THE STAR OF THE NORTH.
B, W. Weaver Proprietor.]
VOLUME 7.
THE STAR OF THE NORTH
IS PUBLISHED EVERY THURSDAY MORNING BY
R, W. WEAVEII,
OFFICE —Up stairs, in the new brick build
ing, on the south side of Main Steert,
third square below Market.
TERMS :—Two Dollars per annum, if
paid within six months from ihe lime of sub
scribing ; two dollars and fifty cents if not
pair! within the year. No subscription re
ceived for a less period than six months ; no
discontinuance permitted until all arrearages
are paid, uuless at the option of the editor.
ADVERTISEMENTS not exceeding one square
will be times for One Dollar
and twenty five cents for each additional in
sertion. A liberal discount will be made to
those who advertise by the year.
CHOICE POETRY:
ONE BY ONE-
One by one the 6ands are flowing,
One by one the moments fall;
Some are coming, some are going,
Do not strive to grasp tliem all.
One by on 9 thy duties wait thee,
Let thy whole strength go to each,
Let no future drenms elate thee,
Learn thou first what these can teach.
One by one [bright gifts from Heaven]
Joys are sent thee here below;
Take them readily when given,
Heady, too, to let them go.
one thy griefs shall meet thee,
not fear an armed band ;
One willdade us others greet thee,
Shadows passing through the land.
Do not look thon at life's sorrow ;
See how small each moment's pain ;
God will help thee for to morrow,
Every day begin again.
Every hour that fleets so slowly
Has its task to do or bear;
Luminous the crown, and holy,
If thou set each gem with care.
Do not linger with regret ing,
Or for passing hours despond;
Nor, the daily toil forgetting,
Look 100 eagerly beyond.
Hours are golden links, God's token,
Reaching Heaven; but one by one
Take them, lest the chain ba brokeu,
Ere the pilgrimage be done.
Household Words
There are but Two I'arties.
Fellow-countrymen, now, as before, there
are but two parties in the United Slates.—
The old fashioned whig organization has
been disbanded, as the whigs admit alike
by action aid by word, but in its place has
arisen a combination, united by a common
hope for power on the one hand, yet torn by
internal feuds growing out of doctrines as
numerous as the different tongues in the low
er ol Babel, on tho other. This is the exis- I
ting opposition to the democratic party ,which
party, stronger in its faith than ever, more
eager for the contest, and more willing to
perish rather than yield an inch to intoler
ance, stands like a fortagainst its many
headed and many-titled adversaries. In all j
nature.there are two opposing elements—tho j
good and the bat), the pure and the impure, i
the healthy and the unhealthy. Every man I
is said to be wrestling with two angels—the .
angel of virtue and vice. And in every case !
the good spirit is an open, upright, and can
did spirit; while the bad spirit is as secret .
as the pestilence, as wily as the serpent, and
as fatal as death. We have opposing ele- j
ments ID politics as well as in science and :
morals. The one is a bold and candid party; j
the other a secret and crafty party. The otto ,
has a single creed applied to all latitudes and ,
to all men ; the other has an opinion for ev- j
ery fifty miles of space, and a champion for
every particular dogma, no matter how each '
may differ from tho other. Who should fail
to see where his choice should fall! Who
will hesitate where the road is so broad and
the right so clear ?— Washington Union-
Coroner's Inquests.
Judge Jones has given the lollowing gen-1
eral directions as to the cases in which Coro
ner's Inquests upon the bodies of deceased ,
persons should be properly held:
Inquisition on the body of John Rcber. —This
inquisition was properly held, and is confir
med, so that the costs allowed by law may
be drawn by tho parties who held it. We
lake this occasion, Tery briefly, to indicate
in what cases inquests should, and in what
eases they should not be held.
1. An inquest should be bold in every case
where death is the manifest or suspected re
sult of felonious violence.
2. An inquest should be held in every case
where death occurs in prison.
3. An inquest should be held when a body
is found dead in the water, fields, woods,
highways, or in other unusual places, and
that, whether the body exhibits marks of vi
olence or not.
4. An inquest should generally be held
when death results from accident—which ac
cident may in any way be imputed to the
negligence of annlher.
4 An inquest should not be held in e mere
case of sadden death, as from apoplexy ,stroke
of the sun, or the like—nor when one ia found
dead in his bed, unless there be some susp'.
oion of foul play.
6. And in the same view of the matter,
there needs not an inquest to be held in ca
ses of suicide, unless there be like suspi
cions.
It will be sufficient ground of suspicion
* when tbe Coroner is called upon to aot by
good and lawful men of the county, who af
firm such suspicions to exist, and satisfy him
of their reasonableness.
It most be understood that the court will
not approve an inquisition, ur.lesß there be
seme proper ground in law, or in fact for
holding it. The praotice of holding inquests
in cases of sudden death and suicide, when
there is no suspicion whatever of foul play,
must wholly cease.
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY, PA., THURSDAY, AUGUST 30, 1855.
ADDRESS
Of the Democratic Mute Ceutral Commit
tee to the People or Pennsylvania.
FELLOW CITIZENS:—Among the duties as
signed to us by the Democratic parly, we
are obliged to address you, setting forth in a
plain and simple manner the issues that will
be submitted to the people at the approach
ing election. A proper regard for the opin
ions of men requires that we should endeav
or to explain to the people the reasons why
the Democratic party again ask them to
combine in one common cause in support of
its principles and chosen men.
The o(fice6 to be filled in the coming elec
tion, may not, of themselves, be of suffici
ent consequences to excito popular interest,
yet that of Canal Commissioner involves
large public trusts, which should only be
confided to a man of known experience and
integrity. For that office the Democratic
party have chosen as their candidate, Aa-
NOLD PLUMER, whose past life, both public
and private, justifies us in saying that he
possei-ses the experience, firmness and un
blemished integrity, which pre-eminently fit
l.im for that office, and render him worthy
of vour confidence and choice. But far be
yond the success of any candidate or the ob
tain iiig ol any office, are the subjects now
before jou to be examined and discussed,
and by youi determination, probably, forev
er settled.
Their infinite impottance, not only to
yourselves and to Pennsylvania, but to all
the people and Slates of this confederacy,
should stimulate you to a zealous support of
the principles and candidates of tbe Demo
cratic party.
Wo cannot übstain from dwelling upon
these subjects, and by our appeals to your
reasoa and sense of duty to your country and
to humanity, we shall strive to rouse you to
an effort that shall be worthy of the occasion
and your past history.
Tbe Democratic parly of the U. S. is the
great conservator of this vast political organ
ization, stretching from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, and coveted with teeming millions
of freemen. To its guardianship has been
confided the custody of tho simple elements
of political truth which are at the basis of
our institutions. In all the changes of pub
lic affairs it has been the proud privilege of
that patty to stand by the Constitution of the
Country and to restrain all attempts to per
vert its provisions or corrupt its principles.—
It i.as been, and still is, the citadel of our
liberties and the bulwark of those just doc
trines, to establish which the people rose as
one man, and with the sympathies of the
jghole civilized world overthrew an aristo
cratic and legislative despotism and estab
lished agovernmen!, which by its mild and
humane temper, offered to mankind the
hope that, in one land at least, there should
be a refuge from oppression and intolerance.
This has been the duly of the Democratic
party, and with unfaltering fidelity has that
party kept its sacred trust. From the first
moment—even before tbe organization of
the government—and while the States were
deliberating upon the adoption of the Con
stitution ol the country, the groat men who
were afterwards to become the leaders of the
Democratic parly exerted their powerful en
ergies and truthful intellects to secure upon
a firm foundation, as upon a rock, the princi
ples that are incorporated in the body of the
Constitution and in its subsequent ameud
meuts. Again, we Fay to the Democratic
parly belongs the duty of standing resolutely
and unflinchingly by that Constitution and by
the purest and most holy of its principles.
The earliest history of this government
was identified with the contentions between
the great parties whoso doctrines were the
subjects to which the thoughts and labors of
the statesmen of those days were devoted
The Federal party were anxious to establish
a strong consolidated government, made for
(he people, and to be controlled by the men
of property, and education and social condi
tion. The Democratic party resisted this
scheme of grand nationality to be raised
upon the ruins ol Independent Slates, and at
the cost of popular liberty, and urged and
secured the establishment of a Government
limited and restricted in its powers, acknowl
edging Slate sovereignty, intended for the
benefit and welfare of all, based upon prin
ciples of equality and justice created for the
people, and governed by the people upon
broad and enduring principles of human
rights. During the many years of important
and stirring political events that have since
succeeded those days, tbe two parlies thus
arrayed in the beginning on opposite sides
were often engaged in disputes arising out
of a multitude of questions and issues, all of
which could be resolved into the original
ground of comention between them. The
Federal Parly being a patty of expediency,
and relying upon State craft and political
management, and still distrusting, the peo
ple have, under various names and with as
various pretext" and contrivances, sought by
indirect and crooked ways to obtain those
ends and aims from which they were driven
by the letter and spirit of the Conatilulion. —
It was supposed that the time bad gone by
when the people should ever be in danger
of any open attempt to subvert the Constitu
tion and its acknowledged principles by any
organized political action avowedly directed
to such purpose. Implication and forced in
terpretation of its letter, were the only means
by which the people were sought to be a
bused, and their government turned against
themselves for the advancement and profit
of adroit political adventurers. That suppo
sition was an error, for now we ate again
reminded by tho action of a new and dan-
I gerous combination, that tbe price of liberty
I is eternal vigilance.
Fellow Citizens, we have again to confront
the same issues that were made in 1799, and
to fight for the same principles that convuls
ed this Country then, and in vindicating
which Jcflorson triumphed, and Madison
earned the love and gratitude of a thankful
people. The insignificant and minor subjects
of difference that have for some time past di
vided the public men of the country, are all
obliterated by the magnitude of the question
now before you. Your opponents, under a
deluding and tempting cry demanding tfiat
''Americans shall rule America," have at
last, with forced and compulsive camlnr, ac
knowledged that they wish to establish two
principles.
I. That none but those born iu this coun
try, shall enjoy the rights of citizenship. j
11. That there shall be established a reli
gious test for office.
To reach these ends tho Constitution of
the U. S. must be changed or its provisions
evaded, and Ilia spirit of our Democratic
He publican forms of government llius alto
gether subverted. '1 lie Declaration of Inde
pendence itself charged upon tbe King of
Great Britain, as one of the most serious !
grievances under which we had suffered, 1
that "he had endeavored to prevent the pop- ,
ulalion of these States, for that purpose ob- ;
slructtng the laws fur the naturalization of ]
foreigners, refusing to pass others to encour- i
age their migration hither, and raising the j
conditions of new appropriations of land."—
The complaint thus made, was a part of tbe
first public protest of a united people against
arbitrary authority, and in favor of Human
Uigh'.s. The reasons that then prompted
(his, have been ever since acknowledged as
an element of our institutions that has se
cured to us the confidence of mankind, and
been the first great cause of our marvellous
success as a people.
When the defects of the Confederation
were apparent, aud the necessities of the
public called for a more stable and perfect
toMII of Unionuhe Constitution was adopted;
among its most conspicuous provisions was
the authority delegjjjed to Congress to es
tablish an uniform rule of Naturalization,and
in the very last clause of the very last suc
tion of that instrument the following words
were inserted, "No religious test shall ever
be required as a qualification to any office
or public trust under the United Stales."—
Thus sealing, as it were, tho Bond of our
Union with the sacred and rational principle
of tho Liberty of Conscience and the right
of Private Judgment.
When tho Constitution was submitted to
'he Slates for their adoption, it is to be re
membered that New Hampshire, New York,
Pennsylvania and Virginia,all ratified it with j
a solemn declaration of rights, which they j
set forth as explanations consistent with it,!
aud which could not be abridged or violated, j
and which they proposed shoaid be adopted :
as amendments thereto. Rhode Island and \
North Carolina, in a spirit of sturJy resistance
to absolutism and of manly devotion to the ;
cause of Liberty, for their own 6-ake, for the 1
sake of their prosterity, and for the sake of
the human rare, re-asserted the doctrines j
and dogmas of the Bill of Righte, and for a 1
while declined to ratify the Constitution un- !
til these sacred and inviolable principles of,
natural right were acknowledged and adopt-1
ed as a part of its text, and in all of these
proposed amendments were incorporated a !
solemn declaration in favor of civil and re- j
ligious liberty. At the first session of the
first Congrecs the amendments to tho Con
stitution were adopted and subsequently rati
fied by the States, aud the first article of those
amendments set the question at rest forever
by declaring that "Congress shall make no
law respecting the establishment of religion
prohibiting the free exercise thereof." It is
worthy of observation, that when in Conven
tion it was proposed by Mr. Pinckuey to add
to tbe Sixth Article the clause prohibiting a
religious test that Mr. Sherman thought it
unnecessary, the prevailing liberality being
a sufficient security against such test, after
which Mr. Gouverneur, Morris and General
Pincknej approved the motion, and it was
carried unanimously. These enlightened
men were too well aware of the disastrous
consequences attendant upon any interfer
ence by the Stale with the religious opinions
of its citizens. The bloody record of fanati
cal persecutions was spread out before them, I
and in it they road of those atrocities that
were the darkest stains upon the character of
the human race. From the earliest dajs
down to their own time, had theaistoryof
mankind shown that its advancements in civ
ilization had been retarded, and sometimes
almost stilled, in the ferocious conflicts be
tween contending sects and exterminating
propagandist!!. In all parts of the world had
fire aud faggot, the sword and the spear, bru
talized men into implicit obedience to religi
ous opinions tbey did not understand, and
faiths at which their consciences revolted.—
From religious persecution had their fathers
fled, and by emigration had their sovereign
ties been established. Up to thai timo, by
God's providence, had this land been the
refuge of oppressed men, and with God's
protection they were resolved to dedicate
their country to the cause of civilization and
religious freedom, and from that day to this
time has their noble work remained untouch
ed. May it last forever!
But now, after we have enjoyed the bless
ings of these sacred provisions, has a party
arisen in our midst, aud with secret oath
bound combinations, resolved to blot ouj this
pare and life-giving principle, and by force
and violenoe of law restrain and abridge the
liberties of men and limit their civil tights
Troth and Right God and our Country.
Iby an odious and impious religious test. As
citizens of this mighty Republic, as members
of the great Democratic party, as men for tho
sake of mankind at large, we call upon you
to resist ibis sacrilege aud rebuke these con
spirators against the honor and dignity of
our Constitution and laws.
After the adoption of the Constitution, and
during the administration of the eldor Ad
ams, Congress enacted two Statutes, one
concerning aliens] and the other entitled an
act for the punishment of certain crimes
against the United States, known as the
Alien aud Sedition Laws. Immediately up
on the enactment of these statutes, the
Mates ol Kentucky and Virginia passed cer
tain resolutions, condemning tbem as viola
tions of the letter and spirit of the Constitu
tion and reprobating them as gross attempts
to establish arbitrary authority and as sub
versive of the liberties of the people. The
Kentucky resolutions were wtilten by Mr.
deflerson, ar.d those of Virginia were written
by Mr. Madison, and both of these wero ad
dressed to the Legislaiutes of the several
States, inviting their co-operation to resist
these Slututes. Some of the Legislatures re
fused to co operate with Virginia and Ken
tucky and pronounced theao resolutions to ,
be ol a dungetous tendency, ami therefore j
not a fit subject for further consideration.— 1
To these refusals tho Commonwealth of Vir
ginia replied in the form of a Report drawn
by Mr. Madison, and adopted by the Legis- 1
lature of tbe Stale in 1799. The-object of
the Alien law was exposed in these resolu
tions and in that Report, and the mischievous
consequences of its adoption wero fully ex
plained ar.d demonstrated iu these masterly
papers. Iu them it was proclaimed to bo in
human, impolitic, illegal and irrational fur
Congress to restrain the current of emigra
tion that was setting in towards our shores,
caused by the high tides of civil convulsions
and public discord that were raging in Eu
rope. Mr. Jefferson there said that the Alien
law will furnish new calumnies against re
publican governments, aud new pretex's for
those who wish it to be believed that man
cannot be governod but by a rod of iron, and
that a very numerous and valuable descrip
tion of the inhabitants of these States would,
by this precedent, be reduced as "outlaws,"
and that "the mild spirit of our country and
its laws had pledged hospitality and protec
tion to tho friendless strangers." It was de
nounced by Mr. Madison in his report, as
tyrannical in its spirit and conferring a des
potic power upon the President, to banish
"an alien from a country into which he had
been invited as the asylum most auspicious
to his happiness, a country where he may
have formed the moss lender connections,
and where he may have invested his entire
property."
The law thus resisted, and nullified, and
defeated, never assumed to do more than ex
ercise a restraining power over Aliens; and
harsh-as it was, had no relation to naturaliza
tion, and no man among the hardiest of its
supporters at that day, dared to propose the
disfranchisement of emigrants or lo'fhe abo
lition of the naturalization laws. The public
that was indignant at the tyrannical spirit ol
that statute,would have burst out in ono shout
of condemnation at any attempt to outlaw
freemen and reduce them to the condition of
slaves, because they were born in another
country and were of another people. Upon
the resistance to the Alien and Sedition Laws,
and in support of the principles announced
in those resolutions and that Report of '99,
was Mr. Jefferson elected and the Democrat
ic parly established as an organized element
of political action of this country. From that
day to this, has tt been steadfast in its integ
rity and purity, upholding and vindicating the
liberties of the country.
Our Constitution was not wrested from the
reluctant hands of lawless kings. It was tho
free compact of free sovereignties of freeman,
made with each other for their own domestic
advantage in the common cause of human
freedom, and for the perpetuation of human
rights. Our commercial and public necessi
ties, and our political principles, all prompt
ed us to encourage emigration, and by its
healthful influence have we prospered as a
people. We have multiplied in our inhabi
tants. We have increased iu our wealth,and
grown mighty with a population that has
been driven to us for shelter and to whom we
are pledged before tbe world to secure the
rights ol civil and religious liberty, and upon
whom we are all likewise pledged as Demo
crats, to confer the right of citizenship as tho
inalienable right of their manhood. In the
making of the laws that govern them they as
freemen Itsve a right to participate. To re
fuse tbem that right would be impolitic, ille
gal and inhuman. By adopting them we
have secured the e, rvices of men skilled in
ail the mysteries of the mechanio arts, and
we have despoiled Europe, and European
Monarchies ol greater sources of national and
personal property, individual happiness and
public renown, than if we had conquered iu
a hundred fights. Treat thein as alien;, dia
qualify them by statute, and we have iu our
midst a body of oppressed unhappy and
satisfied men, who would feel their degra
dation among freemen and sink to its level.
There is not an evil complained ol in the
whole catalogue of accusations preferred
against the naturalized voters of the country,
that would equal the wrong that would be
done to oar principles and our people, by the
refusal to allow the right of suffrage and tbe
equal right of office to all eitizeus. In coun
tries where the government is a fraud upon
the people, and the right of sufhuge but a
name, restraints upon (be rights of citizen
ship and religious tests may be in ttrict har
mony with (heir constitutions,but in tbia ooun-
try dedicated to civil and religious liberty,
laws for those purposes would be violent in
consistencies that must shock all righl mind
ed, men. We know that there aro many,
very many, honest and well meaning inea
who wandered off from tho proper psth, and
| in their desire to correct alleged abuses of the
, naturalization laws, have suffered themselves
| to give their supports to this new and perni-
I cious political heresy. To those men we
j would especially appeal, and earnestly en
treat thorn to pause before they shall aid in
blithering projects, the result of which will
startle their understandings and appal their
hearts. Let (hem beware of a political
parly that has been afraid to reveal its princi
ples, and conceals its actions—let them con
sider how unmanly and irrational must thote
men who would thus secretly unite, ami
binding each other in the spirit of mutual die
trust, by solemn and illegal oaths, to carry
out a great public purpose autl to produce a
great political revolution. In tyranical coun
tries, where political intolerance and perse
cution proscribes men for liberal opinions,
such combinations aro sometimes necessary
but always dangerous for tbe cause of free
dom. But it was left for a Democratic coun
try, in a Democratic and liberal age, for men
thus to conspire in favor of political intoler
ance and persecuting bigotry. To tbe pure
minded men who have thus erred and stray
ed away, do we submit these considerations
for their action, hoping that they will yet re
turn to correct views, and sustain the cause
of republican liberty by a zealous opposition
to tho pernicious principles and intolerant
discipline of this new and dangerous fac
tion.
Before we conclude this appeal to your rea
son and your patriotism, we must inviteyour
attention to the subject of domestic slavery.
With that institution Penney Ivan ians have
nothing to do. In the exercise of a wise phi
lanthropy, we have, long since, abolished it.
But because we have exerted our sovereign
power over it, we must not endeavor to con- j
trol sister States in the regulation of the sub- ,
ject. If wo entertain sentiments adverse to |
its introduction, we must not propagate these j
opinions at the cost of the domestic tranquil- j
ity of other S'ates, or at the risk of perilling [
our common Union. It would not become J
freemen to be involved in inappeasable dis- j
cord, for the sake of a small number of slaves
whose condition we cannot change. The j
Cunstiiutiou was the result of many adjust
ments and compromises, and with it we havo
secured domestic tranquility, prime prosper- j
ity and publiu liberty. Time will reveal the !
end and purpose of this institution oi' slavery j
existing in some of the States of this Union;
but while-we live under the Constitution, we j
must abide by its provisions and its solemn j
compacts. All attempts to regulate tbi^sub-1
ject by congressional action must prove abor
tive and end in tumult and disorder. With
us the Constitution is paramount to the laws,'
and it is disobedience and insubordination of (
the worst kind, to strive, by political agita- j
tion to subvert the one, and encroach with :
the other.
Like all other questions of strictly local con
cern, that of Slavery should be submitted to
the exclusive jurisdiction of the people of the
territory or place in which it is proposed, to
establish or reject it. This principle of local
self-government is the basis of all our insti
tutions, and is essential to political freedom.
It may for a time, be abused and trampled
on, as other rights have been, but men should
not, because of that, be deprived of it. It is
for the common interest of alt that each and
every citizen should freely and peaceably
exercise the right; and the principle and prac
tice thus universally ordained and recom
mended by the founders of our government,
will be firmly maintained by the Democratic
party. J. F. JOHNSTON,
H. A. GILDEA, ) C . Chairman.
JACOB ZEIGLER, J '
Ttie Tattler.
There is no being on the habitable globe
more degraded aud moro conloinptil le than
a tat lor. Vicious principles, want of hones
ty, servile meanness, despicable insiduous
nes*, form its chnracter. Has he wit! In at
tempting to display it he makes himself a
loot. Has he friends 1 By unhesitatingly
disclosingly their secrets he will make tbem
his mast bitter enemies. By telling all be
knows, he will soon discover to the world
that he knows but little. Does he envy cn
individual? His tongue fruitful with false
hood, defames his character. Does he covet
the favor of any one? He attempts to gain
it by slandering others. His approach is fear
ed, his person hated, his company unsought,
and his sentiments despised as emanating
from a heart fruitful with guile, teeming with
iniquity, loaded with envy, hatred and re
venge.
Pleasure of Ilome.
Tho beneficent ordination of Divino Prov
idonce is that home should form our charac
ter. Tho first object of parents should be
to make home interesting. It is a bad sign
whenever children havo to wander from the
parental roof for amusement. Provide plea
sure lor them, around their own fireside and
among themselves. The excellent Leigh
JUchond pursued this plan, had a muse
um in his houso, and exorted every nerve
to interest his little flock. A love of home
is one of the greatest safeguards in tho
world to man. Do you ever see men who
dolight in their own fireside, strolling about
in taverns and saloons? Implant this senti
ment early in the child; it is a mighty pres
ervation against vice.
You cannot be happy without trying
to make others happy also.
The Internal Machines at Sebuslupol and
in the Bnltic-
The London Times' correspondent gives
the following account ol the small mines
which the Russians hare strewed tits ground
with about their out-works :
I was shown here (at the Maatelon) one
of these extraordinary fougasses, or small
mines, which are exploded on the touch of
the loot, and which tho Russians planted
thickly about their advanced works. A strong
case containing powdor is sunk in the ground
and to it ia attached a thin lube of tin or lead,
several feet in length : iu the-upper end of
the tube there is enclosed a thin glass tube
containing sulphuric or nitric acid. This i
portion of the lube is just laid above the
earth, where it can ba readily bid by a few
blades of grass or a stone. If a person steps
on it he bends the tin tube, and breaks the
glsss lube inaide. Tho acid immediately
escapoa and runs dowu tho tin tube till it ar
rives close to its insertion into tho case, and
there meets a few grains of chlorate of pet
als. Combustion instantly takes place, the
mine explodes, and not only destroys every
thing that is near i", but throws out a quanti
ty of bitumen, with which it is coated, in a
state of ignition, so as to burn whatever it
rests upon. Later in the day, I very nearly
had a practical experience of the working of
these mines, for an English 6entry, who
kindly warned me off, did not indicate the
exact direction till he found he was iu dan
ger of my firing it, when lie became very
communicative on the subject. One ofthem
blew up during tbe armistice, but I don't
know what damage it did. We have lost
sovoral men by them. While the ground is
occupied by the Russians they mark them
by small flags, which aro removed when
the enemy advance. I: makes it disagree
able walking ill the space between the
works.
The following is a description of one of
the machines which are sunk in the Baltic,
which have caused so much apprehension
among tho allied fleets:
Each machine consists of a cone of gal
vinized iron, 16 inches in diameter at the j
base to apex ; it is divided into three chani- j
bets, '.he one near tho bnse being largest, |
and containing air causes it to float with the |
base uppermost. Iu the center of this cham
ber is another, which holds a tube with a]
fuse iu it, and an apparatus for firing it.— j
This consists of two ' little Iron rods, which j
move in guides, and are kept projected over
the side of the base by springs which press
them outwards.
When anything pushes either ol these rods
inwards, it strikes against a lover, which
moves like a pendulum, iu the fusd lube, and
the lower end of the lever breaks or bends a
small leaden tube, containing a combustible
compound, which is eel on fire by coming in
contact with some sulphuric acid held in a
capillary tube, which is broken at the same
lime, and so flies the fuse, which communi
cates the powder contained in the chamber
at the apex of the cone, and which holds
about 9 or 10 tbe.
At tbe extreme apex is a brass ring, to
which is attached a rope and some pieces of
granite, which mours lliem about nine or ten
leel below the surface, so that the only ves
sels they could hurt, the gun-boats, float qui
etly over them, and now wo know what they
are, they have been disarmed of all their
dread. But they prove dangerous playthings;
the Commander in-Chief was examining ono
of tho fuse tubes that was supposed to be
spaib, for it was full of mud and water, when
he accidentally touched the lever, and it ex
ploded in his hanJs, scattering the mud into
the faces of all present and literally throwing
dirt into their eves, but doing no hurt.
The Move and his Mistress.
A Story is told of a European famil) that
formerly resided on the island of St. Domin
go in which an only child was sacrificed by
a snake, through the arts of a petted slave.
The negro was a favoiite with his mas
ter's household ; but in spite of this he be
came involved iu one of those deep conspi
racies that characterized the early history of
the West India Islands, and which resulted,
in one inslunco at least, in the deliverance
of tho people from an iniquitous yoke of
bondage.
In the dark hour of night, the slaves from
the adjoining plantation, assembled in tho
forest to concert their plun of deliveranco
from a wicked and cruel thraldom, and also
to expose and punish any of their members
wbn had shown any reluctance to cairy out
their design. Extreme vigilance as well as
oautiun was demanded by the nature of the
case.
The slave we have already alluded to
was very naturally suspected of audue affec
tion for his young mistress; and it was whis
pered that, in tbe general rising he would
endeavor to save her from the fate of her
fiiends. This supposed humanity on the
part of the slave was accounted treason in
its worst term; ordered, before the next
meeting, to destroy his young mistress as u
proof that he was not a traitor at heart.
Tbe negro—the confidential servant of his
master, and tbe inmate of the household, ac
complished his purposes without attracting
to himself the least suspictou.
Hunting up the nest of a pair of deadly
snakes, everywhere to be iountl in tropical
climate, with those arts common to semi-sav
age minda, be enticod them into the garden,
and familiarized them with the vicinity of the
house. His plans being perfected, he an
nounced to hi* master and mistress that he
had reasoa lu believe that there was a deadly
I reptile lodged in the vicinity. A large reward
[Two Dollars per Annan
NUMBER 32.
was offered for ils destruction, and in two or
three days the negro brooght the female to
the house, laid it upon the front steps, and re
ceived the congratulations of the family for
his faithful devotion.
Tite moment he was observed, he dragged
the dead carcass of the snake into ite bouse,
thrust it through the lattice work that divided
the sleeping chambers from the parlors and
then opening the door of the sleeping roonl
trailed the venomous body across the empty
couch of his young mistress, and concluded
by depositing it in a coil under the sheets and
in the very center of the bed. This being
done, he next enveloped the body of the
snake in some broad leaves, hid it about bis
person and unobserved escaped iulo the open
air.
At midnight when every door was Opened
ami every lattice turned up to admit the re
freshing breeze denied during the day—wheu
I all were wrapped in profound slumber, the
surviving snake was searching for its lost
mate. Gradually it approached the dwelling,
for it was on tho trHil, climbing up the door
steps, glanced iuquiiingly about as fresh evi
: donees ot a final success seemed to draw up
! on it, and then stealthily entered the psrlor;
j straight across the floor it moved, peneliated
l the lattice and mounted the couch. The trait
I was warm, and led the reptile under the
1 clothes; the innocent occupant brushed the
intruder aside, end in another instant the
deadly fangs of the frustrated and angry ser
pent were buried deeply in her bosotn. She
sighed heavily, for the deep sleep of a tropi
j cal climate was upon her and she slumbered
| on, to waken no more in this troubled life,
and to present her fond parents in the com
ing morn, instead of a sweet, doting, intelli
gent child, an offensive mass—the most ter
rible form of death.
a'sTM,.
We occasionally light on some rich pro
| ceedings in the progress and success of pat
i ties ; but the following, taken from the cir
| tespondence of the New Vork Herald, is a
! leader. It also carries with it a moral in pol
| ilics which will not fail to be observed.
About the richest thing out is the villanous
| manner in which the editor of the American
| Organ in this city was relieved of twenty-five
hundred dollars in hard cash.
1 It is well known that the county of I'age
jin Virginia, part of the "Old Tenth Le-
I giou" of Thomas Jefferscn, and that she at
, ways casts un almost unanimous vote (about
| 750) for the Democratic ticket, regardless of
| tnen. In this county of hard-fisted, unwash
ed democracy, the secret Older of Kr.ow-
Noihings lound -its way, and a lodge was
e tablished. The thing was novel, and the
idea of becoming Americans pleased the
Dutch to death. Soon 591 members were
introduced, and regularly initiated into the
mysteries of the order—the lodge numbered
a majority of the voters in the county —the
record was transmitted post haste to Rich
mond, and theuce to all the lodges in the
State. The 'Tenth Legion' was giving way,
and the prospect was fair for a total route.—
Joy pervaded the ranks of tho brother hood
as the tidings spread.
But fortune is fickle, and even Know Noth
ings are not always reliable. A few daya
beforo the election the Grand Sachem of Page
called his lodge together to consider business
of importance ; and when all had assem
bled he remarked, in words of soberness, if
not of piety—" We profess to be Democrats:
we have always been Democrats—but we
aro about making d n fools of ourselves.
Now I have a proposition to make you: (
1 r 'po,e that each one of us shall subscribe
all the cash we can raise, as a betting fund )
that wo dispatch an agent fo Washington to
bet it on the vote of I'age county, and that
we then burn our records and vote for Wise."
What a glorious prospect for speculation, and
no sooner said than done. Neat £30,000
were raised ; and the appuinted agent, ac
companied by the presiding officers of the
lodge, visited tho city. The latter called on
brother Rllis, gave trim the signs, grips, and
passwords and assured him that 591 names
had been raguluily recorded in Page. This
as enough—proof as strong as holy writ,
that Page was certain for Flourney the Know-
Nothing candidate lor Governor. Jutt about
this time a green looking Demoorat from
Page happened to cross the path of brothet
Kilts, and boasted of Wise's strength in the
Tenth Legion." Tne bait took and brothet
Kllis was victimized to the tune of £2,500.—•
The county cast 661 votes for Wise, and the
treacherous Know Nothings pocketed brother
Kl'.id' cash, beside winning some £20,000 of
others who bet by the record. This lam
assuted, is a true statement of how the or
gan man was "taken in and did for;" may
not others have attempted the same game 1
CHANCE —Never , lut us say of anything
whatever that it happened by chance; there
is nothing that hath not been concerted—noth
ing that hath not ill own particular design
and end, by which it forms a link in the chain
of appointed order. There is no such a thing
as chance. It is only blindness of ignorance
that tallceth o! things being strange and un
accountable and unlucky.
ET If a girl thinks more of her heels than
her head, depend upon it she will never a
mount to much. Brains which settle in the
shoosnever gctabovo them. Young gentle
men will please put this down.
BT An editor in Ohio thus writes to his
subscribers: "Wo hope our friends will
overlook our irregularities for the past few
weeks. We now permanently located in
the county jail, with sufficient force to in
sure the regular issue for the future.'*