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(Previous
Page) feeling from this country, and
the imminent danger of a collision, there is no good reason for supposing that
the collision may not be avoided. A century, however, will not repair the
mischief worked by the jealousy of England at this time. We may be ceremonious
acquaintances, punctiliously careful upon every point of etiquette, but we shall
not for many a generation be the friends that we ought to be now, and that so
many believed we already were. Nor can any just judge declare that the reason is
to be found in any tariff system that we may have adopted. No such purely
superficial question explains so deep a difference. It is to be found in the
eagerness and evident joy with which England hailed the prospect of our national
ruin.
AN ARMORY IN THE NORTHWEST.
THE letter of the Hon. Isaac N.
Arnold, of Chicago, representative from Illinois, to the President—the
appointment of Mr. Kellogg, of the same State, upon the Committee for the
establishment of a Western Armory, and the memorial of the citizens of Chicago
to the Government setting forth the claims of that city as the proper site, all
show that the Northwest is thoroughly alive to the importance of securing that
armory for the great capital of that region.
The case of Chicago is a very
strong one, and its chief points are the following :
That the arsenal should be
somewhere in the Northwest is generally admitted. There are three on the eastern
side of the Alleghany—namely, Watervliet, West Point, and
Springfield ; but the
Northwest, whose population exceeds that of all the loyal Eastern States, has
none. The western and northwestern frontiers are the points where arms will be
required for the next century; and at the beginning of the present war there
were no arms of any importance in the whole region. In Illinois there was the
greatest difficulty in getting even a few thousand, and the troops when posted
as sentries were for a long time compelled to do duty with clubs instead of
muskets.
The great security of the works
at Chicago is another consideration strongly urged. From the seat of domestic
rebellion Chicago is separated by hundreds of miles of territory filled with a
brave and loyal people. From foreign attack she is vulnerable only through the
Straits of Mackinaw. The small expense of a fortification there, as Mr. Arnold
shows, would make the lake inaccessible. The immense commerce of the lakes,
exceeding in the whole the entire foreign commerce of the country, could, in
case of need, be sheltered in Lake Michigan, and by means of an arsenal the
merchant marine be rapidly converted into a
navy.
The economical view is not less
strongly presented. The iron, copper, lead, and lumber could be furnished,
according to estimates, more cheaply in Chicago than elsewhere. Provisions are
cheap. Mechanical labor abundant. Thirteen trunk lines of railway, counting,
with their connections, more than five thousand miles, centre in Chicago. The
futility of reliance upon one line of road has been shown painfully enough in
the Baltimore and Ohio and Baltimore and Washington roads. But besides the
railroads, the water communication by the great lakes and the Illinois canal and
rivers, all improvable at an expense entirely disproportioned to the value of
the results, is unsurpassed in the West.
Pittsburg is the rival claimant
with Chicago. But in regard of building material, lumber, iron, copper, lead,
coal for smelting, provisions, transportation, and security, the advantages seem
to lean to Chicago. In skilled labor the two places are fully equal. The
advantage of Pittsburg appears to be in motive power, in the cost of bituminous
coal. But Chicago pluckily claims that this difference in the cost of coal for
one purpose is more than counterbalanced by the other important considerations
suggested. And as the Government owns ground at Pittsburg on which the armory
might be built, Chicago will willingly furnish ground free of cost.
Mr. Arnold's letter contains some
very curious and interesting statements. "Millions," he says, "are very properly
expended annually in protecting and fostering the foreign commerce of the
nation. The expense to the national treasury of the enormous trade on the great
lakes is merely nominal; a few light-houses and a single revenue-cutter armed
with a single gun." Again he says : "A line drawn north and south through
Pittsburg will show a majority of the loyal people of the Union west of that
line. Yet this vast country, furnishing fully one-half of the soldiers now in
the field, is entirely dependent upon eastern armories for the manufacture of
arms. A national armory at Chicago during the last year would have saved the
Government millions of money, the lives of many gallant men, and would. have
materially shortened the war."
Every year of our history will
confirm one striking remark of Mr. Arnold's : "The provincial history of the
Northwest terminated with the census of 1860."
A WORD TO "BOSTONIAN."
A FRIEND, who says that
Harper's
Weekly circulates twenty thousand or more copies in Boston and its neighborhood,
suggests that the paper might wisely give a few more illustrations from that
region. The suggestion is good ; and we do not need Boston authority for
believing that city to be a metropolis. But our friend should remember that a
paper which circulates a hundred and twenty thousand copies has a very various
and extended diocese. In Maryland and the District of Columbia twenty thousand
are also taken; and as that region is the seat of present public interest, we
naturally find the most attractive subjects there. If our friend has any
suggestions of particular subjects to make, Harper's Weekly will be always very
glad to receive them. Meanwhile we may observe that since the war broke out
Harper's Weekly has illustrated
Faneuil Hall,
Fort Warren, and other Boston "
lions."
HUMORS OF THE DAY.
FRAMLEY PARSONAGE.—A critic says
: "There is a certain manner and style about it that pleases all." That certain
manor is doubtless the parsonage itself, and the stile is the stile that leads
to it.
A wounded Irishman wrote home
from the hospital, and finished up by saying, "I've fought for this country,
I've bled for it, and I shall soon be able to say I've died for it."
BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!
Break, break, break,
Let the world thy rottenness see;
And I would that my hand could
grasp again
The money I lent to thee.
Oh! weep for the orphan boy,
That his little is lost to-day;
Oh! weep for the holder of stock,
That his savings are swept away.
And the city banks go on,
And pay their depositors still;
But oh! for a touch of my
vanished gold,
That has gone from the Pall Mall
till.
Break, break, break,
Let the world thy rottenness see;
But the hard-earned gold that has
fled
Will never come back to me.
A century ago, the lady of one of
the "City" knights wrote a note once to an old acquaintance, verbatim, as
follows: "Lady— precents compelments to Mrs.—, and beggs she'll abstane from
calling on her, as she sees now nobody but folks of fashion since her Ladyship
and Sir — has been nighted by his Majesty."
In a discussion with a temperance
lecturer, a toper asked, "If water rots your boots, what effect must it have on
the coats of your stomach?"
At an election dinner a voter
said he had never received a bribe to the extent of a farthing. " Oh, Mr. Smith,
how can you say so," observed another voter, "when I know Mr. Wilks sent you a
hare?" "Ay, that's true enough; but it was full of maggots." "Well, then," was
the re-joinder, "if it were not bribery, it was corruption."
"Now, children, who loves all
men?" asked a school-inspector. The question was hardly put before a little
girl, not four years old, answered quickly, "All women!"
An old man, when dangerously
sick, was urged to take advice of a doctor, but objected, saying, "I wish to die
a natural death."
Can a man with wooden legs be
considered a foot passenger?
An old maid, speaking of
marriage, says it is like any other disease—while there's life there's hope.
"So you are going to keep a
school!" said a young lady to her aunt. " Well, for my part, sooner than do
that, I would marry a widower with nine children." " I should prefer that
myself," was the quiet reply ; "but where is the widower?"
An eminent and witty prelate was
once asked if he did not think such a one followed his conscience. "Yes," said
his grace, " I think he follows it as a man does a horse in a gig—he drives it
first."
A DIFFERENCE OF OPINION.—A short
man became attached to a tall woman, and somebody said that he had fallen in
love with her. " Do you call it falling in love?" said the suitor. "It's more
like climbing up to it."
A QUALIFICATION.—A merchant,
lately advertising for a clerk "who could bear confinement," received an answer
from one who had been seven years in jail."'
Can a man be said to be in a stew
when you make his blood boil?
A late lecturer remarked that it
wouldn't be a very violent stretch of the imagination to believe "that a
thoughtful Massachusetts baby, six months old, sits in his mother's lap eying
his own cradle, to see if he could not invent a better ; or at least suggest
some improvement."
A learned young lady defines a
thimble as a diminutive, argenteous, truncated cone, convex on it summit, and
semi-perforated with symmetrical indentations.
A milkman was awoke by a wag in
the night with the announcement that his best cow was choking. He forthwith
jumped up to save the life of his animal, when, lo! he found a turnip stuck in
the mouth of the pump.
A truly rural young lady is about
to publish a work on "Tire Rise, Growth, Culture, and Progress of the Hen, as an
Element of Civilization."
TEST OF CHRISTIAN
CHARACTER.—"Well, doctor," said a barrister to a witness, "what is the character
of this defendant?" "He is a Christian, Sir." "A Christian?" "Yes, Sir; a good
Christian; a most exemplary Christian." "Well, how do you know this?" "I know
it, Sir, because I attended him through a fit of the gout, and never once heard
him swear." The testimony was considered satisfactory.
Lady Yarmouth asked Garrick one
day why Love was always represented as a child? He replied, "Because Love never
reaches the age of wisdom and experience."
"Don't touch me, or I'll scream!"
as the engine-whistle said to the stoker.
"Did you ever go to a military
ball?" asked a lisping maid of an old veteran. "No, my dear," growled the old
soldier; "in those days I once had a military ball come to me, and what do you
think ?—it took my leg off!"
People who cross the ocean for
mere pleasure generally conclude, before finishing the voyage, that they were
retched fools.
The story is told of a certain
New Zealand chief, that a young missionary landed at his island, to succeed a
sacred teacher deceased some time before. At an interview with the chief, the
young minister asked: "Did you know my departed brother?" "Oh yes! Me deacon in
his church." "Ah, then, you knew him well; and was he not a good and
tender-hearted man?" "Yes," replied the pious deacon with much gusto, "he very
good and very tender. Me eat a piece of him!"
A gentleman traveling across
Salisbury Plain saw an old man sitting at time door of a cabin, weeping
bitterly. "My friend," inquired the gentleman, "what is the matter with you?"
"Why," replied the man, "daddy jist gave me an awful licking 'cause I wouldn't
rock grand-daddy to sleep!" The gentleman rode off, fully satisfied with the
salubrity and healthiness of the Plain to produce such unparalleled instances of
longevity.
DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE.
CONGRESS.
ON Tuesday, December 17, in the
Senate, several petitions were presented for emancipating the slaves of rebels.
A bill was reported to increase the number of cadets at West Point. Senator Lane
in a speech criticised the action of the Government in the conduct of the war,
and was replied to by Senator Carlile. The Chair appointed Senators Wade of
Ohio, Chandler of Michigan, and
Johnson of Tennessee, as the committee to
investigate the general
conduct of the war. The House
resolution for an adjournment until January 6 was laid on the table. An
executive session was held, and the Senate adjourned.—ln the House, Mr. Bingham,
from the Judiciary Committee, reported back the joint resolutions requiring the
Provost Court at Alexandria, Virginia, to hold the property of rebels until
Congress take further action on the subject. The resolution then passed. The
resolutions of Mr. Eliot, for the
emancipation of slaves, being the special
order, were then resumed. On motion of Mr. Kellogg, the resolutions, and all
others relating to the subject in the same special order, were referred to the
Judiciary Committee by a vote of 77 against 57. A bill was reported from the
Foreign Affairs Committee appropriating one thousand dollars to pay the owners
of the British ship Perthshire for losses incurred in consequence of detention
by our blockading fleet off
Mobile, in June last, our naval officer, at the time
acting on a misunderstanding of the circumstances. The bill was finally passed,
but not until after it had given rise to a somewhat lengthy and discursive
debate. A bill was reported from the Naval Committee to authorize the Secretary
of the Navy to construct twenty iron-clad steam gun-boats, at a cost of from
five hundred thousand to six hundred thousand dollars each, which, after a brief
debate, was laid over for further consideration, and the House adjourned.
On Wednesday, December 18, in the
Senate, petitions for the emancipation of slaves, and for the repeal of the
Fugitive Slave Law, were presented by Senators Doolittle and Sumner,
respectively. Senator Sumner offered a resolution that Trusten Polk, now a
traitor to the United States, be expelled from the Senate. It was referred to
the Judiciary Committee. Senator Sumner's resolution that the army shall not be
used to surrender fugitive slaves was taken up and adopted. After an executive
session the Senate adjourned. In the House, the Committee on Elections reported adversely to the claim of Charles Henry Foster to
represent either the First or Second Congressional District of North Carolina,
and the report was adopted. A bill appropriating one million dollars for
gun-boats on the Western waters was passed. The Pension Appropriation Bill was
taken up, amended so that no pension shall be paid to rebels, and then passed.
The bill authorizing the payment of troops mustered into service in Missouri was
passed. This provides for the pay of the forces under
General Fremont, as well
as those under other generals. The Contract Investigating Committee was
requested to inquire into the policy of abolishing sutlership:, or regulating
them so as to prevent impositions upon soldiers.
On Thursday, December 19, In the
Senate, Senator Sumner presented a number of numerously signed petitions in
favor of the emancipation of slaves, with compensation to loyal masters. Senator
Willey, of Virginia, offered a resolution to the effect that the existing war
was forced upon the country by the rebellious States without provocation, and
with the design to destroy the Union and the Constitution, and repudiate the
fundamental principles of republican government. The Senate discussed the
resolution of the House to adjourn till the 6th of January, in order to
participate in the Christmas holidays, but adjourned without arriving at a
determination on the subject. —In the House, the bill providing for the
construction of twenty iron-clad steam gun-boats, to be built by contract or
otherwise, as the Secretary of the Navy may deem best for the public interest,
was debated and passed. The Consular and Diplomatic Appropriation bill was
passed. A bill abolishing the franking privilege was introduced by Mr. Colfax,
and the second Tuesday of January assigned for its consideration.
On Friday, December 20, in the
Senate, petitions for the emancipation of the slaves of rebels, for an armory at
Rock Island, for the establishment of a system to exchange prisoners of war, and
for the expulsion of Senator Bright, of Indiana, were presented and
appropriately referred. A bill appropriating one thousand dollars to the owners
of the British ship Perthshire, as indemnity for damages by reason of illegal
detention by the blockading squadron, was reported by the Committee on Foreign
Affairs and laid on the table. The Judiciary Committee were discharged from
further consideration of the subject of the
abolition and reconstruction of the
Supreme Court. Senator Saulsbury's resolution, calling for a copy of General
Phelps's proclamation to the loyal citizens of the Southwest, and by what
authority it was made, was taken up, briefly discussed, and laid out the table.
Senator Willey, of Virginia, then resumed and concluded his speech on national
affairs.—In the House, a bill appropriating $150,000 to complete the defenses of
Washington was passed. Resolutions of the Kentucky
Legislature in favor of relief to Ireland, in view of a probable famine there,
were referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. A resolution that the
Committee on the Judiciary be instructed to report a bill so amending the
Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 as to forbid the recapture or return of any fugitive
from labor without satisfactory proof first being made that the claimant of such
fugitive was loyal to the Government was adopted by a vote of 78 to 39. Mr.
Lovejoy, of Illinois, offered a resolution instructing the Judiciary Committee
to report a bill providing for the confiscation of all the property of all
rebels, and their aiders and abettors, and the unconditional liberation of their
slaves, and protection of said slaves from recapture by their masters. The
proposition was laid on the table by two majority. Mr. Wilson, of Indiana,
offered a resolution directing the Military Committee to report an additional
article of war, prohibiting officers of the army from employing the force under
their command to return fugitive slaves to their owners, and providing for the
punishment of such officers by dismissal from service. No action was taken on
the subject.
Both Houses adjourned till
Monday.
On Monday, December 23, in the
Senate, Senator Davis, the new Senator from Kentucky, appeared and took his
seat. A memorial was presented from citizens of Boston, representing that the
freedom of the press had been abridged, and asking relief. The bill making an
appropriation of $1,500,000 for the construction of gun-boats for operations on
the Western rivers was reported from the Committee on Finance, and passed.
Senator King, of New York, offered a resolution, which was laid over, requesting
the President to institute law proceedings against persons held in custody by
Executive authority. Senator Wilson, of Massachusetts, introduced a bill
providing against the return of fugitive slaves by the army, and for the
punishment of any officer ordering it. The bill to increase the number of cadets
at West Point from 170 to 350 was taken up and debated at considerable length,
but was not definitely acted upon.—In the House, Mr. Vallandigham introduced a
bill to enforce the writ of habeas corpus. It was referred to the Judiciary
Committee. A resolution introduced by Mr. Wilson, of Iowa, on Friday, requesting
the Military Committee to prepare a new article of war for the punishment of all
officers using any forces under their command for the return of fugitive slaves
was considered, and finally adopted. The bill to increase the duties on tea,
coffee, and sugar was reported from the Committee on Ways and Means, and passed
after some debate, 77 to 29. It was immediately sent to the Senate, and passed
that body also. The resolution introduced by Mr. Morehead, of Pennsylvania,
requesting the Judiciary Committee to report a bill debarring forever any rebel
from holding office under the Constitution and laws of the United States, was
passed.
ESCAPE OF COLONEL CORCORAN.
The papers publish an interesting
statement made by Lieutenant Hurd, of the Second Maine Regiment, who was wounded
and taken prisoner at
Bull Run, and has recently been released. He, together
with
Colonel Corcoran and some three hundred others were confined in the
Charleston Jail at the time of the great conflagration there, and they only
escaped from the jail, which was burned, by leaping from a window, no effort
being made to save them by the Charlestonians. Colonel Corcoran, Lieutenant Hurd
believes, escaped during the confusion, as he expressed his determination to try
to reach Beaufort or the North, and has not since been heard of. According to
Lieutenant Hurd's representations, the National prisoners now in the South are
treated in the most brutal and unjustifiable manner.
SKIRMISH NEAR WASHINGTON.
A brisk and successful conflict
took place last week on the lines in front of Washington.
General McCall's
brigade went out one morning on a foraging expedition toward
Dranesville. His
advance force, commanded by General Ord, consisted of four regiments of
infantry, a regiment of Pennsylvania rifles, and Easton's battery. Near
Dranesville a fire was opened on them by the rebels, under Colonel Forney,
numbering four regiments of infantry
and one of cavalry, who were
concealed in the bushes. The fire was returned from our rifles and the battery,
and after an hour's fighting the rebels fled toward Fairfax Court house, leaving
150 killed and wounded behind them, together with two caissons of ammunition and
a quantity of clothing and stores. General M'Call had ordered up General
Reynolds to a point on the Leesburg turnpike to support General Ord, in
anticipation of an attack ; but before Generals Reynolds and M'Call reached the
field of action the rebels had been defeated by Easton's battery and the rifles
of Colonel Kane's Pennsylvania regiment. Our loss was about six killed and
twenty-seven wounded.
GENERAL POPE'S OPERATIONS IN
MISSOURI.
Dispatches received from General Pope state that on Wednesday he got
between the enemy encamped in two bodies, one at a point near Chilhowee and
another in Clinton and Henry counties; that they retreated upon his arrival
toward Rose hill, leaving all their baggage and valuables in his possession.
General Pope followed them up, but at Johnson, Bates County, they scattered in
all directions. With a strong cavalry reconnoissance General Pope captured 150
rebels near Osceola, and at different other points about as many more. The whole
country between Rose Hill and Grand River is now clear of rebels. Meanwhile
another portion of his force, under Colonel Davis, surprised a second rebel
camp, on the evening of the 18th, near Milford. The rebels, who were thirteen
hundred strong, surrendered upon finding themselves surrounded. Among the
prisoners were three colonels, seventeen captains, 1000 stand of arms, 1000
horses, sixty-five wagons, and a large quantity of supplies, tents, and baggage.
The loss of the enemy is not known, but the Union loss was but two killed and
eight wounded.
MORE BRIDGE-BURNING IN MISSOURI.
The rebels of
General Price's
army, in Missouri, made another raid upon the railroads on Friday night,
destroying the track, water-tanks, wood-piles, and bridges on the North Missouri
railroad for a distance of a hundred miles, commencing at a point eight miles
south of Hudson, and continuing to destroy the rails and telegraph lines as far
as Warrentown. It appears to have been a preconcerted movement, in which the
inhabitants of that district participated, as no single party could have
accomplished so disastrous a work in the short space of time which it took to
complete the extensive damage.
OUR NATIONAL DEFENSES.
The report of General Barnard,
Chief Engineer of the Army, which has just been submitted to Congress by
Secretary Cameron, shows that the defenses around Washington consist of
forty-eight works, mounting three hundred guns; that the whole defensive
perimeter occupied is about thirty-five miles—exceeding by several miles the
famous field-works of Torres Vedras, the most extensive fortification of this
kind known in modern times. General Barnard asks the appropriation of $150,000
front Congress for the completion of these works, as many of them were thrown up
in the face of the enemy, and therefore require considerable labor to make them
perfect. Secretary Cameron has also submitted to Congress a report in favor of
the appropriation of $4,710,000 for putting our coast defenses in order, from
the lakes round to San Francisco, a large portion of which is to be devoted to
defenses of New York harbor.
EXCHANGE OF PRISONERS.
The exchange of rebel prisoners
has commenced. The bark Island City left Boston last week for Fortress Monroe
with two hundred and fifty of the rebels captured at Hatteras, who have been
released from captivity at Fort Warren by the Government.
THE FIRE AT CHARLESTON.
Somewhat fuller particulars of
the
great fire in Charleston have reached us by way of Fortress Monroe. The
Courier, published on the 14th, gives a list of between two and three hundred
sufferers (property owners) by the fire, and estimates the loss at seven
millions of dollars ; and the Mercury of the same date gives a list of five
hundred and seventy-six buildings, which were totally destroyed on Wednesday
alone. Five churches were burned, and various prominent public buildings used
for secular purposes. The Richmond papers state that a Message was sent to the
Confederate Congress, on Friday, by
Jeff Davis, in which he recommended relief
for the sufferers, and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars were accordingly
voted the next day—an advance upon the claims of South Carolina upon the rebel
Government.
MORE INCENDIARISM SOUTH.
It is not in the least improbable
that the fate of
Charleston may be shared before long by other Southern cities.
The Montgomery (Alabama) Advertiser says that no less than seven attempts were
made to set fire to that city within two days, and that two of them were
partially successful.
COTTON COMING TO MARKET.
The Atlantic, from
Port Royal,
brought the first installment of Sea Island cotton-150,000 pounds—and the
intelligence that 400,000 pounds have already been secured by General Sherman.
The expedition which was expected to leave for some point further South, under
command of General Viele, has been abandoned for the present, the military and
naval authorities having come to the conclusion that the force could be used to
more advantage in the vicinity of Port Royal.
MORE DISTRESS AT NEW ORLEANS.
The New Orleans Delta of November
25 says that 1800 families were supplied at the free market on the preceding
day—an increase of one hundred families during a single week.
FOREIGN NEWS.
ENGLAND.
DEATH OF PRINCE ALBERT.
THE consort of Queen Victoria,
Prince Albert, expired at noon of Sunday, 15th ult., his disease being gastric
fever.
THE CHIEF OF THE TORIES FOR WAR.
The Earl of Derby is said to have
been consulted by the British Government, relative to the
Trent affair. He is
said to approve of its war policy, and to have counseled ship-owners to instruct
outward-bound vessels to signalize any English vessels that war with America is
probable.
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
The excitement in England
continues unabated, as far as the expression of newspaper opinion and public
speeches are concerned. The war preparations of the British Government show no
signs of diminution. Transports were still fitting out, and troops were being
ordered in increased numbers to Canada. The Black Prince and Chanticleer, the
steamships Persia and Australasia, with 11,000 men, artillery, and stores, were
under orders to sail on the 11th December. The Hero, carrying 80 guns, sailed on
the 8th. The Sutlej, 51 guns, was ordered to start for Canada as soon as
possible. The Fifth Dragoon Guards and the Grenadier Guards have received orders
to proceed at once to Canada. The Admiralty Agent, Captain Williams, who was on
board the Trent when
Mason and Slidell were taken off, received a letter from
the British Government approving of his conduct in protesting against the capture of the rebel emissaries.
FRANCE.
NAPOLEON OFFERS TO MEDIATE.
General Scott, previous to
embarking in the Arago, had an interview with
Prince Napoleon, at which it is
reported that the Prince stated that the Emperor had expressed a desire to bring
about a pacific solution of the impending difficulty between England and
America.
GERMANY.
THE FEELING THERE.
The Austrian papers are fearful
that a war between England and America would remove the only obstacle in Europe
to French ambition, and that France would begin war against Germany.
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