7
A
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" WE GO WHERE DEIdCCEATIC P8IHCIPLES POINT THE WAY ; WHET THEY CEASZ TO LEAD, w CEASE TO FOLLOW."
volume nil.
EBENSBMG, THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 1852.
NMBflR 43.
II J II III
1113 115 I? 1 III
TUe Room of the Household.
.BT E. COOK.
There's a room 1 love dearly the sanctum of
bliss,
Tint holds all the comforts least like to miss ;
Where, like ants in a hillock, we run in and
Where sticks grace the corners, and hats lie a
bout ;
W here no idlers dare come to annoy or annue
With their "morning call" budget and scanda
lous news ;
'Tis the room of the household the sacredly
free "
Tis the room of the household that's dearest to
me !
The romp mav be fearlessly carried on there,
For the bijouterie rubbish solicits our care ;
Ml things are as meet for the hand as the eye,
And patch work and scribbling unheeded may
Clack Toni may be perched on the sofa or chairs,
He may stretch his sharp talons or scatter his
hairs; .
Wet boots may "come in," and the ink-drop
For theoom of the household is "liberty hall."
There is something unpleasant in company days
When saloons are dressed out for Terpsichore's
maze ;
When the graceful Mazourka and Weippert-led
band
Leave the plain country-dance peopled all at a
stand.
There's more mirth in the jig and the amateur s
strum ;
When parchment-spread battledoor serves as a
drum :
When Apollo and Momus together unite,
Till the household room rings with our laughing
delight.
Other rooms 'may be thickly and gorgeously
stored
With your Titians, Nurrillos, Salvator, and
"Claude,
But the Moreland and Wilkie that hang on the
wall
Of the family parlor outvalue them all,
The gay ottomans, claiming such special regard,
Are exceedingly fine, but exceedingly hard ;
They may serve for tke state purposes but go
if you'pleasc,
To the household room cushions for comfort and
ease.
And the book shelves where tomes of all sizes
are spread,
Not placed to be looked at, but meant to be
read ;
All defaced and benumbed, and I would not be
sworn
Cut some volumes, perchance the most precious,
ai-e torn.
There's the library open, but if your heart
yearns,
As all human hearts must, for the song of a
Burns,
Or ihe tale of a Vicar, that ever rich gem.
You must go to the room of the household for ,
them.
'lis the shadiest place, when the blacing sun
flings
Ilis straight rays on the rose and the butterfly's
wings ;
For the first beams of morning are all that dare
peep
Through the windows, where myrtle and eglan
tine creep.
Happy faces assemble, with cheerful salute,
When the summer meal tempts with its cream
and its fruit ;
But the boards's not so merry, the meal s not so
sweet
If 'tis out of the room of the household we
meet.
And that room is the one that is sought by us
still, .
W hen the night-clouds of winter brink darkness
and chill, ' .
W hen the ramblers return from their toil or their
play,
And tell o'er the news and the deeds of the
day ;
When the favored old dog takes his place on the
rug,
Curled up in the fire-light all warmly and
snug ;
While the master sit3 nodding before the bright
flame
Till the hound snores aloud and the Squire does
the same.
I have wandered far off over "moor land and
lea ;"
O'er the fairest of earth, and the bluest of sea ;
It was health that I sought ; but, alas ! I could
find
The pursuit was in -vain while my heart looked
behind ;
The room of the household had bound with a
spell,
And I know not till then that I loved it so well,
'Take me back to that room," was my prayer
and my cry,
"Or my languishing spirit will sicken and die !"
There was light in my eye, when I Baw the green
woof
,0f old elm trees, half screening the turretted
roof ;
I grew strong as I passed o'er the daisy-girt
track,
And the Newfoundland sentinel welcomed me
back ;
But the pulse of my joy was most warmly sin
cere When I met the old faces familiar and dear ;
When I lounged in the 4 -household room," taking
my rest,
" th a tinge on my cheek, and content in my
breast.
R&An old toper chancing to drink a glass of
water, yesterday, for want of something strong
er, smacked his lips and turned to one of his
companions, remarking : "Why, it don't taste
badly. I Lave no doubt 'tis wholesome for fe
males and tender children."
TIIK MIDNIGHT MOW Kit.
A MEXICAN STOBT.
One morning in the summer of 1814, a party
of four individuals left the little town of Pucua
ro for Tehuacan, in the State of Oaxaca, more
than 200 leagues dissant. At that time travel
ing was attended by more than ordinary risk,
for it was one of the most critical periods in tho
Mexican War of Independence, when the effort
to throw off the Spanish yoke seemed likely to
be defeated, and the fierce passions and animos
ities called into existence by the struggle, had
produced a degree of insecurity highly alarm
ing to timid travelers, and involving positive
danger. The party, however, set out on their
journey ; two of them were women, mother and
daughter, the latter called Luz la Cigarrara,
from her occupation of cigar making a pretty
and sprightly damsel, the belle of the town, and
the object of intense admiration on the part of
the two horsemen by whom she and her parent
were accompanied. Of the men, one was Gam
boa, a daring guerillero of the revolutionary ar
my, the other, Andres Tapia, was better known
as the tfhek-seeker ; each considered him3elf
destin? receive the hand of the maiden at
the artic journey, as a reward for their
vows ff attachment and protection by the way.
Had it not been for the sagacity and prompt
itude of Jhe track-seeker in avoiding the posts
occupied by Spanish troops, and in making de
tours where a direct route was impracticable,
the fate of the party would soon have been de
cided. Night after night, taking advantage of !
the darkness, he led them by paths known only
to himself, until but one more stage lay between
them and their destination. Here they fell in
with an Indian who had halted to feed his hor
ses, and after reposing for a time, were prepar
ing to resume their route, when the cigarrera's
mother, hastily approaching the two men in
r . ' alarm, expressed her desire, as Tehuacan
n?.- , near, to finish the journey by daylight.
And why so ?" asked the track-seeker, great
ly surprised.
"Why," answered the lady, making the sign
of the cress, "our entertainer, the Indian says
that last night he saw the Midnight Mower, and
that wc shall most likely see him mowing the
field of alfalfa (lucerne) by moonlight, with his
great shears. By all the saints in heaven !" she
continued, trembling with fear, "the sight of
him would make me die of fright."
"Well !ind if we do see him? rejoined And
res ; the Midnight Mower never harms any one.
The traveler whose horse is tired, is very glad
to meet with gra.ss of Lis mowing. So there's
no danger, and we might come upon something
in the daytime much more terrible than a night
adventure. I can't answer for you by day
light." This consideration prevailed, and the party
having mounted, betook themselves once more
to the route. The belief in the Midnight Mow
er is cue of the old superstitions accredited in
the State of Oaxaca, where it is reported, that
at the commencement of the conquest an event
dishonored by 60 many cruelties a Spanish
cavalier, who had signalized himself by his fe
rocity towards the natives, riding one day at full
speed, inquired of an Indian whom he saw mow
ing lucerne in a field "Halo ! amigo, hew soon
will this pace take me to Oaxaca?"
"Never !" was the answer; and as it turned
out, a little further on, the over-ridden horse
died of fatigue. The Spaniard not understand
ing that the Indian meant he would never ar
rive with that horse, returned furious with rage
under the impression that a spell had been cast
(upon the animal, and killed the native with a
thrust of his sword. The last murder put the
finishing-stroke to his iniquities; he disappear
ed the same evening, condemned, as the Indians
say, to mow lucerne eternally, in order to terri
fy those who would maltreat them. "
The travelers kept on their way in silence:
another hour or two, and they would emerge
from the by-path upon the main road to Tehua
can when suddenly two pistol shots were heard
in quick succession followed by the galloping of
a horse, from which, as it approached the par
ty, a Spanish soldier fell dead to the ground.
The track-6eeker gazed intently forward into
the gloom. 4 'Those two-pistol-shots," he said,
"gave the same sound, they were both loaded
by the same hand, and with equal measures of
powder, and the same hand fired both. Now 1
hear only the clash of swords ; it is evident that
some one is to be disarmed, and taken alive ; I
hear him cry for help ; he is a foreigner."
Andres darted off at a gallop in the direction
of the sounds, and Gamboa was preparing to
follow, when the cries of the duenr. held him
back ; "Maria Santissama !" she exclaimed, "you
are not going to leave us alone ?"
The guerillero remained ; meantime the voice
renewed its cries for succor. The track-seeker
urged his horse the more, and fortunately the
soft sand deadened the sound of the hoofs, and
it was without being perceived that he became
aware of three soldiers stooping over a man ly
ing on the ground and binding him with cords.
He fell upon them unexpected. It was too late
when they attempted to put themselves on the
defensive. They were three Spanish dragoons,
a sufficient reason to Andres for not waiting to
consider whether he was wrong or right; in
them he saw only enemies, and a poor wretch
yielding to fheir number, and with two shots of
his pistols he brought down two of the aggress
ors, ready to come to an explanation afterwards
with the third. But the Spaniard flew to his
horse, and plied the spurs so desperately that
in a minute he was out of sight.
The track-seeker, remaining master of the
field, hastened to liberate the captive from his
bounds, and seizing the horse belonging to one
of the vanquished dragoons, placed the rein in
the hands of the stranger, who sprang lightly
into the saddle. Luz murmured v. fervent
thanksgiving as she saw them approach. The
individual who had been so happily rescued was
an Englishman, named Robinson.
"Thanks," he said to Andres, "you have ren
dered a more important service to your coun
try's cause and to -General Teran, than you
might imagine ;" and after this formal acknowl
edgement in mysterious terms, he shut himself
up in imperturbable silence.
A few miles further, the calvacade were at
last about to see the houses of Tehuacan in the
moonlight, when the track-seeker, pointing with
his finger, indicated a sight to hi3 companions
that sent a shudder of horror through their
veins.
In a field adjoining the road, amidst a thick
carpet of alfalfa, across which the moon tnrew
the shadow of a few pale-leaved olive trees,
they saw a man bending over the ground, and
mowing, or pretending to mow the herbage a
round him. An old gray, felt hat, looped rp
behind, and ornamented with a long feather,
concealed his features, while a shirt with puffed
sleeves, and short pantaloons tight at the hips,
gave him a resemblance to the old portraits by
Murillo, of the time of the conquest.
The travelers were, however, too much agita
ted to look with composure on this singular ap
parition cf the Midnight Mower. The two
blades of his huge shears shone between his
hands in the moonlight, as be opened andreclo
sel them without noise ; and when-a 6warth of
lucerne fell at his feet, it seemed that he search
"e'T in his pocket and then" described a "mysteri
ous half circle "in the. air, with outstretched
hand.
After that, he again went on with his shear?,
and ever as before the alfalfa fell beneath Lis
strokes.
It seemed for n moment, in the pale light of
the moon, that the track-seeker turned pale;
but his expanding nostril and the fro of his eye
showed that if fear had taken possession ofhim,
it was at least not to the detriment of his infal
liable sagacity.
"JIadre di Dies"' he said in & low voice, it's
the Midnight Mower!"
"Indeed!" answered the Erglishman, who
comprehended nothing of the seite of his words.
The track-seeker shook his hind, and made
no reply; but motioning to his companions to
remain still, he slid quietly from lis saddle and
threw the bridle to Gamboa. I
"What are you going to do?" aicd Luz, ter
rified. '
"Hush!" he answered; the next moment he
was seen creeping behind the bush which bor
dered the road, until he fouud himJelf in a line
parallel with the mower. The roacjwas hollow
and the ground on'either side on i level with
the heads of the travelers, so that by a 'little
precaution they could see all that tok place on
the slope, without being observed. Hvhilc An
dres, from the place of his concealaent, kept
his eye fixed on the mower, the lattei again in
terrupted his labor to describe the stunge cir
cle in the air. Then, in a low and stiled voice,
he was heard to hum some mysteriout chorus
of the other world. '
All at once the track-seeker disappeared ; at
the same moment the mower became avisible
in the shadow, and behind the trunk of a tree,
and nothing more was seen but the eilfct field
and swaths of dewy herbage.
Robinson being altogether ignorant ofyie le
gend, remained perfectly unmoved; presently
Andres came back with a slow and meaured
step, and said, as he took his horse's brii, "I
did wrong not to take my rifle with me ; I simld
now know what to think of it."
"Of what use are balls against phantors ?"
retorted the guerillero, in a low tone. 'Did
you not see how thi3 one disappeared, in E4te
of all your precautions and skill ?"
"Ah ! if I had but time I could follow on ys
trail, even if he were a spirii; of the air ; butto
stop here would bo exposing ourselves to shi
wreck in sight of port, for in a few minutes
shall see the towers of Tehuacan." As he sal
this, Andres remounted his horse, and the par
ty rode onwards at a pace that made up for los
time. The track-seeker, however, remained si
lent and seemed to be deeply absorbed in!
thought.
"You do not believe, then, in the Midnight
Mower ?'i said Luz. interrupting his meditations.
"It is a mower of flesh and bone as we !" re-
plied Andres. "But what was he really doing
there!"
" rer Dios Vr answered the guerillero," he was
mowing ; accomplishing his eternal expiation.
Did you not remark the hat with the feather, in
the fashion of three hundred yoars ago !'
"It ia playing a part," rejoined the track
seeker, "and when any one plays a part, he al
ways tries to take a right costume ; but . why
this tomedy ? that is what I say to myself. I
will kacw," he exclaimed, "what this man or
this pXantom was doing ! In an hour's time
you wibe safe in Tehuacan ; I shall be there
two hour after you." "And deaf to the remon
strances of the two women and Gamboa,. who
continued to see a supernatural apparition in
the Midnight Mower, the track-seeker retraced
his steps at a gallop, and soon disappeared a
second time. Shortly afterwards, the party
drew near to tie town j a few minutes more and
all danger wouli be over, when a troop of twen
ty soldiers who iad just issued from their gate,
stopped their way. Day was beginning to dawn
and the nets which each rider carried showed
that they were out in search of forage. Such
in fact was their design. The leader of the de
tachment questioed the travelers ; and in tho
dragoon's horse, still mounted by Robinson he
saw confirmation of the report furnished by
Gamboa, to reply to his questions.
After this incident, the cavalcade entered Te
huacan without farther interruption or delay.
While they are seeking quarters, we may say a
few words respecting the stranger who had come
so unexpectedly into their company. Robinson
was owner of a considerable freight of muskets
on board of a brig anchored outside the bar of
the Goazacalcos, atd had sailed with the inten
tion of selling them to the first customer, royal
ist or insurgent. He had fallen in with a Span
ish coTtmandant, who, after hearing and agree-
J ing to Lis propositions, contrived a scheme for
obtaining possession of the cargo of arms with
out payment. The Englishmen was thereupon
seized, shut up in prison, and given to under
stand that the price of his liberty would be an
orier for the delivery of the muskets a practi
cal illustration of might makes right against
waich he, remonstrated vigorously but in vain.
Hobinaon then bethought himself of the insur
gent General Teran, and bribed his keepers to
let hin escape. They feigned compliance, and
received the stipulated sum ; but the prisoner
hnl GAefcly left the fwt iL'.n4. iW tfcoy at
tempted to recapture him, and would have suc
ceeded, but for the happy intervention of And
res, as has been related.
Notwithstanding his recent elevation, the in
surgent chief was accessible at all hours, as well
by nigit as by day. Robinson took no further
time tlan tolodge his horse at the pasado, to
eat a-nouthfuL and at the moment that the bu
gles sounded the reville, he presented himself at
the gates ef the palace, ne was at once admit
ted, and found himself face to face with a young
man, whose visage denoted at once distinction,
affability and high inielligence. It was the in
dependent general, Don Manuel de Mierey Te
ran ; lie was seated before a paper covered with
papers and maps, for the business of the day
had already commenced. Cash was 4lien plen
tiful with the revolutionary leader, and he re
ceived Robinson's offer of the freight of muskets
with the greatestbsatisfaction. They were set
tling the terms of the purchase, when a noise
was heard in the quare outside, where the ris
ing 6un shone on two regiments encamped in
the open air for wapt of barracks. The general
approached tho window to see the cause of the
disturbance.
"Ah," said he, "our foragers they have
come back still more abundantly laden than yes
terday ; but what does that man want with
them?"
"That man," answered the Englishman, is
Andres Tabia, the track-seeker. It is he who
rescued me so bravely from the hands of the
Spaniards, and if your cause triumphs by the
aid of the arms I supply you with, it is to that
man your thanks will be due."
Andres was gesticulating and speaking vehe
mently, but his words were answered by laugh
ter. "If it please you to listen to him," said
Robinson to the general. "I am convinced you
will be of his opinion."
"Well, we will see," replied the chief, and he
ordered the track-seeker to be admitted. The
latter cried as soon as he entered. "Will it
please your excellency (vueza ezentia) to give or
ders to bum, asjjquickly as possible, all the fo
rage that your men have just brought in ?"
"And why, if you please?"
. "Because our enemies use all sorts of arms
against us, and they have profited by a super
stition believed all over our province, to poison
the forage supposed to be cut by the Midnight
Mower, and of which the quality is not suspec
ted. This 'forage, I say, will cost us the horses
of a whole regiment."
Andres seemed persuaded of the fact. The
general, therefore, gave orders for a temporary
sequestration of the forage too rare to be light-
ly sacrificed until a worn-out horse had been
'.fed with the lucerne, and the result ascertained.
The ordcr was obeyed.
"So," said the guerillero to the trackseeker,
fcben they found
themselves alone,
"this Mid-
light Mower "
"Was only a knave who played tho part that
lid been marked out for him, but who was not
lever enough for a match with me."
"Then he confessed that the forage was poia-
oed!"
"Ho did not tell me a word about it; wo only
spoke of the fine weather and the late rains,"
answered Andres, as he finished taking the bri
dle o3 his horse.
"And did that satisfy you ?"
"Caramba, I have guessed thr thoughts of
many a man from fewer words than those. I
had watched him for some tame without Lis see
ing me, and when I accosted him, I already
knew what to expect. Friend, I eaid I am sent
as extraordinary courier to tho commandant of
Fort Villegas, on a message of life or death ;
my horse is dead beat, and if you will let me
take a bundle of lucerne, it will set hfm up a
gairf ; otherwise the fort will be taken. I fore
saw the answer : the Mower said that my horse
would arrive much sooner if he fed elsewhere
because because the lucerne was green, and
damp with the night due. Very well, I replied,
I carry off a fool's hat. So saying, I snatched
his masquerading beaver from hia head, and he
had not recovered from his astonishmsBit, when
I galloped on to overtake you, and to oonvince
you that the Midnight Mower ia only a man em
ployed to poison the fields of alfalfa in the neigh
borhood of the insurgent post. In half an hours
time we will go and see how the horse ia that
has eaten the forage."
The event confirmed in every point the asser
tions of the track-seeker. The poor animal
died in convulsions produced by the poison,
and soon a huge. fire had destroyed-the- last
stalks of the lucerne, which, but for Andres,
would have been fatal to the cavalry of General
Teran.
Whig Slander Silenced.
The following letter which originally appear
ed in the Boston Courier, (a paper thoroughly
Whig in all its politcal affinities,) would cause
the blush of shame to mantle tho cheeks of the
Whig editors and stump orators, if from any
cause they could be brought to such a cpndition.
The Courier introduced this letter to its readers
by saying : The following letter from Col.
Smith, of New Hampshire, a gentleman who
rendered distinguished services to tha Americans
in Mexico, during the invasion of that country
by- c-ir -troops bd3 Ifven presented to us for pub
lication :" ,
Gilmaktok, N. II., June 21, 1852.
You are probably aware that at the commence
ment of the war with Mexico, I had been more
than fifteen years a resident of the AztecB. Du
ring the war, I was twice expelled from the'eity
the suspicions of the government having been
awakened and its displeasure incurred in con
sequence of the manner in which I treated Ma
jor Gaines, Major Borland, and other Encarna-
cion prisoner s. Immediately after the second
order for my expulsion, desiring to control my
own movements, I made my escape, passed the
mountains in two nights, on horse having bribed
a famous guerf ilia chief, Cdlin, who accompan
ied me with five of his desperate associates. I
carried despatches from to Gen. Scott,
(then at ruebla,) which I delivered at four
o'clock in the morning, and afterwards continu
ed with that noble commander, he availing him
self of my minute knowledge of the cotrntry,
until I again entered the city with the Americans:
frived at Puebla two days before Gen. Pierce's
brigade arrived there and never was prouder
of my country, and never so proud of my na
tive State, as when that fine command marched
into the city. All balconies were crowded, and
such a reinforcement spread general joy through
the army. The circumstances of the march, the
energetic, prudent, and skilful manner in which
it had beed performed the daring courage
manifested by the commander, particularly in
crossing the National Bridge, when his hat was
shot from his head, were of course the subjects
of much conversation, and secured for Gen.
rierce high admiration and entire confidence.
And these, I may safely say, were never abated
during the campaign.
I do not propose to give you details of that
campaign, but testate some fact3 within my own
knowledge in relation to the operations of the
10th and 20th of August, and the 8th of Sep
tember. On the 19th of August, I was in St.
Augustine, about 7 miles from Contreras.
Pierce's brigade marched out early to open the
road across the mountain, for the artillery which
followed that Afternoon. I did not see General
Pierce again till near noon the next day. I had
been with Gen. Scott's 6taff all the ; morning of
the 20th, and had heard of the dangerous inju
ry Gen. Pierce had sustained by the fall of his
horse on. the Pedregal, the afternoon before.
The horse was supposed to have caught his fore
foot in the cleft of a rock, being at a hard gal
lop. The preservation of the life of tho Gener
al, seems here, as at the National Bridge, to
have been Providential. Although the bones of
the horse were broken, so that he was left upon
the spot, the tenacity with which the rider held
to the command during that day and the next,
was the wonder of all. He rode, during the
residue of that evening, the horse of the gallant
Lieut. Johnson, who had just been shot in his
saddle.
I met General Tierce on the 20th, near Cova
con. General Twigg's division had advanced
on the road towards tho church at Cherubusco,
and when I met Pierce the heavy firing of the
, batteries had opened. I shall never forget his
appearance as he rode at the head of that noble
brigade destined to suffer so terribly in the af
ternoon, ne was exceedingly thin, wora down
by fatigue and pain of the day and night before
and then evidently suffering severely. Stilly,
there waa a glow in his eye as the cannon boon-r
ed, that showed witbin him a spirit ready for
the conflict. .
The brigade was soon formed on the west alia
of the plaza of Coyacon, opposite to the churth.
I was famaliar with all the roads and paths in
that neighborhood, and Informed Gss. Scott
who was in his saddle, under a tree near tho
Church, from which he was issuing orders to
different members of his etaff that I knew u
route by which the enemy could he attacked la
the rear. Having decided at once to se& J .
Pierce's brigade, and support it by other troops
that might be at Lis command, he despatch i-J
me to call Gen. Pierce. I did so ; and when
I did so ; and when he rode up, a conversation..
in substance, and as near as I can recollect, ia
tiio following words took place :
uen. Bcott said, "Pierce, my dear fellow, you
are badly injured ; you are not fit to be in your
saddle." 'Yes, I am," said Pierce, "i casa
like thia." Gen. Scott said. "It is temrit7.
.
shall loose you, and cannot spare you. I ouh
to order you back to St. Augustine. You can
not touch your foot to the 6tirrup." "I can,
one of them," said Pierce, "and that is enough,
for to-day. This will be the last great fight, end
I must lead my brigade." The order was then
given, I acting as guide by the direction of Gen.
Scott, Maj. Lee, of tfie Engineer Corps, accom
panying the command. The brigade eotI
rapidly forward for about a mile, when we caa
to a ditch, as I recollect, ten or twelve feet wide,
and six or eight deep. Tierce was lifted" from
his saddle, and as if he could tread upon im
possibUities, he led the brigade, then under r,
in his crippled condition, for a considerabla dis
tance on foot, when he fell from exhaustaiion
and suffering, too great even for his energies.
He refuted to be carried from the field, and rcviai?t
ed until the final rout of the enemy, More inflex
ible determination and daring, courage, I do not be
lieve, vat ever exhibited upon a battle field.
- On the night before the battle of Molino Del
Rey, Gen. Pierce's brigade waa at the HacienJ
of San Borjia about one mile from .Tabobaya,
where it had been held from earliest dawn under
arms. You know how Gen. Worth's most gal
lant division suffered. The carnage on the el J
was dreadful. Gen. Scott despatched me to ac
company my friend Major Gaines with an order
for Pierce tq advance. They were ready on the
instant, and moved rapidly forward. I was oa
the field and witnessed Pierce's fine movemei.t
upon.the King's Mill, to relieve Garland, who
had been fighting till that hour. He advanced
with the 9th Infantry (and as I recollect, 2d Ar
tillery not of his brigade proper.) The enemy,
whose fire had nearly ceased, upefh tho move
ment of these new regiments, reopened with
round shot and shell from Chepultepec. I well
remember that the bay horse that the General
took from the States, became under fire, difficult
to manage ; and was well nigh plunging over a
precipice close by the King's Mill at the Bridge,
in consequence on the bursting of a shell but
few feet from him. Nothing could have been
more cool and admirable than this whole move
ment.
I made the acquaintance of General rierce
thousands of miles from our native land, under
circumstances that "tried men's souls." I found
him there, what all know him to be here, and I
cannot withhold this act of justice from one,
who has as brave a heart, and as self-sacrificing
a spirit, as everwarmed a true man's bosom.
I know Gen. Pierce needs no vindication of hi
military conduct. His merit in this respect is
proclaimed by the united voice of officers and
men those who participated and who know.
But at the same time he may not be displeased
with these hasty reminiscences from me. I hare
been so long from the country, that I feel tut
little interest in mere party conflicts.
i Your obedient servant,
NOAH E. SMITH.
Greclr ou Scott In 1S4S.
The N . Y .Mirror says that in a letter to a
politician in the interior of New York, previous -to
tha appointment of delegates to the National
Convention in 1848, Horace Greely WTote in
this wise :
"Send a delegate to the Convention, if you
can, for Clay ; if not for Clay, for Corwiq ; if
not for Corwin,- for Seward ; if not for Seward,
for Taylor. But last of all Scott. Scott is e
vain, conceited, coxcomb of a man. His brains,
all that he has, are in his epaulettes, and if he,
should be elected President, he would tear the
whig party into tatters in less than six months. "
Black llalu.
On Friday morning, says the ."Kilkenny Mo
derator,' (Ireland,) between six and seven o'clock
a heavy shower, which lasted for upwards of
twenty minutes, fejl over the city and a consid
erable district adjoining. The rain proved, up
on examination, to have been of almost an inky
blackness, ind had all the appearance of being
impregnated with soot or charcoal. In the last
year of the cholera we were visited by a similar
shower, and in -the popular superstitions the
appearance of that dreadful disease was large
ly attributed to the circumstance.
IT
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