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i - , ! . ' . y' - * . n" : ' * ' < : .-.j-v ? *>. " ..*> *1 A" - ? ' *V ' ' , ' ?* . if ' - '' > -'%,<> / * 1 ? i ' V .. . <?; ' v 1 ... j ?| I?[?^ f ' ~ sAMNTLwMIwpr^,M [proprietor" in Independent Journal: For tie Promotion of the Political, Social, Agricutural and Commercial Interests of the South. |lewism.oeisi.pabiiaer.' * VOL. 3: : , ;,V """ YOBKVILLE, S. P., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1856.' ~KO. 6, . folfal. . smTESTill SB. j The subjoined message from the President of the United States, was transmitted to both houses of Congress, on Thursday, in relation to the Kansas question: To the Senate and, House of Representatives: Circumstances have occurred to disturb the course o* governmental organization in the Territory of Kansas, and produce there a condition of things which renders it incumbent on me to call your attention to the subject, and urgently to recommend the adoption by you of such measures of legislation as the grave exigencies of the case appear to require. A brief exposition of the circumstances rep ferred to, and of their causes, will be necessary to the full understanding of the recommendations which it is proposed to submit. The act to organize the Territories of Nebraska and Kansas was a manifestation of the legislative opinion of Congress on two great points of constitutional construction; one, that the designation of the boundaries of a new Terlitory, and provision for its political organization and administration as a Territory, are measures which of right fall within the powers of the general government; and the other, that the inhabitants of any such Territory considered as an inchoate State are entitled, in the exercise of self-government, to determine for themselves what shall be their own domestic institutions, subject only to the constitution and the laws duly enacted by Congress under it, aud to the power of the existing States to decide according to the provisions and principles of the constitution, at what time the Territory shall be received as a State into the Union. Such are the ? 1 ??1 ? ' ?k?U?A?/\ Amnl rr great JXJlHluai ngJW nua-u arc nuicmuij ?sclared and affirmed by that act. | Based upon this theory, the act of Congress ' defined for each Territory the outlines of republican government, distributing public authority among lawfully created agents?executive, judicial and legislative?to be appointed either by the general government or by the Territory. The legislative functions were intrusted to a council and a House of Representatives duly elected and empowered to enact all the local laws which they might deem, essential to their prosperity, happiness and good government ? Acting in the same spirit, Congress also defined the persons who were in the first instance to be considered as the people of each Territory; enacting that every free white male inhabitant of the same above the age of twenty-one years, being an actual resident thereof, and possessing thequalificationshereafter described, should be entitled to vote at the first election, and be eligible to any office within the Territory; but that the qualifications of voters and holding office at all subsequent elections should be such as might be prescribed by the legislative as. sembly: Provided, however, that the right of I suffrage and of holding office should be exercif sed only by citizens of the United States, and tVUi7C VI i?|? ***?? ivgiciutnc u^vuiuij met on the 16th of January, 1S55, the organization of Kansas was long delayed, and lias been attended with serious difficulties and embarrassments, partly the consequence of local mal-administration, and partly of the unjustifiable interference of the inhabitants of some of the States foreign by residence, interests and rights to the Territory. The governor of the Territory of Kansas, commissioned, as before stated, on the 29th of June, 1854, did not reach the designated seat of his government until the 7th of the ensuing October j and even then failed to make the first step in its legal organization?that of ordering the census or enumeration of its inhabitants? until so late a day that the election of the members of the legislative assembly did not take place until the 30th of March, 1855, nor its meeting until the second of July, 1855. So that, for a year after the Territory was constituted by the act of Congress, and the officers I to be appointed by the Federal Executive had been commissioned, it was without a complete government, witnout any legislative authority, without local law, and of course without the ordinary guarantees of peace and public order. those who should have declared on oatn tneir intention to become such, and have taken an oath to support the constitution of the United States and the provisions of the act: And provided, farther, that no officer, soldier, seaman, or marine, or otherpersons in the army or navy of the United States, or attached to troops in their servioe, should be allowed to vote or hold office in either Territory by reason of being on service therein. Such of the public officers of the Territories as, by the provisions of the act, were to be appointed by the general government, including the governors, were appointed and commissioned in due season; the law having been enacted on the 30th of May, 1854, and the commission of the governor of the Territory of Nebraska being dated on the 2d day of August, 1854, and of the Territory of Kansas on the 29th day of June, 1854. Among the duties imposed by the act on the 1 governors was that of directing and superin" tending the political organization of the respective Territories. The governor of Kansas was required to cause a census of enumeration nf fVio inViaViitanfc on/t rmulitiorl vnfnro nf tVio several counties and districts of the Territory to be taken, by such persons and in such mode as he might designate and appoint; to appoint and direct the time and places of holding the first elections, and the manner of conducting them, both as the persons to superintend such elections and the returns thereof; to declare the number of the members of the Council and House of Representatives for each county or district; to declare what persons might appear to be duly elected ; and to appoint the time and place of the first meeting of the legislative assembly. In substance, the same duties were devolved on the governor of Nebraska. While, by this act, the principle of costitution for each of the Territories was one and the same, and the details of organic legislation regarding both were as nearly as could be iden[ tical, and the Territory of Nebraska was tranquilly and successfully organized in the due r\f lottf orirl ifa firot lnrriclofirn QoaomKlr ?n-n 7!H*'''- -BC3?p>tiwii i ra In other respects, the Governor, instead of exercising constant vigilance and putting forth all his energies to prevent or counteract the tendencies to illegality, which are prone to exist in all imperfectly organized and newly associated communities, allowed his attention to be diverted from official obligation by other objects, and himself set an example of the violation of the laws in the performance of acts which rendered it my duty,, in the sequel, to remove him from the office of chief executive magistrate of the Territory. Before the requisite preparation was accomplished for the election of a territorial Legislature, and election of delegate to Congress had Koon TipM in fhp. Terrifcorv on the 29th of No I ? J ? vembcr, 1854, and the delegate took hisseatin the House of Representatives withoutchallenge. If arrangements had been perfected by the Governor so that the election for members of the legislative assembly might be held in the several precincts at the same time as for delegate to Congress, any question appertaining to the qualification of the persons voting as people of the territory, would have passed necessarily and at once under the supervision of Congress, as the judge of the validity of the return of the delegate, and would have been determined before conflicting passions had become inflamed b} time, and before opportunity could have been afforded for systematic interference of the people of individual States. This interference, in so far as concerns its primary causes and its immediate commencement, was one of the incidents of that pernicious agitation on the subject of the condition of the colored persons held to service in some of the States, which has so long disturbed the repose of our country, and excited individuals, otherwise patriotic and law-abiding, to toil with misdirected zeal in the attempt to propagate their social theories by the perversion and abuse of the powers of Congress. The persons i .1 ?a? 1-? ii. A r iL . ^ ana tne parries wnoin me tenor ox me aei iu organize the Territoriesof Nebraska and Kansas, thwarted in the endeavor to impose, through the agency of Congress, their particular views of social organization on the people of the future new States, now perceiving that the policy of leaving the inhabitants of each State to judge for themselves in this respect was iueradicably rooted in the convictions of the people of the UnioD, then had recourse, in the pursuit of their general object, to the extraordinary measure of propagandist colonization of the Territory of Kansas, to prevent the free and natural action of its inhabitants in its internal organization, and thus to anticipate or to force the determination of that question in this inchoate State. With such views, associations were organized in some of the States, and their purposes were proclaimed through the press in language extremely irritating and offensive to those oi whom the colonists were to become the neighbors. Those designs and acts had the necessary consequences to awaken emotions of intense indignation in States near to the Territory ol Kansas, and especially in the adjoining State of Missouri,* whose domestic peace was thus the most directly endangered ; but they are fax from iuRtifvin.or the ilWnl and renrehensible ? ? j j?0 c: r counter-movements which ensued. Under these inauspicious circumstances, the primary elections for members of the legislative assembly were held in most, if not all, of the precincts at the time and the places, and bj the persons designated and appointed by the Governor according to law. Angry accusations that illegal votes had beer polled abounded on all sides, and imputations were made both of fraud and violence. Bui the governor, in the exercise of the power and the discharge of the duty conferred and imposed by law on him alone, officially received anc considered the return ; declared a large ma jority of the members of the Council and the House of Representatives "duly elected;" with held certificates from others because of alleged illegality of votes; appointed a new election to supply the place of the persons not certified and thus at length, in all the forms of statm and with his own official authentication, coin plete legality was given to the first legislative assembly of the Territory. Those decisions of the returning officers and of the governor are final, except that, by the parliamentary usage of the country applied tc the organic law, it may be conceded that eact house of the assembly must have been competent to determine, in the last resort, the qualifications and the election of its members. The subject was, by its nature, one appertaining exclusively to the jurisdiction of the local authorities of the Territory. "Whatever irregularities may have occurred in the elections, il seems too late now to raise that question. A1 all events, it is a question as to which, neithei now, nor at any previous time, has the least possible legal authority been possessed by the President of the United States. For all present purposes the legislative body, thus consti tuted and elected, was the legitimate assembl) of the Territory. Accordingly, the governor, by proclamation ' convened the assembly thus elected to meet a: ' a place called Pawnee city; the two houses mei ! and were duly organized in the ordinary par i lianientary form ; each sent to, and receivec | lroiu the governor, the official communication! | usual on such occasions; an elaborate messngt I opening the session was communicated by th< governor; and the general business of legis lation wa3 entered upon by legislative assem bly. But, after a lew days, the assembly re3olvec to adjourn to another place in the Territory. A law was accordingly passed, against the con sent of the governor, but iu due form other wise, to remove the seat of government tempo rarily to the "Shawnee Manual Labor School,' or Mission, and thither the assembly proceed ed. After this, receiving a bill for the estab lishment of a ferry at the town of Kickapoo the governor refused to sign it, and, by specie message, assigned for reason of refusal, not auy thing objectionable in the bill itself, nor an] pretence of the illegality or incompetency o: the assembly as such, but only the fact that th< assembly had by its act transferred the seat o government temporarily from Pawnee city t< Shawnee Mission. For the same reason h< continued to refuse to sign other bills, until, ir the course of a few days, he, by official message, communicated to the assembly the fact that he had received notification of the termination of his functions as governor, and that the duties of the office were legally devolved ou the secretary of the Territory; thus to the last recognizing the body as a duty elected and constituted legislative assembly. It will be perceived that, if any constitutional defect attached to the legislative acts of the assembly, it is not pretended to consist in irregularity of election, or want of qualification of the members, but only in the change of its place of session. However trivial this objection mav seem to be. it reauires to be considered, A because upon it is founded all that superstructure of acts, plaiuly against law, which now threatens the peace, not only of the Territory of Kansas, but of the Union. Such an objection to the proceedings of the legislative assembly was of exceptionable origin, for the reason that by the express terms of the organic law, the seat of government of the Territory was "located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth," and yet the governor himself remained there less than two months, and of his own discretion transferred the scat of government to the Shawnee Mission, where it in fact was at the time the assembly were called to meet at Pawnee city. If the governor had any such right to change temporarily the seat of government, still more had tbe legislative assembly. The objection is of exceptionable origin, for the further reason that the place indicated by the governor, without having any exclusive claim of preference in itself, was a proposed town Bite only, which he and others were attempting to locate unlawfully upon the land within a military reservation, and for participation in which illegal act the commandant of the post?a superior officer of the army?has been dismissed by sentence of court martial, i Nor is it easy to see why the iegistative as, sembly might not, with propriety, pass the territorial act transferring its sittings to the Shawnee Mission. If it could not, that must be on i account of some prohibitory or incompatible provision of act of Congress. But no such provision exists. The organic act, as already quoted, says "the seat of government is hereby located temporarily at Fort Leavenworth," and it then provides that certain of the public buildings there "may be occupied and used under the direction of the governor and legislative assembly." .These expressions might possibly be construed to imply that when in a previous section of the act it was enacted that "the first legislative assembly shall meet at such place and on such day as the governor shall appoint," the word "place" means place | at Fort Leavenworth, not place any where in ' * m * T/? .1 1 J 1 | me Territory, n so, tne governor wouia nave i been the first to err in this matter, not only in himself having 'removed the seat of govem. ment to the Shawnee Mission, but in again removing it to Pawnee city. If there was any , departure from the letter of law, therefore, it ? was his in both instances. i But, however this may be, it is most unreas sonable to suppose that by the terms of the organic act Congress intended to do implicitly s what, it has not done expressly?that is, to forbid the legislative assembly the power to choose i any place it might see fit as the temporary seat s of its deliberations. That is proved by the i significant language of one of the subsequent r acts of Congress on the subject?that of March > 3, 1855?which, in making appropriation for public buildings of the Territory, enacts that ( the same shall not be expended "until the Legj islature of said Territory shall have fixed by [. law the permanent seat of goveanment." Con[ gress, in these expressions, does not profess to be granting the power to fix the permanent I seat of government, but recognizes the power as one already granted. But how ? Undoubt; edly by the comprehensive provision of the organic act itself, which declares that "the legI islative power of the territory shall extend to , all rightful subjects of legislation consistent . with the Constitution of the United States and ; the provisions of this act." If, in view of this act, the legislative assembly had the large ; power to fix the permanent seat of government at any place in its discretion, of course by the I same enactment it naa tne jess ana tne included power to fix it temporarily. ( Nevertheless, the allegation that the acts of ! the legislative assembly were illegal by reason of this removal of its place of session, was brought foi ward to justify the first great move, ment in disregard of law within the Territory. r One of the acta of the legislative assembly pro[ vided for the election of a delegate to the present Congress, and a delegate was elected unt der that law. But, subsequently to this, a portion of the people of the Territory proceeded, . without authority of law, to elect another delct g"te> Following upon this movement was another . and more important one of the same general . character. Persons confessedly notconstituting ! the body politic, or all the inhabitants, but merely a party of inhabitants, and without law, have undertaken to summon a convention for i the purpose of transforming the Territory into t a State, and have framed a constitution, adopted it, and under it elected a governor and other [ officers, and a representative to Congress. t In the extenuation of these illegal acts, it is ; I alleged that the States of California, Michigan, i and others, were self-organized, and, as such, . were admitted into the Union without a previ. ous enabling act of Congress. It is true that, while, in a majority of cases, a previous act of 1 Congress has been passed to authorize the TerL ritory to present itself as a State, and that this - is deemed the most regular course, yet such an . act has not been held to be indispensable, and . in some cases, the Territory has proceeded with' out it, and has nevertheless heen admitted into . the Union as a State. It lies with Congress to - authorize beforehand, or to confirm afterwards, , in its discretion ; but in no instance has a 1 State been admitted upon the application of - persons acting against authorities duly consti7 tuted by the act of Congress. In every case f it is the people of the Territory, not a party ; among them, who have the power to form a f constitution, and ask for admission as a State. ) No principle of public law, no practice or prei cedent under the constitution of the United i States, no rule of reason, right, or common sense, confers any such power as that now claimed by a mere party in the Territory. In fact, what has been done is of revolutionary character. It is avowedly so in motive and in aim as respects the local law of the Territory. It will become treasonable insurrection if it reach the length of organized resistance by force to the fundamental or any other federal law, and to the authority of the.general government. In such an event, the path of duty for the Executive is plain. The constitution requiring him to take care that the laws of the United States be faithfully executed, if they be opposed in the Territory of Kansas, he may and should place at the disposal of the Marshal any public force of the United States which happens to be within the jurisdiction, to be used asa portion of the possce comitatus, and if that do not suffice to maintain order, then he may call forth the militia of one or more States for that object, or employ for the same object any part of the land or naval force of the United States. So, also, if the obstruction be to the laws of the Territory, and if it be duly presented to him as a case of insurrection, he may employ for its suppression the militia of any State, or the land or naval force of the United States. And if the Territory be invaded by the citizebsof other States, whether foi the purpose of deciding elections or for anj other, and the local authorities find themselves unable to repel or withstand it, they will be entitled to, and upon the fact being fully ascer tained they shall most certainly receive, the aid of the general government. But it is not the duty of the President o: the United States to volunteer interposition bj force to preserve the purity of elections eithei in a State or Territory. To do so would be subversive of public freedom. And whethei a law be wise or unwise, just or unjust, is no1 a question for him to judge. If it be consti tutional?that is, if it be the law of the lane ?it is his duty to cause it to be executed, oi to sustain the authorities of any State or Ter ritory in executing it in opposition to all insur rectionary movements. Our system affords no jurisdiction of revolu finnorir onto fnr P/inetitntirtnnl moona r\ UVUUi J "WW J IV* VUW VVMV?*HMI>*VUM* MiVMUW v relieving the people of unjust administratioi and laws, by a change of public agents and b; repeal, are ample, and more prompt and effec tive than illegal violence. These constitution al means must he scrupulously guarded?thi great prerogative or popular sovereignty sa credly respected. It is the undoubted fight of the peaceabl and orderly people of the Territory of Kansa to elect their own legislative body, make thei own laws, and regulate their own social insti tutions, without foreign or domestic molesta tion. Interference on the one hand, to pro cure the abolition or prohibition of slave labo in the Territory, has produced mischievous in terference on the other, for its maintenance o introduction. One wrong begets another.? Statements entirely unfounded, or grossly ex aggerated, concerning events within the Ter ritory, are sedulously diffused through remob States to feed the flame of sectional animosit; there; and the agitators there exert themselve indefatigably in return to encourage and stini ulate strifo within the Territory. The imflammatory agitation, of which th< present is but a part, has for twenty years pro duced nothing save unmitigated evil, Nortl and South. Butfor it the character of the do mestic institutions of the future new State woul< have been a matter of too little interest to thi inhabitants of the contiguous States, personal lv or collectivelv. to nroduce among them am political emotion. Climate, soil, production hopes of rapid advancement and the pursuit o happiness on the part the settlers themselves with good wishes, but with no interferenci from without, would have quietly determine* the question; which is at this time of such dis turbing character. But we are constrained to turn our atten tion to the circumstances of embarrassment a they now exist. It is the duty of the peopli of Kansas to discountenance every act or pur pose of resistance to its laws. Above all, th< emergency appeals to the citizens of the States and especially of those contiguous to the Ter ritory, neither by intervention of non-resident in elections, nor by unauthorized militar force, to attempt to encroach upon or usurj the authority of the inhabitants of the Terri tory. No citizen of our country should permi himself to forget that he is a part of its gov ernment and entitled to be heard in the deter mination of its policy and its measures, an* that, therefore, the highest considerations o personal honor and patriotism require him t maintain, by whatever of power or influence he may possess, the integrity of the laws o the republic. Entertaining those views, it will be my im neritive dutv to exert the whole power of thi Federal Executive to support public order ii the Territory to vindicate its laws, whethe federal or local, against all attempts of organ ized resistance; and so to protect its people ii the establishment of their institutions, undis turbed by encroachment from without, and ii the full enjoyment of the rights of self-govern ment assured to them by the constitution an* the organic act of Congress. Although serious and threatening distur bances in the Territory of Kansas, announce* to me by the governor in December last, wen speedily quieted without the effusion of blood and in a satisfactory manner, there is, I re gret to say, reason to apprehend that disorder will continue to occur there, with increasinj tendency to violence, until some decisive mea sure be taken to dispose of the question itself which constitutes the inducement or occasioi of internal agitation and of external interfer ence. .This, it seems to me, can best be accomplish ed by providing- that, when the inhabitants o Kansas may desire it, and shall be of sufficien numbers to constitute a State, a convention o delegates, duly elected by the qualified voters shall assemble to frame a constitution, andthu so prepare, through regular and lawful means for its admission into the Union as a State. I respectfuly recommend the enactment of law to that effect. I recommend, also, that a special appropri ation be made to defray the expeuse which may become requisite in the execution of the laws or the maintenance of public order in the Territory of Kansas. FRANKLIN PIERCE. J fif Jife. From Ballou'e Pictorial. SCENE IN A VILLAGE BAR-ROOM. BY HORACE B. STANIFORD. In the fall of 18?, I was travelling from Ithaca to BuiFalo, in New York State, by stage. It was a bitter cold morning when we set out and the roads were frozen hard, there having be en considerable mud only a few days before. The first night we put. up at Danville, and on the following morning, when I awoke, I found that the earth was not only covered with snow, hut that the snow was then ; falling fast. After an early breakfast we set i out again on wheels, but at the end of eight i miles, we were forced to take runners, the snow clogging up so that the wheels would not rnn. When night came we found ourselves forced ' to stop at a small village only twenty miles i from where we sot out in the morning. A good supper was provided at the inn, and . the place had the appearance of comfort. We i had just set down to supper when the wind began to blow furiously, and we could see by f the dim light without that the snow was being j whirled and driven about in a furious manner, r There was a fire in a small sitting-room, and ; thirther we passengers, six of us, adjourned, r We sat there and conversed until near nine t o'clock, and then I went out into the bar-room . to smoke a cigar, previous to retiring. 1 Tn fVio Vinr.rnnm T fmind n. hricht. wnnd firft j - c>? ? ? i- bumiDg, and some dozen people were sitting . there, smoking and drinking. (This was long . before the introduction of Maine Laws.) Several of the company I judged to be teamsters; . a rough, hardy, good-natured set, who were f enjoying themselves hugely over a big mug of j flip. Then there were several whom I found j to be villagers?men who lived near the inn? . sort of village politicians and newB-mongers, . who made the bar-room their place of social s evening meetings. I had lighted my cigar, and taken a seat near the fire, when I noticed a buffalo skin on e one end of the long settee opposite to where 8 I sat, and I was confident there was a human r being beneath it. I suppose it might be some - stable hand who had been at work hard, 01 - who expected to be up most of the night, and i- was now getting a little sleep. I was looking r at the buffalo robe, and thus meditating when - I heard a low, deep, death-like groan come up r from beneath it, and in a few moments more - the robe was thrown upon the floor, and the - man who had reposed beneath it.came down - upon the top of it, and there he lay for some e moments like a dead man. I had just starty ed up, when four of the villagers and one ol s the teamsters hastened to his assistance. They - lifted him to his feet, and after considerable effort he managed to stand up. 5 My God ! what a thrill struck to my hearl ' when I saw that face. It was one of noble 1 features;, a brow high and amply developed, ' over which clustered a mass of dark, glossy * ringlets; the face beautifully proportioned, B and each seperate feature most exquisitely * chiselled. But what an expression rested there V now ! The great dark eyes had a vacant, tidi> otic stare : the fuce was pale as death and the ** lips looked dry and parched, and much discol> ored. His clothes were torn and soiled, and B .fl!. 1 U1 1.. ?1_ uue ui uia uttuuo utuuuy. ui; wuo ouiuiy uui more than five-and-thirty, and his appearance would at once indicate a man of more than common abilities. But the demon had him, and had made him into something now below 3 the brute. g "How d'ye feel now, George ?" asked one of the men who had gone to his assistance. But he only groaned in reply, and he waf ' soon persuaded to lie down again, being told that he'd soon feel better. As soon as he waf on the settee once more, and the buffalo ovei U * m him, the men returned to their seats. P "Who is that chap ?" asked one of the teamsters, looking towards the villager who had t been assisting the unfortunate. "That's George Dockland," returned a stout honest-looking man. a "Does he belong here ?" ? "Yes. Didn't ye never hear of him ?" 3 The teamster replied that he had not. "Well," resumed the fat man, "it's toe ? bad, I declare 'tiB. Lockland might be one of the first men in town if he'd a mind to; but ye see he will drink; and the worst of it is, he makes a fool of himself. He can't touch it B without doing just as he's been doing now. 3 He started here as a lawyer, and a smart one r he is too. Why, he can argue old Upham right out of his boots. But you see he's lost 1 all his customers now. They daren't trust him with business, 'cause he aint sure of ever do1 ing it. He's got one of the beautifullest little wives you ever saw; and one of the handsomest children. But poor things! I pity 'em. Then there's anocner tnmg: rum operates airferent on him from what it does on most folks. 1 It doesn't show itself outside, as it does on alB most everybody else, but it seems to eat him > up inside. Ye see how pale he looks?well - he's always so when he's on one of these times, s He can't eat nothin/ and I don't s'pose he'll S put a bit of food into his stomach for a week to come." i "How d'ye mean ?" 1 "How long has ho been so ?" asked the team' ster. "How d'ye mean?" "Why, how long both ways? How long f since he took to drink, an' how long since he's t been drunk now?" f "Well, he's took to drink more or less eves i, since he come home from college; but it's s been only about a year that he's been right i, down hard at it. Ye see folks began to fine out how slack he was in his business, and the] a wouldn't give him any jobs of consequence t( do. I s'pose that kind o' set him a goin' ir i- this fashion. And as for this drunk, I shoulc say he'd been on it fortnight. He's got down now about as low as he can get and live, and b I guess he'd get sober in a day or two." "But where does he get his liquor?" asked J the questioner. "You must ask Mike Fingal that question," c was the other's answer. 1 All eyes were turned upon the landlord, who now stood behind the bar. He was evidently a troubled at this turn, and he moved uneasily i upon his high stool. 1 "Mike Fingal," spoke she teamster, "do you sell that man rum ?" ^ <<Vpb. T Hn." thp f?llnw rpnli<?d with an ef- 1 fort. "Don't I sell you the same when you t call for it?" 1 "But I aren't a poor drunkard, and you knaw it. That aren't no excuse.* Mike, I s shouldn't think you'd do it." ] "But when he wants rum he'B bound to have it, and if I didn't let him have it some- J body else would," the host said. I "Now that's old," energetically pursued the < teamster. "On the same ground you might < take a pistol and go out and rob folks, because i if you didn't, somebody else would. But that isn't here nor-there. The thing is, I don't see what kind of a heart you can have to do it." The conversation was here interrupted by a sound from the street. The wind was still howling madly, and the snow was driving atfainst the windows, but above the voice of tho storm came the wailing of some one in distress. It was surely the cry of a child for help. We were all upon our feet in a moment, and the lantern was quiokly lighted.? My hat was already on my head?or cap, rather?and I went out with the rest. All went' out but the landlord and his wretched customer who occupied the settee. It was some moments before I could see at all, the snow came driving in my face so; but I soon managed to turn my head, and then went on. The wind, as it came sweeping out through the passage to the stable, had piled up a huge bank of snow across the street, and in this bank we found a female with a child in her arms. She : had not seen the huge barrier of snow in the dark, and had got completely fast. She seem ed faint and frozen, but yet she clung to her child. The man who carried the lantern held . it up to her face. The features were half covered with snow, but the momentary glare of . the lamp was sufficient to reveal to me a face j of more than ordinary beauty, i "Heavens!" uttered the men, as he lowered , the lantern, and caught the woman by the , arm; "Kate Lockland, is this you?" But r without waiting for her to reply he turned to [ the rest of us and cried, "Here! take the child, , some of you, and I'll carry the mother." . The child was auicklv taken, and ere manv , moments we were back in the bar-room with , our burden. The two were taken to the fire, , and the snow brushed from them. t "Who's them ?" asked the host. , "Only Kate Lockland and her child," an. swered the fat man. t "What d'ye bring 'em in here for?" the P host uttered, angrily. "Why didn't ye take s 'cm to ycr own house, Jim Drake?" "'Cause my own house is too far." > The host was coming around the bar, and , his eye was flashing with mingled shame and anger, but before he got fairly out, the stout, r burly teamster who had said so much, started , UP"Mike Fingal," he uttered, in tones such i as only a man confident of his own physical power can command, "don't ye put a finger i on that woman. Don't ye do it. It ye do I'll crush ye as I would a pizen spider!" I Fingal looked the. speaker in the eye for a ; moment, and then, muttering something about i a mans having a right to do as he pleased in i his own house, he slunk away behind his bar i again. I now turned my attention to the woman and her child. The former was surely not yet i thirty years of age, and she was truly a beautiful woman?only she was pale and wan, and i her eyes were swollen. She trembled fearful[ ly, and I could see her bosom heave as she i tried to choke the sobs that were bursting forth. The child was a girl, and about four years old. She olung olose to her mother, and seemed . frightened into a forgetfulness of her cold fro[ gers and feet. "Kate Lockland, what in Heaven'B name ; are ye doing out this night?" asked Jim Drake. "0, I was trying to find your own house, Jim Drake, for I knew vou'd cive me shelter. But I got lost in the snow. I wouldn't have , cried out in front of this place, but my poor , child did. Jim Drake, have ye seen George? i 0, God have mercy on him! Poor, dear i George! He don't know we are freezing and i starving, in our own home! No fuel?no food ?no?no?" i She stopped and burst into tears, and in a moment more George Lockland leaped to his ; feet. "Who called me?" he cried, gazing wildly , around. i Kate sprang instinotively. Butcreshereach, ed her husband she stopped. The man saw her, and for a while he was riveted to the spot. . Soon he gazed around upon the scene about him, and gradually a look of intelligence re, lieved the utter blank of his hitherto pale and maniac face. "iVo fuel! no food!" he whispered, gazing now upon his wife. "Starving! God have [ mercy! Who was it said those words?? Where am I?" "George I George 1" cried the wife, now rushing forward and flinging her arms about her husband's neck. "Don't yo^know me/" "Kate! No fire ??there's fire ?" "Ay, George Lookland," said Jim Drake, ; now starting up; "this aren't your own home, i Don't ye know where you are?" Again the poor man gazed about him, and a r fearful shudder convulsed his frame, and his J hands involuntarily closed over his eyes, I t knew that the truth had burst upon him. I "No fuel 1?No food 1" he groaned. r "0, sir," whispered the wife, eaiching ) Drake convulsively by the arm, "take us away i from here. Do." I "But you're cold, Kate." "No, no, no. It's only 8 little waytiryour loose. I shall die here "Will you go home with mie,. George?"? rim asked of the husband. 1 "Anywhere!" grasped the poor man. ny God! No fuel! Ncrfood! "Kate! Kaie! ire you hurt ?" .But the wife could not speak,. and ae-eoon . 8 noesible the fat old villager had the tititejn ' d readiness, and half a doten went to help um. "Come," he said. "Lead George one of you. *if on take Kate?you are atonter than I?-and I'll take the little one. Thia last was spoken .0 the stout teamster, and he took thft. wife in lis arms as though, she had been an infant.-,.. . ~ "It's only a few steps," said .Drake} as be itarted to go. "I'll send your, lantern hack, Mike'Fingal." And with this the party leftjthe bar-room;. \> [ went to the window and saw them wadin&o# through the deep snow, and .when they were, Dut of sight I turned away. The hoet came - jut and began to explain mattere j but t WW sick enough already, and with an aching I left the room. On the following morning.1, came down to, - j breakfast later than usual, for I had slept but little through the night: About nine o'clock "> ' ?i the driver came in and told us the stage would be ready in five minutes. I went into the bar- - room for a cigar. Jim Drake ha^ jdstcome in :?! L v_r__v_-i. it,- *r*-a IU unug UttUA. lliu UAU V1UOA. tilt J U?M Yitmpgyim ? around the child the eight before. "What'll ye have this mornin', Jim ?" I 1 heard the landlord ask, as he-set out a tombier. >i "Nothing," returned the fit man, einpbi&cally. "I'm done, Mike Eingal. I'm done with that staff. I'll drink no more of it; I wouldn't have come now," only poor LocklahtU was up, and his sweet little wife was hanging about his neck. They wahcryhFeo-^j^ couldn't stand if, and fhad to clear out; O, it'g dreadful, Mike Fingal. ; You don'-Hraow what them poor things have* suffered! IBut . they shan't have my example any-more.*'' "All ready!" shouted the driver. ' And I was forced to leave. The wind had gone down; the air was sharp and bracing, and slowly we ' 7 wallowed away from the village. 1 reached Buffalo two days later than I bad expected when.1 Vet out, and having transact* ed my business there,: I went on to-the Missis-' sippi, and so on down to New Orleans. JBonry years afterwards I had occasion, to travel that same road again, and stopped in that village to take dinner. The bar wijs still open, bat Mich-* ..] ael Fingal had gone away. I walked out after dinner, and soon came across a neatly painted office, over the door of which I read; "Georg a Lockiand, Attorney and Councillor at Law" In less than five minutes afterwards I saw a - ^ fat, goodnatured man coming towards me, whom J I at once recognised as Jim Drake. A# became , ' *9. , s md: "Excuse me, sir, but I wish to ask How Mr. Lockiand is getting on now." "Squire Lockiand, you mean?" he aqsfjrer* i '..tr . h Lou ea, witn a proua iook. "jlou Know aim mint "I did once," said I. - _ . \ -j ' "Then you ought to know him now* SeU . J the first man in the country?the firstmaa^. sir. Four years ago this next month thaff coming he was just about as low as a man-could , be, but he started right up, and now be'# al- most as high as he can be. Did ye ever know the Squire's wife 7" "I have seen her/' I replied. ;I tiaI Jgj Drake didn't recognise me. _ f^pfl "But you should see her now. Ah, 'twas J a great chsnge for her. That's their ohlld? that little girl coming this way. Ain't there a 1 little piotur for ye 7" ',*> ' '%. 1 looked and saw a bright eyed, sunny-hktr^ ed girl of some eight summers, ooining laughing and tripping along like a little laity/ She stopped as she came to where we stood, and put her armB to "Uncle Drake," asshe .etdled the old man, and while he was kissing-and chatting with her, I moved on. I looked back once at that happy, beauteous ftce, just to contrast it with the pale, frightened features I had seen on that dismal night, in the bar-room. ' The Past and Present Condition of. the Negro.?The New York Observer, rathe course of an article on slavery, says:. When the ancestors of those negroes were to.ru from their homes in Africa, by the slavetraders of Old England and New England, and placed under the influence of Christianity at the South they were among the most degraded andmiserable of the human species, slaves of cruel masters, the victims of bloody superstitions, believers iu witchcraft and worshippers of the devil. Aud what now is the condition of their descendants 7 Several years ago more than 800, 000 nf fht?m ?pr? mnmhflrs of Protestant evan gelical churches in the slaveholding-States !? About 10,000 American negroes, trained chiefly at the South, transplanted to Liberia, nolf rule nearly 200,000 natives of Africa, and through their schools and churches are. spreading the light and love of the Gospel in that land of darkness and heathenism. It is true that more than nine-tenths of the negroes at the South are stall slaves; but it slavery under Christian masters in America, the same evil with slavery nnder heathen tyrants in Africa ? Degraded as these slaves may still be compared with the sons of the pilgrims in New England, or even with the mass of laborers in some of the enlightened countries in Europe, can 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 negroes, bond or free, be found in any part of the world, who can compare, for good condition, physical, intellectual, and moral, with the 8,000,000 slaves at the Sooth ? Has Christianity aided by all the wealth of British Christians, done as mnoh during the last twenty years for the elevation of the 800,000 emancipated negroes in the West Indies, British phi- , lauthropists themselves being the judges of what it has effected, there, as it has done during the same period for the elevation of our 3,000,000 American slaveB f Quest.?When a lady writes a novel can her copy be legitimately called manuscript? i ClQ^What is a clerical error ? Preaching a I three hour'* wmon. I I