- n1 i 1 1 ' i lWK OO WHERE DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES FOIXT THE WAV WHEN" TIIEY CEASE TO LEAD, WE CEASK TO FOLLOW." BV ANDREW J. 1U1I5Y. EBENSDURG, THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 1851. VOL. 7. NO. A dm JUjn rrfv r an T MISCELLANEOUS S.13I HOUSTON AT SAN JACINTO. The hope of the brave began to grow dim and dark, and the star of the revolution- seemed to be going down in gloom, nn mnrp. Three heavy columns of the pampered soldiery of Mexico, lt d j the scouts of Houston watched the move on bv Santa Anna, supported bv Urrera, ! ments of Santa Anna s troops with eagle Cos and Fillisola, had crossed the Rio j vigilance they began to weary, and their Grande and the vulture flag of the South, ! line of march, commenced to be marked threateningly waved on the banks of the I with deserted arms and accoutrements Gaudaloupe. The heroic Travis, brave to a fault, and reckless" and defiant as he was brave at the head of one hundred and thirty spirits fashioned after himself, occupied the Alamo, the frontier lortress of Texas. In defiance of the express orders of Gen. Houston, the commander-in-chief, he de termined there to await the combination of the legions of the despot. Courier after courier reached the Alamo, comman ding Travis to fall back upon the camp of Houston; but his undisciplined Vpirit brooked no control, and each successive courier bore back the reply: "Jfe will not retreat. We will conquer or die!" The shock came! Four days and nights of sleepless battle, with unabated fury, raged around the doomed walls of the Alamo, and the fifth morning's sun shone on a confused mass of blood-stained ruins and bones, and the smouldering ashes of the intrepid dead. No living Texan was left to tell of his comrades' deeds, but the huge pile of Mexican slain, with their ghastly and gaping wounds, told with terrible certainty that Travis and Bowie and Crockett, had fought, and bled, and died, if they had not conquered there. The next scene in that tragic drama, was the massacre of Goliad. The ill-fated Fanning, imbued with the same epirit of reckless self-reliance, which Droved the destruction of Travis and his command, too long hesitated to execute, the order for retreat, issued by that wise ; and intrepid man. whose great mind con- j ceived, and whose iron will achieved the j revolution. Pressed on every side by a ' well appointed and overwhelming foe ; without supplies, and with but little am munition, Fanning sought to fight and re treat contesting and staining everv inch of ground with the life blood of the foe. Hut the power of nuinberson the one side, j and the want ol ammunition on the other, caused Fanning to commit the unpardona ble error of trusting to the plighted honor ot a .Mexican, even though oeitea as a toldier. A capitulation, entered into with all the solemnities of chivalric war, was the result the Texan flag was furled, but not in disgrace, for the terms of capit- j ulation are htld by all but barbarous na- ! lions, and the faith of a Mexican General was pledged that the next day's sun should smile upon the Texans, as they returned to their fire-side homes. Night passed away, and with the early beat of the morning drum, Fanning and his com rades were marched out to the plains of Goliad, to receive their release. Unarm ed and unsuspecting, the)1 were conducted through the long lines of the Mexican ar my, drawn up in battle array, until they were swallowed up on every side, by the bustling bayonets of the foe. A signal was given, not of release, but of death! One wild, terrific crash was heard; a lurid cloud of flame and smoke enveloped the! Texans, and all that was left of them was j their mangled remains, weltering in their I kept his horse, gallopping hither and blood. thither over the field, issuing orders for Like the angry howl of the storm, when j the care of the wounded, the protection it first bursts upon a Southern sea, the : and safe keeping of the prisoners, and the wail of death, and the cry of vengeance, ! pursuit of the flying foe. swept over the plains of Texas. The On the 23d of April, the second day great heart of Houston sw elled with grief J after the battle, nearly eight hundred Mex and indignation; his mild blue eye, which i icans were prisoners in the Texan camp; was want to beam with gentle kindness, quiet and calm had succeeded the turmoil blared like the lion s when battling for his young; his expansive brow darkened with the pent up 6torm within, and his compressed lips, told a will which naught but destiny could thwart. His little army of scarce sixteen hundred men, inspired with a wild chivalry, and imbued with devoted patriotism capable of any sacri fice, save that of submitting to absolute control, burned for vengeance, and deman ded to be led forward against the treach erous foe. But Houston, alike a great pldier and a statesman, had three months before, on the plains of San Jacinto, se lected the altar, on which to consecrate the liberty of Texas. Contrary to the expectations and wishes of the army, he commenced his retreat, laying waste the country over which he passed, and mask ing his movements with euch skill as to completely bewilder the enemv. His (roops uttered loud murmurs against his policy, and in tones of threatening mutiny, demanded that a stand should be made at Ihe Colorado, declaring that they would disband, unless the foe were given battle. Houston Bought to impress upon his troops the fact, that battle upon the Colorado was defeat to Texas he said to them. "Our cause is just; it must and will tri umph; let those return to their homes who are not prepared to make every sac rifice for the good of Texas." "The next morning's dawn found less than eight hundred men at the Texian standard. The retreat was recommenced; I swept before them the wild cattle of the prairie, as they pursued their march of re treat. Houston was within striking dis tance of Santa Anna, and Cos was within one day's march of joining the latter. Houston still declined battle, but quietly took position upon the field of San Jacin to, the exact spot he had selected three months before, for his battle field. One day more, and the columns of Cos and Santa Anna, united within a short distance of Houston's camp, without being aware of its proximity. II is strategy was per fect, and its success complete. The two armies now lay facing each other on the rolling prairie, surrounded by forests and bayous; the only means of retreat, was on a trail bridge extending across a deep bayou. The hour had arrived when the destiny of Texas was to be decided the blow about to be struck on thai field was to determine whether Texas was to exist as the conquered province of a despot, or to take her place among the nation's of the earth as a free and sovereign power. It was on the 21st of April, 1836, when Houston, mounted on his war steed, formed his little army of TOO men, in col umn of attack, and approaching to their very front, in a few deep toned, burning words, he poured into their hearts the lava flame which until then had been pent up in his own noble soul. He told them that by his order, the bridge had been destroy eel that retreat was impossible that the field of San Jacinto must be the grave or the birth spot ol Texas' Independence that the condition of his army would not justify his risking two battles, and hence he had waited until the forces of Santa Anna and vos were combined the ene- mv was before them; to strike was to conquer! And then rapidlv his mode of attack, the little army of he- roes moved forward, masked by the tall praiue grass, unti. w ithin rille shot of the foe, when rapidly deploying into line of battle, the electrical voice of Houston was heard rising high and clear above the bat tle line. A ow charge, my lads! 1nd remember the Jllamo! remember Goliad! The very heavens seemed to echo that fierce battle shout "Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!" and with the roar of the tornado, and the force of the w hirlwind, that little band of heroes, with Houston at their head, hurled them selves upon the foe. Short, desperate and terrific, like the mad crashing of the elements, was that wild, strange and glo rious battle. Seventeen minutes had srarce elapsed, before eight hundred Mex icans were lying dead and dying on that proud field, and Santa Anna, the boasted Napoleon of the South, was seeking safety in flight. And from amid the smoke, and mad carnage of battle, was seen to rise from that bloody plain, the star of Liber ty! the lone star of Texas! Although his leg was badly shattered hy a four ounce copper ball, Houston still of battle, and the hero of San Jacinto was reclining in his tent, with his shattered leg supported on a rough hewn stool, while his mind was busily employed in revol ving plans for the future civil government of Texas. Suddenly a shout burst from the Mexican prisoners, of "viva, viva, Santa Anna," (live, live, Santa Anna,) and under an escort of two Texan soldiers, the fallen Emperor in person approached, disguised in the garb of a common soldier. Santa Anna was immediately taken to Houston's tent, who treated him with dis tinguished kindness and courtesy, assuring him that the magnanimity of the Texans would prevent any retaliation on a prison er, for the breach of faith and butchery at Goliad. The Mexican General expressed great admiration for the prowess of the Texan troops, but told Houston that he had vio lated one of the plainest rules of warfare, in not attacking Cos and himself in detail, instead of awaiting their combination. II ouston smiled, but made no reply, until Santa Anna again pressed the remark, when Houston quietly told him that it was his habit not to take two bites at one cherry. Santa Anna ever after entertained a high admiration for Houston, and often remarked that he was the most remarka ble man of the age. Gen. Houston is yet in the full vigor of manhood; tie is six feet four inches in height, of light complexion, a deep blue eye, and a remarkably pleasing mannor. His bearing is kind, dignified and courte ous, and the goodness of his heart is clearly indicated by the sweetness of his smile, and the mildness of his eye. When quite a boy, he distinguished himself by daring exploits among the Indians, and afterwards served under Andrew Jackson, in the Seminole .war, and at the battle of New Orleans. For many years Gen. Houston was a member of Congress from Tennessee, and was a Governor of that State. He was twice President of the Texan Republic, and was her first Sena tor, after the annexation of Texas to the United States. And all in all, he is truly "the most remarkable man of the age." THE HALF CENTURY. A RETROSPECT. The following article, which we copy from the N. Y. Tribune, is of exceeding interest at the present time, when we are jnst entering upon a new half century. The changes, mutations, and progress of the last half century may serve us to sur mise, to some extent what the next shall undergo. Fifty years ago, George Washington had just gone to his grave amid the tears and blessings of the people he had been foremost in rescuing, first from tyranny, then from anarchy; and our country, hav ing just escaped the imminet peril of a war with France, after securing by the Federal Constitution the power of pro tecting and promoting her own industry, was beginning to realize the blessings of Independence and Freedom. Thomas Jefferson had just been designated for next President by a majority of the American people, but had not yet been actually flf-rtrd, iheir b-jing an equ-jf number of votes fur him and his associate (Burr) on the Republican ticket, as it was theu called, requring an election by the House, which took place in February following. The population of our country was over 5, 200,000, or considerably less than one fourth the present number. The Union then consisted of sixteen States Vermont, Tennessee and Kentucky having been ad ded to the original Thirteen. Ohio had begun to be settled at Marietta, Cincinnati, Warren, and perhaps one or two other points, but had not yet population enough for a State. There were small settlements at Detroit, and perhaps one or two other points west of Ohio; but Louisiana was a Spanish province, including St. Louis as well as New Orleans, and the Mississippi a Spanish River, through which our peo ple then settling in the valley of the Ohio were denied egress for their products. Florida was of course all Spanish, and what are now Alabama and Mississippi partly Spanish and w holly a wilderness. Our own State had scarcely a wfiite in habitant west of the sources of the Mo hawk and Susquehanna; Buffalo and Ro chester were forests traversed only by savages. The Erie canal had hardly'been dreamed of by the wildest castle-builder, and the western limit of this State (which a few months more will bring within 24 hours of us) was practically" farther oil" than Paris or Galena now is. This city had a population of G0,000 (less than an eighth its present number) mainly living ociow vnamoers street, while Brooklyn, Williamsburg, Jersey City, and its other suburbs, did not contain a fiftieth part as many inhabitants as now. Philadelphia was a sixth larger than New York; now one-fifth smaller, with a far greater dispar ity of suburban population. Boston had 25,000 inhabitants, Baltimore 2G.500; Washington City (whither the Federal Government had just been removed,) had 3,200. A few daring spirits were just beginning to migrate from the older por tions of New England to Western New York ("Holland Purchase") and North Eastern Ohio an enterprise quite as ar duous and perilous as emigration hence to California and Oregon now is. In Euiope, Napoleon had just reached the topmost round of the ladder by over throwing the Directory and causing him self to be proclaimed First Consul, though he was not crowned Emperor till 180t. lie h id returned from his abortive invasion of Egypt in 1700, but the battle of Ma rengo, which made Italy a French prov ince for twelve years thereafter, was not fought till June, 1800. The Austrian monarch was still known as "Empeior of Germany." Poland after a melancholy, fitful struggle of twenty-five years against internal anarchy and conspiracy of Kings for her destruction, had just ceased to ex ist. Alexander had not yet ascended the throne of Russia, his father Paul I. not being assassinated till March, 1801. Prussia had preserved peace since the de- fnnl V. C Hit- J . - . lMl V1 " Aineu invasion ot-France in 1792, her councils inclining for or against Revolutionary France as fortune smiled or frowned, and. so remained until 1806, when she engaged Napoleon single-handed, and was utterly subdued in a single brief campaign commencing with the double route of Jenna and Auerstadt, and closing With the French armies victorious on her eastern frontier. This completed the vir tual conquest of all Germany by Napoleon. Austria having been fully crushed by him in the battle of Austerlitz, Dec. 2, 1805. Fifty years ago, George III. was in the midst of his reign over the British Em pire, with Pitt and Fox, the leaders of the Tory and Whig parties at the heighth of their life long struggle. They both died suddenly six years afterward. Trafalgar was yet unfought.but Nelson was already idolized for fiis victories of Cape St. Vin cent, Aboukir, fcc. His attack on Copen hagen was not made till April, 1801. All this Continent, south and west as well as north of the one million square miles belonging to the United States, (since increased to 3,280,000.) was claimed by various European powers as their repect ive colonial possessions all. north of us (as now) except a vaguely defined and inhospitable portion of the North West Coast, belonging to Great Britain, while all south and west of us was ruled by Spain and Portugal, except a small portion of tha -eastern coast of South America ly ing between the mouths of Orinoco and the Amazon, which was shared by Eng land, France and Holland, and known as British, French and Dutch Guiana. This small portion is still European; with most of tiie islands known as West Indies, but no Spanish or Portuguese flag now waves over any portion of the Continent. Portu guese America, peaceably separated from the mother country, now constitutes the Empire of Brazil, and is governed by a branch of the Portuguese royal house of Braganza; while the vast region formerly constituting Spanish America is now di vided as follows : Louisiana, Florida, Texas, New Mexico and Upper Califor nia have been acquired by the United Stales: wfiile the residue of Mexico, Central America, Venezuela, New-Grenada, Quito, Ptfru, Chili, Buenos Ayres and their appendages, have become independ ent, and are striving, generally with indif ferent success, to maintain Republican in stitutions, though with a constant tendency, created by ignorance, indolence and super stition, to degenerate into military despo tisms. Such Buenos Ayres appears now to be, while Venezuela and Alexieo have been frequently distracted by the arts and arms of military chieftans. Central Am erica has been torn to pieces by the gene ral causes above recited, ard now lies prostrate and powerless. Mexico exhibits unequivocal symptoms of decreptitude and approaching dissolution. Upper Peru has become a separate Republic, now known as Bolivia. The Spanish Presidency of Quito is now the Republic of Equador. Paragua and Uragua have separated from Buenos Ayres, and each is now independ ent, the latter known as "the Oriental Republic," though the people are more commonly known as "Monte Videans," from their capitol. The extreme southern portion of the Continent, known to Euro peans as "Patagonia," with a great por tion of the interior of South America, and the north part of North America, remain as they were in 1800, in the undisturbed, unquestioned possession of the savage tribes who have thinly peopled them from time immemorial, and whose barbarous occupations of war and the chase forbid the hope of their self-improvement. The improperly termed West Indian Isles re main in good part as in 1800, save that Hayti, then in revolt against France, has achieved her independence of both France and Spain, while slavery has been abol ished throughout the islands ruled by Great Britain. The continental possessions of Great Britain have improved consider ably in population and wealth; Upper Canada of late quite rapidly. Northward of latitude 50 the severity of the climate on this side and the remoteness from civil ized and peopled countries on the other, have prevented any considerable settle ment. Successive attempts to discover a Northwest passage around this Continent from Europe to the North Pacific have led to no practical result. Great Britain, already bereft of her most valuable colonies by the American Revolution, has built up two new Empires within the present century the first by successive conquests and annexations in Hindoostan, where her possessions now cover a territory as large as Europe south of the Rhine and the Danube, and peopled by hardly less than one hundred millions of human beings. From the Indus on the west to the Iravvadi on the east, from the ocean on the south to the Himalayas on the north, almost the entire continent is now under British rule. In Australia, a still vaster and more prosperous-, though far less populous, British Empire is now rapidly forming, from what were in 1800 immense wildernesses, scantily inhabited by the lowest grade of savage beings, and infected along the coasts by a few cargoes of expatriated rascality. The growth of British Australia is now proceeding with a rapidity scarcely paralleled, and appa rently with entire solidity and health. The culmination, decline and overthrow of Napoleon's colossal power belongs to the first quarter of the present century. In 1800 First Consul; in 1804 "Emperor of the French;" in 1811 master of nearly all Continental Europe except Russia, with Italy, Qermany, Austria, Spain at his fee!, and even Russia, Turkey and the United States virtually his allies, and only England stubbornly resisting his strides to universal dominion. 1814 saw him defeated and exiled; 1815 a discrowned prisoner for life, and 1821 witnessed his "death on a lone barren Isle," almost equi-distant from the eastern and western hemispheres. On his complete discomfiture, Europe reverted very nearly into the condition which it exhibited prior to the outbreak of the French Revolution, France being restored to monarchy and reduced to her modern limits; Germany reconstituted a despotic anarchy; Italy surrendered to Austria and absoluteism; Poland left a wreck and a divided ruin; Turkey still further crippled and hastening to decay; while only Rus sia manifested external growth combined with internal vigor. Since Napoleon's death, Spain, Poland, Italy and Germany have by turns been the rheatre of revolu tionary commotions looking to republican freedom, but these ebullitions have all been quenched in blood, and monarchy, more or less absolute in form, but generally despotic in substance, is now the common law of the most enlightened quarter of the earth save in France and Switzerland. France is now nominally a Republic, but, practically, ruled by the twin aristocrats of musketry and money, to-day enjoys far less real freedom than the smaller kingdoms, Sardinia, Sweden and Denmark. Switzerland still retains her ancient liber ties, though convulsed by faction within, and menaced by banded despotisms with out. So all on the Continent seems fixed as Royalty would have it. but it is only seeming. France is a volcano ready for eruption; her millions will never acquiesce in the arbitrary and unlawful robbery from nearly half their number of the right of suffrage; her aristocratic predominence is undermined by intestine fueds, which will yet divorce the sword, the money-chest and the mitre from their present alliance, and restore the rule of the masses; and the day which sees a democratic ascend ency restored in Paris will arouse the republicans of Germany, Italy, Hungary, and perhaps of Poland, to make vehement struggle lor the liberties of mankind. Despotism has now the bayonets and the arsenal on its side as of yore; but in pop ular intelligence, in comprehension of the rights of man" and the necessary iniquities of kingcraft, the world has made vast pro gress since 1800. Catholic emancipation in Ireland", and Parliamentary Reform in Great Britain, are two of its peaceful tro phies. Such are the politic A aspects on which opens the latter half of the Nine teenth Centurv. A GREAT MAN. George Lippard, in his new work called ', the JVuzarine, thus speaks of President Jackson: "He was a max! Well, I remember the day I waited upon him. He sat there in his arm chair I can see that old war rior face, with its snow white hair, even now. We told him of the public distress the manufacturers ruined, the eagles shrouded in crape, which were borne at the head of twenty thousand men into In dependence Square. He heard us all. We begged him to leave the deposites where they were; to uphold the Great Bank in Philadelphia. Still he did not say a word. At last one of our members more fiery than the roet, intimated that if the Bank were crushed, a rebellion might follow. Then the old man rose I can see him yet. "Come!" he shouted in a voice like thunder, as his clutched right hand was raised above his white hairs "Come with bayonets in your hands in stead of petitions surround the White House with your legions 1 am ready for you all! By the Eternal! With the people at my back whom your gold can neither buy nor awe, I will swing you up j around the Capital, each rebel of you on a gibbet high as Hainan's." "When I think," says the author, "of that one .man standindg there at Washing ton, battling with all the powers of Bank and Panic, combined, betrayed by those in whom he trusted, assailed by all that the snake of malice could hiss or the fiend of falsehood howl! when I think of that one man placing his back against the rock, and folding his arms for the blow, while he uttered rm awful vow, "Bv the Etor- nal! I will not swerve one inch from tlie rourwe I have chosen!" I must conic that the records of Greece and Rome nay the proudest days of Cromwell or Napoleon cannot furnish an instance of a will like that of ANDREW JACKSON, when he placed life and soul and fame, on the hazard of a die for the PEOPLE'S WELFARE." EiTOne of the coolest pieces of efTron tery that we have seen in many a day is the manner in which the certificates for the Texan Indemnity stock, are illustrated. A likeness of Corwm. Secretary of the Treasury, figures conspicuously on the 8100 and $500 issues! This is' no doubt to remind the holder of Texas Indemnity that in all probability he never would have received a dollar of his money, just as the General Government never would have received an acre of territory, if Cor win's frantic and furious opposition to the Mexican War had succeeded. Pennsy' vanian. Colored Votes in Nero l'ork. Ne groes can vote in New York, on certain conditions, of which one is a property qualification. In order to show how they intend to use it. hereafter, let us take the following extract from a report made tr a meeting of colored people, in the city of New York, a few days ago: "We have, says the report, five thou sand colored voters in this State, which are suflicient to enable us to control thr State or Presidential elections, excepting under extraordinary circumstances, such as governed the political element during the campaign which resulted in elevating to the Presidency the late Gen. Taylor." Gen. Brady. The Detroit Free Press of Friday ha the following account of the accident which has since resulted in the death of General Brady "The esteemed citizen and venera'olo soldier, Gen. Hugh Brady, met with a serious accidentyesterday afternoon, which has thrown a feeling of gloom over 'the whole city, and which will be heard with deep regret throughout the country. About one o'clock, as fie was driving a span of horses before a light buggy on Miama av enue, the horses' feet became entangled in, the telegraph wire just being thrown across the avenue, causing them to become un manageable. They ran down the avenue at a fearful rate, and after proceeding but a short distance, by a sudden sheer, threw the General so violently upon the plant walk as to severely fracture the skull about the forehead. He was taken into lh.3 res idence of John W. Strong, Jr., Es., near by, where professional aid was re.idereJ by Surgeon Trippler, U. S. A., Dr. Zint Pitcher, and others who were promptly in attendance. "As soon as the accident became known, the most livelv feelings of interest were exhibited by our citizens, and the house was visited by hundreds, anxious to Irani the condition of the gallant soldier. Tbe house was surrounded during the afternot n by citizens of all classes, testifying the high estimation in which he is held here." United Stales and the Haytien Gov ernment. A letter has been received in Boston, from Hayti, dated the 13th of March, which says: "The Haytien Gov ernment had demurred about paying the claim for damages for the illegal impris onment of Captain Mayo, of the Ameri can brig Leander, saying that ail the forms of law had not been complied with. CommoJore Parker of the Sarsnac. re plied that the remarks of the Minister we.e totally unsatisfactory, and asked a decisive answer, whether the money would be paid or not. Three days elap sing without any answer, the Ccmmi sioner made a second demand, limiiing the hour that he would wait for an answer." The lime had not elapsed when th letter was writien. O.htr let ters state that the Emperor's Government, protest against this claim for damages, saying that nothing more was dene in this case than the laws if the country do manded. Massachusetts. The Governor ha signed the plurality election bill, which has etTect on the present election, so that in these districts where there is now n" choice a plurality will elect at the nest attempt. Summary Punishment. The way they do thi-igs in California. The PuCw.0 News has the follow. ng : "A man was d.scovered on the bank.cf the river two miles this side of Nicolaus. who had been shot through the heart. On the collar of his coat was pinned the following: caught this damned rascal stealing ?ny mules and J shot him . Ths dead mm was not rco-gnucd." hi til
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers