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.THE WEST INDIES AND THE SLAVE TRADE. The Sugatc Question.?Tlio London cprrespondent of the National Intelligencer gives the following interesting summary of these sub. jects: Ministers will have to deal with a most perplrxing question very early in the coming s<>s sion. and that is the condition of the West Intlia Islands*00(1 the sugar planters. It seems to he now almost universally admitted, except'* " *-? ' tl .1l ..Wg r?y the orators ot t^xeicr nan, uuj nr, have lately boon comparatively silent upon the subject, that the condition ofthe African has not been improved either by the j?20,000,()00 sterling which were expended in giving IVeerlo'fn to the slaves in the British West Indies, or by the .?25,000,000 sterling which have been already expended by France and England in blockading the coast of Africa, and in other measures in prevention of the slave trade?to say'nothing of the expense which the United Stat?*s Government has incurred for the same object. Recent returns from British Consuls that there have been imported front the east and west coasts of Africa, from 1814 to 18. 43, into the colonies of different European nations, no fewer than 687, 189. The consular returns do not of course include those who died .in the. prisons and barracoons on the coast whilst waiting to be shipped, nor those who died during the passage, nor those who were, probttW? smuggled on shore in the West Indies. Sir Fowell Buxton has calculated that the molality of the middle passage lias increased 7 in consequence of the precautions taken to avofoft the blockading squadrons from nine lo ' c . _i t,j iwcniy nve per cenu i aiuuu .......u the number exported to above 820,000; and if * the other items be added the probablity is that .th.^ whole number brought to the coa^t to be sold into slavery will not be fewer than 900.000 or 30,000 annually. Parliamentary returns .chow that in the sixteen years ending with 1843, the number of slaves emancipated by the mUed commission was 57,539, or about 3,000 annually?a number scarcely equal to the loss n?-British lives in our army and navy every yajaron the perilous coast of Africa. Again; look at another scheme of the ''friends to Af.-ica^-^-the settlement at Sierra Leone. Read the statements relating to that colony as given in- the "Quarterly Review" tor December, and the accoufits in the other journa's of the day of the intolerable system of management existing there, and say if more misery, oppression, degriulation, and moral depravity ever existed in any other tropical colony in the worst days of history; and yet this colony at Sierra Leone ctfrts the English nation ?100,009 annually, .and has done so for nearly half a century. /fakp one other item in proof of the present state of the African slave trade: one hundred ami- three slave vessels were captured and brnwght into Sierra Leone in little more than the last, year; wo have no return of the num. brir of victims they contained. Another comparison will force itself upon us. Read the ac .counts of the American settlement at Liberia; then "ionic upon this picture and upon that!" SoJntjch for the success of our exertions to aabolish the slave trade. Now, what is the true statement of the case with respect to the emant.v tcipation of the slaves in our West India Islands? ? >*'lJhe principle was good," savs a writer in , .Blackwood's Magazine," for April, 1847, **4)ut t .ypii-were in too great a hurry. Before giving, .them freedom, you should have made them fit j .fo|r>H? They were not impatient. Some out- j lay^of public money, and extreme care and pru- j dcncc in your measures, would have enabled , you to secure their humane treatmc?nt in the in-; terval. Thirty or forty years and a million ol money would have done the business. The re. I suits would have been from first to last benefi. ! ciabto the colonies. It would have set an cx- j ample which other nations could have followed. It would hare been a noble return for having 1 'temporarily used the race as slaves, [t would have been an act of enlightened philanthropy." The "Quarterly Review" recommends "that theJ5*etrr Hall influence, which ba?, up to the present day, pervaded the colonial counsels in Downing street, should cease, and that every j individual sheltered under the British flag, be | he white, brown, red, black, or copper colored, j ?hottld henceforward be permitted to lapse un-1? *1.? rS r\r?nr>t inoi rrnvornrnonl nnrl uur (ue |jivicwiiwu w? ^iuwmvui ^-?.v M..u .common sense." Again the reviewer says: "We are quite prepared to allow that the ef. forts ofthe friends of the African somewhat accelerated the extinction of slavery in the Brit, ish dominions, and have since mainly tended to raise the negro to his present enviable cndiHon. But that slavery would have been abolished long ere this throughout our colonics, without their interference, we are equally convinced: and we further believe, that had they been less impatipnt and impracticable, or had j the Government of that day been less suscepti- j ble to 'pressure from without,' a most wanton sacrifice of life and property might have been spared, and far more permanently advantageous results in favor ot the negro and ofourcolo- ; nies might have been imstired." It was a most oppressive act towards the West India planters that they should have been prevented from introducing additional free laborers by immigration, especially from Africa, : thus giving the newly emancipated negroes a j monoply of labor, and subjecting their late own. j *rs to- an etxortionate rate of wages. Those ' who are acquainted with the negro character will bfe quite aware that the difficulty of getting him to work and keeping at work, will ho in* creased just in proportion to the wages he can earn by working. Could the West India plan. I ter prosper under such a system of things? And willTlbe believed, that in the year 1810 ''two ? thousand recaptured negroes were apprenticed . to idleness, want, and vice in Sierra Leone, and but three have reached our West India colonies! Mean time the planters have been forced in despair to accept Coolie immigration, which fromtho physical debility and peculiar habits of that people, and from the expense of bringing them from such a distance, has proved a complete lailure?" It was easy to foresee that, under this system, j . the time could not he very remote when the capital would cease to flow towards the old sugar colonics. That time has come; and large 1 investments have been made both in India and the Mnurititus, where the abundance of labor more than compensated for higher freights and an inferior soil. If these new colonies have not succeeded, their mishap has not benefited - the old ones. All appear to be fast approaching one common ruin, and this ruin is caused, say the opponents of tree trade, ny ino admission of the cheap slave grown sugars of Brazil and C'uha upon the same terms as the sugars of the free British colonies in the East and West Indies. That the sugar growers of Brazil and Cuha are flourishing is proved hy the fact thai the machinery principally uspd in its manafactore, and exported from England to Cuha, has increased in amount of value from ?4507 in 1845 to ?17.644 in nine months of 1817; while ' that sent to Brazil has increased from ?17,130 in 1845 th ?25,123 in 1847. The exports to the British colonies has proportionally declined. The question which the British Government has to solve is, what are the measures to be adopted to avert so dreadful a calamity as that which seems to impend over our sugar growing colonies, being nothing less than the ruin of all connected with them? The advocate of prolection says. "support your own free tnadc sugar by taxing all that is made by slave labor" but this would be an abandonment of the free trade doctrine, so far as relates to one article of borne produce, and if it be found to fail in one in. stance, what is to prevent its failing in a second and in a third? This will be a hard measure fur Lord John Russell to give his assent to, but ! many well informed men think he will becom[ pelled to adopt it; others say that the only course of policy which the West India planters can adopt is frankly, and at once, to indentily themselves with the great public interests. The way to do this is, they say, to acquiesce without further struggle in the system of free trade, claiming in return the removal of all impediments to the immigration of free laborers >t tropical race into the colonies, lh? of the navigation laws, the equalization of all duties on corresponding products of the mother country and the colonics, and any other reform that inuy be required to place the outlaying portions of the empire on a looting of entire equality with Great' Britain and Ireland. The 'Examiner" proposes that the evil shall be averted, and present inconveniences removed, by the importation of negroes; that the einmigration oftho natives from Africa should be as free and unshackled as that of Irishmen j from Ireland, the cost ot their transport to be defrayed by the service ol an apprenticeship, lie recommends that the further employment ol the blockading squadron on the coast of Africa be dispensed with, and that money now u elessly spent in keeping it there he employed in remov. ins Africans to (he West Indies. Thisamount about ?800.000 per annum, would, at ?10 per head, transport thirty thousand persons; and this, he thinks, would go far trwards removing existing evils and averting impending ones. I Whatever be done, and something must done, I the subject is one which inay materially affects " * - 1 ?\rtrhnnc nf the interest ot the sugar-proum-m-; |>u>??. ?. your Union. I have therefore staled the whole matter at great, perhaps wearisome length. From the X. O. Picayune March 8. LATER. FROM MEXICO. The steam ship New Orleans* Capt Edward Auld. arrived at an early notir yesterday morning from Vera Cruz, having sailed thence 011 the 2d ins!. Our accounts by the ship France left Lieut. Col. Uiscoc and a small command engaged with a party of guerrillas five times their number. The issue was as wo anticipated; the guerrillas were dispersed, hut not without se | vere loss on our part. The gallant Lieut Henj derson and twelve men were killed on our side, and the Mexican loss is supposed to have been about the same. Col. Biscoe charged the guerrillas three several times. His teams are said to have stampeded, and we regret to say that the Colonel was compelled to leave his killed and wounded behind and make his way to Cordova. His wagons, or the greater part of them, were burned; the mules were taken by the guerrillas. Col. Biscoe reached Orizaba the morning of the*2*2d ult. That we may do no injustice to Colonel Biscoe or his command in regard to his skirmish with the guerillas?which is represented by some private accounts as diseredihle to our arms ?wo copy the following account of it from the Free American of the 1st inst. It was written after the return of Col. Biscoe and his command to Vera Cruz: Lieut. Col. Hiscoc leit this city on me morning of the 19th February, with the detachments of Louisana and Georgia Dragoons; on that evening, at about 4 o'clock, some forty or fifty guerilleros wore observed at a place called Matacordera. A charge was immediately made on them, and the .Mexicans retreated to the edge of-a chapparal, when our troops, numbering about twenty five at that time, commanded by Capt. Wafibrd, of the Georgia Dragoons, came close upon them, some four hundred guerilleros rushed out ofthc chapparal, and a deadly conflict ensued. Our troops however succeeded in passing through their lines, and then gallantly returned and again opened the ranks of the Mexicans. At this moment the main body of the Americans, consisting in all of about seventy five men, came up to the rescue of this gallant little band, and a general fight took place, hand to hand, in which we have to regret the loss of a friend, Lieut. Henderson, of the Louisiana Volunteers, who was lanced, shot, and deeply cut in the face by tho Mexicans. He died like a hero, and his name deserves to be recorded in the pages of the history of his country. We have also to mourn the death of four of his gallaut Georgians, who so nobly charged the enemy. Three other men of the same corps were severely wounded, and three Louisiuna Volun teers slightly. The mules having given out from fatigue, it was thought absolutely necessary by Col. Hiscoe to abandon them although we understand that ho made all possible exertions to save them, The guerrilleros having retired from the field, they were at different times pursued, but they were not anxious to come in close quarters with our troops. The command then proceeded on to Cordova, and then to Orizjba. We have no letters from the city of Mexico so late as the 26th ult., and the New.Orleans sailed so soon alter the arrival of the express from the capital, that the news by it had not finally transpired. Our latest papers from the city of Mexico aro to the 19th ult. Mexico, Feb. 19, 1843. Gen. Cushing.with an escort oft wo companies of Dragoons, left here on the 15th lor 1'uebla, to assist in organizing the Court of Inquiry appointed to investigate the unfortunate' dilficul. ties between the general officers here. It i* understood that on the Court being organized, it will adjourn to this city, and here transact its business. On Sunday night a Texan Ranger named 1 Adam Alsence, ofCapt. Robert's company, was I attacked by a number of Mexicans in the sub. urbs of the city, and killed. lie was mangled in a brutal manner, and tire Texans, exasperated at the cruel death of their comrade, sallied, into the streets the next evening, to the number of fifteen or twenty, and proceeding to the quarter where Absence was killed, took fearful vengonce upon a party whom they found armed with pistols and knives. Seventeen of the Mexicans are reported killed, and forty wounded. ,\!?ence was a German, had served in Bonaparte's cavalry, and was a good faithful soldier. The latest dates from Queretaro are to the 17th ult. Tho American Star of the 19th thus sums up the news: Queretaho.?Advices have been received from the scat of Government up to Tuesday eMMafcimuMmniu.i. , last. Several new deputies liad arrh'ed, bufthe meeting of Congress was going on very slowly, and some were -begining to lose all patience. The Monitor's correspondent says he shall forward the names of all those who have presented themselves, and also the names of those who have not. with the opinion in regard to the matter, of the Stales to which the latter belong. At the meeting on Monday last, thirty deputies were present, though we infer, from previous letters of the correspondent referred to, that more than this number have presented thein selves, and are ready for nclion as as soon as there is a prospect of a quorum. A communication was received from the Minister of Relations, stating that he was using every possible means for the assembling of Congress, enforcing the penalties, ordered a previous meeting of the members, and .such as he was constitutionally invested with. The writer adds that the passport asked for Santa Anna, by Sr. Triguros, had been made out fur him. The J rco Iris of ;he 1st lost., lias rumors that Santa Anna had changed his mind about leaving the country, and that he. was about to try his fortunes again amidst the internal con"vulsiotis which threaten to distract the nation. He is represented as being in the neighborhood of Tehuacan, at the head of eighty followers. His design is said to be to unite, his fortunes with the Vice Governor of San Luis and Gen. Alvarez, and then march upon Querrtaro, overthrow the Government of Pena y Puna, and establish a Dictatorship. Ibit hefore executing this grand design, he. proposed striking a blow at the Americans, in order to recover credit with his countrymen. The Arco Iris puts as little faith in this project as we do; but that Santa Anna is still lurking about Tehuacan there would appear to be no doubt. CONGRESS. Washington, March 7, 1848. In* Senate.?Mr. I)ix presented a petition ! from ship owners and consignees ot the city 01 New York praying for a law to facilitate the landing and warehousing of cargoes from vessels from foreign ports. On motion of Mr. Rreese, ResolceA, That the Committee on the Judiciary he instructed to inquire into the expediency of establishing by law a tariff of fees for the Attorneys of the United States respectively where, for services rendered in the Supreme Court, there is no established fee bill or allowanee fir such services. Mr. Downs, from the Committee on Private Land Claims, reported a bill to relinquish the reversionary interests of the United Stales in certain Indian reservations4n Alabama. On motion of Mr. Sevier,The Senate ('20 inin tiles past 12) procccde.i to the consideration of Executive business. , Hot'jg ok Representatives. Mr. (iayle presented a memorial from the Mobile and Ohio Railroad Company, and of citizens oft he State of Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Kentucky, asking the right of way : over the public lands, and a grant of the public : lands to said company. Referred to the Corni mittee on Public Lands. Ou motion of Mr. Putnam, the Committee on Public Itoildings, &?., were instructed to examine and determine, whether the Hall oft he House of Representatives is sufficiently ventillut.wl ...If!, r/icniirl to tlio hi.-illti nf till* Mll'mlll'l* .?.? V. .. .... .V -v ... ...? and if not, report by bill, or otherwise, what vcnillntioii i>. neeessafy. Mr. flmit, from the Commitiee of Commerce reported a bill to to remit the duties upon certain goods destroyed by the firo in New York. Read twice and referred to the Committee of the whole on the state of the Union. Mr. Stephen?, from the Committee on Pub! lie Lands, to which was referred the bill grant. ! ing to the Alabama, Florida, and Railroad i Company the alternate sections oflho public lands along the route of the contemplated roads j uncertain conditions, reported an amendatory ! bill. Referred to the Committee ul the Whole on the state of the Union. Mr. E vans, of .Maryland, from the same committee, reported a bill to amend an act entitled an act to raise for a limited titne-an additional force, and for other purposes, approved Februaj ry 11, IS 17. The object of the amendment is I to secure to non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, who may have been pro. moted to commissions, their bounty land. The bill was read twice, and .Mr. Evans, after a few remarks, requested that it might now be put on its passage. Mr. Richardson proposed an amendment, providing that they shall have been elected or promoted after their arrival at the seat of war. Mr. Haskell pointed out the injustice with which the present law operates. Those sob diers who serve their country but a single day and are honorably discharged, are entitled to the bounty land; while the soidier who may serve eleven months and twenty days, and on tho twenty first day, for meritorious services, may be promoted to a commission, is deprived of his bounty land. Mr. Evans,opposed the amendment of Mr. Richardson, and supported the bill as repotted. IMr. McClcruardal.su was in favor of the bill. It had been carefully considered by the cotn; inittee on public lands; its object was to extend I the benefits of the bounty land system to such soldiers as may have been promoted from iho ranks lor meritorious services; and there was 110 reason why a soldier w ho, by his gallant coni duct on the field of battle, has gained promotion shall he deprived thereby ot the bounty land which he would have received had he remain* I ed a private soldiers. Mr. Haralson was in favor of referring the hill to the Committee on Military Affairs who had already reported a hill 011 the same subject, which had been referred to the Committee ol tho Whole. Mr. Pollock believed the construction given by the War Department to the existing law is erroneous, and that the Department ought, without hesitation, to givo the bounty land in all such cases. Hut as the decision had been made and ll,ie object is to correct the error, tho hill should he passed; hut it should first go through the ordinary stages of legislation. Mr. Wick considered the bill previously reported by the military committee as sufficient. It was not just because a soldier has been promoted, and therefore cannot he discharged, that ho should he deprived of his bounty lands. It was proper that they should pass a law making promotion equivalent loan honorable discharge, and such was the character of the hill from the military committee. At tKn nniir*litaS/in \f r* Wlflr'n rnrm i*l:e without further action on the bill, On motion ol Mr. Vinton, the House resolved itself into committee of the whole, and resumed the consideration of the bill further to supply deficiencies in the appropriation for the services of the fiscal year ending 30ih June 1813. A number of amendments were proposed and adopted. Among others, the appropriation for outfits [of Charges to Nalpes, the Papal Slates, and the Republics ofEcuador, Bolivia and Guatnmala, were stricken out, and an appropriation ofS4500 for a Charge to Nalpes only inserted. Appropriations were inserted to provide for the employment of an additional number of clerks in the Second Auditor's and Pension Offices; and an appropriation of S'2000 to pay Mr. Crutchett (or light ins the Capitol and grounds. Mr. Vinton proposed a further item to the bill of S800,000 for clothing in kind the volunteers for the year ending the 30ih June, 1849, and al l .1 r lowing the department to use so mucu iiimrui as may he necessary f??r the present fiscal year which was adopted?as were also one or two other amendments of no great importarcc. An amendment, proposed by Mr. Vandyke, as a proviso to the. bill, that no portion of the money appropriated shall be expended in the prosecution of the war with Mexico, or in any farther attempt to subjugate that country, or any part thereof, was rejected. The. committee then rose and reported the. bill to the House, and the amendments, with the exception of those relating to the papal States, Azc., were concurred in. On concurring in the amendment of tlio committee, striking out the outfits to Naples, the Papal States, Bolivia, Guatemala, and Ecuador, the yeas ami nays were, ordered, and were?yeas 63, nays 93. So the House refused to strike out. On concurring in an amendment ot the committee, striking out the quarter's salaries for the charges to the Papal States, Bolivia, Gautcmalii, and Ecuador, the yeas and nays were aj. so ordered, and resulted?yeas 42, nays 106. So tho House refused to concur in the amendment of the committee. The other amendments having been concurred in, and the question being on the engrossment of the bill. Mr. C. J. Ingersoll expressed a wish to ad. j dress the House on the Italian Mission, and moved an adjournment* The House adjourned?yeas 80, nays 68. GEN. TAYLOR'S LETTERS appear to be attracting some fresh notice from the press. We refer to the two which have been often rej (erred to before; the one written to Hon. Joseph R. Ingersoll, of Philadelphia, and the one written last Dec., to Peter Sken Smith. In this letter to Mr. Ingersoll he says he is not an ultra partisan whig, but a whig in principle. He says it was known to all with whom he mixed, during the Presidential canvass, that he was dscidedly in favor of Mr. Clay's election, and would now prefer to see him in tha'office to any indivinnl in the Union. lie "considers ; his views and those, of the whigs, for the most part are more nearly assimilated as regards political matters, to those, of Mr. Jefiersen" (in whose political creed he was reared) than that of their opponents. He again says that 40 ypars of his life have been spent in the military service of the United States, and he has had but little time to devote to political questions, never having voted since he joined the army. He greatly doubts his qualifications for the office, and almost trembles at the idea of the under:aking; but feels bound to serve the people, if they elect him; and will administer the government honestly and faithfully, in accordance with the constitution," as it was construed and acted upon by our first Presidents." But he must accept the office untrammelled. Such is a short sketch of the August letter. The latter one to Mr. Smith, of the Native party, is short, and dated Baton Rouge, La., Dec. 30, 1817. In this he says that he feels honored in being nominated by any body of his | fid low citizens, whether called whigs, demo. | crats, or natives, and "would accept such nomi- j nation, provided it had been made [we suppose he means the nomination by the Natives] entirely Independent of party considerations." But he certainly will not agree to "be brought forward by them [democrats, whigs, or natives] as lho candidate of their party, or conquered as i the exponent ol their party doctrines." Should (Jen. Taylor ndt bonctude to cat these j words, it is evident that he cannot be a candidate; and if he does, he cannot be so with any chauco of success.?JVorlh> Carolinian. VARIETY OF VOICES! The whig presses begin to complain of Gen. Taylor's writing too much. The democrats complain that lie lias not sufficiently unma-ked his principles, if he lias yet formed any, upon the great questions of the day. '1'hey arc also calling out lor a full collection of all his correspcndence, to show the unguarded character of his letters?as lie first writes to a wiiig meet ing, and then to a democratic one. Some of the whig presses, too, complain of his letters. The Albany Evening Journal, for example, uses the following ominous language on the occasion: Gen. Taylor's Letters.?It is scarcely neccs. sary I hat wo should repeat what has so often been said in our columns, that, in our judgment, presidential candidates cannot employ themscivesmorc unprofitahly than in writing letters. Those we publish to-day from Gen. Taylor, though consistent with all he has written upon the subject, are neither designed nor calculated to present him favorably before a whig national convention. The whig national convention will not need to beg for a candidate; nor will its suffrages be tendered to any man who refuses either to accept its nomination or '*to be the exponent of its principles." This squints pretty strongly at rebellion against the General. Another exponent of the whig faith (Mr. Andrew Stewart, of Penn.) has addressed a card to this morning's National Intelligencer, with facts and arguments to prove that General Taylor is ''a whig in principle;" ay, and a Clay whig, too?the most ultra class of all the whigs. Mr. Stewart argues that the General is a whig on the power over internal improvements, and decidedly a protective tariffwhig. A part of Mr S's. argument runs thus; "I addressed a letter to General Taylor, con voting to linn me resolutions or a wnig meeting, of which the following is one, viz: "Resolved, That wo havo the fullest confideuce that Gen. Taylor, if elected?having declared that he will follow in (ho footsteps of Washington?will udopt his repeated recommendations to Congress to extend adequate protection to American manufactures and industry in every department, and to promote internal improvement to the full extent of the surplus means ofthe nation, which he regarded as of the highest importance to the union and prosperity of the republic." In reply, General Taylor says: "I have read the resolutions adopted by the meeting with greut pride and pleasure, and beg you to convey tn iIih iiuMnherR ofthe mep.tinff. on a suitable occasion, my tlinnks," &o. Is nottliis enough? Is it not satisfactory? If I it is not, nothing that Gen. Taylor could say on the subject would he. 1 Mr Stewart goes further; and, in reply to Mr. Giddings, (whether Gen. Taylor was opposed to slavery,) contends that he is?that he is a Wiltnot Proviso man. Such are the many-tfolored hues which tho General's letters have been made to assume; * 'M ft i i l,-gt Tun ?i .i-n-r-T-a and thus, ton, it appears that though he has ( written loo many letters already, he will he j compelled to write more, in order to explain j those he has already written. THK CAMDEN JOURNAL. Wednesday Morning, March 15, 1848. i WILLIAM B. JOHNSTON, EDITOR. Return Days. For Kershaio?Saturday 18th March. For Sumter?Saturday 25th March. For Lancaster? Saturday 1st April. uur inniKCi* We have had but little cotton offering during the past week, but prices ha\ e advanced in consequence of the late news from England. We now quote from 6} to 7\c. Bacon 8 Corn 48 to 50c. Flour ?5. Fodder 75, The Treaty. At oar latest dates from Washington, the Treaty was still before the Senate. It was supposed a final action would take place on Saturday, and that the Treaty would be r.* tincd. Remains of Lieut. J. W. Cuntey. We leain from the Cornier of il/onday. that the remains of Lieut. J. W. Cantey were shipped for Charleston on board the Arcadia, which vessel sailed from New Orleans on the 25th uIt., and was daily expected at Charleston.,. ..... . The Daily Crescent. We have received the first and second numbers of this Daily paper published in New Orleans by Messrs. Hayes M'Cmkc, at fifteen cents per week or eight DolIaitHK annum. The proprietors say that "diveste^W rfll party politics it will discuss the great questions of State and National policy with impartiality and freedom," and that "the cnterprize is not one hastily got up, to he as hastily abandoned." The paper is of large size, and elegantly printed, and judging from the numbers before us, will be conducted with abi lity. me war nna us u urrion. Is the title of a book sent us by Messrs. Hogan & Thompson of Philadelphia. We have read it through, and think it is a very good history of the war from the time that Gen Taylor was ordered to occupy the left bank of the Rio del Norte, until the occupation of the city of Mexico. The biographical sketches of the chief officers, are interesting. The book will be rfcad. For sale by A, Young. D" Captain Thomas Baker, of Sumter, has been elected Major of the 5th Regiment of Cavalry, The vote was for B.iket 137, Richardson 91 Foreign News. Tho steamer Bri'aniu arrived at Boston on the 4th with dates from England to the 12th ult Commercial matters seein to be brightening. The money market had improved, and our great staple cotton had advanced f to $d. The general intelligence is not of much importance." Lord George Bentick, in a debate in the House of Commons, recommended the seizure of the Island of Cuba by the British Government, for a debt of ?45,000,000 due British subjects by the Spanish Government. The bill removing the existing Constitutional Jewish disability had been read twice in Parliament, and it is thought will beccmc a law. The Archbishop of Canterbury 'is "dead. Lf.wis Philippe's general health is good, he is troubled with a cough. Rich! We are informed that a gcn'leman in this town has received a consignment of some kind of merchandize from Philadelphia, with instructions when sold to invest the proceeds in a likelynegro. For what purpose this likely negro is sought as an investment we know noV it'toay be the consignment was forwarded as an art of^philanthrojjy by a tender hearted citizen of the Quaker city, llipugh we are disposed to believe it is nothing more than a money making speculation. . IT It is stated that Henry Clay will'nice more become a United States Senator; he has consented to serve at the earnest request of the event of Mr. Crittenden's election as Governor of Kentucky, of which there is nodonbti Wc have been permitted to make the following J extract from a letter .from CapifJftseph Kennedy, who, it will be recollected, spent some time in our town during the last fall in the recruiting service for the Palmetto Regiment The friends of the Recruits will be gratified to learn that they arrived at Vera Cruz in good health:? Vera. Cruz, Feb. 9th, 1348. I sailed from Charleston on board the Brig Cambria, on the 21?t January, with 40 Recruits for our Regiment and 52 fir the Voltiguers, Lieutenant Mcintosh. We arrived yesterday at 4 o'clock, P. M. and by dark we were at camp, ono mile from this place with our tents pitched, with our camp and garrison equipage complete. I found a battalion here from Georgia, mounted men, and part of the 13lh infantry. Major Ma nigault commanding. A train left only three days ago tinder Colonel Bankhcad to take Orizaba. Our, company of dragoons leftjthis morning for Saota Fee, to rout some guerrillas reported to be there. .1 do not know as yet when wo will be able to get off from bore. We aro all well. For the Camden Journal:' Mr. Editor:?I wish to call the attention of the public, through your paper, to the subject of Jails in our State. It appears that all Jails are constructed with reference to the safety of the prisoner, and no attention is paid in the least, to his comfort or health. Many of tho Jails have no fire places, and the cells are small and suffocating, and even where there are hearths, no provision is made by law, to supply wood; and often much carelessness is manifested by those who have the control of Jails, as the glass is frequently broken out of the windows, and thus without fire, exposed in an open room, tho suffering of the poor prisoner, is oflen truly affecting. When it is remembered that no means aro prepared for wanning the. rooms of a Jail, and that the prisoner is without fire, except in cases he is permitted by the Jailor to haul, and furnishes wood at his own expense, it will be conceded at once, that the prisoner is trcntcd unjustly. Men are thus doubly punished; and it often happens that a man is charged with a crime and is unable to give sufficient bond, and though innocent and afterwards acquitted, perhaps he has been incarcerated for months, and has suffered frotn cold and other causes to a very great extent. And even whero the prisoner has been convicted of crime, I entertain the opinion, that imprisonment is designed by the law, for depris. V - ving a manJof bis liberty, and not for putting him to tnrturps after the manner of barbarians, for it ran be called nothing else but torture, ttf confine u inan, and deprive liiin of the necessa- * ries of life, so far as to ruin his health, and ren* dor life intolerable. - The h?altl> of many prisoners is much injured from cold feet, and when set at liberty, they ga forth upon the world again, with shattered con* swntuons ana a jinny low opinion ot me justice and humanity of those who have control ove/ these thing*, ft will be readily assented tit/ that for a man to suffer the damp air of brick buildings without artificial beat, it is not at allr surprising that he should be subject tor disease/ A man under these circumstances as I have o\t* served above, is punished doubly: first, by buIa fertng the abridgement of hf.s personal liberty# which the law designs, and the suffering of cold"' etc., which the law permit*, by m>t providing-, against it. I would suggest to the public, and cjtptfciaJf/ to the. Commissioners .of public buildings, tit remedy the evil cotnpiaitied of above, by hen.*, ling the rooms, by means of stove pipes vrbrrlft could be erected at a trifling cxpcn?e. Tbll. would be better than using wood fires, as it would often be dangerous to permit a prisonc?.to get fire as he might attempt the destruction of the building, and yet, this same prisoner should be prevented from suffering When the bleak e. inds blow cold, and ths pelting rains descend, and everything is frozen up, then persons who are comfortably enjoying the luxury.of a blazing fire and the society of; their family and friends, should give one. thought at lea<t to the unhappy sufferer iu the dreary confines of a Jail, who perhaps is there, for no greater offence than inability to pay his debts, or for an assault and battery on some individual who crossed his way: and even if his crime is enormous, he is the more the. subject of commiseration and pity as be hit* the.longer to suffer. and the more to account fin to the Author of his being, ant! rharty, humanity and justice, demand that his sufiorishould 1?? no grcatejf , than the laws ofbi%^$untyy,..jfquiro. It becomes a civilized and enlightened people to sen to these things, and they should not pass over the unjust suITbring* of the vietimsof. liiolaw,, for no man knows how soon he or some friend^* may unfortunately be placed in circumstance ' where he may need the same relief that is now passed over with such blind indiifcrence with respect to others. If yyu_coi)sider the above senliiijpnt* of *ut,, ficieut interest for your paper, you will publish them, or give them some notice in an editorial, } and thereby subserve the cause of humanity, .-a A PRISONER. ,v _______ ? Highly Cukditaw.b.?While in Washington City, Mr, Clay called on Mr. Polk, and paid his respects to the Chief M<\gistrate of the Nation. The President in turn invited Mr. Clay and a number of other prominct Whig gentle- .. men, mostly members of Congress, to dine with him; and accordingly, on the 15th of February they sal down at his hospitable board and en- r joyed not only a feast of the good things Imneath which it groaned, but also an interchange - is of sentiments and feelings worthy ol the exalted positions of the respective parlies. If these great captains of the! warring.' hosts can thu? mingle together, at "the feast of shells," why cannot the schoolmates do the same thing?? Narrow is the soul of him who can see no mer- ; it in a political adversary; and the example of these.men should go far to put down that as- . purity of denunciation too often inconsiderately.^ indulged in by Whig* and Democrats towards each other. If the speakers and writers?the orators and editors of this country were all to lie .fr believed, what a nation of rascals would the rest of the world esteem the American people! North Carolina Argus. Cotton Statistics.?It in generally es. timated in 11:is quarter that the whole Coltan crop of the U. States, for 1547-43, will rnry but little from 2,(100,000 bales; of which, nearly or f *** quite one-half will bo received at this porl^ii It is alacfV^thv ofremark, in this connection*. > ? lhat the receipts here from 1st Sept. to thepresent time (just one-half of the commercial-***; year) ^already reach 73:3,932 bales, against 525,990 hales to the same time last year, and are only 6,737 bales short of the total receipts of last season. If fir the coming six month* the arrivals bear similar proportion to last year'* New Orleans will hnro received at the nf the Vf?r-at least 1,100,000, bates,'' 740,GG9 bales for 1046-47. d, * N. O. Delta 1st iust. j. We understand that Locomotives are nowpassing the Bridge across thy) VVateree River, and pushing forward the materials for the Contractors, who arc expected to reach the new de- , pot, '-Clarendon," in a few days. As a matter of accommodation, a few passeh^rsfwith mails, have been transported, and a car load of Cot Ion trom mat .point reacneutnc :>i ary-street ae?~-r* |M)l yesterday.?Char. Mercury. ' I Father Matijew.?This distinguished phi* lanthropisl wit! shortly come over to our shore* in tho fine packet ship 4,New World," the owners of which, Messrs. Grinnel & Minium, bar* tendered him a free, passage. Capt. Knight, of the New World, being on the eve of his departure (or Liverpool, was present on Thursday evening, by invitation, at a meeting of a number of Female Temperance Societies of New York, and received, on behalf of Father Mathew, a beautiful white banner, which is thus described in the New-York Tribune. The banner is most appropriate, being an amp'e one, of while bunting, pu'e as tho snowy mantle which covers the earth, and having m dove in the centre, bearing in its bill the olive branch of peace* It is designed to be worn at , v the mizzen pe$k on kis departure from the Old World, and being displayed "in the offing, into announce the approach to our shores of the met* songer of peace and good will. A Young Ad vent cue a.?Tho Chicago (III.) Commercial Advertiser relates the following interesting story: A few afternoons since there came into tho office of Messrs. Drown & Coles, of this city, a lad about 13 years of age, who asked for a few pennies with which to buy his lodgings the then coming night. There was something . about the boy that interested those present, and caused them to make some inquiries concerns I ing him, which led to tho following siaiemeqv of facts; His father, whom he represents as a respect table farmer, emigrated from New York State last fall, and embarked on board the stcqnief Sam Ward at Buffalo, on her last trip to thif place. The father had with him his family, iq all some four or five persons, bound fiir Mill wnnkie. At Buffalo, after the family had gon# on board,, this lad went on shoro to buy some apples, and during his absence the steamer left. As navigation was nearly closed, and no boata were to leave after that tsmr, the little fe!low*a situation and feelings can be better imagined