Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, February 07, 1856, Image 1
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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