see it removed—the Gauge of freedom has keen steadily
advancing. The line of 36 deg. fin min., which formed a
harrier to the progress of skilled labor to the sotithward,
has been effaced. Our country, at one bound, crossed
the Rocky Mountains and the wisdom of our people, as
they laid the foundations of great empires on the coast of
the Pacific, has brought about that to-day, from the
Straits of Sebring to the Straits of Magellan, the waves
of the great ocean, as they roll in upon the shore, clap
their hands in joy, for along all that wide region the
land is cultivated by no hands but those of the free. Let
us be grateful to a good Providence which has estab
lished liberty as the rule of our country beyond the possi
bility of a relapse.
For myself, I was one who desired to postpone, or
rather hoped altogether to avoid, the collision which has
.taken place, trusting that society, by degrees, would
have worked itself clear by its own innate strength and
the virtue and rewlithon of the community, dint slavery
has forced upon us this issue, and has lifted up its hand
to strike a death-blow at our existence as a people. It
has avowed itself a desperate and determined enemy of
our national life, of our unity as a republic.; and hence
forward no man deserves the name of a statesman who
would consent to the intriduction of that element of
weakness and division into any new territory, or the ad.
minden of another slave Siam into the Union. Let us
hope rather thnt the prediction of Washington will prove
trne, and that Virginia and Maryland will soon take their
places as free htates by the side of Ohio and Pennsyl
vania.
13=
Finally, The people of the United Statee must this day
derive from the example of Washington a lesson of perse
verance. We have been forced into a strife from which
there has been no safe escape but by the manifestation of
an immense superiority of strength. The ages that are
to come will hold a close and severe reckoning with the
men in power to-day on the methods which they may
adopt for solving the Question before them. In the pre.
sent state of things the worst rashness is that which yields
to compromise from the feverishness of impatience. All
the wise and good of the world have their eyes upon us.
All civilized nations are waiting to see if we shall have
the courage to make it manifest that freedom is the ani
mating principle of our Constitution, and the life of the
station. But here. too, on this day we have only to read
the counsels of Washington. Wheti by his will he left
swords to his nephews, he wrote: "These swords are
accompanied with the injunction not to unsheath them
for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self
defence, or in defence of their country or its rights; and
in the latter case to keep them unsheathed, nod prefer
falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment
thereof."
The President of the 'United States has charged us this
day to meet and take counsel from the Farewell Address
cf Washington. We charge him in return, by hie oath
of office, by his pledges to the country, by tile blood that
has been sited and the tteasure that has been expended—
by the security nf this genet ation, by the hopes of the
next, by his desire to stood well with mankind, and to be
remembered in honor by future generations—to take to
his heart this injunction of Washington
Young men ol New York, suffer one more word, before
we part, in grateful memory of the dead who have died
for freedom for us and our yosterity. Long after the
voice which now addresses you shall be silent in the
grave, keep fresh the glory of Winthrop, of Ellsworth,
and of all others who, being like yourselves in the Hush
of youth, went into battle surrounded with the halo of
eternity, and gave their lives in witness of their sincerity.
Rhe whole country mourns the logs of Lyon. and will not
be comforted, enrolling his name by the side of Warren.
They have passed away, but -their spirit lives, and pro
misee that our institutions, in so far as they rest on
freedom, shall endure forever more.
LETTER. FROM HON. WILLIAM H. SEWARD
The following was Secretary Seward's reply to the
invitation of the Union Defence Committee asking him
to address a mass meeting of the citizens:
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
WASRINGION, Feb.l9. 1862.
GENTLEMEN : I have had tue honor to receive the note
in which you have invited me to attend a mass meeting
of the citizens of New York, on the inst., in mins
rnetuoration of the birth of Washington, and in honor of
the recent brilliant successes of the Union forces in sup •
pressiog rebellion. It would be a source of great sane
facti os to me to meet the people of Now York on so in
teresting an occasion. But Congress has institutellsimilar
ceremonies to be observed at this capital, and has made
my attendance upon them an official duty. I need not say
that in my very heart, and mind, and soul, I approve these
pruposed observances. Disloyal citizens have seized
upon that great anniversary to pervert it to a more com
plete Mganizat.on of the conspiracy for the overthrow of
the Union, of which Washington wai. the founder, and
for the betrayal of the people of the United States back
again to the foreign yoke which the hand of Washington
smote and broke. May we not hope that 'he mighty
shade of the Vathet , of his Country will be allowed to
look down from its rest on that day devoted to his mem
ory, and say which of the two are indeed dutiful children
—those who are engaged in the destruction of that coun
try so blessed of God above all other.lauda, wn o
nayr..ommitted themselves to is,. surranon s J. am, gen
tlemen, yours,
WILLIAM 11. Sit WAMO.
The following was the reply of Hon. Daniel S. Dickin
son to a similar invitation:
LETTER OF IiON. D. S. DIOXIN:SON
FIFTH-ATENUB HOTEL, 'Feb: 22, 1862
Late last evening, ou my arrival here, I was honored
by you° favor inviting me, in behalf of the Union De
tente Cpmmlttee, to speak tilts evening at the Union
meeting. I regret to say that a previous engagement to
speak in a neighboring city will prevent its acceptance.
But let use embrace this Occasion to congratulate the
country, and especially these who characterized the con
spiracy and throttled the rebellion in the outbreak, upon
ttn- exposure of one and the virtual overthrow of the
othtr, anti the shame and confusion to the Hupp irtnrs,
advocates, and apologists. of both. And permit me, too,
to add one word of warning against the danger of de
lusive palliation and mistaken compromises. It is, and
bas been, a struggle between a free Government and one
of the darkest conspiracies, culminating in rebellion,
which ever desecrated earth. Now let there be no un
manly or cowardly shrinking, and no terms offered or
accepted but old and out, absoiute, unconditicnal sur
render. Sincerely yours, D. S. DIONINSON.
THE COMMEMORATION OF THE DAY IN
BALTIMORE
Precisely at twelve o'clock the tiring of the national
salutes commenced. The lirst gun was tired front Fort
Federal Hill. Fort McHenry followel, when Fort 111ar
shalljeined in, and their heavy thunder was kept up in
regular succession until one hundred and four guns—
thirty-four frond each fort—bad bosh fired. At each
fort the heavy guns
were used, and the reports rever
berated and re-echoed over the city. The finite at Fort
McHenry was done by the regulars under command of
Colonel Morris; at Fort Federal Hill by the Zouaves, un
der command of Colonel Warren ; and at Fort Marshall
by a detachment front the same regiment, under com
of ikhtbhatt-tiolehtl Ditryta_ teas akeeqed
with rapidity and precision. At Fort Federal Hill the
thirty-two pounders on the front face of the fort were
need, and were seen to advantage from this aide of the
Basin. The sheets afire from the muzzles of the guns,
and the rolling clouds ar sthoke and the almost deafening
reporte, made the scene a lively one.
DEOOrt.A.TION OF WASFUNOTON'S MOIIII3LEZiT.
A committee of ladies and gentlemen, early in the
morning, assembled at Washington's Monument for the
purpose of decorating it. A mammoth national flag was
displayed from the top of the shaft. On the esplanade
Surrounding the shaft pyramids of flowers were placed,
while across the bottom of the shalt itself wreaths 'of
flowers and evergreens were tastefully disposed. The
large iron urns at each of the doorways were also filled
will flowers and wreaths arranged over the doorways.
She decoration was tastefully effected, and reflected
credit on those having charge of the arrangements.
TEE PARADE AND REVIEW.
The principal and most imposing feature of the day was
the military parade and review, by Major General Dix, of
several commands of the military stationed in and near
the city. The announcement that the line would be
formed and the review take place on Broadway, attracted
thousands of persons to that avenue at an early hour.
Many of the handsome dwellings were bast du II y decorated
with flags, and, whilst the sterner sex crowded the side
walks, the ladies filled the windows, and gave additional
enthusiasm to the display.
The Ibis was formed wider the direction of the Assist
ant Adjutant General,. Win. Yon Doehm, •of oeneral
Duryea's staff, the cavalry occupying no much space that
they were drawn up in squads one on both aides of the
avenue. Soon after the bands on the left of the column
struck up some enlivening airs, when Major General Dix
appeared, attended by four officers of his immediate siaffi
viz: Major Wm. H. Ludlow, Major Van Buren, Captain
Von Dckstedt, and Lieutenant Barstow. They pasted
down the line which extended nearly a mile, and upon
returning took position beyond the left of the column,
when the whole parade passed in review before him.
Second Battery of Massachusetts Artillery, under the
commaid of Capt. 0. F. Piims, Ltonts.George B. Trull,
lilchard B. Hall, and Mariam'. The battery numbers 155
horses, 150 men, six Mx-pound brass field-pieces, how
itzers' ammunition wagons and forges. and they made a
very formidable appearance. Some ,A their guns after
the review left the line to .fire salutes.
Seventeenth Massachusetts Infantry, under the com
mend of Colonel Amory, Lieut. COI. renown, and Major
Crangle. Their entire command consists of a full re
giment, viz ten companies, of 1,040 muskets. Of ttietA,
they had in line nine companies—an aggregate of TOO
muskets.
Detachment of the Fourth Few York Volunteers (the
Scott Life Guard), under the command of Lieutenant
Colonel James D. McGregor. Ills detachment paraded
live companies, numbering 400 muskoti, besides a veil'
tine band and drum corps. The whole command congas
of ten companies, SW muskets in ail, and for some time
past have been engaged on guard duty on the line of the
Baltimore and Philadelphia road, between this city and
Havre-de-Grace.
Detachment of the Eighty-seventh Pennsylvania In
fantry, Colonel Hay, Lieutenant Colonel Schell, and
illujor Buehler. This is a full regiment of ten companies,
militating 1,048 muskets, and on duty on the doe of
Northern Central Railway, between Baltimore and York.
Then were only three companies in line, of 300 muskets.
Their appearance was highly creditable, as in marching
and neatness of uniform they were unsurpassed. The
field and staff were in new uniforms, and the silver cornet
band played well.
Detachment or the Pout-ill Regiment Maryland Volun
teers, Colonel James M. Swish arg, of the regular army,
commanding. They paraded four full companies -400
muskets. There are two additional companies of 100
men, who were not in line. The detachment paraded
with their band and drum corps
Third Regiment Maryland Volunteers, This fins
regiment, matey the command of Adjutant George H.
Dobson, made a tine display, mustering, as they did,
nine companies of nearly nine hundred strong, headed
by their excellent band, led by Charles &dints.
The left of the column was brought up by the Fifth
Maryland Regiment, Colonel William L. Schley, and
Lieutenant Colonel John C. Holland. This command
with their imey imiskeis mid disci Wino, attracted
much attention, and they luoked Very well. They had
ten companies in line, mustering 900 muskets, with their
line band, Captain Scrieber, ands drum corps of twenty.
RAISING TUN NATIONAL FLAG AT THE COURT 1101181.
The ceremony of displaying the national flag at the
east end of the Court House &Made.' a large crowd of
citizens to Monument SWAIM. The starry banner was
raieed at ten o'clo it to the top of the Mallon the build
ing, and was greeted with the loud acchunations of the
thouennds present on the occasion.
Broadway presented a beautiful sight, and was only
excelled.by the more elaborate display in the central por
no]. of Baltimore street. Jo west 'anti sonklt Baltimore
the patrlotbm of the people was also evinced by its flow
ing bunting, and even in the northern part of the city,
where the heresy of Secession has been regarded Ca hay
ing the greatest number of votaries, the display of the
good old flag from so many palatial residences indicated
the fallacy of the assertion that wealth, treason ? and dis
loyalty are in nil cam twin slaters.
THE SCENE AT THE. MONUMENT
The scene as the troops passed around tte Monument
was very imposiog. A very large number of people had
gathered there to witnoas the parade, and the fluttering
of handkerchiefs, the waving of hundreds of small flags
carried by the epeciators, the mimic of the hands, the
steady tramp of the column,. and the glitter of thousands
of musketei all combining to the effectiveneel of the spec.
taclo. The column passed from Eutaw stront down the
Routh Ride of Mount Vernon Square, wheeled araund the
Monument, petard up the north Bide of the square, awl
defiled into Park street. Passing along that street and
down MadiscM to Charles, the column again came Into
sight front the Monument. Thus, as the column passed
nearly the whole of it could be seen at onco from the
Monument. Each of the bands as it passed the atone
ment gave a patriotic air, and the air was resonant with
the national anthems.
CEREMONIES AT THE MARYLAND INSTITUTE
The public ceremonies at the Hall of thellaryland In
stitute, at noon, under the direction of the city authori
ties, was a most immir inn demonstration. The immense
hell end galleries were thronged with bright and beam
lug countenances, and the galleries were beautifully and
Rumors Minty decorated with tricolored bunting flags.
Immediately altar the performance or a Hail Colum
bia" by the band, which was rendered, under the direc
tion of Professor Albert Holland, with pleasing effect, the
Rev. Dr. J. McKendree Riely delivered an earnest invo
cation to the Most High for. His blessings to rest upon our
beloved country.
The band then performed the Star-Spangled Banner,
eliciting the warmest applause. Hail 03lumnia Was then
sung by an Amateur Glee Association, led by gr. Tho
mas C. McGuire. the entire audience joining in the sing
inE . The band then performed " The Bed, White, and
Blue," which was also received with deafening applause
by the audience.
Sebastian F. Streeter then delivered an eloquent ad
these. At the conclusion of the address Mr. B. Crowley,
president pro tein of the First Branch of the City Coun
cil, then read the Farewell Address of the Father of his
Country. The bane - then performed Washingtosee
March.
In the evening the houses of a number of the -Union
men were illuminated.
At Boston.
BOSTON, Feb. 22.—To.day is, legally and by common
purpose, a holiday. The batiks, insurance offices, Cus
tom Rouse, and molt of the wholesale stores remain
closed. A special meeting of the Board of Aldermen was
held yesterday, and the order from the Common Council
relative to the reading of Washington's Farewell Address
in Vatiettil Ball wee adopted in concurrence. The dem%
to the Ball were accordingly opened at eleven o'clock
this morning. 'The crowd was tremendous. At twelve
o'clock the exercises were commenced upon the following
programme'..
Volntary- 46 Hail Columbia."
Introductory remarks by the mayor.
Prayer by Bev. George W. Blagden, D. D
Idueie--"Btar-apangled Banner."
Readir g of Washington's Farewell Address by Hon.
G corge S. Ililliard.
Vivo la America."
Benediction.
Concluding Voluntary—" Washington's March" and
"Yankee Doodle."
The Essex-street Church, (Rev. Dr- Adams'), and the
South Congregational Church, (Rev. E. E. Hates), wore
crowded. At each the Farewell Address was ma 1, and
religious exercises took place.
The Second Battalion of Infantry, Major Ralph W.
Newton, in commemoration of the day, and to exhibit the
reepect due to those members of the corps who have
ranked themselves in the Union army, made a public
parade in their new uniform, with the Brigade Band.
They marct ed up State street at 2N o'clock, and thence
to the State House, where they were reviewed by Gov.
Andrew and staff. The Declaration of Independence
was read previous to leaving the armory, and the Fare
well Address upon their return.
CHABLNEITOWN, Mass., Feb. 22.—1 n compliance with
the official invitation of Mayor Stone, the citizens of
Bunker Hill assembled at the City all at 10 o'clock,
ferenoon, where the Farewell Address of Washington
was read, and other appropriate exercises crowned the
celebration.
At Harrisburg.
Never, perhaps, was the capital of our State in such a
blaze of patriotism as on Saturday. The day was ushered
in by the simultaneous ringing of all tine bells in the city
and the booming of numerous cannons. AU the public
and private offices and stores were closed, and the people
turned out en masse to witness the greed parade of all
the troomrat Camp Curtin, numbering about three thou
sand men. Colonel Meredith, acting brigadier general,
was in command, and the soldierly appearance and mar
tial bearing of the mon elicited marked commendation.
The brigade formed at Camp Curtin et nine o'clock,
A. M., and after being reviewed by Adjutant General
Russell and other high military officials. entered North
street by Ridge road, and proceeded out North street to
Front, down Front to Washington avenue, out the avenue
to Second, up Second to Walnut, out Walnut to Fifth,
down Fifth to Market, up Market to Third, up Third to
Locust, out Locust to Second, up Second to. State, and
from thence returned to camp.
Precisely es the Capitol clock struck the hour of 12 M.,
and while the brigade was still moving, according to a
previous arrangement, the belle of the city again mng out
their loud peals, making the streets resound with their
cheerful chime, and increasing the enthusiasm of the oc
casion.
As the brigade passed the ethiter Of Tided and WAlutth
streets, it was saluted by a tremendous report from one
of the cannons captured during the Mexican war, sta
tioned on the public ground in front of the State Ars mat,
and fired by some of the attaches of that establishment
When the military arrived in State street, Captain
Seymore's company of the Fifth United States Artillery
detached itself from the right of the brigade, and pro
ceeded to the corner of Front and State, where
the guns of the company were unlimbered and placed in
regular battery position fer the purpose of firing a na
tional salute, which drtty was performed with a regu
larity and celerity that spoke volumes for the proficiency
of the firing squads.
Most of the churches werodecorated with the National
emblem=, and a feeling of ratriodiem. wee evinced by file
pastors and congregations which called to mind the
dais of the Revolution. In the evening, most of the
public places and private residences were illuminated,
and crowds of pedestrians occupied the streets, enjoying
themselves till the " wee sma' hours o' the night." In
justice to Harrisburg, we may remark that there was not
a allele arrest during the entire day, nor was there a
single case of drunkenness visible on the streets.
At Reading.
READING, Feb. I'll—The 22d was celebrated at the
Mayor's office to-day, at 10 o'clock, in an appropriate
style. A number of the citizens wore present, and patri
otic sentiments found frequent expression. The police
were likewise on band, but, to the credit of the city be
it said, their services were not required.
he American Mechanics celebrated the Mt at their
Hall this evening. Addresses were delivered, Washing
ton's Farewell Address read, 3.:c. The attendance was
large.
At Lancaster.
L scesrs v., Feb tne celebration of the day was
,n, at 8 o'clock this morning, by the ringing of
all the hells in the city. At noon a national salute of
thirty -four guns was fired by the military. At 2 o'clock
P, IL, (by ithieb time all the places of business bad been
closed,) the flag of filo Union n-as raised in Centre
Square, in the presence of the military, municipal offi
cers, and a great concourse of citizens. As it rose to
the peak of the flag-aratl, a deafenirg cheer broke front
the multitude, and thirteen guns were fired by the
cadets, under Captain Young, A procession was then
formed, and marched to the Court House in the follow
ing order :
The Military.
The Mayer of the City and Judges of - Court
The. Clergy.
The Select and Common Councils.
The Aldermen and Municipal Oflicere.
Citizens generally.
At this point the Farewell Address was read by Rev.
Walter Powell, and the ceremonies wound up with
Yankee Doodle."
At West Chester
WEST FO. 22.—The Homo Guardd or our
borough to-day paraded, joined by Wyers' Academical
Cadets. The numerous military compauies throughout
Chester and Delaware counties had been invited to par
ticipate, and several of them attended. In the evening,
an oration was delivered, and Washington'a Farewell
Aldre'es read at the court hems°.
At Pittsburg, Pa
According to previous arrangements the celebration in
Pittsburg passed off with great eclat. All. the places of
butlinees were elm% up, end the people entered into the
spirit of the•day, efth joyful Unanimity. All the children
attached to the public schools assembled at the depot of
the Fort Wayne and Chicago Railroad, where they lie.
tened to the reading of Washington's Farewell Address,
after which they sang several patriotic songs.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Concert Ilan 'vas
fairly packed with persons who had assembled to hear
the Farewell Address read. At two o'clock, a salute of
one hundred guns was tired, and at seven in the eve
ning, all the fire, church, and steamboat bells wet!) rung
as a Biomel for the commencement of the illumination.
The Fire Department, under the command of Chief
Engineer McCandless, had a grand torchlight proces
sion, which was a fitting interlude to the festivities of
the day.
At Trenton, N. J
TREF:TU...7, 'Feb. 22.—At 10 o'clock, this morning, our
citizens assembled at Temperance Hall, when, after a
prayer by Bee - . 0. T. Walker, the Farewell Address was
read by B. B. Shreve, Esq.. Benediction was then pro
nounced, and the audience dispersed. At 2 o'clock in the
afternoon the military had a splendid parade. The day
closed with a splendid illumination, fireworks, and gene
ral rejoicing. The American Telegraph Office, Oity
and the principal stores and public houses, were beauti
fully decorated with flags, and the streets were crowded
with people.
At Wilmington, Del.
WILMINGTON, Feb. 22.—The celebration was Tory
spirited. Salutes were fired, dells rung, and the military
paraded. The city was brilliantly illuminated by the
glare of rockets and candles. A. grand hop was given
py the Wlefittellton fire
_ . cornpany! end the FfireWigl
Address was read at the ulty Mill in line evening.
At St. Louis.
BT. Louis, Feb. 22.—The celebration to-day was the
most extensive, magnificent, and imposing ever seen in
the West.
Business was entirely enspended, and tha participation
on the occasion WM almost =vernal, and attended
with a spirit and enthusiasm rarely seen. Flags, ban
ners, and emblems of loyalty, abounded everywhere.
Businees houses and residences along the line of proces
sion were properly and tastefully decorated, and all
seemed to strive with each other to make the finest dis
play.
The procession was composed of some live thousand
troops, embracing infautry, artillery, and cavalry, a
long line of citizens in carriages and on horseback,
benevolent sects, the members of the Union Merchants'
Exchange, city officer., the judges of the courts, the re
presentatives of the different railroad express companies,
and of the -various mechanical arts, including printing
PI essee from the Republican and Democrat offices, which
distributed copies of Washington's Farewell Address
nantug the creed. The procession was fully eight miles
long, and occupied nearly two and a half hours in pass
ing the Planters' House. Upwards of fifty thousand
persons must have participated in the procession, or
thronged the streets along its route.
The day of feetivltlee will close with an oration, the
reading of Washington's Farewell Address. and the
singing of patriotic songs at the Mercantile Library Hall
tonight, where General Matlock and staff will be in at.
tendance. The utmost good order and decorum pre
vailed throughout the entire day.
At Cincinnati.
CINCINNATI, rehrnary 22.—The day was opened with
a sainte'from the guns in the fortifications and the ring
ing of balls
The weather was gloomy, but the streets were densely
thronged.
The procession moved at ten o'clock. It was com
posed of detachments of infantry, artillery, and cavalry
from Camp Dennieon, and the different societies of the
City.
Th the &ricrac.% Weehhigionls Farewell Adirese was
read and patriotic Rollo sung, at Pike's Opera House, to
a large aebembly.
At night, there was a grand illumination.
Great enthusiasm and goodorder prevailed throughout.
At Louisville, Ky.
Looter - rm. - a, "eh. 22.—The den although stormy, was
celebrated by the firing of cannon, burning of bonfires
and firework., and a military parade. At the court• house
steps Washington's Farewell Address was read by Dr.
John Ball.
Hun. James Guthrie made a speech, advocating the se
vere treatment of the leading pereonagea among the cap.
turd rebels, but the granting of a general amnesty fer
the tddeordivates at the end of the war.
The audience was large, and many Indies were pre
sent, notwithstanding the inclemency of the weather.
At Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS, Feb. 22.—Twelve htualred of the Fort
Donelson priconers uriired here this afternoon. Fight
tuacirettniere will arrive te-morrow. limy win all be
properly quartered.
Business has been generally suspended to-day, and
Union meetings held at all the churches.
At Union Hall, this morning, Washington's Farewell
Addraes was read end the national airs sung. Salutes
Vial fired at daylight and In the liftman%
At Cleveland, Ohio.
CLEVELAND, 0., Feb. 2.2.—T0-day was generally ob
served as a holiday, and to-night the city is finely illumi
nated, and the streets thronged with people exchanging
congratulations.
At Newark, N, J,
In Ifeyrark and the surrounding country Washington's
birthday was celebrated in a manner commensurate with
the occasion. All business was suspended, and the peo
ple enjoyed themselves in • a rati mai and satisfactory
Manner. Thararewell Address was read in the different
balls and churches, and numerous orations on the Bather
of his Country, in which the recent glorious victoriee of
our troops were referred to, were delivered by leading
public citizens.
THE P.RES.S -PHILADELPHIA, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24. 1862.
Cijt 101t55.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1862.
EXTRACT FROM THE LAST SPEECH OF
STEPHEN A. DOUGLAS.--t 4 The conspiracy
to break up the Union is a fact now known to
all. Armies are being raised, and war levied
to accomplish it. There can be bat two side■
to the coat . Every man must be on the
side of the United States or against it. There
can be no neutrals in this war. There can be
none but patriots and traitors!,
Saturday was the gladdest day of all the glad
new year. Henceforth the volume of American
history will have an illuminated tittle page. A
year ago prosperity and Union, the heritage of
Washington, shed countless blessings on the
land. Before another year has passed may
we not hope to see that heritage redeemed?
And how shall we redeem it but by a grand
illumination ? Not otherwise. Our hearts must
be illumined with faith, and hope, and gratitude--
faith in our constituted rulers to guide the good
ship Union to the haven of security; hope for the
ending of the conflict that Washington foresaw in
fear—that all the tact of diplomacy, and all the
humiliations of compromise, were powerless to
avert; and gratitude for the triumph of our arms
from old Atlantic's stormy coast to the vale of the
Mississippi. That is the grand illumination pos
terity demands; for at its bright effulgence the
mists of halting doubt shall be torn as a veil from
the face of the sky, and all the clouds of dark des
pendency be rolled away.
As to the grand parade of Saturday, its greatest
grandeur was its typical significance. Passing in
review before Governor Curtin and staff, it scarcely
could have failed suggesting to his mind the
other grand parade that has struck the older na
tl.:di! dumb with wonderment, if not with awe—the
parade of three hundred thousand soldier-yeomen,
arrayed mow the continent to battle for the land
of Washington ! How blessed the reflection that
the cause which stamped upon his name the seal of
immortality, is ours to-day to battle for and save !
For never was a heart more s conseerated to a
cause than Washington's, and never was a cause
more consecrated in a leader.
Commodore Foote, in an official despatch to Se
cretary Welles, says that he has taken possession of
Clarksville, and hoisted the national flag over the
deserted rebel entrenchments. A Union sentiment
manifested itself on our troops taking possession of
the place. The Commodore also states that he will
take a fleet of gunboats farther up the Cumberland
—perhaps to Nashville, fifty miles distant from
Clarksville.
The news from Europe, by the arrival of the
Niagara, at Halifax, to the 9th instant, is full of
interest. The declaration of Earl Russell to the
Southern commissioners, that England could not
aeknowledge the rebel States until their po
sition in the family of nations - was more
clearly defined, was laid before Parliament.
We are likewise informed that no less than
six sets of Parliamentary papers concerning the
civil war in America had been presented to the
body ; and that not less than forty- five Adel com
munications had passed between the Cabinet and
various Government officials relative to the mena
cing position occupied by the 11. S. gunboat Tus
carora and the pirate .Ncesktille.
The Sumpter was delayed at Gibraltar, some dif
ficulty having occurred in obtaining coal for her.
The Assistant Secretary of War has received a
letter from a friend in New York, contradicting
(upon reliable authority) theteeent Adamant of a
Richuyend paper that the steamer Victoria had
succeeded in breaking the blockade, and had oar
ricd 15,000 stand of arms into New Orleans. It is
scarcely necessary to contradict what Richmond
papers say
The last six months have witnessed a great in
crease in tap naval force in the Gulf. From two
small steamers purohaneu, •a-
seiv ice, and sent on to the blockade off the Mississippi,
the squadron has increased to two steam and two
sailing frigates, two steam and four sailing sloops
of-war, fifteen steam gunboats, five ships, and six
schooners, besides several captured steamers, which
have been _ fitted up' as gunboats, making a total
of thirty-five vessels, mounting three hundred and
seventy-five guns, and manned by five thousand
five hundred seamen. These vessels are at pre
sent blockading fourteen ports—four on the coast
of Florida, one in Alabama, two in Misaisaippi,
.six in Louisiana, and three in Texas—besides
cruising along the coast between Key West and
Mexico.
We again have a rumor Pore Norfolk to the
effect that Savannah had
. been abandoned by the
rebels and occupied by the. Federal forces. The
rumor is generally believed in Norfolk, although
the rebel authorities refuse to make any revela
tions.
Despatches from Louisville state that our
forces have taken possession of Cumberland Gap
and Russelville. The former place is one of the
meet he - pat/int points in the &MA ; in Consequence
of the East Tennessee and Virginia. Railroad run
'ling a few miles £outh of it, and also because it is
in the region of Tennessee where the Union senti
ment is most prevalenL The despatches leave us
in the dark as to the number of our troops and the
commanders engaged.
The Charleston Courier, of the 17th inst., has the
following I
" With deep regret, we learn that Gen. Beaure
gard is sick in Nashville, of typhoid fever or sore
throat. We understand that prayers were offered
up in our several churches yesterday, commending
him to the Divine protection."
A telegraphic despatch from Washington informs
us that the rebel pickets have been withdrawn from
Occoquati, on the lower Potomac. The cause for
this sudden movement is unknown.
Gen. C. F. Smith, a Pennsylvanian, and second
in command at Fort Donelgon, is to be made a ma
jor general of volunteers for the bravery And sol
dierly qualities he displayed at the battle. A cor
respondent says that the most brilliant charge in
the entire siege of Fort Donelson was that of the
Second and Fourth lowa, and the Eleventh and
Twenty-fifth Indiana, under the command of Gen.
C. F. Smith, who led them in person, amid a storm
of balls and bullets, and cheered them through all
the terrible strife. He even rode big horse upon
the breastworks, and for fifteen minutes exposed
himself es a target to every one of the passing meg
sengers of death. That he was not killed or woind
ed is something MEITVOUOIII3I t for, the brave soldiers
were falling all around him. This was, ,the deci
sive action of the battle.
The Chicago Times, speaking of Fort Donelson,
says that as further details come to hand the more
conspicuous is the bravery of the Union troops.
But few of them" had been under fire befera,
bably none of them had been in pitehed battle, and
all bad learned but little of the military discipline
which is supposed to make the regular a better
soldier than the volunteer. All were volunteers;
none were regular& With these facts in the account,
some of the lighting surpassed any of that at Water
loo or upon the fields of the Crimea. The peopll
of Illinois and of the Northwegt will feel more proud
of their State mad their motion hereafter than they
ever have before.
General Mitchell, with 50,000 troops, was, at last
accounts, thirty miles south of Bow Hog Green, and
within thirty miles of Nashville, with a good turn
pike road before him.
The Celebration of the 22d of Febrnorf•
The full description we publish this morn
ing of the celebration of the 22. d of February
in this eity, in Washington, and elsewhere,
affords wonderful evidence of the elas
ticity and indomitable spirit of the American
people. Reanimated by the brilliant vieto.
ries achieved by our gallant troops, they are
now inspired by a feeling of immovable confi
dence in the complete restoration of the an
thority of the National Government, and a
zealous deterreinatiork to Sustain a vi
gorous prosecution of the war, until not a
single rebel standard is raised in defiance
against the national banner.
If the nation needed a million of troops,
four hundred thousand new soldiers could now
be obtained with less difficulty than the six
hundred thousand now in the field. Any
pecuniary burdens that may be necessary to
sustain the public credit and to meet the
expenses of the war, will be cheerfully
submitted to by the great body of the loyal
citizens of the nation. The trials of the
last year have only served to increase
the affection of true men for ic the land.of the
free and the home of the brave." No one
can doubt their power, financially and physi
cally, to completely, crush the rebellion, and
their will to do so was never so decided as at
this moment.
THE LATEST WAR NEWS.
IN TILE MIDST of the general rejoicing over
the triumphs of our navy, let us say a word
for the Navy Department. We compliment
the commanders, rnd promote brave and
loyal seamen ; and while this is proper, it
is hardly just to neglect those who organize
and control ships and mariners, and direct
their operations. In this time we judge of our
public men by the results of their labors. We
see in the great victories recently achieved in
the Western States, not only the bravery of
the troops, and the :Wit of the generals, but
the energy and foresight of the Secretary of
War, and the determination of the Adminis
tration to prosecute the war to a successful
close. And we cannot but see in the glorious
achievements of the navy In the Southern seas
and Western rivers the wise management of
Secretary WELLus. It has been the fashion
to disparage this minister, as it has been the
fashion of disloyalists to disparage the Secre
tary of State for surrendering MASON and
SLIDELL ; the Secretary of the. Treasury for
organizing a great currency system, and re
commending a ‘g legal tender ;" the Secretary
of War for not yielding to the clamors and
prayers of bad men; the Postmaster General
for " interfering with the liberty of the press,"
by stopping disloyal newspapers. Friends
have criticised, foes have condemned, these
ministers, and we can now see, in the present
jubilant condition of this nation; the indiscre
tion of those who criticise and the injustice of
those who condemn.
The Navy Department has been, un
questionably, administered by Mr. Wows
with ability, judgment, and energy. We
must remember that the Secretary created his
navy out of nothing. When he assumed the
portfolio of his office, he found the few ships
of our national marine scattered over the
earth, in the distant Pacific, the East Indian
Seas, and the coasts of Africa. There was
treason on every quarter-deck, and the names
of traitors covered pages of the naval register.
It was impossible to maintain a blockade of
oven the principal points ? and a few miserable
privateers were permitted to rove and plunder
our commerce in the Mexican Gulf and the
Caribbean Sea. Without detdiling the
efforts of the Secretary, let us see what
has been done. An efficient blockade is
maintained along the whole Southern coast—.
not absolately perfect, for such a thing is im
possible, but perfect enough to destroy
Southern commerce, and render an entrance
or an exit, on the part of a cruiser, a despe
rate and dangerous undertaking. In the bril
liant victories at Hatteras and Port Royal, the
recent success at Roanoke, and the wonderful
achievements of Commander FOOTE and his
gunboats in the Tennessee and Cumberland,
TiT see the doings of oqr new-born navy, and
we see, too, the energy and judgment of the
Department which has brought that navy into
being.
The Secretary of the Navy has called around
him a corps of efficient and experienced.as.
sistants, reorglnizing the important bureaus so
basely abandoned by such traitors as MAtrity,
illAcnumat, and LYNCH. As we have said, he
has so directed the official business of the De_
partment as to accomplish results of the great
est importance. The money spent under his
directions for purchasing and equipping the
ships and transports, has brought to the coun
try its full value, dollar for dollar—and the
closest investigation will show that his finan
cial disbursements have been conducted on
fair and honest principles. In this time of
victory and general rejoicing, we cannot re
frain from paying a tribute to the navy and
the Navy Department, and no fair mind win
refuse the credit so eminently due.
The Hopes of the Rebels
The mass of the Southern people have been
purposely kept by their leaders in a state of
ignorance in regard to the real position of
public affairs. Their journals have insisted,
up to a very late period, not only that the
rebel armies bad been victorious in nearly
every battle, but that they were certain to de
feat the Union troops at every important point
,e_ivielk a ,battle could occur. But a few
weeks ago a Itlehinonct paper publisnea s Sr. - v
tistical statement of the battles that had oc
curred since the commencement of the war,
and, according to its showing, the rebel vic
tories were about as ten to one of those of the
Union troops, and the Federal loss in killed,
wounded, and prisoners, about as ten to
one w•hen compared with the loss of tho
Secessionists. When fears of Northern
invasion were expressed, the people were
pointed to their strong fortifications, va,
liant armies, and able generals, as a sure
defence. Manassas was boasted of as a
safe barrier against a march to Richmond.
Norfolk, under command of Gen. Hveza, was
supposed to be able to resist any attack that
could be made by Wool. or BURNSIDE. Roa
noke Island, which the redoubtable HENRY A.
'ise was assisting to defend, was believed to
be impregnable. Gen. LEE, formerly the con
fidential aid of Gen. SCOTT, was preparing to
attack and capture the Union troops at Port
Royal and Tybee Island. At Pensacola,
BRAGG was soon to reduce Fort Pickens. Co
lumbus was reported to he so strongly fortified
that our descent of the Mississippi river was
said to be an impossibility. Pales was a con
quering hero in Missouri. Bowling Green
was a second Manassas. The Tennessee and
Cumberland rivers were fully commanded by
Forts Donelson and Henry. ZOLLICOFFER
was ready to achieve wonderful results in Cen
tral Kentucky. The fat knight, HUMPHREY
Mansiiim., was to accomplish more in Eastern
Kentucky than . FALSTAFF ever promised to
perform.
EVen if some of these expectations failed,
other achievements, not less important, were
confidently expected. Indeed many Southern
journals deemed the defensive precautions
taken not only unwise, but totally unnecessary,
and clamored constantly for an offensive cam
reign, by which the Ohio would be crossed, and
the Western States invaded; or the Potomac
passed, and Pennsylvania overrun. At all
events, it was urged that foreign Powers would
speedily intervene, assist the South, raise
the blockade, and completely thwart the
efforts of the patriots of the land to crush the
rebellion. These were the confident expec
tations of the great body of the Southern peo
ple, who attempted to think or reason at all
about the war, a few weeks ago. They had
beard so often, in season and out of season, the
remark, "the South cannot be conquered,"
that it was considered an indisputable axiom.
To question it was deemed not only treason
able, but foolish.
This flattering rebel programme, however,
has been so terribly damaged that no sensible
Southern men can now have faith in it. It
'has been proved false in so many respects that
there can be no reliance placed in the re..
niainingportionsofit. PRICE has abandoned
Missouri ; MARSHALL and ZOLLICOFFER have
been badly whipped in Southern Kentucky;
Bowling Green has been evacuated ; Fort
Henry has been captured ; Fort Donelson,
after a terrible struggle, has fallen into eur
possession; Clarksville has been surrendered,
and Commodore FOOTE is preparing to ad
vance still nearer to Nashville. In Northern
Virginia, General JAeitsON has been com
pelled to fall back before General LANDER.
The Burnside Expedition survived the storm
of the elements to carry by storm
the rebel defences on the seaboard of
North Carolina. General - SHERMAN has not
only not been attacked at Hilton Head, but
has assumed the offensive, and has at different
times extended his lines to the immediate
vicinity of Charleston and Savannah. Colonel
Bnows has burnt down the most valuable
buildings which were heretofore in the posses
sion of the rebels at Pensacola. The whole
Southern seacoast is so effectively blockaded
that it is an extremely rare occurrence for any
ship in the Secession interest to elude
the vigilance of our cruisers. The armies
of the Republic are daily increasing in
strength, vigor, and discipline, while the
traitorous cohorts are dwindling away by
the expiration of terms of enlistment, disease,
desertion, and a succession of demoralizing
defeats. The roads to Tennessee are opened
to us--- , the enemy are being outflanked by sea
and by land—each day records some new
triumph of our arms, undimmed by a single
reverse. There is scarcely a section of the
Union that we cannot now at pleasure pene
trate with our mighty army. Nearly all the out
works of the castle of the Rebellion have been
captured, and the vigorous dash we are pre
'paring to make will soon force its very citadel
to surrender.
WE UNDERSTAND that the rumor published
in a ootempomry a few days ago, stating that lion.
David Wilint intended to taiga hie position in the
Unite* States Bouts, is destitute of foundation.
Who Shall Pay eur Debts
Timid financiers in America and carping
theorists in Europe have doubted the ability
and willingness of the country to pay its debts.
Having borrowed little or nothing before, we
seem to be borrowing rashly now, and the
wiseacres that neither lend nor peril are loud
in their fears and commiserations. The loyal
North has loaned some millions of dollars to
the Union, with the single proviso that the
Union shall be maintained. With the same
proviso, the loyal North will submit to the im
position of direct taxes, and will pledge the
credit of itself and posterity to the payment of
every penny of indebtedness. But the North
is not agreed that when the war is over the
loyal shall be impoverished for the disloyal, or
in other words, that those who have suppressed
the rebellion shall pay the expenses of the re
bellion. We arc ready to render sacrifice, but
the South must first render justice ; and the
organizers and abettors of the Secession heresy
have forfeited both their lives and their for
tunes. Such is the magnitude of the in
surrection that much, perhaps most of
the wealth of the Seceded States, is the
property ofactive traitors. All the cotton plant
ers, and many of the rice, the sugar, and the
tobacco planters are committed to Secession.
These staples may be reached by discrimi
nating legislation ; as, for instance, a heavy
export duty that will return to the National
Treasury ; or, more directly, the property of
traitors may be in whole or in part seized and
confiscated. The South has, perhaps, two
hundred thousand men, or three hundred
regiments in arms. In each regiment there
are forty commissioned officers, or twelve thou
sand officers in all. The civil officers, under the
so-called Confederacy, and the various State
and municipal officers that have taken the oath
of allegiance to the Confederacy, are not less
numerous. These have sworn to uphold an
organized insurrection, and have staked their
lives and fortunes upon the success of the
experiment: There can be no just reason for
withholding the constitutional obligation,
particularly with regard to property, and so
seizing the possessions of these rebel func
tionaries in payment of the coat of a war that
they have engendered. To do otherwiSe
would be to punish the steadfast for the false,
and make half the punishment of treason de
scend upon the loyal.
Neither should the Union men of the South,
who have suffered enough already, be compel
led to pay the cost of the war.. The soldiers,
likewise, in the Confederate ranks are not all
traitors by intention. A sad necessity or a
stern tyranny may have forced them to take
arms against the Government, and in this un
willing warfare they are both grieved and imper
illed. But none of these excuses apply in favor
of commissioned traitors, who have made volun
tary fealty to treason, and by example, by elo
quence, or by influence, enlisted the young,
the ardent, or the ignorant against their breth
ren, their capital, and their flag. The pro
perty of every officer, civil or military, under
the rebel Government should be confiscated,
from the millions of the Ambassador SLIDELL
to the bare competence of the remotest post
master, clerk, or lieutenant. In this way an
immense share of our national debt may be
paid, and no loyal man be the loser. Thousands
of our thrifty and enterprising agriculturists
Fill seek homes in the South and impregnate
that section with their love of loyalty and li
berty, while the beggared chivalry, that re
verenced neither the inheritance of their fa
thers nor any holy association of the Union,
will lose their fire-eating proclivities, and in
course of time will sink to a like social position
with the "poor whites" of the present day.
Anticipating a restored compact, the Southern
editors are already urging our great debt as an
incentive to desperation. The Richmond
Enquirer alludes timorously ce to the South's
fraction of it." More fitting language would
be cc the South's whole of it," and so will the
North say when its prowess has redeemed a
forfeited territory at the expense of its own
peace, prosperity, and best blood.
The Keystone state.
An arnem on Internal Commerce, in the
Smerican Exchange and Review (the new Phi
ladelphia monthly which we noticed lately),
supplies some facts which cannot be too
generally known. Who welll4 Deltiffe, fer
instance, that, in the most favorable commer
cial years, the foreign imports do not reach
eight per cent. of the agricultural and manu
factured articles of home consumption, and
that the foreign exports do not attain to seven
per cent. of our productions 7 The value of
the combined foreign imports and exports
may be taken as one thousand million dollars,
while the goods shipped to and from the seve
ral lake ports alone exceed, in value, the sum
of $1,500,000,000. The same article estimates
the value of the agricultural and manufactured
products of the American Union at about
$4,000,000,000 a year—which, by the way, is
about the aggregate of the national debt of
Great Britain.
The media of traffic in the United States,
independent of common roads and ocean navi
gation, are over 31,168 mi'es of railroad, and
5,214 miles of canals : total of American rail
roads and canals, 36,382 miles. It must be
remembered that the railroad system is only
thirty years old in this country. The growth
has been marvellous. The 81408 miles already
made will extend to over 48,000 when the au
thorized lines are completed to the full extent
contemplated by their respective projectors
and prorietors. The cost of these roads
and equipment has already amounted to
$1,177,993.
We have no means of ascertaining, even
proximately, the cost of our 5,214 miles of.ca
nals. It varies in different localities. In the
(4 Cyclop.pdia of Commerce," edited by J.
Smith Romans and his son, we find it stated
thus: In Canada, $155,300 per mile in Illi
nois, $84,846 ; in Maryland and Delaware,
$62,350 ; in .New Jersey, $41,300; in Virginia,
$34,150; in Indiana, $33,968 ; in Pennsylvania,
$26,100 ; in New York, $24,150 ; in Ohto,
$16,000.
With all her boasting, New York is below
rdnnsylvania in railroads and canals, having
2,808 miles of railrOad and 1,039 miles of canal,
against Pennsylvania's 2,943 miles of railroad
and 1,349 miles of canals. In fact, of all the
States in the Union (except Ohio as to rail
roads), Pennsyly ania takes the lead in this int.:
portant matter of internal conununication—hn
portant it is, for a country is rich, not from
what she tmports,but from what she produces—
and the greater the facilities for bringing her
produce from place to place the greater will be
its quantity.
If there were, as there ought to be, a statis
tical bureau at Washington, and also a statis
tical department, properly organized, in every
State, the value of our agricultural, mineral,
and manufactured products could be accurately
and fully stated, year by year. We dare not
even guess at it, for fear of misleading the
public, but it is known that the Pennsylvania
Central Railroad does a larger business, chiefly
owing to its advantageous junction with lines
radiating westward, than the New York Cen
tral or the New York and Erie, though it is
not nearly so long as either.
We have every reason to be proud of the
position and prospects of our great State, the
acknowledged Keystone of the Union. From
1790 to 1860, comprising ten decades of years,
(with the exception of 1810, when New York,
and 1820, when Virginia took her . piaces)
Pennsylvania has continued to hold rank as
the second among all the States, and on the
two occasions here mentioned descended to
the third place only. In this same compara
tive scale, Virginia has gradually declined,
while Ohio and Illinois have advanced. Amid
all competition Pennsylvania holds iier own,
and will hold it, please God, to the end. Let
her Commerce get an impetus corresponding
with her productive and manufacturing power,
and she may aspire to oust New York from
the foremost yank.
Tennessee
This State is now becoming the most im
portant battle-ground of the •Republic. Her
people were originally almost as strongly
oppotiOd to the rebellion flg the cithiens of
Kentucky; but in the excitement caused
by the capture _of Fort Sumpter, and the
.subsequent whirlwind of popular madness
in the South,: Tennessee iYas nominally
swept out of the Union. Our armies have
now gained a foothold within it almost
as decided as they possessed in Kentucky
a few months ago; but, flushed,
:with tie
tory, and fully diecipliheti and efpapped,
they will be enabled, in a much shorter period
of time, to completely drive the rebel forces
before them, and thus to carry the contest
down to the Gulf States, which were the fart
.
gloat authors of tho rebellion.
LETTER FROM " OCCASIONAL.""
WASHINGTON, Fobruary 22, 1862.
I have been reading an elaborate pamphlet,
entitled "A Review of Mr. Scward's Diplo
macy, by a Northern Man," generally attri
buted to the facile and active pen of the most
earnest of the Secession agitators and
sympathizers in Philadelphia. Printed
anonymously, and circulated in great
numbers, the author has taken pains to
hide hjs identity by the additional precau
tion of attempting to conceal his style. Even
the typography and paper of the production
show that he desired to create the impression
that it was not printed in Philadelphia ; but
any one who peruses it with ordinary care
will perceive that it is the offspring of his own
mischievous and treasonable brain. If there
is any department of the present Administra
tioe which has been distinguished for Ability,
foresight, and courage, during all our national
troubles, it is that of which William 11. Seward
is the head. Ills worst enemies concede to
him the credit of having managed our foreign
relations with singular prudence, skill, and
courage. The public document containing
the papers relating to foreign affitirs, composed
in great part of the productions of Mr. Seward
himself, is worthy of the highest place in
our national archives. It is almost impossi
ble, when we recollect the vast amount of la
bor thrown unon the Secretary of State, that,
within a space of a little more than six months,
lie should have prepared and sent to our diplo
matic representatives at foreign courts such
well-conceived and eloquently-written instruc
tions ; anti no American can take up that
document and read it through without being
impressed with the strength and flexibility of
Mr. Seward's intellect, and his statesmanlike
sagacity in preparing these repreletitativea
against events which so rapidly and startlingly
transpired. Not so, however, with the critic
under notice. He devoted himself, with sa
tanic industry, to bring Mr. Seward and the
country into contempt, and, as far as he dared,
to weaken the Government in the opinion of
other nations. The ridicule of the new diplo
matic appointments of the Administration ap
pears to be his favorite weapon—sidle*, gee,
of the style of Secretary Seward, and an elabo
rate attempt to convince the people that ono
of the great objects of the Administration was
to send abroad run-mad Abolitionists, fana
tics, shallow scholars, and threadbare petals
clans. The animus of the whole brochure
is deep-seated and illy-disguised hatred
of the Government and sympathy with
the traitors who have been toiling to break it
down. The writer of this pamphlet has occu
pied the bad eminence of complicity with Se
cession ever since that pestilent poison blos
somed under Buchanan'.s Administration, of
which he was one of the chief advisers. At no
period, from that hour to the present, when the
Star of the West was tired upon in Charleston
harbor—when Fort Sumpter fell—in the midst
of the terror and indignation excited by the re
verse at Bull Run, on the 21st of July, or at the
present moment, when the nation, in one out
burst of joy and gratitude to Almighty God
for our victories, is celebrating the birthday of
the Father of his Country—has he been known
to give utterance to a single honest, loyal sen
timent. The patriotism that thrills the uni
versal American heart this day finds no echo
in his bosom. The same. animosity that im
pelled him to proclaim sympathy with treason
in January last, that induced him to advise
every Democrat he met to aid in forcing
rellnSylTallia to ISAVe t c {Qrth and join the
South, tbat led him to volunteer as the
advocate of the pirates and privateers in our
courts of justice and to threaten the officers
of the United States for carrying out the
instructions of the Federal Government
against these murderers upon the -high seas,
that encouraged him to write to friends in Eu
rope that the Administration of Mr. Lincoln
was resolved upon precipitating a war with
England, and that has made him the maligner
of all men who have stood fast to the cause of
Republican liberty on these shores, animates
him now. As a full proof of this assertion, it
may be mentioned that his pamphlet was pub
lished little more than a month agu, gala 11a3
sent forth fo - diScourage our public servants in
the Old World, and to weaken the Government
here, even while both were striving, in com
mon with our brave soldiers in the field, to
crush out the rebellion, and to vindicate the
Constitution and the laws. Nothing seems to
have awakened in him a single sentiment of
respect for the Government, or a single hope
for the suceoss of our arms. When other po
liticians were throwing off the cloak of party,
•
and offering themselves as willing sacrifices
against the public enemy, this persistent and
unforgivinglraitor was toiling, night and day,
in order to assist that enemy. Ho who reads
his pages will seek in vain for a solitary de
nunciation of the policy of James Buchanan,
either domestic or foreign. No word of re
buke can be found of those false and ambitious
representatives at distant courts who, under
instructions from the traitors in Congress and
the Cabinet, were disseminating the most
monstrous calumnies against the incoming
Administration of Mr. Lincoln, and secretly
preparing the despots of the Old World for
the attack upon the free institutions of the
New. The writer of this pamphlet, himself a
consenting party of the rebellion, satyr our
arsenals despoiled, our treasury robbed, our
army demoralized, and our navy sent from
our waters to distant seas ; and yet when the
Secretary of State, under the new Adminis
tratiou, applied himself with all his energies
to correct the results of the hellish machina
tions of James Buchanan, this pamphleteer
finds no word of opprobrium for the wretched
traitor now in safe and undeserved retirement
at his own home, but riots in invective, satire,
and misrepresentations of Mr. Seward. What
must be the sensations of a man guilty of
such conduct in this hour ! Ido not expect •
that one throb of patriotism stirs his heart,
but he must admit to himself that not only
have the banditti and assassins of the
Southern rebellion been banished, hu
miliated and defeated ; not only has the
Government vindicated its authority and
its power on its own soil, but that Mr. Sc
.. .
ward's entire policy,,as anticipated and fore
shadowed in his masterly writings, and as en
ergetically sustained by our representatives at
foreign courts, has been productive of such
results as have commanded the admiration of
every civilized nation, and extorted praise
from our hereditary enemies themselves. ; And
will he be candid enough, in his next pamphlet,
to admit that his libels have done no harm
to the Administration; that his predictions
have been falsified, and that his active treason
has been rebuked by the stern logic of events?
OCCASIONAL.
Despatch from Commodore Foote.
CL&RKSYILLE, Tenn., Feb. 22, 1862.
To Ron. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy :
We have possession of Clarksville. The citizens
being alarmed, two-thirds of them have fled, and
baying expressed my views and intentions to the
Mayor and Ron. Cave Johnson, at their request I
have issued a proclamation assuring all peaceably.
disposed persons that they may with safety resume
their business avocation's, requiring only the mili
tary stores and equipments to be given up, and
holding the authorities responsible that this shall be
done without reservation.
I left Fort Donelson yesterday with the Cone
stoga, Lieutenant Commanding Phelps, and the
Cairo, Lieutenant Commanding Bryant, on an
armed regonnsissigl,99, bringing pith me Colonel
Webster, of the engineer corps, and chief of Gen.
Grant's staff, who, with Lieutenant Commanding
Phelps, took possession of the principal fort, and
hoisted the Union flag at Clarksville. A Union
sentiment manifested itself so Yrs 91M, ItP the river.
The rebels have retreated to Nashville, having
set fire, against the remonstrances of the citizens,
to the splendid railroad bridge across the Cumber
land river.
I return to Fort Doneloon to-day for autotiwr
gaa
boat and six or eight mortar bottle, With which I
propose to proceed up the Cumberland.
The rebels have a terror of the gunboats. One of
them, a short distance above Fort Denelson, had
preciously Bred an iron rolling mill belonging to
lion. John Bell, which had been lased by the rebate.
A. 11. FOOTE, Flag Officer,
Commanding Naval Forties in the Western waters.
Latest from Havana said Nassau
Nun• IUM February 22.—Tba etcamer Bon
vah has arrived from Havana, with dates to the
15th, and .Nassau to the 17th.
The steamer Nelly had arrived at Nassau, from
Charleston, and Bailed for Havana.
The steamer _Timm had arrived in ballast, having
landed her cargo at Fernandina.
The schooner Canner had 'arrived from °halt*.
ton.
Sailing: of the Nitigitra for Boston
llALarsx l 'Feb. steamship Niagara
railed at latf pot four o'clock this naming fig
Booton.
Non-Arrival of the Old Point dont
BALTIMORE, Feb. 23,
.midnight -The Old. Point
boat has not yet arrived. It is supposed that she is
detained by the heavy fog prevailing, and sbe
probably not arrive till merniog.
LATEST NEWS
BY TELEGRAPH.
PROM WASHINGTON.
DESPATCH FROM COM. DUPONT.
DISCOVERY OF TORPEDOES IN SAVANNAH
THE NAVAL BILL.
THE kilns FALLING BACK,
CAPTURE OF ELEVEN SECESSION PICKED;
pecial Deepatches to The Prose."
WASIIINUTON, Feb. 23, 1e42
A Reconnoissance.
A reconnoissance wee Made, thin morning, fears
the division of General SMITH, consisting of the
Cameron Dragoons and three regiments of infantry,
all under the command of Colonel Pummel,. The
infantry separated for several points—namely, Vi
enna, Flint Hill, and Hunter's Mills—to temporarily
remain there as a reserve for the eavalry, while the
latter proceeded towards Centreville, making acir
cuit within the lines of the rebel pickets. The re
sult was the capture of eleven rebel mounted pickets,
two of whom belonged to Errevranr's regiment,
and the others to RANSOM'S First North °aroma,
There was an exchange of about twelve shots. The
only person wounded was one of the North Caro
linians. The prisoners were brought to Washing
ton this afternoon, and are confined in the old
Capitol building. No information, either as to the
position or strength of the enemy at Centreville,
was obtained. The reconnoitring party started at
three in tho morning, and were absent from the
camp about ten hours.
The Rebels Captured Yesterday
The eleven rebels captured by Col. FRIHDMAN T S
dragoons yesterday, have been brought to the city
and committed to prison. One of them, a sergeant,
it is understood, denies the report that the rebel
forces have evacuated Centreville. Re says that
place is very strongly fortified, and he does not
believe that they will give it up until compelled to
do so. Four regiments were sent from Manassas
Junction last week, to the neighborhood of Roanoke
Island. A large body of rebels, some days since,
started from the Gap for Kentucky.
XfttgrestiPK DeIoPRICh from Commodore
Dupont—Diseovery of Torpedoes in Sa
vannah River.
Despatches have been received from Commodore
DUPONT, dated Port Royal, Feb. 18, enclosing a re
port from Commander Roncarts, in which be says
that while sounding in the Savannah river, a short
distance above the mouth of Wright river, he dis
covered several objects floating upon the atrium,
which appeared, at first sight, to be empty tin mins,
and as such were not regarded by him as worthy of
notice. Lieut. SPROTSON, of the Seneca, shorty
after hailed hilil, And Said ho thought the objeots
alluded to were buoys attached to an infernal ma
chine. Upon a closer examination, they saw
enough to satisfy them that the suspicions
were correct. The buoys, five in number,
were placed several yards apart, at right-angles to
the shore, immediately in the chattel leading front
Wright river, and visible only at low water. They
were connected by a spiral wire, the end of the
wire entering an orifice in the upper ends of the
buoys. They were also secured by wires to what
they presumed to be weights at the bottom, but
which further exstulttation led them to believe were
vessels containing explosive matter. An attempt
was subsequently made to produce an explosion
by pulling the wires, which failed. The wires
were then cut, and the outer buoy was
brought off in one of the expedition boats. In
consequence of the delicate nature of the exploding
apparatus, the result of the examination of the
buoy brought on board, it was deemed more pru
dent to endeavor to sink the remaining buoys ra
ther thful attent to fe15999 them, 110 that the ene
my should not have the satisfaction of feeling that
a single life bad been lost by the diabolical
invention. The buoys were sunk by tiring
rifle shots into them, one having exploded the night
previous from some unknown cause, and shortly
after a launch had passed over the spot where the
buoys were placed, having in tow a lighter with
heavy guns. It further appears that the torpedo
or infernal machine brought on board the Una
data Was afterwards out upon a bank, and a Tide
ball fired through it, when it exploded.
The Naval Bill
The bill recently unanimously reported from the
/louse Committee on Naval Affairs, to establish the
grade of line officers of the navj, proposes important
changes, one of whioh is to create nine flag officers
or admirale t to be selected from offloers not below
the grade of commanders who shall have evidenced
courage, skill, and genius, in preparing for and in
actual battle, and received the thanks of Congress
as a preliminary to promotioll, app Indian princi
ple being to select such cams irroopectlve of
seniority. The other features of the bill offer en
couragement to merit.
Marshal Leman,
The recent paragraph in this correspondence,
with regard to the recent disclosures exonerating
Marshal LASION from certain charges, in connection
with the jail, had no reference to the testimony
given before the Senate Committee on the District
of Columbia, and which will net be made public
until all the evidence shall be taken. The lan
maiion was derived from other sources, the correct
ness of which, like that of many other things, is
controverted.
The Arms Carried into New' Orleans.
Assistant Secretary Fox has received a letter
from a friend in New York, saying that the state
ment of a Richmond paper that fifteen thousand
stand of arms, which arrived in New Orleans on the
steamer Victoria, which recently ran the blockade
to that port, is not true. A reliable passenger, who
came out from New Orleans to Havana on the Vic
toria, says that she was able to obtain there only
150 guns, and these were all the arms she took back
911 her return: The lYew Qrloens utilitie are, there
fore, hot yet supplied with arm.
A Pennsylvania Major General.
Brigadier General CIIAP.LES F. Small is to be
made a major general of volunteers, ns an acknow
ledgment of his gallant services at the storming of
Fort Done:son. Ile is the only major general ap
pointed from Pennsylvania.
Celebration of the Day at Alexandria.
A large number of citizens, as well as the Go
vernment, had made preparations for illuminating.
A few of the former, however, although a general
demonstration of that kind has been postponed
carried out their original intention to-night. Wash
ington's Birthday was celebrated at Alexandria by
the hoisting of the flag over the new omee of the
quartermaeteroamely, " The depot.of the Loudouu
and Hampshire Railroad Company," Speeohoe
were made by Lieutenant FMIGGSON and others.
Salutes were fired from Fort Ellsworth, and from
the various batteries on the left wing of the army.
The loyal citizens of Alexandria assembled to hear
the reading or the rowel! MO RI,
Vol. Corcoran
There is much disappointment manifested because
Col. CORCORAN hes not been released. It was ex
pected that he would arrive here yesterday, but
nothing officially hue yet been heard from Mai.
The Secession Flags.
The refusal of the House, yesterday, to receive
the Secenion flags in a formal manner, caused
much dissatisfaction amongst a large class of the
people presciit. gelid-thinking people theeght
that the Rouse did exactly right. There was no
occasion to magnify into greatness such small mat
ters.
The Ninety-ninth P ennsylvania Regi-
This regiment, which was at first commanded by
Colonel LIMEARR., then by Colonel &wirasar, is
now to be under the command of Major Pavan.
FRITZ, of Philadelphia. Colonel FRITZ has al
ready been commissioned, and is expected to take
charge of the reghnent oa T i day Sl9%t, This
appointment, made by Governor CUI3TII4, appears
to be very satisfactory.
Little Willie Lincoln.
The funeral of the President's son will take place
c,t ii eleleek to=morrow afternoon. The remains,
which have been carefully embalmed by Dre.
BROWN aad ALEXANDER, of Philadelphia, will be
temporarily deposited in a vault in 4he Congres
sional bnrying-ground.
Vat Misfiled Pidaistwevo
The returned rte.:mem who were recently re
leased at Richmond and are now quartered at the
" Soldiers' Rest," are very anxious to get home to
their families. Some of them give a most frightful
account of their treatment during their captivity.
Among other things, they were compelled to eat
soup made out of beef alive with maggots or
starve. The rebels fortunately did not take from
them the little money they had in their possession
when they were Ogglited,
Rebel Pickets nt Occequan Withdrawn.
The rebels have withdraws their pickets from
Occoquan, about twenty miles from Alexandria.
Reported Surrender or Columbus —A
misufme
A despatch from Cairo, dated today, states thult
a steamer ran up,from Columbus and brought a se
port that Columbus had surrendered, and it was
ieported all over Cairo in live minutes. It gamma
to be ballad on reliable information, but W1'4104°041
to be a mistake.
01Heist Notice
The deportnients will he eloped 'to-morrow la
sonnidezegou of the Athena viz - iterate§ st U. Ex,
eoutive moottioit.
W. 11. SEWARD, S. ie. Cases,
.Eliwtic M. STANTON, I .iingoo IVELLEe,
CALK*I sNiTo, m,
pow env Borne.